The top 18 holes from our new ranking of the top 100 courses you can play

We all have courses we dream of playing. This is something different.

This is a course we fantasize about.

It exists only in our imaginations, consisting of 18 holes from 18 of the best public access courses in the United States: The 100 best golf courses you can play for 2024-2025. While the conception of this layout was an odd quest, we imposed parameters: the course would have to play to a par 72 and every hole on its course would have to fall in the same sequence as on the original course. We thought long and hard and leaned on our course evaluation panelists for insight. The election was not easy, but the result was worth all the discussion and debate. Here’s our final 18, a course we’d love to play if we could.

1. Sheep Farm, par-5, 549 yards

Bandon, Ore.

Some courses start with a friendly handshake. This is more of an exciting fist bump, an accessible par-5 that combines a scoring opportunity with strategic options and attractive views. From a high point on the property, it plays over a brow and around a gentle curve to a green with the Pacific spreading out behind it. Discovering the ocean as you turn the corner is as exciting as almost any sight in the game, and the prospect of a bold second shot that makes way for the bird—or better—will get your blood pumping, too.

2. Pinehurst no. 2, par-4, 439 yards

Pinehurst, NC

No Dream 18 would be complete without a contribution from the cradle of American golf. This hard bruise tempts you to try to reduce its size by playing up the right side of the mouse, but the slightest push brings a remnant of sand and wire grass into the picture. The safest fairway is up the left, flirting with a pair of fairway bunkers, which leaves a longer approach to a green with a bump in the middle that deflects shots in all directions.

3. Karoo Course, Cabot Citrus Farms, par-3, 290 yards

Brooksville, Fla.

Size matters, but only so much, and the odd spacing here isn’t the ultimate measure of a hole that looks much harder than it plays. If you keep your wits about you, you can take advantage of a teetering slope to the right that rolls balls onto a large, undulating green that has a host of fun hole locations. Given the length, the rate is extremely satisfying and happens more often than you might think.

4. Bethpage Black, par-5, 517 yards

Farmingdale, NY

A sign from the first tee advises players that the Black Course is intended for “very skilled players only.” Consider it fair warning. By the time you get to this risk-reward par-5, which loops around a set of bunkers on the left and then a 50-foot rise to a blind green, you’ll probably feel the need to return a blow But get too aggressive and you’ll end up giving away a few more.

5. Gamble Sands, par-4, 517 yards

Brewster, Wash.

Bold yet deceptive, this tough par-4 invites you to blast it to the right to shorten your approach. But that leaves a blind shot into a green with a world of sand problems behind it. The least obvious play is the smartest decision, up the left side of the fairway. From there, it’s a second longer but a better angle, with a chance to get creative by cutting the ball inside.

6. Pacific Dunes, par-4, 316 yards

Bandon, Ore.

To be aggressive, or not to be aggressive. Hamlet would have scratched his chin forever if he was ever faced with the options of this scheming beauty. Hard to fault him, given the demands of a thin, dune-topped green with a steep drop behind it and a front bunker that some call the “devil’s hole.” Except it’s much bigger than that.

7. Lawsonia Links, par-3, 159 yards

Green Lake, Wisc.

The story goes that a box drive is buried under the green of this sublime par-3. We cannot confirm this. But we can guarantee that if you miss short or fair, you’ll be putting yourself at risk, facing a steep embankment – and the prospect of your round going off the rails.

8. Pinehurst no. 10th, par-4, 385 yards

Pinehurst, NC

“Double-blind” is a poker term. But it applies well to this wild par-4, which plays to the spoils of an early 20th-century mining operation, over a Like the Matterhorn hill that hides most of the fairway, then into a green dish partially covered by a dune.

9. Harbor Town Golf Links, par-4, 332 yards

Hilton Head, SC

Unlike many regular stops on the PGA Tour, Harbor Town does not lend itself to bomb and gore attacks. Its requirements are more subtle, as evidenced by this tricky par-4, which is accessible to the game’s biggest players but dangerous no matter how you approach it, thanks in part to the heart-shaped green with a trap of big ahead. and the heart-breaking pot bunker on your back.

10. Recreation, par-4, 437 yards

Santa Cruz, California.

Many of the features in Pasatiempo, Alister Mackenzie’s public access masterpiece, foreshadow the architect’s later work in Augusta. You see that clearly in the sweep and tumble of this magnificent par-4, which would look right at home on the far end of Magnolia Lane.

11. Karsten Creek, par-3, 209 yards

Stillwater, Okla.

Beautiful and punishing. If these words remind you of someone you dated in high school, back off! We’re talking a tough par-3 on the home course of the Oklahoma State men’s and women’s golf teams. It plays through a hole of trees to an elongated green with water front and back, and bogey or worse waiting almost anywhere you miss.

12. Prairie Club, Dunes, par-5, 548 yards

St. Valentine, Neb.

With acres of fairways to aim off the tee, finding the short grass isn’t the issue. The biggest intrigue comes on your second tee shot on a green in a hollow between deep sandy wastes. Look around. The cutscenes are endless. So are the possibilities.

13. Ocean Course at Kiawah, par-4, 404 yards

Kiawah Island, SC

Pete Dye was known as the Marquis de Sod, but he could have been called the Duke of Deception. A glimpse of the canal running to the right, and your instinct is to bail to the left, where a bunch of fairway bunkers won’t do you any favors. The wisest choice is to decide on the amount of water you want to carry, and then swing with full dedication. The views are terrifying. But isn’t that part of how you play? Test your ability to face fear.

14. Chambers Bay Golf Course, par-4, 450 yards

University Place, Wash.

From an elevated peak, you get a clear view of Puget Sound. But don’t let that distract you. This big boy of a Cape hole, with his elbow bent around a sea of ​​bunkers, requires an appetite for risk and sharp execution on a fairway with a spot of speed you’ll want to grab for plenty of hope on your second shot.

15. The Lido, par-4, 438 yards

Nekoosa, Wisc.

What’s in a name? This par-4 is called “The Strategy,” which makes sense, as the criss-crossing bunkers on its ample fairway present a puzzle to your drive. But “Strategies” should probably be the label instead. Shortly after finishing his build, Tom Doak was asked how he thought the hole should be played. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out myself,” he said.

16. Old Macdonald, par-4, 433 yards

Bandon, Ore.

Old MacDonald is a tribute to CB Macdonald, and its holes pay tribute to his famous patterns. This exciting par-4 is a tip for Macdonald’s Alps hole at National Golf Links, which itself is a riff on the Alps at Prestwick – the main difference being that its huge, defining dunes don’t blind every approach shot. You can get a clear look if you point boldly to the top right.

17. TPC Sawgrass, par-3, 139 yards

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Brilliant design or gawd-terrible fraud? This par-3 island green is a polarizing hole and you’re entitled to your opinion. But here’s the thing: You have to play it first.

18. Pebble Beach, par-5, 541 yards

Pebble Bach, California.

You’ve probably seen the picture of Jack Nicklaus leaning against the picket fence that overlooks the tee of this fantastic par-5. Many people playing Pebble pose in the same position, and not just because they want to repeat an image. No matter who you are, the environment does this to you: It begs you to stop and drink it all.