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My conversations every year at the PGA Merchandise Show seem to gravitate toward the same question:
How long can this last?
The golf boom post-pandemic got even bigger last year, just when insiders thought it couldn't. Golf Datatech just released its final numbers. Rounds of golf were up 2.2 percent in 2024 vs. 2023. Seven of the eight regions it tracks were in the positive, the lone exception being the South Atlantic (down 3.2 percent) because of the extensive hurricane damage in Georgia and the Carolinas.
What do these numbers mean for everyday golfers like you and me? Book early and book now, especially if you want to visit golf's most popular destinations. Places like Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley are essentially already sold out for the season and are already booking into 2026.
No matter. There are still plenty of incredible places to plan a golf trip in 2025. We rank the 10 hottest golf destinations every year in order to point you in the right direction. We look at several key metrics to determine our rankings - major championship venues, our Golfers' Choice 2025 data and the best new and renovated courses that have reopened (or will soon), so you can be among the first lucky players to experience them. Playing tournament venues before or after the pros do - or even just showing up to watch them and playing a few nearby courses during the trip - is sure to make for great memories.
The 10 best golf trips to take in 2025
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New York
Bethpage Black is a paragon of both municipal golf and the decidedly American the-tougher-the-better golf course philosophy. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass A Ryder Cup at America's muni? Inject it into our veins! If you can somehow find a way to play Bethpage Black this year AND attend the Ryder Cup, you've won golf's version of the lottery. The Americans are seething after a poor showing in Italy two years ago, and have turned to a younger, more emotional captain, Keegan Bradley, to get the players energized and ready to defend their home turf.
There isn't a ton of amazing public golf around New York City and Long Island, but Bally's Golf Links at Ferry Point, Pound Ridge - fresh off a record year for rounds - and the municipal Eisenhower Park complex are solid places to start. And don't sleep on Bethpage Red.
Where are you planning your 2025 golf trip? Let us know in the comments below.
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Northern Ireland
![Rory McIlroy at Royal Portrush Golf Club]()
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland takes on the famous 16th hole called 'Calamity' during an R&A day at Royal Portrush. David Cannon/R&A via Getty Images The return of The Open to Royal Portrush's Dunluce Links for the first time since 2019 is big news for Northern Ireland and the Emerald Isle as a whole. It will set the stage for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor. We shared our five favorite golf experiences in Northern Ireland just a few months ago, so click on the story here if you need some advice.
During the PGA Show, Irishman Paul McGinley, a past Ryder Cup captain, made a passionate pitch for more golfers to visit the nearby County Donegal. He's working to enhance its links at Donegal Golf Club and Portsalon. Currently the 45-hole Ballyliffin and 54-hole Rosapenna set the standard for golf in that section of northwest Ireland.
![Castlerock Golf Club]()
![Championship Links at Royal Country Down Golf Club - 9th hole]()
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Northern California
![Olympic Club - Lake Course - hole 18]()
The par-4 finishing hole at The Olympic Club's Lake Course is famous for its "IOU" shaped bunkers guarding the green. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass Where to begin with this the nomination of my home Bay Area ... I'll just start listing why it's worth visiting.
* The tournament calendar is packed with the U.S. Amateur on the Gil Hanse-modified Lake Course at The Olympic Club, the Walker Cup at Cypress Point, the U.S. Women's Mid-Am at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Silverado's North Course once again hosting a fall PGA TOUR event in Napa.
* Tons of renovation and restoration work is really benefiting the public golfer. San Juan Oaks will celebrate its first full season back after a full modification effort (review here). Both the Bayonet and Black Horse courses on the Monterey Peninsula have been upgraded in anticipation of building a new hotel. Don't forget that Poppy Hills will reopen later this year following a full rebuild by Jay Blasi, who also did a fantastic job rejuvenating the par-3 Golden Gate Park in the heart of San Francisco.
* TPC Harding Park will celebrate its 100th anniversary, one of the many famous Golden Age courses celebrating centennial years in 2025.
* This is the final season of The Links at Spanish Bay before a major Hanse rebirth begins next year.
![Silverado North #16 Aerial-compressed.png]()
![Cache Creek Casino Resort]()
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Central Wisconsin
![Erin Hills - sunset]()
The sun sets over the ninth green at Erin Hills. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass Central Wisconsin has been a staple in our top five in recent years, mainly due to the reconstruction of SentryWorld, host of the 2023 U.S. Senior Open, and all the new golf debuting at Sand Valley, headlined by Lido and Sedge Valley last year.
This year, the United States Golf Association returns to Erin Hills for the U.S. Women's Open. In Madison, the American Family Insurance Championship moves from University Ridge to TPC Wisconsin, a course newly redesigned by native son Steve Stricker. Why is that a big deal for traveling golfers? You can now go play University Ridge, ranked 19th in Golfers' Choice 2025, and watch one of the PGA TOUR Champions' most popular tournaments launch a new team-oriented format. Appearances in the Golfers' Choice 2025 Top 50 by Geneva National's Trevino course (no. 15) and Washington County (no. 38) speaks to the depth of public golf in the region.
