Whistling Straits is one of Wisconsin’s premier golf courses.
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Even if our 50 states may seem separate some days, here’s something harmless to argue about: which of these states makes the best golf destinations.
The topic came up in a recent episode of GOLF’s new travel-focused podcast, Destination golfin which my co-host, Simon Holt, and I went back and forth, each of us ticking off our four favorite golfing states.
Simon’s first choice was hard to top. He went with Oregon, which you could say has an unfair home advantage Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. In Bandon alone, as Simon pointed out, five of their 18 holes (Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Old Macdonald, Bandon Trails and Sheep Ranch) are on GOLF’s list of the 100 Best Courses to Play . But Oregon’s golf course is more than just its south coast. Head inland to the high desert and you’ll find two more Top 100 courses, the Nicklaus and Fazio designs at Pronghorn, while a bright constellation of public access courses await in the Portland area.
As a counter, I offered Wisconsin. I was thinking Valley of sandwith its four great courses for the big boys (Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, Sedge Valley and their semi-private sister Lido), but also Kohler’s, Erin Hills, Lawsonia Links, SentryWorld and more. The Badger State punches well above its weight.
Being greedy, I also claimed my home state of California. A trip here, I suggested, might progress from San Francisco (Harding Park), south through Santa Cruz (Pasatiempo) and Monterey (Pebble Beach), then to Los Angeles (Rustic Canyon) before turning east toward Palm Springs. . The golf-loving Rat Pack hung out there for good reason.
But California is a big state, and Simon isn’t someone who, as he puts it, “likes to spend a lot of time behind the windshield.” With that in mind, he countered with North Carolina (you can spend a lifetime playing golf in the Sandhills without getting bored); South Carolina (Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head, to name just two high quality/great value areas of the state); and Florida, where Streamsong AND Cabot Citrus Farms highlights a rich list of first-class resorts.
With my two choices left, I went with New York (Bethpage Black was the big one I had in mind, but there are four other courses within that single state park, all worth playing) and Michigan, where, at the peak of summer, it stays light after 9 p.m. That gives plenty of time to squeeze in rounds at must-sees like Belvedere, Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, American Dunes and more. Eight hours later, you can get up and do it all over again.
You can listen to the entire conversation of the best condition here.
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