The 10 Worst Golf Courses In America For 2026

About a year ago, I wrote what I thought was a somewhat humorous look at America’s worst golf courses, based on Google reviews from golfers.

Never in a million years would I have guessed that the article was about to start a shit storm.

More than 100,000 views later, there was a lot of anger. At me? Yes, well that’s pretty standard. A lot of calls for me being a clickbait artist. Hey, it’s all good. This section of MGS is about talking golf and giving opinions. I give you mine and then you give me yours. There is going to be some shrapnel thrown around but we’re just having fun here.

And, naturally, some of the courses were upset—but the most intense anger was directed at some of these courses with abominable conditions, unfair prices, poor customer service or some combination of all three.

Incredibly, some good came of that.

Take the Leo J. Martin Golf Course in Weston, Mass. The municipal course ranked No. 1 on last year’s list and resulted in a public outcry (damn, even the Boston Globe got in my mentions). Local news stations were relentless. We even had YouTube golfers going there to play “the worst course in America” for content.

All of a sudden, there was a meeting held virtually last December to talk about funding for improvements, like a better irrigation system and replacing the course’s hardscrabble greens. Shortly after that, it was announced that the course would be closed for a $5 million renovation that would address the virtually unplayable conditions. Leo J. Martin is scheduled to reopen in April 2027.

I’m not taking credit for this but hopefully the article pushed things along and some local golfers will now have a better municipal track to play at now. I would love to play it and write a story. Am I welcome up there or should I use a pseudonym and wear a fake mustache to get on? If we have any Massholes in the comments—and I use that term lovingly—please let me know.

I also want to say that at least a couple of other courses on the original list have made meaningful strides to improve their conditions. Norwood Country Club, also a Mass.-run muni, has been putting money into their maintenance budget. Look, it’s not Augusta, but progress is greatly appreciated.

A year later, I’m renewing this article. I doubt we’ll get another multi-million-dollar renovation, but one can hope.

Here are the criteria.

Courses have to be under a 3.5 Google rating, have more than 100 reviews and be an active facility to be considered. After dozens of hours of research, this seemed to be the fairest line of demarcation. Only reviews made in the last 12 months were used (and featured in quotes for each course). The more reviews a course has, the more evidence there is for it to be included.

This list isn’t meant to be about courses in the wilderness where nobody plays nor about random dog tracks that cost $8. The courses here are where real golfers regularly pay real money to play golf. And it’s not solely about conditioning. We’re talking about the entire experience from playability to pace of play to customer service.

Lastly, I took out Leo J. Martin and other courses that are going through renovations or actively putting money into their course to improve it. And even if a course’s reviews are bad on the whole, an upward turn in descriptive, positive reviews is enough to take them off the list.

What’s the point of this? Entertainment, public shaming and the hope that everyday golfers can have their voices heard to push course owners to either invest resources or sell to someone who will.

Without further delay, here are the 10 worst golf courses in America for 2026.

Editor’s Note: Golfer reviews have been lightly edited for clarity.

10. Red Lodge Mountain Golf Course (Red Lodge, Montana)

• Google Rating: 3.4 (114 Reviews)
• Green Fee: $6-$78

We’re starting off with a big no-no when it comes to golf course operation: price-gouging golfers when you have a rapidly deteriorating product. Red Lodge Mountain on the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park insists on charging golfers upwards of $80 even when the greens are essentially unplayable (there may or may not have been a greenskeeper mishap that led to the greens becoming so bad as you’ll see below).

It’s a shame because the course is in a pretty area with mountain views. Golfers also say the food is surprisingly good.

What the golfers say:

• “Pretty hard to comprehend charging so much when the greens look like they picked up an STD. I know the groundskeeper messed up and sprayed Round Up all over the greens earlier this year, which is unfortunate, but you have to imagine there are better ways to restart. Maybe tear up the greens and restart. Maybe insurance could help out, but I don’t know.”

