{"id":31893,"date":"2026-07-05T14:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T14:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/31893\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T14:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T14:38:25","slug":"eight-states-have-the-most-top-ranked-public-access-golf-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/31893\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight states have the most top-ranked public-access golf courses"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 5, 2026, 7:01 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

Looking to play some of the best public-access courses in the United States, day after day? Turn your attention to these eight states, each of which has at least five of Golfweek\u2019s Best top 100 courses you can play<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a surprise to most that states such as California or Florida have their fair share of the top 100 public courses in the country. But for golfers who haven\u2019t followed development trends closely in recent decades, a few of these might be a surprise \u2013 the data shows that if you haven\u2019t been to Wisconsin or Michigan for golf, you really need to get moving. That\u2019s especially true for Oregon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In all, there are just 31 states represented on the 2026 Golfweek\u2019s Best list of top 100 public-access layouts. As mentioned, eight states have at least five on the list, and those eight states have a combined 58 ranked courses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

None of this is to say other states aren\u2019t rich in golf. New York, for example, has many of the best private courses in the world. But New York also has just two courses among the top 100 public-access courses. Golf is great in New York<\/a>, but you have to get through the gates first. It\u2019s a similar story in Illinois, as another prime example of private heavily outweighing public golf in a state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

California, which is rich in both public and private courses, leads our list of states with 10 ranked public-access layouts. Oregon is second with nine ranked courses, five of them at one resort that everybody needs to see at least once in their lifetime. North Carolina and Wisconsin each have eight ranked courses, Florida has seven and Hawaii checks in with six. Michigan and South Carolina make this list of great public-access states with five each.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a>Golfweek’s Best: How we rank golf courses<\/a><\/p>\n

Several of these courses below are mostly private clubs, but they do allow limited outside play. The Lido, Broomsedge and Pasatiempo fit this kind of welcoming model<\/a>, and because they do allow public-access golf to some degree, they appear among the ranking of the top 100 public-access courses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Note: The number in front of each course below reflects where that course is ranked for 2026 among the top 100 public-access courses in the U.S.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s 10 ranked courses\"The<\/p>\n

1. Pebble Beach Resorts (Pebble Beach Golf Links)<\/p>\n

11. Pasatiempo<\/p>\n

12. Pebble Beach Resorts (Spyglass Hill)<\/p>\n

17. Poppy Ridge<\/p>\n

T52: Torrey Pines (South)<\/p>\n

55. Yocha Dehe at Cache Creek Casino<\/p>\n

T60. Rustic Canyon<\/p>\n

T65. Pebble Beach Resorts (Links at Spanish Bay)<\/p>\n

75. Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (Champions)<\/p>\n

T82. Rams Hill<\/p>\n

Oregon\u2019s nine ranked courses\"The<\/p>\n

2. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Pacific Dunes)<\/p>\n

5. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon Trails)<\/p>\n

6. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Old Macdonald)<\/p>\n

7. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon Dunes)<\/p>\n

T15. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Sheep Ranch)<\/p>\n

T67. Silvies Valley Ranch (Hankins)<\/p>\n

T87. Sunriver Resort (Crosswater)<\/p>\n

T97. Pumpkin Ridge (Ghost Creek)<\/p>\n

T100. Silvies Valley Ranch (Craddock)<\/p>\n

North Carolina\u2019s eight ranked courses\"Pinehurst<\/p>\n

3. Pinehurst Resort (No. 2)<\/p>\n

19. Pinehurst Resort (No. 10)<\/p>\n

40. Pinehurst Resort (No. 4)<\/p>\n

T57. Mid Pines<\/p>\n

T60. Pine Needles<\/p>\n

62. High Hampton<\/p>\n

69. Tot Hill Farm<\/p>\n

T70. Tobacco Road<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u2019s eight ranked courses\"The<\/p>\n

4. Kohler Whistling Straits (Straits)<\/p>\n

13. Sand Valley (Lido)<\/p>\n

21. Sand Valley (Sand Valley)<\/p>\n

23. Sand Valley (Mammoth Dunes)<\/p>\n

T25. Erin Hills<\/p>\n

T28. Lawsonia (Links)<\/p>\n

32. Sand Valley (Sedge Valley)<\/p>\n

56. Kohler Blackwolf Run (River)<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s seven ranked courses\"PONTE<\/p>\n

14. TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium)<\/p>\n

22. Streamsong (Red)<\/p>\n

24. Streamsong (Blue)<\/p>\n

T33. Streamsong (Black)<\/p>\n

47. The Park West Palm<\/p>\n

T63. Cabot Citrus Farms (Karoo)<\/p>\n

T87. Bay Hill Club and Lodge<\/p>\n

Hawaii\u2019s six ranked courses\"Four<\/p>\n

T15. Four Seasons Resort Lanai (Manele)<\/p>\n

27. Kapalua (Plantation)<\/p>\n

T57. Princeville (Makai)<\/p>\n

T70. Mauna Kea Resort<\/p>\n

T77. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai<\/p>\n

93. Wailea (Gold)<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s five ranked courses\"Arcadia<\/p>\n

T33. Arcadia Bluffs (Bluffs)<\/p>\n

T50. Marquette Golf Club (Greywalls)<\/p>\n

T52. Forest Dunes (The Loop Red & Black)<\/p>\n

T82. Arcadia Bluffs (South)<\/p>\n

T82. Forest Dunes (Weiskopf)<\/p>\n

South Carolina\u2019s five ranked courses\"The<\/p>\n

10. Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Ocean)<\/p>\n

T28. Sea Pines Resort (Harbour Town Golf Links)<\/p>\n

T33. Broomsedge<\/p>\n

81. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club<\/p>\n

T82. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Jason Lusk<\/a>\u00a0is Golfweek’s travel and golf course architecture editor, as well as the magazine’s creative director. He has written for and designed Golfweek for more than two decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 5, 2026, 7:01 a.m. ET Looking to play some of the best public-access courses in the United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[58,44,59,819,820,65,189,821,304,69,106,305,62],"class_list":["post-31893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-accessfree","tag-golf","tag-sourcegolfweek","tag-sstssportsgolf","tag-sstsngolf","tag-taggolf","tag-taggolf-courses","tag-taggolfweek-travel","tag-tagmodular-story","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagproduct-reviews-price-comparisons","tag-tagsmg-listicle","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}