Dreams and bucket lists aren’t a privilege of the few, and great course architecture thrives well beyond the stone gateways of private clubs. Across this country there are a stunning number of superb golf courses available to every golfer.
Which is why we put so much time and energy into compiling our Top 100 You Can Play in the U.S. list, which is derived from the same voting process as our main U.S. list, the latest version of which we published last week.
To hear our ratings experts break down our latest rankings, check out our all-new travel podcast Destination GOLF. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | IHEART | 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 outside play under certain conditions. At GOLF, we love this model. After all, it has served U.K. clubs for more than a century. For those lucky enough to belong to clubs like these, the revenue from outside play helps keep membership costs in check. Most important, these open policies allow course lovers to sample more of the game’s sublime works of art. We all win when the lines of private and public are blurred and the expense of the sport comes down.
In the meantime, we’re thrilled to celebrate a course like Lawsonia, which made both of our 2024-25 lists and cost me barely over $100 when I played there in September. In America, there aren’t enough examples of elite architecture wed to a green fee in the $100 range. But elite architecture, period? Of that, our nation has an abundance. Happy scrolling! — Ran Morrissett
Course descriptions below were written by Nico Bianchi, Hayes Jackson, Tom Mackin, Ran Morrissett and Josh Sens.
Homepage image: Wilderness Club (John and Jeannine Henebry). Photos in lead image, from left: Sand Hollow (Brian Oar); Streamsong Black (Larry Lambrecht); Bandon Dunes (Evan Schiller)
GOLF’s other course rankings: Top 100 in the World | Top 100 in the U.S. | Top 100 Value Courses in the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | America’s Best Courses for $100 or Less | Top 100 in the U.K. and Ireland | Top 100 in Asia-Pacific | Top 100 Short Courses in the World
To browse and search our latest lists in map form, check out our new Course Finder tool.