• “Breaks my heart to have to do this after so many years of golfing this course. But I’ve grown up in Red Lodge and have watched this course go significantly downhill. Played it for the first time in a couple years today and the greens were so dead that they were just unplayable. On top of it the carts are trashed, torn and dirty. Can’t tell the difference between the fairway and rough with how pitted and uneven the terrain was. And the price to play this course is actually outrageous. Nearly 80 dollars for 18 holes with a cart… for some of the worst quality I’ve seen in any golf course.”

• “One of the worst courses I’ve ever played. In truth, it’s a stretch to even call this place a golf course. Horrible fairways, greens, tee boxes and everything in between. Paid $80 and expected a respectable course but found myself completely disinterested two holes in. Some pretty nice views but they don’t make up for the ridiculous price.”

• “We were excited to play this course. Sadly, we couldn’t believe how terrible the course conditions were. The front nine is worse than the back nine. The fairways have terrible grass, weeds and uneven mowing. The greens are worse. Virtually unputtable. The sand traps are essentially dirt and small pebbles. We couldn’t believe what they charged considering the conditions. It was insulting.”

9. Oak Ridge Golf Course (New Haven, Michigan)

• Google Rating: 3.2 (435 Reviews)
• Green Fee: $10-$75

It’s one thing to be two really bad courses but it’s another thing entirely to charge golfers $75 to play two really bad course. That is the case at the 36-hole Oak Ridge north of Detroit. After Red Lodge Mountain, that is the highest rated on this list. It’s a particularly bad combination when golfers also consistently complain about the course being wildly overbooked and rounds taking well over five hours.

What the golfers say:

• “The design is good and the entire facility has some serious potential, but the course conditions make this place unplayable. Used to be $50 for Marsh Oaks and $40 for Old Oaks—this year I see $70 and $50. From my one visit, nothing looked different. Wet dirt bunkers, rock solid fairways, patchy grass. If they put some effort towards maintaining the place, it could be significantly better than it is.”

• “The fairways are like the rough on any decent courses. I can’t believe I paid $40 to golf on grass that is like my back yard.”

• “The weekends here are ridiculous. It took us over four hours to golf 14 holes on the Marsh, so we left early. Multiple fivesomes on the course. We had a 2:04 p.m. tee time, but the party in front of us was at 2 p.m.—four minutes between tee times (and they were a fivesome)!? Thats absurd. Come on, guys. Do better. This isn’t how golf is supposed to be.”

• “Course was overbooked. We asked to go off the back nine and the answer was absolutely NOT, even though no one was on hole 10. Six hours to play 18 holes. Some holes had 12 people waiting to tee off.”

8. Brandywine Bay Golf Club (Morehead City, North Carolina)

• Google Rating: 3.4 (222 Reviews)
• Green Fee: $36-$50

Editor’s Note: There have been corrections to this section since the original publish of the article.

Brandywine Bay is struggling to grow grass on its greens, leading to a large number of temporary greens. While some golfers say they felt misled in regard to the course conditions, Brandywine Bay disputes these claims.

Jamie Eifert, the course’s GM, reached out to explain that “extensive efforts” have been made to notify golfers—and that price reductions had in fact taken place. Customer service is incredibly important to their staff, he said.

“While I recognize that our staff is human and there may have been isolated instances where someone was not informed, I believe we took every reasonable step to ensure our guests were fully aware of the course conditions before they played. Given these extensive efforts, I do not understand how it could be accurately stated that golfers were ‘misled.'”

What the golfers say:

• “Welcome to the Brandywine Bay Golf Club! Leave your putters at home—all you’ll need is a sandwedge around the greens. What a joke! They never disclosed the condition of their course, charged full greens fee for me and my son and didn’t make any attempt at making this right after talking to the club pro who said it was ‘out of his control.'”

