8 epic road trips comprised exclusively of the 100 best public golf courses

One of the most popular lists we create here at GOLF.com is our biennial Ranking the top 100 courses you can playand the reason is clear – the best public golf courses have opened of all bucket list. Sure, you can dream of playing Cypress Point, too, but Pebble Beach is a moment any Average Joe can book.

Including our latest ranking of the 100 best public courses in America 29 different countries — with prices ranging from the affordable (George Wright, $62) to the luxurious (Shadow Creek, $1,250) — but there’s still something for everyone. And while some (looking at you, Firestone) live just a few hours away from another Top 100 public sibling, many are clustered or just a short drive away, meaning any fellow travel planner Smart can create the ultimate route to eliminate some in just a few days.

Better yet, we did the hard work for you. With the help of GOLF.com’s Course Finderwe created eight different road trips to consider for your next golf getaway. They all consist of just the top 100 courses you can play, though there are likely other public gems or top 100 privates nearby (just in case you, you know, want to call and ask) .

And if you’re looking to create your own ride, it would be wise to play around with it Course finder. Here you can edit all of our lists – top 100 public, best munis, best short courses, best par-3s and more – or filter by price to create the itinerary perfect for an epic adventure.

But for beginners, check out these eight recommended trips below.

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The 100 best road trips for your next friends travel adventure

BANDON DUNES

Oh, how original? Yes, we know. But you’d be a fool not to consider Bandon Dunes, where you can knock off five of the top 100 public courses—including our No. 3, Pacific Dunes – and you never have to leave the property. All five Bandon courses are in the top 24 of our rankings. The only drive you have to do is from the North Bend or Portland airports, but those trips are pretty scenic anyway.

Florida swings

You can fly into Tampa or Orlando. If it’s the former, you can knock off the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, and if it’s the latter, you can do it at Bay Hill. Nearby is Cabot Citrus Farms and a trio of top 100 public courses at Streamsong. There are six courses and they are all within a two hour drive of each other.

SAND HILLS

You can basically hit seven different Top 100 courses in the heart of Pinehurst, NC. There is Pinehurst no. 2, no. 4, no. 8 and no. 10, plus Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Southern Pines just a few miles east. Also less than an hour away is Tobacco Road and Top 100 newcomer Tot Hill Farm in Asheboro, NC

BEST OF WISCONSIN

Only true golf junkies would knock off all nine of these courses in one trip—and you’d have to have some pretty deep pockets to do so—but Wisconsin’s elite public golf offerings are hard to beat. to be defeated, and this does not even take into account some of the courses that he didn’t make our top 100 list public. There are four must-plays at Sand Valley – including the newly opened Lido and Sedge Valley — and east of that are Lawsonia Links, Blackwolf Run, Whistling Straits and Erin Hills. And just 50 miles north of Sand Valley is SentryWorld, which is still only two hours away from Erin Hills, meaning you can get to any of these in a fairly quick drive.

Gems of the MONTEREY Peninsula

It’s a fine listing on the Monterey Peninsula, where you can play the top-ranked Pebble Beach Golf Links and the No. 23 Spyglass Hill on consecutive days. Oh, and they’re a mile apart, so you’ll have plenty of time to hang, dine, or explore. An hour’s drive from there is the Alister MacKenzie-designed Pasatiempo (No. 11 on our list) and just an hour east of there is CordeValle, another Top 100 spot.

NEBRASKA TREALE

Its scenery may not rival the 17-mile Drive in Monterey, but it has three dynamite fields that form a neat little triangle on the Nebraska plains. Start with the newly opened Landmand outside Sioux City, Iowa, before heading four hours west to either The Prairie Club (Dunes) or Wild Horse. Prairie Club is about 160 miles straight north of Wild Horse. All three are worth the mileage.

SO CAL’S FINES

Down in Southern California, there’s the Torrey Pines South Course in La Jolla, and 25 minutes north up Interstate 5 is the newly renovated North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad. If you want, there is more from the east. Ram Hill is a two-hour drive away, and it can be your pit stop on the way to the desert, where you’ll find the two best public courses in the 100 in PGA West (Pete Dye Stadium and Mountain) in La Quinta. Oh, and while you’re at it, stick it just about anywhere else. This area is rich in great golf.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN

It’s a real shame that we have to split Michigan’s great public golf scene into two quadrants, but that’s what we’re going to do here. North in Roscommon you have two Top 100s at Forest Dunes (The Loop and Weiskopf) and two hours west of there you have two more at Arcadia Bluffs (South and Bluffs). Finally, north of there (another two hours) is the Belvedere, a Willy Watson design in Charlevoix.