Gamble Sands (Rank: 18)
Dreams and bucket lists are not the privilege of a few, and great course architecture thrives far beyond the stone gates of private clubs. Across this country there are an amazing number of excellent golf courses available to any golfer.
That’s why we’ve put so much time and energy into compiling our Top 100 list to play in the US, which is derived from the same voting process like our main US list, the latest version of which we published last week.
To hear our rating experts break down our latest rankings, check out our new travel podcast Destination GOLF. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | HEART | AMAZON
Some of these courses below – such as Belvedere (no. 40), Firestone (No. 53), Cape Arundel (no. 63) and Bay Hill (No. 71) – are, in fact, private, but they allow outdoor play under certain conditions. At GOLF, we love this model. After all, it has served UK clubs for over a century. For those lucky enough to belong to clubs like these, income from outside play helps keep membership costs under control. Most importantly, these open policies allow course fans to sample more of the game’s sublime artwork. We all benefit when private and public lines are blurred and sports spending falls.
In the meantime, we are excited to celebrate a course like Lawsoniawhich made both of our 2024-25 lists and cost me barely over $100 when I played there in September. In America, there are not enough examples of elite architecture associated with a green fee in the $100 range. But elite architecture, period? Of this, our nation has an abundance. Happy moving! – Ran Morrissett
The course descriptions below are written by Nico Bianchi, Hayes Jackson, Tom Mackin, Ran Morrissett AND Josh Sens.
Main page image: Desert Club (John and Jeannine Henebry). Photographs in main image, from left: Sand Hollow (Brian Oar); Streamsong black (Larry Lambrecht); Dunat Bandon (Evan Schiller)
Ranking of other GOLF courses: Top 100 in the world | Top 100 in the US | The 100 most valuable courses in the USA | America’s Best Municipal Courses | America’s best courses for $100 or less | Top 100 in the UK and Ireland | Top 100 in Asia-Pacific | The 100 shortest courses in the world
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