• “Do not go here. Slow play and course was awful. Greens are dirt with no grass. Tee boxes were sand with no grass. And fairways were not great either. They do not take care of the course. Not worth any amount of money. Would give it 0 stars if it was an option.”

• “Course was in the worst condition of any course I have ever played. They stated back nine was under repair so you had to play the front nine twice. However, the front nine was worse than a cow pasture. It looked like an abandoned golf course. The sand traps were filled with weeds. It was quite obvious the grass had not been cut in quite a while… the fairways were overgrown and the greens were cut very long and difficult to putt on.”

• “The $50 greens fee is too much for the current course conditions… the course is still in rough condition. The tee boxes are uneven and one had a huge hole in the tee area… half the course had alternate greens. Hole 12 (par 3) is a complete skip hole. All the rest are drive and approach shots only, then automatic gimme putts (because of the temporary greens). Most tee boxes are sand and dirt and are badly in need of water. Most courses around the area are growing grass but this place seems behind.”

7. Duck Creek Golf Course (Garland, Texas)

• Google Rating: 3.2 (436 reviews)
• Green Fee: $22-$47

There are many reasons a course can be considered among the worst in America but Duck Creek just northeast of Dallas has the unique distinction of being a course where pace of play is both slow and heavily scrutinized by overbearing marshals. According to dozens of reviews, the course antagonizes players for their slow pace but somehow produces glacially slow rounds of golf anyway.

Many reviewers also remark on the concerning amount of trash littered across the property. I am told this course used to be pretty nice back in the day but fell into disrepair. The clubhouse also caught on fire in 2022 and hasn’t been replaced yet.

What the golfers say:

• “There is not a word in the English language that properly articulates how bad this golf course is. It was so bad, I wasn’t even upset—I was fascinated. There was trash everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean the streets of India are cleaner than this course. Behind hole three in the woods, there was a tent made out of blankets where someone was clearly living. The amount of weeds on the greens was insane, and they seemed to be multiplying faster than bacteria in a petri dish… the geo-fencing on the carts would start screaming while I was standing on tee boxes on multiple occasions. And speaking of the tee boxes, they were mostly mud, almost no grass, and completely unlevel. There is also no clubhouse. It’s just a trailer. From what I’ve read in other reviews, it burned down. Some people say it’s going to be rebuilt and the architect is holding it up. Others say the owners took the insurance money and moved to Florida. I have no idea what the truth is. What I will say is this: I actually recommend playing this course at least once just to experience it. If it somehow manages to stay open, at some point someone is going to make a feature-length documentary about it. At least you will be able to say you played there.”

• “At one point we were waiting on the group ahead, with no one directly behind us, yet we were still blamed for delays. We were eventually removed from the course for ‘breaking rules,’ though the only issue mentioned was cart positioning too close to the green—even though we had been told earlier to bring the cart closer to the green for faster play. We’ve seen other reviews describing similar behavior, including rushing players to move faster, suggesting they play a scramble, and prioritizing profit over player experience. Unfortunately, the course conditions do not reflect that standard, as it appears poorly maintained with weeds and lack of upkeep.”

• “Harassed by old man marshal at hole 1. Then harassed by marshal on the third fairway about pace of play when the next group ahead was 50 feet in front of us. Then not to mention this course has more pot holes on fairways than south Dallas streets do. All 18 there were three groups bunched up waiting on each other. On the 18th tee, I watched a guy piss on the cart path and then drive off.”

• “The course was a maze with poor signage. I got lost four different times and had to stop and ask where the next hole was on multiple occasions. Then my round was cut short when the staff called in all carts with an hour of sunlight left because they wanted to go home early.”

6. Pinetuck Golf Course (Rock Hill, South Carolina)

• Google Rating: 3.1 (205 Reviews)
• Green Fee: $25-$40

A returning member from last year’s list, Pinetuck has not been able to extricate itself from the depths of America’s worst golf courses. The lowlights here are weed-filled bunkers, cracked-mud greens where an automatic two-putt rule is necessary, and a golf cart graveyard next to the clubhouse.

