Why our Golfers' Choice 2024 #1 course is so popular

NAPLES, Fla. - What does it take to be number one?

The hundreds of thousands of golf course reviews that pour into GolfPass every year reveal plenty about what golfers expect and value when they head out for a round.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of our annual Golfers' Choice rankings. We've taken in more than 2 million reviews all-time, and golfers took the time to submit nearly 300,000 in 2023 alone.

Every year, our flagship list reveals the 50 most popular courses in the eyes of golfers like you. It always looks a bit different than what you might see from GOLF Magazine, Golf Digest and Golfweek, and that's by design. Those publications have hand-picked panels of experts to guide tastes; we leave it up to all golfers thoughtful enough to tell their fellows what they liked and didn't like about a course. Every year, several courses surprise us.

Our Top 50 in 2024 was topped by a course that is quite familiar to avid watchers of golf on TV. Tiburon Golf Club's Gold Course hosts not one but two events of significance each year: the LPGA Tour's season-ending CME Group Championship and the Grant Thornton Invitational, an off-season event that for the first time in 2023 paired PGA Tour and LPGA Tour pros in a team format. (Tiburon's Black Course hosts the PGA Tour Champions' Chubb Classic every February.)

As part of a Ritz-Carlton resort, Tiburon is a very upscale golf facility. GolfPass golfers have a sharp eye for value, which makes an expensive-to-play course in Naples, Fla. - one of America's more upmarket areas for golf - a particularly intriguing #1.

I recently visited Tiburon to see what all the fuss was about while also diving a bit into what other golfers had to say.

Tiburón Golf Club - The Gold Course

Naples, Florida

Resort

4.7078529412

88

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Tiburon Gold has received 74 reviews all-time, including the minimum 10 in 2023 - from 10 different golfers - that made it eligible for our nationwide list. Each of those 10 reviews in 2023 carried an overall 5-star rating. In only one case was it the only review a particular golfer has left - a testament to the experience of the golfers who took the time to tell others about their experience.

Of the five reviewers who have 10 or more lifetime reviews on GolfPass, the most enthusiastic came from the appropriately-named 'tiburonazo,' one of GolfPass top 100 review contributors with more than 150 lifetime course ratings. He played back in September - a notoriously hot and humid time of year in southwest Florida - but nevertheless had a great time, as evidenced by the title of his review: "Absolute Perfection!"

"All the holes are pretty and unique," he wrote. "The course is challenging but fair. Shot placement is rewarded here.

"If my ball striking was a bit better, I would have had one of the most memorable rounds of my life. Some unique things about the course are the bunkers, especially around the greens, which have wall features like the kind you see in Ireland or Scotland. My word of advice, stay away from those bunkers. The greens rolled pretty true, not real fast. The greens were not overly difficult, but not easy either, I think I only one putted a handful of times.

"The practice facilities were top tier, the clubhouse was that of super high end country clubs. Last but not least, the course is part of the Ritz Carlton resort, which is absolutely awesome for a weekend getaway with the family. 10 out of 10."

Tiburonazo's thoughts were echoed throughout the year by other reviewers, who also noted the quality of the service guests receive at Tiburon.

"I find this course to be incredibly comfortable to play, and I think it starts with the staff," wrote 'pmilkman' in a review of a May round. "If you are going to pay for Ritz service, you should get Ritz service and I think you do."

A March 2023 review by 'HCDan' experessed appreciation for other aspects of the golf experience: "Great conditions. Very well kept. Pace of play was good. Would highly recommend if price isn’t a deterrent."

Digging deeper into Tiburon Gold's ratings, Value is the one category that lags behind the others. Its average Value rating across all reviews is 4.0, while each other category carries a 4.6 or higher rating.

Tiburon is an upscale, resort/semi-private facility in one of the most sought-after golf markets in America. The fact it takes any outside play at all makes it a rarity in the area and drives its green fees up; the vast majority of the golf in and around Collier County is private and extremely expensive. Tiburon's peak-season green fees, which can top $430, justifiably generate some discussion. Reviewers have noted this but the vast majority have elected not to let it bring their overall rating of the course down from the maximum of 5 stars. That's a testament to Tiburon's across-the-board strength.

Overall, my late-March round at The Gold Course and overall experience at Tiburon was well in line with what others have expressed about it. Here are my thoughts for each of our sub-categories.

