GolfLink's Top 25 Public Golf Courses in America

You can make the case that there is no better place to live and enjoy the game of golf than right here in the U.S. Every corner of the country has a bucket list golf destination. From Bandon to Hilton Head, SoCal to Orlando, and everywhere in between, you can find the perfect golf experience to fit your style.

At GolfLink, we’ve covered the best golf courses you can play in many of the best golf cities and states, and now we bring you the 25 best public golf courses across the country. We chose courses with a history of hosting the world's biggest golf events, masterpieces from some of the best golf course architects, and just plain dazzling golf course designs. Here’s to crossing as many of these off of your list as possible.

The golf doesn’t get much better anywhere on Earth than Pebble Beach. For those who have played it, it's a dream come true. For those who have not, it's on the top-tier of the bucket list. Pebble Beach is as iconic as any course with several holes that you can immediately picture in your mind. Pebble Beach has hosted six U.S. Opens, will host the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, and is the yearly stop for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This isn’t a place you pass up an opportunity to play. Is it expensive? Sure. Will you have, perhaps, your most unforgettable round of golf in a lifetime? Definitely.

RELATED: The Cheapest Ways to Play Pebble Beach

Bethpage Black. You know the sign that warns players of its extreme difficulty. More so, you remember Tiger Woods winning the 2002 U.S. Open there and Sergio Garcia getting relentlessly heckled by the fine people of Long Island. Why wouldn’t you pay $150 to play where golf history has taken place? Try to make it there before 2025, when the course hosts the Ryder Cup. Bring plenty of golf balls because that sign doesn’t lie, this course will eat you alive. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better public golf experience in the eastern U.S.

RELATED: How To Play Bethpage Black With or Without a Tee Time

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, the last matches on U.S. soil took place at one of our favorite courses in the Midwest, the Straits course at Whistling Straits. You can play the same track where Team USA handed Europe a 19-9 drubbing, for a hefty fee of course. Don’t forget, you’ll also have to pay for a caddie and tip.

Pressed against Lake Michigan, this Irish-inspired course is incredibly difficult when the wind is blowing, guiding your ball into the endless amount of tall grasses. The Whistling Straits grounds and surrounding area of Kohler is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Pete Dye truly held nothing back with his design of the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Site of two PGA Championships and the 1991 Ryder Cup, the Ocean Course has a flair for the dramatic in appearance and difficulty. It’s slightly less expensive than Pebble, and some golfers say they enjoy it just as much.

Located on the easternmost point of the island, the course offers more oceanside holes than any golf course in the Northern Hemisphere. Fun fact: it was Dye’s wife, Alice's idea to raise the entire course to give golfers unobstructed ocean views. The Ocean Course is an amazing piece of golf architecture.

We go from one Pete Dye powerhouse to another, TPC Sawgrass. The Players Stadium course is incredibly challenging, no matter which set of tees you play. Of course, you’ll remember the most famous hole in all of golf the most. The 17th hole only plays 137 yards from the Players tee box, but the famed island green, as seen at the Players Championship, looks like a throw rug placed a mile away. Once you experience it for yourself, you’ll appreciate how the best players in the world hit that green under pressure. Even if you conquer the island green, you're not out of the woods yet. The final hole at the Players Stadium course is an absolute beast with water up the entire left hand side of the dogleg left hole. If you get too aggressive, or miss just a little left, you'll be staring bogey plus in the face. Good luck.

Shadow Creek Golf Course is a Tom Fazio design that’s a short drive from the Las Vegas strip. However, if you play Shadow Creek, you'll arrive in a limo provided by MGM, since only paying MGM guests can play Shadow Creek and cannot take their own transportation to the course.

We highly recommend visiting Shadow Creek early in your Vegas trip, just in case you can’t scrape together the 600 bucks by the end. This course had golf’s brightest spotlight on it in 2018 when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson played in The Match. Every single hole has characteristics that will wow your senses. Fazio designed the course with shades of Augusta National in mind and it is truly incredible.

If you’re in Bandon, you’re there for one thing: golf. Luckily there are plenty of top-tier courses to choose from, including several at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

Pacific Dunes opened in 2001 and is a true shot-makers course, different than any other course on property. Tom Doak designed this stunning layout that will leave you with some head scratching moments because of the massive dunes along that dot the course. There are many reasons people choose Pacific Dunes as their favorite in the area. Aside from some deceptive tee shots, Pacific Dunes is a very playable course if you have some versatility in your game.

If you can only visit one golf resort in your life, it has to be Pinehurst. Nine golf courses, plus The Cradle and a putting course, need we say more? Pinehurst is the ultimate golf experience, and no layout has a higher profile than Pinehurst No.2, which was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1907.

Of course, there have been notable redesigns along the way, but No. 2 is a formidable force in golf. It’s the first U.S. Open anchor site, as it will host five championships in the next 25 years. There isn’t much for us to say about No. 2 that hasn’t been written a hundred times over, it’s just one of those places you have to experience for yourself. The entire resort, in fact, is a golfer’s dream that will have you planning your next visit as soon as you leave.

We're heading back to Bandon to showcase the OG, Bandon Dunes course. This was the first course built by Mike Keiser in this incredibly remote area of Oregon. Keiser commissioned David McLay Kidd to design this masterpiece. Bandon Dunes paved the way for so many other outstanding golf courses in the Pacific Northwest that you can’t help but pay homage while you’re in town.