However, many golfers remarked that they see potential in the layout and the greens have slightly improved, so I look forward to not including Pinetuck for the 2027 ranking.

What the golfers say:

• “The greens are horrendous to the point they are basically dried-up mud. They are so rough and choppy to the point your ball skips around like a rock. The fairways and the rough run together to the point where you might as well just play in a jungle. The western plains are in better shape than this course. The cart path is worse than any SC road you can imagine. The holes aren’t marked other than by a stone in the ground that you can’t see. The tee boxes aren’t very good, either. There were a few holes where the green was such trash, they moved the ‘green’ about 30-40 yards closer with no warning… the new green was marked by a random pin with, I kid you not, a bucket-sized hole. The carts were garbage. The first cart we had didn’t make it to the truck to get the clubs before it quit; the second cart wouldn’t even move; and the third cart moved, but the steering wheel didn’t work. This course should be paying people to come play at it—not the other way around. It cost a little over $30 to play with cart included, which is a rip off. It should be like $10-$15 cart included to play… they have an interesting golf cart graveyard right next to the not-so-appealing ‘clubhouse’… overall, I wouldn’t recommend playing here unless you want to play in a jungle. If you decide to play, make sure you take a weed-eater or machete. Oh, also the bunkers have zero sand in them and are overgrown with weeds.”

• “I can’t say I’ll be back unless this course has a major turnaround. Most of the greens are unplayable or non-existent, and the tee boxes need a lot of help to make this course bearable to play. This course has potential but it’s nowhere close to it right now.“

• “If I could give this no stars, it would still be too many. This course has no right to be charging people any money whatsoever. It should really be closed—it’s in that bad of shape. It’s by far the worst course I’ve ever played in the 30 years I’ve been golfing.”

• “Only good part of this course is that it was $30 for a round. That being said, it was the worst course I’ve ever played on. The greens were so far gone that it was almost laughable. One time I pulled up to the green and 50% of it looked nice and I rejoiced. It was the best green on the course. On the bright side, if you want to wait 30 minutes for microwaved hotdogs, you’re in luck, cause this place has it.”

5. Surrey Hills Golf Club (Yukon, Oklahoma)

• Google Rating: 3.3 (250 reviews)
• Green Fee: $10-$48

There ain’t no love in Oklahoma (shoutout Luke Combs)—and there ain’t a whole lot of good golf to be found at Surrey Hills Golf Club, just outside of Oklahoma City. The consensus here is that the greens may look green but most of that is just painted dirt.

As for the rest of the operation, reviewers rant about total dysfunction, strange signage and criminal prices given the course condition.

What the golfers say:

• “When we pulled in, the property looked half under construction and strangely deserted. There was no staff visible anywhere. Following the restroom signs led us downstairs into a dark hallway with almost no lighting, no direction and a handwritten sign taped to the wall explaining the bathrooms were closed and that porta-potties outside were the alternative. That pretty much set the tone for the day…. the pro shop was nearly empty—no merchandise, no atmosphere, just a small bowl of used golf balls sitting on the counter. Despite that, we paid nearly $100 for two people with a cart. We were told they were ‘running 50 minutes ahead of schedule’ and that we could tee off whenever we wanted. That sounded great until we got to the first tee box and sat there for over 20 minutes waiting for the fairway to clear. Pace of play never improved. We ended up quitting after nine holes because it took three hours… the first cart they gave us barely moved faster than walking speed. We had to call the pro shop from the first hole to request another one. To his credit, the young employee who swapped it out was polite and professional, but even he admitted they have ‘a lot of carts doing this right now.’ The course conditions were rough. The fairways were thin and patchy, and the greens were among the worst we’ve played on in a long time—bumpy, inconsistent and poorly maintained. Several areas looked more like stressed-out turf than playable greens... at the first tee, there’s a giant list of rules mounted onto a raw sheet of plywood attached to fence posts. It looks like someone put effort into wood-burning the lettering, but then stopped halfway through the project. Instead of creating charm, it just reinforced the overall feeling that the place lacks professionalism and upkeep.”

