The best 18 holes from our Top 100 Courses to Play ranking

We all have courses that we dream of playing. This is something different.

This is the course we dream about.

Available only in our opinion, compiled with 18 holes from 18 of the best public access courses in the United States: GOLF’s Top 100 to Play for 2024-25. While the idea of ​​this structure was a fun pursuit, we set limits: the course would have to play a par of 72, and each hole in its route would have to fall in the same order as it did on the first course. We thought long and hard, and relied on our study rating panels for insights. The decisions were not easy, but the result was worth discussing and arguing. Here’s our final 18, the course we’d love to play, if we could.

1. Sheep Ranch, par-5, 549 yards

Bandon, Ore.

Some lessons begin with a friendly handshake. This is like a fun, accessible par-5 fistfight that combines scoring opportunities with strategic options and binding ideas. From the highest point in the area, it plays over the forehead and around the soft bend to the green Pacific spread behind it. The ocean that unfolds when you turn the corner is as exciting as almost any vista in the game, and the prospect of a brilliant second shot that leads to a birdie – or better – will get your blood pumping, too.

2. Pinehurst No. 2, par-4, 439 yards

Pinehurst, NC

No 18 dream would be complete without a contribution from the cradle of American golf. This dog-eared handicap tempts you to try to downsize by playing uphill right off the tee, but a little push brings sandy debris and string grass into the picture. A safe fairway is up the left, flirting with fairway bunkers, leaving a long approach to the green with a hump in the center that deflects the shot in all directions.

3. Karoo Course, Cabot Citrus Farms, par-3, 290 yards

Brooksville, Fla.

Size is important, but there is so much more, and the yardage that shines here is not the final measure of a hole that looks more difficult than it plays. If you keep your wits about you on the tee, you can use the kick-slope to the right, which caroms balls onto a large, consistent green with lots of holes for fun. Given the length, par is a lot of fun, and it happens more often than you might think.

4. Bethpage Black, par-5, 517 yards

Farmingdale, NY

A sign on the 1st tee advises golfers that the Black Course is for “advanced players” only. Consider the appropriate warning. By the time you get to this risk-reward par-5, which circles a cluster of bunkers on the left and climbs 50 feet to the blind green, you’ll probably feel the need for a shot. But get too aggressive, and you’ll end up giving up a lot more.

5. Gamble Sands, par-4, 517 yards

Brewster, Wash.

Braw but deceptive, this stout par-4 invites you to blast it right to shorten your approach. But that leaves a blind and green picture with a world of sand problems behind you. A loose play is a smart choice, up the left side of the fairway. From there, a long second but a better angle, with a chance to create by tying the ball in.

6. Pacific Dunes, par-4, 316 yards

Bandon, Ore.

Being angry, or not being angry. Hamlet would have been scratching his chin forever if he had been faced with choosing from this amazing beauty. It’s hard to blame him, considering the demands of a thin, blue-green mound with steep slopes behind it and a basement that some call the “devil’s hole.” Except it’s a lot bigger than that.

7. Lawsonia Links, par-3, 159 yards

Green Lake, Wisc.

The story goes that a boxcar is buried under the greenery of this 3rd plot. We cannot guarantee that. But we can guarantee that if you miss short or right, you’ll be at risk, facing an uphill climb – and the prospect of your derailment.

8. Pinehurst No. 10, par-4, 385 yards

Pinehurst, NC

“Double-blind” is a poker term. But it works well for this par-4 game, which plays during early 20th century mining, over a Matterhorn-like mountain that hides most of the fairway, then a punchbowl green that’s partially covered by a dune.

9. Harbor Town Golf Links, par-4, 332 yards

Hilton Head, SC

Unlike many regular stops on the PGA Tour, Harbor Town does not lend itself to bomb and gouge attacks. Its demands are very subtle, as evidenced by this sly par-4, accessible to the game’s biggest hitters but dangerous no matter how you take it, thanks in large part to a hearty green with a large trap in front. and a heart-breaking pot in the background.

10. Pasatiempo, par-4, 437 yards

Santa Cruz, Calif.

Many features in Pasatiempo, public access art by Alister Mackenzie, mirror the artist’s recent work in Augusta. Good visibility in the sweep and fall of this beautiful par-4, which would look right at home at the end of Magnolia Lane.

11. Karsten Creek, par-3, 209 yards

Stillwater, Okla.

Beautiful and punishing. If those words remind you of someone you dated in high school, get out of there! We’re talking about a stout par-3 on the home course of the Oklahoma State men’s and women’s golf teams. It plays through the trees to long greens with water in front and back, and a bogie or worse awaits almost anywhere you miss.

12. Prairie Club, Dunes, par-5, 548 yards

Valentine, Neb.

With acres of fairway to aim for, finding the short grass isn’t a problem. The biggest trick comes on your second shot from the set green in the middle of the deep sand dunes. Look around. The prairie views are endless. So are opportunities.

13. Ocean Course at Kiawah, par-4, 404 yards

Kiawah Island, SC

Pete Dye was known as the Marquis de Sod but he could not be called the Duke of Deception. One glimpse of the fairway running right, and your instinct is to bail to the left, where a cluster of fairway bunkers will do you no good. The smart decision is to decide how much water you want to carry, and swing with full dedication. The sight is terrifying. But is that part of how you play? Testing your ability to cope with fear.

14. Chambers Bay Golf Course, par-4, 450 yards

University Area, Wash.

From the high tee, you get a gawker view of the Puget Sound. But don’t let that get in your way. This big boy of the Cape Hole, with a bent elbow in the sea of ​​bunkers, needs to be eager for danger and a sharp execution on the fairway with a speed slot that you will want to catch so that you have more confidence in your second shot.

15. Lido, par 4, 438 yards

Nekoosa, Wisc.

What’s in a name? This par 4 is called “Strategy,” which makes sense, as the angled valleys on its ample fairway present a puzzle to your drive. But “Strategies” should be it instead. Shortly after he finished building it, Tom Doak was asked how he thought the hole should be played. “I will let you know when I get that,” he said.

16. Old Macdonald, par-4, 433 yards

Bandon, Ore.

Old MacDonald is a tribute to CB Macdonald, and its holes honor his famous statues. This exciting par-4 is the tip of Macdonald’s Alps hole at National Golf Links, which is itself a Riff in the Alps at Prestwick – the main difference is that its large, defined dunes do not blind every shot. You can get a clear look in between if you boldly drive it to the top right.

17. TPC Sawgrass, par-3, 139 yards

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Brilliant design or gad– bad gimmick? This par-3 island green is a divisive hole, and you’re entitled to your opinion. But here’s the thing: You have to play it first.

18. Pebble Beach, par-5, 541 yards

Pebble Bach, Calif.

You’ve probably seen the picture of Jack Nicklaus leaning against the wooden fence on the side of the tee of this fabled par-5. Most people who play Pebble stand in the same place, not just because they want to replicate the image. No matter who you are, the setting does it for you: It asks you to pause and drink it all in.