The Pacific Ocean winds are difficult to manage, but once you get the hang of playing in the high gusts, you’ll be smooth sailing for your round. 

Most golfers might not think of Michigan as a top destination, but once you experience golf in the upper and lower peninsulas, you’ll know what it’s all about.

Arcadia Bluffs is a top-spot for Michigan golf, and the Bluffs course is nothing short of superb. This seaside, links-style course is such a fun way to spend four hours of your life. The views are incredible as the course is situated right on Lake Michigan, but beware of the blustery conditions that creep in. While you’re visiting, check out the South course, which is slightly easier, but still a fun test of skill.

Nothing can truly prepare you for Erin Hills Golf Course. Dr. Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry, and Ron Whitten collaborated on a course design with a U.S. Open in mind. They got just that in 2017 when Brooks Koepka emerged victorious and Erin Hills was officially on the world’s golf map.

Wisconsin makes you think of cow pastures, right? The terrain at Erin Hills will shock you. This remote area of Wisconsin was glacial land, so the course takes its cues from the natural topography and gives you a modern design that doesn’t ignore the traditions of the game.

Chambers Bay Golf Course is the poster image for Pacific Northwest golf. Robert Trent Jones II took what was an old sand and gravel mine and turned it into a picturesque masterpiece and perhaps the best golf course in the Seattle area. It sure helps that Chambers Bay is pressed against the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

Chambers is the perfect blend of an old Scottish links layout with a massive amount of sandy waste areas created by the surrounding topography. The course is playable and enjoyable for every level of player, which was part of RTJ’s vision, but it’s bold enough to have hosted the 2015 U.S. Open and will surely be under consideration for a high-profile event in the future.

Hilton Head is one of South Carolina’s great golf cities, but the course that gives it the most notoriety is Harbour Town Golf Links. Part of Sea Pines Resort, this is the course you’ll see each April on the PGA Tour schedule as it hosts the RBC Heritage.

Pete Dye and consultant Jack Nicklaus designed this course, which is incredibly difficult and features a diabolical collection of par 3s. The finishing hole is one of the most recognizable holes in golf and rivals the 18th at Pebble Beach. Except Pebble doesn’t have a giant lighthouse in plain view from tee to green. If you’re in Hilton Head and only have one round to play, Harbour Town is the clear choice.

Blackwolf Run, in itself, is a reason to visit Kohler, Wisconsin. It has three distinctly different courses, each great in its own way.

The River course is the crown jewel because of its level of difficulty and scenery. If you’re into elevation change, River does not disappoint. Be sure you have a laser rangefinder with the slope setting turned on, because it’s a tricky course to get your bearings on.

Pete Dye designed the course to wind around natural and man-made water hazards and forces you to play target golf with some layups and aim points you won’t believe. It’s the type of golf course you need to check your ego at the door and just enjoy getting eaten up for four hours.

French Lick Resort is located in southern Indiana, basically Kentucky. It’s not a place at the top of your mind when you think of golf destinations, but believe us, it’s remarkable. The resort has top-notch amenities, a casino, and four golf courses that will keep you coming back.

The Pete Dye Course is the big draw at French Lick Resort. Don’t be scared away by the yardage of 8,100, that’s reserved for professionals. Speaking of, this course hosted the 2015 Senior PGA Championship and challenges Crooked Stick as the best course in the entire state. Its panoramic views and infamous volcano bunkers give the Pete Dye Course a custom stamp like no other. It’s amazing to think that Dye sketched this course out on a napkin.

Spyglass Hill Golf Course is the sister course to Pebble Beach and is part of the Pebble Beach Resort. As its website perfectly notes: “If Pebble Beach is the Greatest Meeting of Land and Sea, then perhaps Spyglass Hill should be dubbed the Greatest Meeting of Sand and Trees.”

As the co-host of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Spyglass is on another level of public golf. Its ocean views and terrain which touches the Del Monte Forest is a thing of beauty. The five opening holes will take any amateur golfer to the brink, but from the sixth hole on there are plenty of scoring opportunities. Our favorite is the par 5, 15th hole, a double-dogleg called Long John Silver. Spyglass is slightly less expensive than Pebble, but if you experience one you have to experience the other.

We would say that Kapalua’s Plantation course is the best you can play on Maui, but that might be underselling it. In our opinion, Kapalua is the best golf course in all of Hawaii.

Even if you’re visiting another island, you’ve come this far, just go experience this insanely picturesque course where every hole looks like a screensaver. Again, Coore and Crenshaw deliver the goods with this course that hosts the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions each January. The West Maui Mountains and Pacific Ocean backdrop every hole, which has an even flow of elevation change. There are a lot of places to play in Hawaii, but this will be the one your pals want to hear about. What might surprise you is how open the fairways are and how playable the course can be if you hit it straight. If you don’t, well, enjoy the scenery.

You probably know legendary architect Alister MacKenzie for his designed work at Augusta National and Cypress Point, and MacKenzie also has Pasatiempo Golf Course on his resume.

Pasatiempo, however, doesn’t require an ultra-exclusive membership in order to grace it's fairways. Just $345. It is widely believed that this was his favorite design, and it oozes history. The course has hosted the Western Intercollegiate for over 65 years and has welcomed players from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods on property. It’s a relatively short course, but what it lacks in distance it makes up for in character, ten fold. MacKenzie’s home still sits off of the sixth fairway. If you’re in the Santa Cruz area, it’s a slice of history that you have to experience for yourself.