My rating: 4/5
Course architecture is the most important aspect of any overall golf experience to me, and after more than 600 golf courses (Tiburon Gold was #614), I have a good sense of what works and what doesn't. Honestly, I ended up liking Tiburon Gold slightly better than I expected to. Having played roughly half a dozen Greg Norman designs, I have come to expect certain traits: an aversion to long rough, greens with subtle and broad slopes rather than abrupt humps and a generally clean look. The Gold Course has all of this, plus an interesting approach to bunkering in the form of stacked artificial sod lips around parts of many of them. This adds valuable three-dimensional relief on an otherwise very flat site. I particularly like the par 5s, and actually found the first hole to be my favorite on the course. I was snookered into going for the green in two and paid the price. Most courses' opening holes are pedestrian; this one is anything but.

My main knock on Tiburon Gold has to do with the routing; there are several surprisingly long transfers from a green to the next tee box. The course also doesn't change direction as readily as my favorites often do. Part of that comes down to the site, and the envelope on which The Gold Course sits is unusually shaped. I assume there were some restrictions around some of the wetlands the course encounters. The presence of homes on the course - set well back, for the most part - also plays a role. It's not a huge demerit; 4 of 5 from a design perspective is still plenty good in my book.

5/5
When it comes to conditioning, I grade on a pretty steep curve. At less expensive courses with clearly limited maintenance resources, I find it silly to expect pristine conditions and instead focus on the high-play areas: greens and fairways. If these are solid, I'm inclined to give a 4 or 5.

At courses where golfers are paying a lot to play, I'm much more critical and focus more on the details in addition to the big criteria. Specifically, firmness is extremely important to me, so I will withhold the highest ratings from a course that is softer than necessary, with appropriate grace given if I know there's been a lot of rain in the lead-up to my round. I don't need greens to be like pool tables, but when they reward well-struck shots and punish clumsy ones, I'm happy.

Tiburon Gold delivered on the conditioning front. Greens and fairways were on point in terms of firmness and general upkeep. The putting surfaces were fast without being out-of-hand. They and the fairways supplied good-enough bounce, impressively so knowing the area had had several inches of rain in recent days. The tee boxes were prim and all other areas functioned properly.

4/5
As part of my job, I am fortunate to receive professional courtesy at the vast majority of golf courses I play, so I often elect not to give a Value rating in a lot of my reviews. But occasionally, when public sentiment seems drastically different from my own perception of a course's value, I'll provide one.

In the case of Tiburon, I am inclined to defer to the prevailing opinions about its value proposition: good, but particularly subject to different golfers' budgets and perspectives. While rates can top $400 in the winter and early spring, they are also subject to a steep fall in the summer, so golfers who are turned off by those rates at one time of year may feel quite differently at another. Seasonal rate fluctuation makes assessing value tricky at courses in Florida, Arizona and other Sun Belt states.

5/5
High-end golf sets a high expectation for good service, and Tiburon delivers it. Everyone I met from the pro shop to the bag drop and beyond was friendly and helpful. Some upscale places can feel snooty and some golf facilities with large private memberships can make guests feel like second-class citizens, but there was none of any of that at Tiburon. Full marks for this Troon Golf-managed facility.

5/5
I teed off at 3 p.m. and was able to join up with two brothers - one a PGA life-member and the other a salesman - and had a blast with them. The group that was on the tee ahead of us seemed to get off to a slow start but quickly plowed ahead, and so did we. We finished in slightly more than three and a half hours. Fast golf makes fast friends.

5/5
My emphasis on design makes me a relatively easy grader on this front, but even if I was a stickler, I'd likely give Tiburon full props for its amenities. The driving range is excellent, guest locker room is smallish but fully functional, restaurant seemed pleasant (I didn't eat there so will defer to others' comments) and the overall clubhouse is impressive - grandiose in the typical Naples way but also well laid out, with a lovely view from the back of the atrium out over the 9th and 18th holes on The Gold Course.

5/5
The rest of the experience at Tiburon Golf Club's Gold Course more than makes up for any slight quibbles I might have over the course's design, or the perceived value proposition it offers. I look forward to returning to check out The Black Course sometime.

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Golf Packages

Best of Naples Package

NAPLES, FL | Enjoy 2 nights' accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples and 2 rounds of golf at Tiburón Golf Club - Gold Course and Black Course.

Golfers' Choice 2024

December 18, 2023