Top 100 Courses You Can Play: Our staff’s 9 favorite spots

Last week, GOLF released its latest ranking of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play, a robust list of spots accessible to Average Joe golfers across the globe. Everyone has their favorites, and so do we. In an effort to inform, educate and motivate you for your next golf getaway, here’s our staffers’ picks for favorite Top 100 public courses played.

Top 100 Courses You Can Play: Our staff’s 9 favorites

Sand Valley (Sedge Valley), Nekoosa, Wis.

Pacific Dunes still remains my favorite public course I’ve ever played, but you already know all about Pacific Dunes, so instead I’m going to highlight a new option, Sedge Valley at Sand Valley Golf Resort, which recently opened and was one of the most memorable rounds I’ve played in years. The course is fun, strategic and playable and boasts one of the most thrilling 18th holes I can remember. — Josh Berhow

Kiawah Island, Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, S.C.

Kiawah Island is a stunning combination of beauty and treachery at every turn. Unlike many marsh areas around the Lowcountry, the marshes at Kiawah Island are pretty much unplayable. That said, there is a lot of room to play with if you miss on the proper side, which was surprising to me. When a major is there, the rough is allowed to grow and brought in tighter to the fairway, but for regular resort play, it’s very playable if you start from the right tees. The views of the Atlantic Ocean just steps away were incredible and the ocean breeze made shot-making a blast. The double-dogleg finishing hole is one of the more fun par-4s I’ve played in a while (and not just because I made birdie). — Jack Hirsh

Kapalua (Plantation), Lahaina, Hawaii

In terms of setting, Kapalua’s Plantation course is difficult to top. I’ve played it twice, both times to commemorate special occasions: my high-school graduation, and my honeymoon. The course’s allure is obvious: You’re in Maui; that’s euphoria-inducing right off the bat. It may be a resort course, but Plantation is tough — especially when the wind blows. And those elevation changes are no joke! But those views, man. What can compare? From the very first tee shot to the famous 18th, it’s simply a joy to experience. — Jessica Marksbury

Tot Hill Farm, Asheboro, N.C.

Nestled in the Uwharrie Mountains of Asheboro is Tot Hill Farm, one of North Carolina’s best kept secrets. Famously designed by Mike Stranz, this course challenges everything you know about course strategy with its dramatic slopes, arduous fairways, thrilling risk/reward opportunities and demanding greens. Each hole requires a different approach but also brings a new adventure. One of my favorite things about this course is that Stranz managed to save and incorporate pieces of the old cattle farm it was built on into his design. That includes the farmhouse that he lived in while designing this incredible course, which you can walk through before or after your round. — Maddi MacClurg

Taconic Golf Club, Williamstown, Mass.

It’s hard to imagine a more biased entry than this one; I played my college golf at Williams, which owns Taconic. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. It just means I know the specific joy of getting out of class at 2:25, jogging the few minutes down Spring Street and getting to the first tee for a 2:40 time. It means I know the view back into town from the 8th tee, the tops of the centuries-old red-brick dorms peeking over the trees, the domed hockey rink beside them, the lights from the football field in the foreground, the white church steeple in the distance. It means I know the race against daylight on an October evening, grey in the sky but orange in the trees. It means I know the quirky maneuvering of the front nine and the brutish test that awaits once you hit No. 10. And it means I know the joy of standing on the 14th tee, where a young Jack Nicklaus once made an ace, and staring out at a 270-degree view of rural New England perfection. What a place. — Dylan Dethier

Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst, N.C.

No. 4 is one of the most beloved courses at Pinehurst Resort for a reason. It’s fun and forgiving — great for mid-handicappers like myself in search of a rewarding round. — Connor Federico

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Pasatiempo, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Most of us will never get to play Augusta National, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some of Alister MacKenzie’s work. In fact, if you head to Santa Cruz, Calif., anyone can play on one of his best courses in Pasatiempo. The likes of Pebble Beach and Cypress Point might get most of the pub in the area, but just 50 miles north you can play a course that holds its own against them both. Best of all? It’s open to the public. Not only does the course boast some of the best bunkering you’ll ever see, it also has one of the coolest logos in golf. Play it once and you’ll be dying to come back for more. — Zephyr Melton

George Wright, Boston, Mass.

My fondness for George Wright is impossible to separate from my first memories of it. In my late teens, when I took up golf, this was one of the munis where I learned to play. Its pedigree back then was lost on me, of course. If you’d asked me in those days what I knew of Donald Ross, I might have guessed that he was Diana Ross’s dad. Some 40 years have passed, though, and while my game has not improved much, my appreciation for architecture has. Like a lot of great layouts of its vintage, George Wright doesn’t beat you up with length. But it wins you over with its many quirks and charms. It has nifty doglegs, cool granite outcrops flanking its fairways and blind shots that tumble toward compelling green complexes. Its closing stretch is as good as any in municipal golf, and the peak rate for 18 holes is $62. Does our Top 100 list feature “better” designs? Absolutely. But George Wright is where I fell in love with a game that has given me a livelihood, served up a lifetime of indelible moments and supplied me with a caddie yard-worth of friends. To measure a course on architecture merits only is to lose sight of what golf is all about. — Josh Sens

Lawsonia (Links), Green Lake, Wis.

OK, to be upfront, the handful of courses on this list that I’ve been fortunate enough to play are all sublime. But I think it says something that my longtime golf gang and I keep returning to Lawsonia for our yearly gathering, despite the usual talk of we should go here or there next year. Links makes you think, but not worry. It’s demanding, but not punishing. It rewards good shots, but doesn’t melt you if you duff one. And it’s just purdy to look at. But that’s just the course. The Woodlands course, the other 18 on the property, is great. (Be sure to ask where the house of the Culver’s founder is!) The on-site restaurant and food stand at the turn are great. (Brats!) Green Lake, the lake named after the city Lawsonia is in, is great. (The Heidel House has a wonderful breakfast buffet!) So yeah, as much as we’re thinking about going somewhere else next year, we don’t want to mess with a wonderful thing. — Nick Piastowski