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The best lists of Golfers' Choice 2024 are finally here.
For the 10th anniversary of Golfers' Choice, we decided to shake things up and release most of the rankings of the best public golf courses in each state on March 1, instead of the traditional mid-January time frame. This allowed us more time to make the lists more useful for golfers like you. We made the lists look better by adding photos and links to every course that made the cut. These links can either take you to the course page, where you can gather all of the information you need, or you can potentially book a tee time by simply hovering your browser over the photo, where a "Book a Tee Time" box will appear. Not every golf course that makes Golfers' Choice offers bookable tee times, though many do.
March 1 also better coincides with the start of the golf season in many of these states. We hope these lists inspire golfers in cold-weather states from Maine through the Midwest and the Plains out west to Washington to get pumped for the upcoming 2024 golf season. Pretty soon, it will be your time to enjoy the spoils of perfect golf weather and course conditions while the sunbelt states become less desirable, saddled by hotter temperatures and less-than-ideal conditions.
As much as I love the national Top 50, and the unique sub-category lists like Best Amenities, Best Conditions or Friendliest Staff, I think all of us can agree that the lists of the best public courses in each state are the most useful to everyday golfers. They can quickly point you where to play.
Like any list of golf courses, there will always be reasons to love or hate certain ones being included, or leave you wondering why one course is ranked above, or below, another. I encourage you to look at these state lists as merely a guide. It's not critical whether a course is first or 10th. Simply making one of these presigious lists makes a golf course worthy of your attention.
As I explained in a column earlier this year about Why Golfers' Choice rankings matter now more than ever, these rankings aren't like your traditional "best of" lists from golf magazines. They're not assembled by small, elite panels and editors. They reflect the tastes and experiences of everyday golfers like you and me.
Golf course architecture isn't always the dominant part of the conversation when golfers submit a review on GolfPass. They (golfers) are looking at the total experience - Was the staff friendly and helpful? Was the pace of play steady? How were the conditions? Was the routing fun and fair? Did the green fee feel like a fair price? I think that's ultimately how most golfers rate their experiences: 'Did I get what I paid for? Did the course fall short of or exceed my expectations?'
"Golfers are not measuring the quality of the course's routing and place in the game as much as they're summarizing the day-to-day experience compared to the cost. If you charge me $50 on what I perceive to be a $100 course, that's a five-star day. If you charge me $200 for what turns into a $75 experience, a lower-rated review will reveal the discrepancy."
Let's take the Golfers' Choice 2024 list of the best public golf courses in California as an example. I recently appeared on the golf radio show "Golf to Go with Frank LaRosa" to analyze the 25 courses that made the cut in the Golden State. Click here to listen.
I've only played 12 of the public courses that made our California rankings, or roughly half the list. Social media can get loud protesting that more famous courses like Pebble Beach, Aviara and Torrey Pines weren't included. I explained that they either, a) didn't get enough reviews to qualify - make sure you're reviewing courses, people! - or b) some golfers didn't leave a glowing review because they didn't feel they got their money's worth. After all, California's bucket-list courses are some of the most expensive public golf experiences in America.
I don't mind that some big names weren't included. Each Golfers' Choice list features some measure of volatility. There are years when the big names will impress enough golfers to make it. Other years, they won't. That leaves room for other courses - usually more affordable ones - to share in the spotlight.
I like that a few underappreciated or overlooked courses - hidden gems, if you will - get the recognition instead. Because of Golfers' Choice 2024, I now want to drive the 90 minutes to discover what Timber Creek Golf Club in Roseville outside Sacramento or the Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton are all about. This year has expanded my personal must-play list.
Finding an excuse to play a golf course new to you or me? That's never a bad thing. Golfers' Choice can open your eyes to potentially fun, new golf experiences. Click below to get to our interactive map of the United States to click on each individual state ranking.
We have also started a new series of articles celebrating a decade of Golfers' Choice, which launched in 2014. We've already published a couple of stories, profiling the courses that have finished No. 1 nationally since 2014 and the 11 courses that have "dominated" the national top 50 over the years. Up next, we will profile the courses, clubs and resorts that have dominated within key states like California, Florida, Texas and Arizona.
These places have shown a track record of consistent success and 10 years of making golfers happy. Keep an eye out for these lists because, if you're looking for places to play near you that virtually guarantee a great round, these are the ones.
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