Camargo is the highest ranked course in Ohio.
Patrick Koenig
As part of GOLF’s rigorous assessment process for our newcomers Top 100 courses in the USA AND The best 100 courses you can play ranking, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the best golf courses in each state.
You can check out the links below to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll down to see the best courses in Ohio. And if you’re looking to create your future ride, you’d be wise to let the new GOLF Course finder the tool helps you. 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 your next trip.
Ranking of other GOLF courses: Top 100 courses in the world | Top 100 courses in the USA | The best 100 courses you can play | The 100 most valuable courses in the USA | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 best short courses in the world
Check out our new travel podcast Destination GOLF. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | HEART | AMAZON
Best Golf Courses in Ohio (2024/2025)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 courses in the USA
Y = Top 100 you can play in USA
V = The 100 most valuable courses in the USA
P = Public/Resort
Ed. Note: Some subjects were removed from our ranking because they did not receive enough votes.
1. Camargo (Cincinnati) (#)
Seth Raynor’s simple 1926 creation in suburban Cincinnati covers deep bunkers and large square greens on a property filled with valleys and valleys. The standard quartet of one-stroke holes of the Raynor template (Redan, Short, Biarritz and Eden) are here and rival his best set. Workarounds continue, including mowing the fairways, but this course will never be closed for a spray restoration. Why? Because the club has always been a good steward of its flow.
2. Inverness (Toledo) (#)
Andrew Green’s revamp restored the traits of Donald Ross, deleted those that weren’t and added the length to test today’s tour players. Few courses can claim as a challenge a two-shot group, titled from the 6th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes. Inverness’ home hole is famously under 400 yards and is one of the most interesting closers in the game. Too bad most modern architects are too shy to build finishes that reward brains over brawn.
3. Muirfield Village (Dublin) (#)
Conceived by Jack Nicklaus in 1966 as his hometown equivalent of Bobby Jones’ Augusta National, this 1974 collaboration with Desmond Muirhead was an instant hit, both for its strategic design and impeccable conditioning. Equally impressive was how Nicklaus seamlessly integrated spectator areas into the closing holes, using hillsides and amphitheater-style stacks to provide patrons with a clear view of the action. It’s hard to imagine the pros now trying to look like 14-year-olds, but that’s how much the game has changed – and yet the hole still isn’t easy. This is great architecture. Work during 2020 without something impossible happening: one of the best par-5 groups on the list just got even better.
Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour
4. The Golf Club (New Albany) (#)
One of Pete Dye’s early masterpieces, this rural retreat built in 1967 on the outskirts of Columbus is where Jack Nicklaus first learned about design as a freelance consultant. With bunkers and water hazards framed by railroad ties and tall native grasses scattered throughout, this complete original left no doubt that Dye was a generational talent at work. Golf simply hadn’t seen holes like the 3 and 13. Golf architecture was about to go in a more exciting direction, one that valued variety as well as the use of greens for texture and contrast. Dye’s contributions to modern architecture cannot be overstated.
5. Scioto (Dublin) (#)
This Donald Ross gem returns to the US Top 100 after a multi-year absence, thanks to a restoration by Andrew Green. By returning the 8th and 17th greens to their original locations, the Green removed traces of a 1950s Dick Wilson redesign. Ross’s intimate track through 110 acres of rolling parkland is a star feature and can appreciated again, thanks to much-needed tree removal. The Green Touch with the reconstruction of the greens and bunkers in the classic Ross style completes a look of the Golden Age. This was Jack Nicklaus’ boyhood course, and golfers will appreciate the nimble putting required to hit certain hole locations on these challenging greens.
6. Moraine (Kettering) (#)
Even in the golf-rich Buckeye State, this course has long held a special place, including hosting the 1945 PGA Championship won by Bryon Nelson. Although admired, it didn’t garner the level of love it has today until Keith Foster’s restoration in 2015 saw the trees cut down and the property allowed to breathe again. Now, golfers absorb its distinctive landforms and realize that this Gilded Age swing design by Alex “Nipper” Campbell is indeed perched on a glacial moraine.
John Cavalier
7. Country Club (Cleveland)
8. Brookside (Canton)
9. Kirtland (Willoughby)
10. Canterbury (Beachwood)
11. Firestone – South (Akron) (Y, P)
12. Double Eagle (Galena)
13. NCR – South (Kettering)
14. Pepper Pike Club (Pepper Pike)
15. Sand Ridge (Chardon)
How we rank our courses
For our newly released US Top 100 and Top 100 to Play lists—a process that helped us create the top 50 rankings in the country—each panelist was given a ballot consisting of 609 courses. . Alongside the list of courses were 11 “buckets” or groupings. If our panelists deemed a course to be among the top three in the US, they marked the first column. If they believed the odds were between numbers 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50 and so on up to 250+ and even a column for “remove”. Panelists were also free to write in courses they felt should have been included on the ballot.
Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its overall score by the number of votes. From these point totals, courses are then ranked accordingly. It’s an intentionally simple and straightforward process. Why? Because it has historically produced results that are widely praised. Like the game itself, there’s no need to overcomplicate things or try to fix something that already works so well.
