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PASADENA, Calif. -- As a lifelong University of Michigan football fan, watching the Wolverines' overtime win over Alabama inside the Rose Bowl earlier this year was a dream come true.
The whole day was perfect. The weather was gorgeous. We met some old friends for tailgating on the Brookside Golf Course adjacent to the stadium. The game...well, some believe it could be the best Rose Bowl of all time, given the stakes and the programs involved.
I had such feel-good memories from that day that I vowed to someday play Brookside. When Troon Golf announced that its Indigo Sports division would begin managing the 36-hole municipal facility for the city, I figured that was the excuse I was looking for to return.
With views of the San Gabriel Mountains, Brookside Golf Club is home to the C.W. Koiner Golf Course and the E.O. Nay Golf Course, known simply as the No. 1 and No. 2 courses. Both William P. Bell designs are among the oldest golf courses in Los Angeles County dating back 95-plus years. No. 1 is much longer at 7,104 yards - compared with 6,025 yards - and plays right next to the Rose Bowl for a trio of holes. One wrong swing and you could slice a shot into section F.
The whole experience inside and outside the Rose Bowl got me wondering: What other golf courses mingle so intimately with iconic sports stadiums?
Normally the term "stadium golf" refers to a famous TPC course hosting the PGA TOUR - like Sawgrass or Scottsdale. This is a different kind of stadium golf.
I've rounded up five of the best golf courses featuring stellar views of nearby sports stadiums. I can vouch that most of these courses are arguably more fun to play than those difficult TOUR venues:
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Brickyard Crossing
![Brickyard Crossing: Aerial #9]()
Aerial view of the 9th hole at Brickyard Crossing. Brickyard Crossing Any fan of golf knew this unique Pete Dye layout had to be No. 1 on this list. Four holes of Brickyard Crossing play inside the oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. BrandonWebb, one of our local golf advisors, left a glowing four-star review in 2023, finishing with this: "The price tag is steep, and obviously is geared toward players curious to enter the four-hole gauntlet within the fabled racetrack. Yet, I think it’s worth it. If I had one public round in the greater Indianapolis area it would be here."
![Brickyard Crossing]()
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Brookside Golf Course - No. 1 Course
![Brookside Golf Club - Rose Bowl aerial view]()
The Rose Bowl sits in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains next to the 36-hole Brookside Golf Course. Courtesy of Troon Golf Brookside is an interesting place. The setting is so bucolic, other than the Stadium and a cement drainage ditch that guards the first green. The No. 1 course features a layout I've never encountered before with three par 3s and 3 par 5s. That leaves 12 par 4s, many of them too long for muni players like me to reach in regulation. If the golf gods granted the city an unlimited budget to modernize the entire facility and tweak some holes, Brookside could become something even more special. As it is now, it's a solid bargain play in pricey SoCal.
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University of Michigan Golf Course
![University of Michigan Golf Course - No. 18]()
The historic University of Michigan Golf Course overlooks downtown Ann Arbor. Brandon Tucker/GolfPass I have plenty of good memories playing the U-M Golf Course, designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie, and tailgating on it before games at the "Big House" across the street. As a reporter for the Ann Arbor News, I covered the 1997 Michigan-Ohio State game when Charles Woodson cemented his Heisman Trophy legacy and led the Wolverines to a co-national championship that season. While the whole course is an absolute gem, the view from the elevated 18th tee is the highlight, overlooking both the U-M football and basketball stadiums. Limited public tee times are available for one of America's best college courses.
![University of Michigan GC]()
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Durban Country Club
Classic golf: Durban Country Club in South AfricaNo. 18 at Durban Country Club is one of the most unique finishing holes in tournament golf. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorThe first hole at Durban Country Club starts what some have called the "toughest" first five holes in golf. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorBunkers frame the par-3 second hole at Durban Country Club in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorJungle pinches the par-5 third hole at Durban Country Club in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorThe fourth hole at Durban Country Club tumbles downhill. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorNo. 5, a long par 4, is ranked the toughest handicap hole at Durban Country Club in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorA gaping bunker intrudes on the second shot of the par-5 eighth hole at Durban Country Club in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorThe ninth hole at Durban Country Club is pretty flat and straightforward, but it still plays tough. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorThe par-3 12th hole at Durban Country Club drops off dramatically on either side of the green. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorThick jungle encroaches on the approach shot to the 16th green at Durban Country Club in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorThe 250-meter finishing hole at Durban Country Club supposedly gave up scores of 1, 2, 3 and 4 to a foursome. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf AdvisorDurban CC, a Top 100-caliber club, is one of the coolest courses I've played. The course interacts with the ocean on one side and the dense city skyline on the other, including the Moses Mabhida Stadium, a soccer stadium that served as one of the hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I'm not a soccer fan, but it's stunning architecture had me wanting to see a game.
![Durban CC - The Course CC]()
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The Golf Club at Texas A&M
![Golf Club at Texas A&M - hole 2]()
The second hole of the Golf Club at Texas A&M serves up a view of Kyle Field. Tim Gavrich/GolfPass Sitting across the street from Kyle Field, the Golf Club at Texas A&M dates to the 1950s but received a face lift in the late 1980s by architect Jeffery Blume. It has ranked among the top 25 collegiate golf courses in our Golfers' Choice rankings three times since 2020. An August review by 'VladimirFurl' gave it four stars, writing: "Fine course. Cool environment. Course was in good shape. Staff was very friendly when we expressed our feelings about cart malfunctions. Being by Texas A&M's campus was cool!"
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