Top U.S. Golf Courses by Region
Fundamentally, ranking golf courses is a subjective exercise. Better players often prefer more challenging layouts. Less skilled golfers might appreciate wider fairways with fewer forced carries.
That said, the validity of any individual review isn’t tied to whether that golfer has a degree in golf course architecture or a preference for certain types of grasses.
If you’re a golfer, your opinion matters.
To build our list of the best golf destinations, we turned to TheGrint and to real golfers just like you.
ABOUT THEGRINT’S RANKINGS
To generate our rankings, we leveraged data from TheGrint, a golf handicap and stat-tracking service that also allows golfers to rate the courses they play. Think of it as something similar to Yelp for golf courses.
Here are the pertinent details:
- Ranking derived from more than 300,000 golf course reviews from golfers just like you.
- Only reviews from the previous year (2020) are used.
- Only considered courses with a minimum of 50 reviews.
- Golfers considered course conditions and overall experience as ranking criteria.
Based on reader feedback, we took the data for all courses in the United States and broke it down by region. Over the next several weeks, we’ll work our way from the Pacific Coast Highway to the Eastern Seaboard.
BEST COURSES IN THE SOUTHWEST
Observations
- The highest-rated courses in this region center around the Phoenix/Scottsdale metropolitan area.
- TPC of Scottsdale, Grayhawk and Troon North all have two courses ranked in the top 10
TOP 10
10. La Cantera Resort | Resort Course (95.1)
9. Grayhawk | Raptor (95.3)
8. Grayhawk |Talon (95.5)
7. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club | Cholla (95.6)
6. Troon North Golf Course | Monument Course (95.6)
5. Troon North Golf Course | Pinnacle Course (96.0)
4. TPC of Scottsdale | Champions (96.0)
3. Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club (97.6)
2. Quintero Golf Club (97.8)
1. TPC of Scottsdale | Stadium (98.2)
Correction: This article originally published with a photo of La Cantera’s Palmer Course and not the Resort Course. The photo has been updated to show the correct course.
Franz51
3 years ago
We-Ko-Pa and Quintero are hands down the best on this list. I knock Troon because for a top 10 in my opinion I would prefer no houses in my scenic view. With that said the track is still top notch. I have played TPC and outside the coolness of saying you played #16 and walking where the pros walk it just a solid track overall. By no means is it #1…..if ur using the grit then it’s most likely people who travel to AZ want to play the course on TV and have no idea about some of the other gems in AZ.