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It really is a dream job.
As I come up on 12 years on the full-time golf-travel-and-architecture beat, I am extremely grateful that I get to travel and write about the game I've been obsessed with for more than 30 years and collect a paycheck every other Friday for it. Along with the greater media industry, the golf writing game has changed significantly and rapidly in recent years.
In addition to making articles like this one, I have been dabbling in video as well, and while I will never be a hotshot golf influencer, I have had some fun with it since I took over GolfPass' social channels in late 2024. Saying something interesting and useful about a golf course in 90 seconds is quite a different skill than writing about it in 1,000 or more words, and it has been interesting to cultivate that skill over the last year and a half. It's not something I set out to do at the beginning of my career but I have been pleased to be able to pick it up a little bit.
Both courses featured above - Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic and Cliffhangers at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri - are new-to-me golf courses since the last time I looked back at a big round number in my ongoing courses-played spreadsheet. I hit #600 in early December of 2023 and played my 700th all-time course in early April of 2026. Coincidentally, both of these were Pete Dye designs - TPC Sawgrass' Players Stadium Course and the Harbor Course at Grand Harbor Golf Club, respectively. I guess #800 will have to be a Dye course, too.
But before I look ahead, I want to go over where I've been, and chop up my 700 golf courses' worth of experience into a top 70.
Overall top 10: the best golf courses I have played so far
This task was hard enough when I hit 600 courses. The last batch of new-to-me courses makes it downright excruciating, as I have seen some world-class layouts in the last 100. Something had to give; here is my up-to-date all-time top 10 in alphabetical order (* = new additions from my most recent 100 courses, displacing Mountain Lake, Old Town Club, Sunningdale Old and Tobacco Road):
*Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) - La Romana, Dominican Republic
I have never played Pebble Beach, but Pete Dye's 1971 Caribbean masterpiece comes as close as I can imagine, with seven holes along the rocky seashore knitted together with 11 other excellent holes in their own right, full of Dye's strategic challenges and unique quirks.
Harbour Town Golf Links - Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Two years Teeth of the Dog's junior, Harbour Town helped launch Pete Dye as a great modern golf architect, thanks in large part to the halo effect of Jack Nicklaus, whose collaboration on this Lowcountry gem kickstarted the "signature architect" movement, where famous golfers became involved in course design and shaped the growth of the game worldwide for most of the next half-century.
Lahinch Golf Club - Lahinch, Co. Clare, Ireland
Ireland is a magical place for golf, with its links courses blessed by heaving dunes that make for some of the most memorable holes in the world. At Lahinch, Alister MacKenzie improved on a solid foundation from Old Tom Morris, leaving behind world-famous holes like the Klondyke 4th and Dell 5th. That Lahinch hosts the prestigious annual South of Ireland Amateur only adds to its charm and importance.
Mid Ocean Club - Tucker's Town, Bermuda
C.B. Macdonald had an outsize influence on golf architecture given a modest output, but virtually every course he laid out is world-renowned. Mid Ocean is all old-world charm in a spectacular setting overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It is an adventure without being torturous - exactly what any golfer would dream of enjoying every day.
North Berwick Golf Club - North Berwick, Scotland
Fife and St. Andrews get most of the glory, but East Lothian - the district east of Edinburgh - has its own cadre of world-class courses, headlined by this quirky delight that even begins and ends like The Old Course: with side-by-side short par 4s that usher players out of and back into town.
Pinehurst (No. 2) - Pinehurst, N.C.
For pure distilled exercises in interesting golf shots, one after another, from first tee to 18th green, No. 2 is hard to beat. Its Sandhills setting has only improved in recent years thanks to Coore & Crenshaw's transformative 2010 restoration of Donald Ross practically handcrafted masterwork. The weight of history and the graciousness of the Pinehurst property and village are perfect complements.
*Royal County Down Golf Club (Championship) - Newcastle, Northern Ireland
Sea, mountains, blind shots, woolly bunkers and one of the best hotels in golf nearby make County Down a dream-come-true golf experience. Even if the course doesn't quite maintain its ridiculously high level past the 13th hole, the final march home is still enjoyable and makes it as great as any course in the British Isles.
*Royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce) - Portrush, Northern Ireland
Its re-emergence onto the Open Championship rota has exposed this sublime links to the world once again, with one superb golf hole after another, culminating with the famed Calamity Corner long par-3 16th. Incredible northward views mean it's as gorgeous at sunrise as at sunset. Like Lahinch, it supports amateur golf, hosting the North of Ireland each year. That makes it aces in my book.
St. Andrews Links (Old Course)
What more can be said about the Old Course, golf's Sistine Chapel? What's your favorite golf course? was an unanswwerable question for me for the longest time until I realized that this was the answer. As long as it exists, it will have an unconquerable advantage over every course because it has been a compelling place to hit a ball across turf for centuries longer than anywhere else of note.
*Sand Valley Golf Resort (Lido)
Technically speaking, this is the 'newest' course in my personal top 10, opened in 2023. But it is a meticulous reproduction by Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf Design of a relatively short-lived C.B. Macdonald masterwork, which actually makes it worthy of one of the most overused sentiments in golf: that it truly feels like it's been there for decades.
My next 60 favorite golf courses (sort of)
Although magazine ranking lists helped fuel my fascination with golf course design and the tradition of scholarship and criticism surrounding it, I'm ambivalent at best when it comes to rank-ordering the courses I've played. But what I will do here is devote the next 60 of my sort-of-top-70 to two themed top-30 lists. Since I've played 186 different layouts in the Sunshine State, I'll also include my top 30 Florida golf courses, public and private, rank-ordered. And because my overall top 10 includes one course opened in 1969 (Harbour Town), one opened in 1971 (Teeth of the Dog) and another built in the 2020s but based on a 1910s design (Lido), I'll offer my top 30 publicly accessible golf courses built in the 21st century in alphabetical order.
My top 30 Florida golf courses
1. Mountain Lake - Lake Wales
Seth Raynor, 1917
2. Seminole Golf Club - Juno Beach
Donald Ross, 1929
3. TPC Sawgrass (Players' Stadium) - Ponte Vedra Beach
Pete Dye, 1982
4. Pine Tree Golf Club - Boynton Beach
Dick Wilson, 1961
5. Kinsale Club - North Naples
Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner, 2025
6. High Grove - Venus
Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner, 2026
7. The Country Club of Florida - Village of Golf
Robert Bruce Harris, 1956; Lester George, 2006
8. The Dye Preserve - Jupiter
Pete Dye, 1988/2002
9. Boca Rio Golf Club - Boca Raton
Robert Von Hagge, 1967
10. Streamsong Blue - Bowling Green
Tom Doak, 2012
11. Streamsong Red - Bowling Green
Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2012
12. PGA Golf Club (Dye) - Port St. Lucie
Pete Dye, 2000
13. Jupiter Hills Club (Hills) - Tequesta
George Fazio, 1970
14. The Park West Palm - West Palm Beach
Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner, 2023
15. Sara Bay Country Club - Sarasota
Donald Ross, 1926
16. Dunedin Golf Club
Donald Ross, 1926
17. Fort Myers Country Club - Fort Myers
Donald Ross, 1916
18. Biltmore Golf Course - Coral Gables
Donald Ross, 1925
19. Country Club of Orlando - Orlando
Various, including Tom Bendelow and Ron Forse; 1911-2017
20. Streamsong Black - Bowling Green
Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner, 2017
21. Lake Nona Golf & Country Club - Orlando
Tom Fazio, 1986
22. Windsor Club - Vero Beach
Robert Trent Jones, Jr., 1991
23. Watersound Club (The Third) - Lake Powell
Davis Love III/Love Golf Design, 2025
24. Pelican Golf Club - Belleair
Donald Ross, 1925; Beau Welling, 2018
25. Quail Valley Golf Club - Vero Beach
Tommy Fazio & Nick Price, 2001
26. Black Diamond Ranch (Quarry)
Tom Fazio, 1987
27. Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) - Palm Harbor
Lawrence Packard, 1974
28. PGA National Resort (The Match)
Andy Staples, 2021
29. Cabot Citrus Farms (The Squeeze)
Mike Nuzzo, 2024
30. Winter Park 9
Unknown, 1914; Riley Johns & Keith Rhebb, 2016
My top 30 21st-century public golf courses
Big Cedar Lodge (Cliffhangers) - Ridgedale, Mo.
