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Golf in America may have started in elite circles, but it has long since gone public, with more than 70% of courses across the country open to anyone.
Few public links hold a higher place in their regulars' esteem than the five golf courses of Bethpage State Park, especially its famed, major championship- and Ryder Cup-hosting Black Course. For nearly 90 years, but especially since its late-1990s overhaul, it has helped exemplify golf as a worthwhile form of public recreation in America - an example of state-owned municipal golf excellence.
Bethpage is far from the only strong example of state park golf in this country, or even its home state for that matter. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees not just the 90 holes at Bethpage but more than a dozen other courses, from Montauk Downs at the far eastern tip of Long Island to Wellesley Island State Park Golf Course in the Thousand Islands region, some 450 miles away. A loop of Wellesley Island's humble nine - 2,700 yards, par 35, zero bunkers - will set you back just $15. Not bad for these economic times.
Meanwhile, New York residents can play Bethpage Black for $80 or less; even the maximum out-of-state green fee of $160 is stunningly reasonable compared to similarly prestigious resort and daily-fee courses. If you are on a budget but still eager to travel, you could get a wonderful sense of the Empire State's natural charms by using its state park golf courses as your lens.
The same is true of other states. By and large, state park golf courses deliver excellent value in serene settings. In most cases, they're more isolated than most golf courses, but the drive to reach them is often appealing. If remote golf hubs like Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley have convinced golfers that it can be worth extra flights or hours in the car in order to access superb golf, then there is a similar case to be made in favor of state park golf courses, albeit on a more modest scale.
More state park golf course highlights
Parks and recreation authorities in several states have prioritized golf to varying extents. The breadth of New York's offerings is impressive; Kentucky is another hotbed of state park golf, with 13 facilities under state oversight. Several of them enjoy high ratings over the years from GolfPass golfers; Mineral Mound Golf Course, Hidden Cove Golf Course and Dale Hollow Lake Golf Course all sit within state parks.
Georgia is another state with a wealth of state park golf courses, with eight sites spread comprising a Georgia Golf Trail from Highland Walk at Victoria Bryant State Park in the northern part of the state to The Lakes at Laura S. Walker State Park in its southeastern corner. In between, two Georgia state park golf courses - Meadow Links Golf Course at George T. Bagby State Park and Arrowhead Pointe at Lake Richard B. Russell State Park - reside in this year's Golfers' Choice list of Georgia's 25 most popular courses.
One of the most-anticipated new golf course projects that will be unveiled later in 2025 resides within Georgia's Jekyll Island, where golf has been included in a massive $300 million revitalization project that aims to make what has historically been a sleepy and out-of-the-way vacation spot into a bona fide destination. Following on a refreshment of Jekyll Island Golf Club's Pine Lakes course in 2024, 2025 has seen a total transformation of its historic Walter Travis-designed Great Dunes course from a long-neglected 9-holer into a 18-hole homage by up-and-coming architects Brian Ross and Jeff Stein. Technically-speaking, Jekyll Island is an independent state agency, having been disconnected from the formal state park system in 1951. But its combination of natural beauty and relative affordability for traveling golfers gives it a similar spirit to traditional state park golf places.
Not all states embrace golf as part of state recreation plans as readily as New York, Kentucky, Georgia and others like Tennessee, Arkansas and Utah. In late 2024, prospective plans to build golf in a portion of Florida's Jonathan Dickinson State Park met with such vocal resistance that they were quickly shelved, with Florida governor Ron DeSantis signing a law in 2025 effectively kneecapping the state's previously proposed "Great Outdoors Initiative," which would have opened up the possibility of golf course development on state lands. Florida has more than 1,000 golf courses already, putting it in a different situation with regards to the game and its role in state-sponsored recreation than in other parts of the country.
3 favorite state park golf courses that I've played
I have enjoyed several rounds at state-owned golf courses across the eastern half of the country, and am keen to visit several more.
Saratoga Spa State Park Golf Course (Championship) - Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Green fee: $60/$79 (residents/non-residents)
I will always have good memories of this pleasant course where I played my first-ever multi-day golf tournament at the age of 9. The William Mitchell design may not be a world-beater architecturally, but the way it weaves in and out of dense forest and past buildings where visitors would bathe in the area's namesake waters is very charming. The historic Gideon Putnam hotel inside the park is a classy spot, too, and serves as a jumping-off point to other area attractions and golf courses like the more upscale Saratoga National.
The Arnold Palmer Signature Course at Stonewall Resort - Roanoke, W. Va.
Green fee: $89/$95 (residents/non-residents)
Located roughly midway between the capital city of Charleston and the university town of Morgantown, Stonewall is practically in the middle of nowhere, but that's part of the charm. You can understand what John Denver was singing about as you take in the mountain scenery on display throughout the mountain-and-meadow routing. I played this course during my college years, and even though I failed in an attempt to qualify for U.S. Open Sectionals there, I remain fond of the layout here, which opened in 2002. Recent GolfPass reviews have been somewhat uneven due to fairway conditioning concerns, but they are mostly in agreement that the greens are good. The resort hotel on-site receives solid reviews, too.
Rocky Gap Golf Course - Flintstone, Md.
Green fee: $189
Rocky Gap is an independently operated casino resort, but it sits within a Maryland state park of the same name. The Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course is solid, with a mix of valley holes and others that wander the terrain between the mountain foothills and Lake Habeeb. A couple of scenic downhill holes add some pizzazz to a tranquil modern layout that is convenient to those traveling I-70.
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