• “Barren dead driving range, giant tractors right in the middle of the fairway, crabgrass central, people taking 20 mins a hole, tee boxes you have to stomp your tee into. I bailed after the front nine. Wouldn’t golf it for free.”

• “I would give a 0 star if I could. This is absolutely the worst public course I have ever played in my entire life. And they are charging criminal rates for such awful conditions.”

• “If I could give zero stars I would. The course is in horrible shape. The greens have random patches of some grass trying to grow. The rest is dirt that has been painted to look like grass. Instead of remodeling the clubhouse, they should actually try fixing the greens. However, this has been an issue for almost decade, but they always have an excuse as to why there are issues with the greens. For two of us to play, it was almost $100. Won’t waste my money here anymore.”

4. Ponkapoag Golf Course (Canton, Massachusetts)

• Google Rating: 3.2 (334 reviews)
• Green Fee: $8-$45

Ranked as the fifth worst golf course in the country in the original ranking, Ponkapoag is sadly moving in the wrong direction. The greens are the real butt of the joke here—putting across the war-torn surfaces makes you feel like you actually aren’t putting at all.

While Leo J. Martin and Norwood Country Club have made positive strides in their conditioning and course operations (good job, Massachusetts), Ponkapoag has remained in disarray (bad job, Massachusetts).

What the golfers say:

• “This is not a golf course… leave your putter in the car, because there is nowhere to use it. Current conditions are the worst I have ever played in my life. They are borderline stealing from people, taking their money without telling them what they’re paying for. I will never return. Avoid at all costs.”

• “Fairways looked like they hadn’t been maintained since the Great Depression. Greens rolled like a parking lot, and somehow the rough was better than the actual course conditions. On top of that, they wouldn’t even let me drink a beer while playing, like I’m out there training for the PGA Tour or something. Honestly, we would’ve had a better time sitting on the commuter rail for four hours straight than wasting money here. If you enjoy mud patches, slow play and disappointment, this is the place for you.”

• “Greens are cratered to all hell… if you aren’t right on the fairway there’s a 2/3 chance you just won’t find your ball in all the pine needles, poison ivy and weeds.”

• “Amazing place if you want a case study in course mismanagement.”

3. Killian Greens Golf Club (Miami, Florida)

• Google Rating: 3.3 (279 Reviews)
• Green Fee: $23-$56

I’m not entirely sure what is going down in South Florida at Killian Greens, but it’s not good. As expected, reviewers talk at length about how the course conditions are mediocre at best and that should come as no surprise to you if you’ve read this far. However, the bigger drama is with the ownership and customer service, which many claim is aggressively poor.

Reviewers claim that the starter, some guy named Ron, consistently terrorizes golfers with his unchecked tyrannical rule. Poor customer service is mentioned in nearly every negative review—someone mentioned a drunk maintenance worker passed out right next to a tee box.

What the golfers say:

• “This golf course looks like it’s on the verge of collapsing and the employees are very unprofessional. The cart girl Annabelle seems too young to be in that role. Also, can you guys get her a REAL bev cart. What is that, Killian? Management seems to have questionable hiring criteria. I wouldn’t be surprised if other weird things are going on at this establishment. Would not recommend this place to anyone. This place better serves the community when it’s closed.”

• “I’ve played a lot of golf , but I’ve never dealt with someone as rude and unprofessional as the ranger, Ron. From the moment our round started, he had an attitude—talking down to players, rushing our group without reason and generally killing the whole vibe of the day. A ranger is supposed to help keep things moving and make the experience better, not make golfers feel unwelcome.”

• “Course is clearly ran by people who have no control over their own life. Ron the starter is a control freak, and the manager is very erratic. Surprised this place is still under the same management. Spend your money elsewhere.”