Johnny and J.P. Morris, 2025
Big Cedar Lodge (Mountain Top) - Ridgedale, Mo.
Gary Player, 2013
Big Cedar Lodge (Ozarks National) - Ridgedale, Mo.
Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2018
Big Cedar Lodge (Payne's Valley) - Ridgedale, Mo.
Tiger Woods, 2020
Casa de Campo (Dye Fore) - La Romana, Dominican Republic
Pete Dye, 2005
Cabot Citrus Farms (Karoo) - Brooksville, Fla.
Kyle Franz, 2024
Cabot Citrus Farms (Roost) - Brooksville, Fla.
Kyle Franz, Mike Nuzzo, Ran Morrissett and Rod Whitman, 2025
Corales Golf Course - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Tom Fazio, 2010
Diamond Springs Golf Course - Hamilton, Mich.
Mike DeVries, 2002
Dumbarnie Golf Links - Leven, Scotland
Clive Clark, 2019
Erin Hills Golf Course - Hartford, Wisc.
Dr. Michael Hurdzan & Dana Fry with Ron Whitten, 2006
Hammock Beach Resort (Ocean) - Palm Coast, Fla.
Jack Nicklaus, 2000
Landmand Golf Club - Homer, Neb.
King Collins Golf, 2023
Marquette Golf Club (Greywalls) - Marquette, Mich.
Mike DeVries, 2005
Old Toccoa Farm - Blue Ridge, Ga.
Bunker Hill Design, 2015
Omni PGA Frisco (Fields Ranch East) - Frisco, Texas
Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner, 2023
Omni PGA Frisco (Fields Ranch West) - Frisco, Texas
Beau Welling, 2023
Pinehurst Resort (The Cradle) - Pinehurst, N.C.
Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner, 2017
Pinehurst No. 10 - Pinehurst, N.C.
Tom Doak, 2024
Punta Espada Golf Club - Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
Jack Nicklaus, 2016
Quivira Golf Club - Cabo San Locas, Mexico
Jack Nicklaus, 2014
Sand Valley Golf Resort (Commons) - Nekoosa, Wisc.
Jim Craig, 2026
Sand Valley Golf Resort (Mammoth Dunes) - Nekoosa, Wisc.
David McLay Kidd, 2017
Sand Valley Golf Resort (Sand Valley) - Nekoosa, Wisc.
Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2015
Sand Valley Golf Resort (Sandbox) - Nekoosa, Wisc.
Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2017
Sand Valley Golf Resort (Sedge Valley) - Nekoosa, Wisc.
Tom Doak, 2024
Stoatin Brae - Augusta, Mich.
Renaissance Golf Design, 2016
Tot Hill Farm Golf Club - Asheboro, N.C.
Mike Strantz, 2000
TPC Danzante Bay - Loreto, Mexico
Rees Jones, 2016
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Saguaro) - Fort McDowell, Ariz.
Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2006
Comments (2)
Having played eight of your top ten, I am hard pressed to argue with any of them. I assume you have not been to Bandon or Cabot since none of those courses made your 21st Century list. I agree with Robert about getting Down Under. I am looking forward to the reno at Mountain Lake.
Great article Tim but you need to get down to Australia and New Zealand to broaden your record and your list. Some fantastic golf courses down here.
Having played eight of your top ten, I am hard pressed to argue with any of them. I assume you have not been to Bandon or Cabot since none of those courses made your 21st Century list. I agree with Robert about getting Down Under. I am looking forward to the reno at Mountain Lake.
Great article Tim but you need to get down to Australia and New Zealand to broaden your record and your list. Some fantastic golf courses down here.