![SentryWorld Golf Course]()
![Geneva National Golf Club - Palmer & Player]()
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Denver
![East Course at The Broadmoor]()
The finishing hole is a dogleg right to an elevated green. Brandon Tucker/GolfPass Great golf surrounds the Mile High City, especially stretching south to Colorado Springs, where The Broadmoor will host the U.S. Senior Open on its treacherous East Course. North of Denver, TPC Colorado regularly hosts the Korn Ferry Tour. It's home to one of the longest golf holes in America - the 773-yard 13th. For the young guns, that's probably just a driver and 7 iron these days. For us mere mortals, a great play would be the 27 public holes of Pole Creek, which finished eighth in the Golfers' Choice 2025 Top 50. If you time your visit right, you could be among the first to play the new Bella Ridge Golf Club debuting in Johnstown this summer an hour north of Denver. One to watch in the next two years: Rodeo Dunes, the newest Dream Golf project.
![The Ridge at Castle Pines]()
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Pennsylvania
![2016 U.S. Open - Dustin Johnson at Oakmont Country Club]()
Dustin Johnson of the United States hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on June 19, 2016 in Oakmont, Pa. Sam Greenwood/Getty Images Pennsylvania is, arguably, the epicenter of American golf this year. The U.S. Open returns to Oakmont Country Club, where Dustin Johnson won his only U.S. Open in 2016. Across the state, the Philadelphia Cricket Club hosts its first PGA TOUR event, the Truist Championship in May. Its Wissahickon course will give the world's best golfers a taste of classical A.W. Tillinghast golf before the event returns to Quail Hollow in North Carolina next year.
In between the two is the historic Omni Bedford Springs Resort, which set records in Golfers' Choice 2025 by finishing first in four subcategories (Layout, Course Conditions, Pace of Play and Staff Friendliness) and No. 2 overall. Its timeless Old Course is part Tillinghast, part Donald Ross. Does it get any better than that?
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Cabot Citrus Farms
![Cabot Citrus Farms - The Roost: #14]()
Aerial view of the 14th hole from The Roost Courseat Cabot Citrus Farms. Cabot Citrus Farms We aren't apologizing for putting Cabot Citrus Farms in the top 10 for the second straight year. Last year, the Karoo and its two alternative courses - The Wedge and The Squeeze - made strong debuts (check out our review). With January's grand opening of The Roost (our review here) and the full activation of the lodging, the resort is now poised to shoot towards the top of America's best. If you haven't been, it's time to get here, and leave reviews for us while you're chillin' with drinks and cornhole on The Porch.
![Cabot Citrus Farms - Karoo:]()
![Cabot Citrus Farms - The Squeeze: #2, #3, #6]()
![Cabot Citrus Farms - The Roost: #18]()
![Cabot Citrus Farms - The Wedge]()
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Wales
The sea is visible from every tee at Royal Porthcawl. Brandon Tucker/GolfPass Royal Porthcawl first burst onto the international tournament scene when an amateur Tiger Woods lost his singles match at the 1995 Walker Cup there. Wales' best links has followed up with a nice recent run of majors - Senior Opens in 2014, 2017 and 2023 and now The AIG Women's Open July 30-Aug. 3.
Golfers can either take on Porthcawl's links before or after the championship, or show up to watch the best women in the world, while exploring a land where sheep greatly outnumber people. We first toured the countryside in 2003, seeing a nice mix of links like Royal St. David's and Pennard (the magical 'Links in the Sky') and the parkland courses of Celtic Manor, the 2010 Ryder Cup host.
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Lake Tahoe
![2024 American Century Championship - Jason Kelce - stableford]()
Former NFL football player Jason Kelce hits his tee shot on the 14th hole of the 2024 American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images Lake Tahoe is one of our favorite places to play EVERY year, but making our top 10 this year seems extra appropriate.
Edgewood Tahoe, host of the American Century Championship, climbed to the top of Golfers' Choice 2025, finishing at No. 1 for the first time. Just across the lake overlooking the northern shores, Incline Village's Championship course also made the cut, landing at no. 26 in Golfers' Choice 2025. Another stunner nearby - the Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood in Truckee, Calif. - hosts the Barracuda Championship July 17–20.
If the American Century Championship can get the Kelce brothers and the entire Curry family back competing, celebrity golf's best tournament will get even wilder. The only way it could get bigger is if you know who shows up, too, to hang with her beau.
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Massachusetts
A pond guards one of the many scenic holes at Crumpin-Fox. Courtesy of user 'u314162287518' We're probably pushing the boundaries of a "golf destination" with this selection, but we're not opposed to an interesting outlier to shake things up. Massachusetts is a very underrated golf state, and it appears to be on the upswing. For the first time ever, three of its best public courses made our Golfers' Choice 2025 Top 50 - The Ranch in Southwick (no. 30), Crumpin-Fox (32) in Bernardston and the Jones Course at Pinehills Golf Club (47) in Plymouth. You'll have to do a bit of driving (200 miles to be exact) to see all three. The reward is a tour of some scenic rolling hills in one of America's original 13 colonies. Follow up the golf with a couple days on Cape Cod for a summer trip to remember.
Comments (2)
No mention of Ferry Point for NY courses?
You are 100 percent right. I have added Ferry Point. Thank you for keeping us honest. Appreciate the feedback.