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Imagine what golf must have been like in 1925.
The game has gained traction in America since the turn of the century, although it's still mostly a hobby for the wealthy.
Players are using hickory-shafted clubs to hit a wound ball as far as equipment of that era would allow. More courses are being designed and opening in what is still considered the "Golden Age" of golf course architecture. A century later, a few of these courses have earned status among America's greatest classics.
To celebrate the best of them, we're profiling five prominent public courses (nos. 1-5) and five elite private clubs (nos. 6-10) that are turning 100 this year. If you get to play any of them during such a special anniversary, you're one lucky golfer.
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Jasper Park Lodge, Alberta, Canada
![Jasper Park Lodge GC: #16]()
Jasper Park Lodge reopened July 1 after a devastating wildfire in 2024 that almost destroyed the iconic Fairmont hotel and its legendary Stanley Thompson design. Restoration work by Canadian Ian Andrews made numerous improvements, including:
- Expanding the greens to their original sizes to reclaim historical pin locations.
- Restoring two bunkers to their dramatic, original Stanley Thompson style.
- Tree management has restored historic sight lines and improved playability as part of a broader revegetation strategy that will continue through 2028.
- The debut of a new driving range, featuring distance markers created from reclaimed wood salvaged after the wildfires. -
TPC Harding Park, California
Following a major upgrade two decades ago, TPC Harding Park has regularly attracted top professional events from the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship to the 2009 Presidents Cup, 2015 WGC Cadillac Match Play, 2020 PGA Championship and the 2023 LPGA Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown. Heavy San Francisco air and thick rough make this municipal course feel like a major championship test for every hacker who tees it up along Lake Merced.
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Belvedere Golf Club, Michigan
![Belvedere GC]()
This Willie Watson classic celebrated its birthday by hosting the 114th Michigan Amateur Championship in June. It has hosted the event 41 times, more than any other club in the state.
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The Biltmore Golf Course, Florida
The Donald Ross golf course and famed Biltmore Hotel are celebrating their centennial together. Both have been the playgrounds of celebrities and athletes over the years in Miami's Coral Gables community.
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The historic Biltmore hotel presides over a gem of a Donald Ross-designed golf course, opened in 1925 and restored in 2018 by Brian Silva. Tim Gavrich/GolfPass -
North Course at Randolph Golf Course, Arizona
Randolph North has a proud pro tournament history for a city municipal course. It has hosted the Seiko Tucson Match Play Championship, the Joe Garagiola Tucson Open and the PING/Welch’s LPGA Championship. A major renovation of the North and its sister Dell Ulrich Course is in the planning stages.
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Yeamans Hall Club, South Carolina
![Yeamans Hall CC]()
Yeamans Hall is another Raynor design in the Low Country that's celebrating its centennial. A Tom Doak restoration in the 1980s has kept the club in high regard.
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Country Club of Charleston, South Carolina
![CC of Charleston]()
Known as the first golf club in America, the Country Club of Charleston features a traditional Seth Raynor design that's been restored a handful of times over the years. Kyle Franz will embark on more restoration work this fall.
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Roaring Gap Golf Club, North Carolina
![Roaring Gap GC]()
This original Donald Ross design in the mountains of North Carolina was restored and lengthened by Kris Spence a decade ago. Although short by modern standards at roughly 6,500 yards, the wild elevation changes provide for scenic and inspiring golf.
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Old Course at Indianwood Golf & Country Club, Michigan
![Indianwood GCC]()
Among Metro Detroit's plethora of historic country clubs, Indianwood holds its own as one of the best. The castle clubhouse is just as unique as the course, which is a sort of inland links set upon rolling hills by Winfred Reid. The Old has hosted three United States Golf Association Championships, including two Women's Opens and a Senior Open.
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Lookout Mountain Club, Georgia
![Lookout Mountain GC]()
This private club is releasing a book by Back Nine Press in September (buy here) to celebrate the unique journey to its milestone anniversary. The Seth Raynor design was actually built by Charles Banks after Raynor's death. A restoration by architects Tyler Rae and Kyle Franz completed in 2022 brought Lookout Mountain's best template holes back to life.
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