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When world-class courses like Bandon Dunes and Pasatiempo didn't make the top 25, we knew we had created one incredible collection of places to play for our latest 'Top 100' list at GolfPass.
Our list of America's top 100 tournament golf course you can play is one of the most inspiring we've published to date. It's chock full of famous courses where not only the pros play, but also where premier amateurs test their skills. Is your game ready for a challenge?
Golfers can book tee times - or a golf vacation - to play many of the courses in this article with a simple click. Here are the the top 100 tournament courses you can play, ranked nos. 26 through 50:
To see the top tournament courses ranked from 1-25 click here and for nos. 51-100 click here.
Our guide to identifying listed tournaments
In our course profiles below, we list the most important tournaments (certainly not every tournament) each golf course has hosted. Men's and women's majors are featured in bold, while PGA TOUR events are list first in normal text, followed by PGA Tour Champions events that are underlined, Korn Ferry Tour events that are bold and underlined, LPGA Tour events in normal text, amateur events in italics and club pro events in normal text at the end.
No. 50: Bandon Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
Tournaments: 2020 U.S. Amateur.
Comment: Despite the lack of high-profile tournaments, Bandon Dunes gets the nod for being the top tournament venue at arguably the top golf resort in America. The USGA's commitment to bring the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 2028 Walker Cup to the remote Oregon coast backs up our claim.
No. 49: Pasatiempo
Tournaments: Western Intercollegiate (1947-2019, 2021-present), 1986 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.
Comment: The 6,500-yard MacKenzie masterpiece is one of the shortest courses elite college players will see all year, yet nobody ever goes low. A greens restoration by Jim Urbina wraps up this fall.
No. 48: Karsten Creek
Tournaments: Division I NCAA Championships (men’s: 2011, 2018. women’s: 2018). NCAA Division I Regionals (men’s: 2001, 2009 2016, 2021. women's: 2022, 2014, 2009).
Comment: Nearly 20 Tour pros, including Victor Hovland and Rickie Fowler, have honed their games on this treacherous playground home to the Oklahoma State University men's and women's programs.
No. 47: En-Joie Golf Course
Tournaments: B.C. Open (1973-2006), DICK’S Sporting Goods Open (2007-2019, 2021-present).
Comment: Wandering over rolling hills and along the banks of the Susquehanna River, En-Joie has been hosting pros in central New York for more than 50 years.
No. 46: Course No. 4 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
Tournaments: Western Open (1991-2006), BMW Championship (2007, 2009-2011), 1997 U.S. Amateur, Men's Public Links Championship (1970, 1989), 1987 United States Women's Public Links Championship, 1988 Western Junior.
Comment: It's a shame Phil Mickelson's heavy criticism of 'Dubsdread' after Rees Jones' redesign helped speed up its exit from the pro golf scene. It's still a Chicagoland favorite.
No. 45: Crosswater at Sunriver Resort
Tournaments: The Tradition (2007-10), 1996 Division I Men’s NCAA Championships, NCAA Division 1 Regionals (men’s: 2004), PGA Professional Championship (2001, 2007, 2017).
Comment: The name says it all. If you can safely cross the Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers time and again, you might be able to score well on the signature course at one of the West Coast's largest and most diverse golf resorts.
No. 44: Poppy Hills Golf Course
Tournaments: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (one round from 1991-2009), First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (one round with various sponsors from 2014-19), 1991 Division I Men’s NCAA Championship, California Senior Amateur (17 times), NCGA “Major” Championships: Senior Four-Ball (2018-present), Mid-Amateur (2015-present), Women's Mid-Amateur (2021-present), Women's Amateur Stroke Play (2005-present), Amateur Stroke Play (2004-present), Public Links: (2015-present), Senior Championship (2016-present), Mid-Amateur Four-Ball (2018-present), Spalding (now TaylorMade) Pebble Beach Invitational (1989-90, 1992-93).
Comment: Robert Trent Jones Jr. and the Northern California Golf Association have been tinkering with the layout and routing for nearly a decade, trying to dial it in to perfection.
No. 43: Catalina Course at Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa
Tournaments: Tucson Open (under various sponsors from 1965-78, 1980, 1992-2006), Cologuard Classic (2015-2023), NCAA Division 1 Regionals (men’s: 1992, 1994, 1999, 2006, 2011).
Comment: Tucson National is a rare course that has hosted the PGA TOUR, the over-50 crowd and elite college players for the better part of six decades.
No. 42: TPC Las Colinas
Tournaments: Byron Nelson (1983-2017)
Comment: While private, the par-70 course is accessible to guests of the Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas.
No. 41: Old White at The Greenbrier
Tournaments: Greenbrier Classic (2010-15, 2017-19), 2023-24 LIV Golf Greenbrier, Amex Championship (1985-87), 1922 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Comment: While The Greenbrier Course has hosted a Ryder and Solheim Cup, Old White is the historic resort's most venerable tournament track. It is back hosting tournaments after aligning with LIV Golf.
No. 40: Harbor Shores
Tournaments: KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 , 2022, 2024), 2010 Champions for Change Golf Challenge (featuring Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller).
Comment: Harbor Shores, which will end its run of senior majors this summer, weaves through three eco-systems - dunes, forest and riverlands - on a superfund site that was once too toxic to build anything.
