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Our expert course evaluators get their say in rating the most sublime golf courses on American soil every two years, as they did for us 2024-25 Top 100 Courses in USA AND The best 100 courses you can play rankings. But our readers – you! – you also have thoughts and experiences. Here we’re going to break down some of the time-honored factoids and fancies that emerged from the 2024 Top 100 Golf Courses Readers’ survey.
What if you had the chance to play any course in Top 100 GOLF courses in the US rankings? Would you choose an ultra-exclusive club like Pine Valley or Chicago Golf Club? Maybe you want a course with breathtaking beauty like Fishers Island or Cypress Point. Or maybe you’d choose to play where the pros play and go with TPC Sawgrass or Black Bethpage.
It’s hard to go wrong when choosing a course in our Top 100 list. Among them are the greatest courses our country has to offer, after all. However, everyone has one course that tops their bucket list – I know I do (Fishers Island).
thus we asked you; and that’s what you said.
Highest listed course
According to our readers, the choice at the top of the list was clear. Augusta National, the annual home of the Masters, led the way in our poll with 50 percent of respondents saying Alister MacKenzie tops their list. The public gets a glimpse of the course every April, but playing it has a different allure – as evidenced by its popularity among our readers.
Cypress Point was the second most popular answer at 18 percent, while top-rated Pine Valley was third at 12 percent. Rounding out the top five were Pebble Beach, National Golf Links of America and Shinnecock Hills (tied).
Top bucket list hole
Augusta National is extremely popular among our readers, and that theme continued in our Top Bucket List Hole Poll. The most popular answer for the top bucket list hole was Augusta National’s par-3 12th, with 31 percent of readers choosing the Golden Bell.
Cypress Point’s scenic 16th was second with 15.5 percent of the vote, while Augusta National’s par-5 13th was third with 12.4 percent. TPC Sawgrass’ island green 17th was fourth, while Pebble Beach’s par-3 7th rounded out the top five.