Pacific Dunes
A number of golf experts, including those at Golf Magazine, rank this 6,633-yard course as the best public layout in the country. You'll have to navigate across rippling fairways, shore pines and 60-foot sand dunes all while countering the wind off the ocean. This course opened in 2001.
57744 Round Lake Rd
Bandon, OR 97411-6360
(888) 345-6008
Pebble Beach
This 6,828-yard course is perhaps the best-known public links in the world. It has played host to four U.S. Open Championships and will be the site for another in 2010. In a lot of ways Pebble Beach is the original Pacific Dunes, with holes 5 through 8 playing above the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean and Stillwater Cove.
2700 17 Mile Dr
Pebble Beach, CA 93953-2668
(800) 654-9300
Spyglass Hill
This 6,862-yard course plays along the coast for the first six holes, then heads inland for the remaining 12. The first hole crushes Pebble Beach as far as difficulty and impact. Golfers can peer down from the tee box on the 595-yard, par 5 and see the Santa Cruz mountains, Monterey Bay and the canopy of the Del Monte Forest. The downhill doglegs left then opens up into a postcard view of the Pacific Ocean. Not a bad way to start a round.
Spyglass Hill and Stevenson Dr.
Pebble Beach, CA 93953
(800) 654-9300
Chambers Bay
It's part Bethpage of the West, part old-fashioned Irish links golf. The 7,585-yard course winds through native fescue and dunes, with Puget Sound in providing the background. The elevation changes are seen early and often, as in an 80-foot drop from tee to green on the fifth hole.
6320 Grandview Dr W
University Place, WA 98467-1060
(253) 460-4653
Kiawah Island (Ocean)
The Island boasts five championship golf courses, but the 7,356-yard Ocean course is the tops. Set to host the 2012 PGA Championship, this course has all the water you can handle. Marshes and water come into play on just about every hole.
One Sanctuary Beach Drive
Kiawah Island, SC 29455-2357
(800) 654-2924
Pinehurst (No. 2)
Like its neighbor to the south, Pinehurst also boasts a collection of championship courses. No. 2, though, is the best of their eight. No one hole will kill you, but this famous U.S. Open site is probably the toughest to play from 50 yards on in because of the intelligently sloped greens and small landing areas.
Carolina Vista Dr
Pinehurst, NC 28374
(800) 487-4653
Harbour Town
Any trip to Hilton Head just isn't complete unless you light it up from the tee boxes on this 6,916-yard course, known for its candy-striped lighthouse. The fairways are flat but demand accuracy, as they are narrow and blanketed by towering pines. If you survive to holes 17 and 18, enjoy the view as you play alongside Calibogue Sound.
11 Lighthouse Lane
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928-7271
(800) 732-7463
TPC at Sawgrass (Stadium)
The 137-yard, par-3 17th is perhaps the most well-known hole in all of the country. Step up and take your crack at the island green, and see if you can stick it, unlike some of the pros in the Players championship. Water can consume you on every hole at this Pete Dye course, which was revamped with tighter, firmer and faster fairways and greens in 2006.
110 PGA Tour Blvd
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082-3046
(904) 273-3235
Bethpage (Black)
The 7,366-yard Black Course at Bethpage State Park is the best value in the country ($60 weekend rates for in-state residents, $120 for out-of-state). It's narrow fairways and damp, cabbage-like fescue have given pros fits in the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open championships.
99 Quaker Meeting House Road
Farmingdale, New York 11735-1847
(516) 249-0701
Whistling Straits (Straits)
Resting up against the Lake Michigan shoreline, the 7,362-yard Straits course is as close to playing over the pond as you'll get in the States. The open, links-style layout leaves your ball up in the air, waiting to be victimized by the whipping winds. Once it lands, the terrain can bump it into fairway bunkers or leave a perfectly straight tee shot on a downhill lie.
N 8501 County LS
Sheboygan, WI 53083
(920) 565-6050
About The Author
Sean is a writer and editor based in New York City. A graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, he has spent the last decade covering major sporting events from the NFL playoffs to the U.S. Open. He has written for the Kansas City Star and ESPN, among others, and has appeared on ESPN Radio, FoxSports Radio and XM Satellite Radio.