No. 39: Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West
Tournaments: The American Express (hosting one round 2016-present), 1994 Wendy’s 3 Tour Challenge, Grand Slam of Golf (1992-93), Hyundai Matches (1994-97), PGA TOUR Q-School Finals (1988, 1990, 1993, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011-12), 2015 The Prestige at PGA WEST Intercollegiate Invitational, Future Champions Golf World Championships (2011-12), 1992 TaylorMade PGA Club Professional Championship.
Comment: Playing the role of Robin to the Stadium's Batman, the Nicklaus Tournament Course co-hosts a number of events much like Spyglass Hill does for Pebble Beach.
No. 38: North Course at Torrey Pines
Tournaments: Farmers Insurance Open (one round from 1968-present), San Diego City Amateur Championships.
Comment: Tom Weiskopf reworked the North Course a decade ago to narrow the gap as second fiddle to its sister course. It will always be shorter and easier than the South; in many ways, it's more charming and enjoyable, too.
No. 37: Dunes Golf & Beach Club
Tournaments: 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic, SENIOR TOUR Championship (1994-99), 1962 U.S. Women’s Open, Golf Writers Association of America Championship (1954-2005), 2014 PGA Professional Championship.
Comment: Most rounds are won and lost on Alligator Alley, the three-hole stretch through the marshlands at the start of the back nine.
No. 36: Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort
Tournaments: 2015 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, Senior LPGA Championship (2017-19, 2021), The Legends Tour Championship (2013-16), Big Ten Championships (men’s: 2012-14, 2022. women’s: 2012-14), 2010 PGA Professional Championship.
Comment: The Korn Ferry Tour brings its season-ending championship to one of Pete Dye's most difficult courses beginning this year.
No. 35: Fields Ranch East
Tournaments: 2023 Senior PGA Championship, 2023 National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship.
Comment: Between the new East and West courses, Fields Ranch will host the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship (2024), the PGA Professional Championship (2024, 2030, 2033), the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (2029), the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (2025, 2031) and the PGA Championship (2027, 2034) with all the majors held on the East.
One tournament venue to watch
We almost ranked Black Desert in our top 50 before ultimately deciding that it hasn't earned its stripes ... yet. Tom Weiskopf's final design, located inside Utah's largest resort development, has already secured a four-year agreement to host the PGA TOUR's Black Desert Championship this fall, and a five-year agreement with the LPGA Tour for another event launching in spring 2025, bringing Utah its first PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour events since 1963 and 1964, respectively. The backdrop of the state's red rocks will really pop on TV against black volcanic rock of the site.
No. 34: Old Greenwood
Tournaments: Reno-Tahoe Open (2020-present).
Comment: This Jack Nicklaus design is part of the 36-hole Tahoe Mountain Club. While the thin air might help players hit it a bit farther, the course fights back with its fair share of water and slick greens.
No. 33: Memorial Park Golf Course
Tournaments: Texas Children’s Houston Open (various sponsors from 1947-63, 2020-present).
Comment: A redesign by Tom Doak, with input from Brooks Koepka, brought this muni back into the PGA TOUR rotation. Despite having just 19 bunkers and mostly flat terrain, Memorial Park still gives the pros all they can handle with Doak's intriguing green complexes.
No. 32: North Course at Silverado Resort & Spa
Tournaments: Fortinet Championship (various sponsors from 1968-80, 2016-present).
Comment: Former resort owner Johnny Miller and his team tinkered with the North course to get it ready for a triumphant return to hosting the best players in the world. There might not be greens tougher to read anywhere.
No. 31: Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio
Tournaments: Valero Texas Open (2010-present), 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Regionals.
Comment: Designed by Greg Norman with an assist from Sergio Garcia, the Oaks Course reflects the PGA TOUR’s departure from the modern tournament style course with expansive grass areas and spectator mounding to a more natural look and feel, without sacrificing the fan experience.
No. 30: TPC Louisiana
Tournaments: Zurich Classic (2005, 2007-present).
Comment: Pete Dye transformed flat swampland into an engaging golf course full of angles and a few pot bunkers to make the round interesting. The risk-reward par-5 finishing hole seemingly always has a hand in deciding which two-man team wins.
No. 29: CordeValle Golf Club
Tournaments: Frys.com Open (2010-13), 2016 U.S. Women’s Open, 2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, PGA Cup (2011, 2015).
Comment: CordeValle doesn't get the props it deserves, sandwiched as it is between San Francisco and the Monterey Peninsula, but this Robert Trent Jones Jr. design delivers a demanding test up and down the stunning hillsides south of San Jose. Visitors need to stay on property for access.
No. 28: TPC Deere Run
Tournaments: John Deere Classic (2000-present).
Comment: TPC Deere Run wins, hands down, as the best value for a PGA TOUR host. It's fun to play, too.
No. 27: Pine Needles
Tournaments: U.S. Women’s Open (1996, 2001, 2007, 2022), 1972 Titleholders Championship, 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, 1989 U.S. Girls’ Juniors Amateur.
Comment: Pine Needles is to the women what Pinehurst No. 2 is to the men - a North Carolina Sandhills classic that's tough come tournament time.
No. 26: East Course at The Broadmoor
Tournaments: U.S. Senior Open (2008, 2018), U.S. Women's Open (1995, 2011). 1938 Western Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur (1959, 1967), U.S. Women’s Amateur (1982, 1984), 1962 Curtis Cup.
Comment: The greens confound on this classic mountainside course. Even if it doesn't look like it, the ball always breaks away from Will Rogers Shrine, which chimes throughout every round.
To see the top tournament courses ranked from 1-25 click here and for nos. 51-100 click here.
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