2. Victoria Golf Course (Carson, California)

• Google Rating: 3.1 (563 reviews)
• Green Fee: $5-$58

If being a terrible golf course was like college football, Victoria Golf Course would be an SEC powerhouse with unlimited NIL funds from some oil baron. Funny enough, the greens aren’t all that bad. Dare I say, they are probably the best greens among the courses on this list. Unfortunately, the fairways are comically bad. Like “hit the middle of the fairway and you are in a bunker” kind of bad. When you click the reviews section on Google, the term “gopher holes” is the most mentioned term among the reviews.

However, the Goodyear blimp does park itself right next door—so you’ve got that going for you.

What the golfers say:

• “Still shot a 87, although I lost four balls in the middle of the fairway. The place is a minefield with all of the gopher holes just waiting for someone to roll their ankle.”

• “I don’t think the course is salvageable at this point. It’s almost impossible to find balls even in the fairway.”

• “This place needs to shut down for about a year and have 30 million dollars funneled into it in order to make it a decent muni.”

• “The fairways are a mix of dust, sand and concrete… the people I played with stopped after a few holes because of lack of motivation given the course’s condition.”

1. Blackhawk Golf Club (Pflugerville, Texas)

• Google Rating: 2.8 (396 reviews)
• Green Fee: $27-$59

A rating this low with this many reviews is as rock-solid as it gets when looking for the worst golf course in America. What makes it so bad? It’s pretty simple, honestly. The fairways are straight-up dead. The greens are straight-up dead. Everything is dead. You might as well be playing on the moon. And enjoy the homeless encampment off the 10th tee! One golfer remarked that you could recreate the course by finding a pasture where all the animals have died because there was so little grass left for them to eat. Just place 18 flags in random locations around that pasture and you have your own personal Blackhawk Golf Club. The real kicker on top of all of this is that Blackhawk still charges upwards of $60 per round, which is very high considering the circumstances.

For all of that, Blackhawk Golf Club isn’t just the worst golf course in the Austin area—it is MyGolfSpy‘s worst golf course in America for 2026.

What the golfers say:

• “I genuinely don’t know how this place is allowed to charge people money to play here. I’ve played goat ranches in better condition. The ‘greens’ looked like someone scattered sand and drywall dust across them and called it maintenance. Half the fairways were basically a mix of dead grass, weeds, cracked dirt and random bare patches that looked like a failed construction site. The cart paths were somehow even worse—broken up, washed out and surrounded by dirt trenches. At one point I honestly couldn’t tell if I was driving through a golf course or an abandoned lot behind a Walmart. Every lie felt like punishment. You’d hit the fairway and still end up playing off hardpan and weeds.”

• “I’m not saying it’s the worst golf course in the world, but they better hope the worst golf course in the world doesn’t shut down. If this is the ‘other side’ then the ‘grass’ (if you’re lucky enough to find any) is definitely not greener over here—in fact, it is yellow. The fairways are so dry and patchy, they resemble dried mud pits from ancient times. The ground is so cracked, it can easily swallow a golf ball (the holes can fit more than half of my pitching wedge easily). Going to the 10th hole, the cart path just ends—no signs or anything, just a trail forged by those brave enough to come before you. Then the cart path comes back like it never left, only to end again. The alternate trail used felt less like a golf course and more like a premier off-roading experience.”

• “Frodo experienced fewer obstacles on his way to Mordor than my ball did on these greens.”

• “This could legitimately be the worst course in the world. I can’t even explain in words how bad the condition is. Five-inch divots on greens, fairways are rocks, tee boxes are slanted. I wouldn’t play this course if they paid me to play.”

So that’s it. That’s the list. The golfers have spoken.

Please feel free to leave a comment down below. I’m taking early nominations for 2027. If you would like to yell at me—or you could even agree with me—in a more intimate setting, my email is [email protected].