The rate at which new golf courses are being developed has eased back recently. However, a few outstanding new layouts are still appearing year after year, allowing us to continuously experience new courses, which may be of particular interest to those who bet on the PGA Tour. A few courses that initially opened for play a few years ago are really starting to make their mark now, as their turf has firmed up and their greens have softened and moved into place.
That said, what follows is a list of the 8 best golf courses that have opened up at luxury hotels and resorts in the last few years. Take a look!
1. St. Andrews, Scotland
The place of origin of the game itself remains the ultimate golf trip a few hundred years after the fact. The Old Course in St. Andrews, tracing back to the 1400s, has since turned out six different Links Trust courses, in addition to scores of other enchanting links, both old (Crail) and new (Kingsbarns) within a traveling distance of the Kingdom of Fife.
There are beautiful attractions, from the cobblestone streets of the middle age town to the grave of Old Tom Morris, as well as golf shops, churches, and little pubs. The “Auld Gray Toon” of St. Andrews, upheld by a centuries-old and exceptionally ranked university, lends itself to more food, lodging, and refreshment choices than your ordinary little oceanside town.
The spirit of the game is ever-present, and the intriguing nature makes it a unique spot for any golf player to experience.
2. Pebble Beach, California
California’s glitzy Monterey Peninsula is a lot more than just Pebble Beach Resorts and its three World Top 100 courses on the Pacific Ocean. The enchanting midtown of Carmel-By-The-Sea streams into the dog-friendly beach made renowned by TV coverage of the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The Monterey Bay Aquarium anchors Cannery Row, an assortment of shops, dining, and galleries. Heading inland allows golfers to get away from the marine layer for sunnier skies at wineries and stylish golf resorts like Carmel Valley Ranch and Quail Lodge and Club.
Getting to flit around Cypress Point Club or even Monterey Peninsula Country Club is likened to winning the lottery and is a very rare experience.
3. Northern Ireland/Northwest Ireland
If you’ve at any point looked at a top 100 global golf course ranking, you’ve most likely seen the two “Royals” close to the top. Royal County Down (host of the Walker Cup) and Royal Portrush (host of the Open Championship) are perhaps the best one-two punches in golf.
Both can be found within an hour of Northern Ireland’s capital of Belfast, and an excursion into the Republic of Ireland due west uncovers lesser-known yet astoundingly tough Irish links at Ballyliffin, Carne, Enniscrone, and many more. Plus, redesigned links by Gil Hanse at Narin & Portnoo and Tom Doak at Rosapenna add newfound interest as well.
4. Pinehurst, North Carolina
Referred to as the “Cradle of American Golf”, Pinehurst anchors the Carolina Sandhills (as well as the Southern Pines and Aberdeen), and is in numerous ways North America’s nearest kin to the golf culture of St. Andrews – this being owed to the sandy soil that is perfect for golf and also the work of renowned Scottish-born architect Donald Ross.
Three of the Golden Age architect’s public courses are here: Pinehurst No. 2, Mid Pines, and Pine Needles, while current additions such as Tobacco Road and Pinehurst No. 4 add variety and a new depth of courses to test. The enchanting village of Pinehurst is brimming with history, golf memorabilia, and fun bars and cafés. Plus, the United States Golf Association is also setting up a headquarters there in the coming years.
5. Australian Sandbelt
The Australian Sandbelt outside of Melbourne provides a unique pocket of sand-based golf. The 36-hole Royal Melbourne Golf Club, the host of various World Cups, President’s Cups, and other exciting events, is the crown jewel, yet each of the eight most renowned title courses is profoundly respected, particularly Kingston Heath.
Victoria Golf Club, Commonwealth, and Metropolitan have attracted Australian Opens, and a tour administrator (or private club connection) can give you access to any of them – a bucket-list trip of the greatest order for anybody fortunate enough to experience it. Not to be ignored is the nearby Mornington Peninsula, with its assortment of rugged courses worth a round, featured by Michael Clayton and Tom Doak’s links at St. Andrews Beach.
6. Bandon, Oregon
Established in 1999, Bandon Dunes on the Pacific Coast, Oregon, is the ultimate untainted links golf destination in North America. Engineer Mike Keiser was a key part in introducing another variety of 21st-century remote golf resorts that are geared towards strolling all around the world. While Bandon might not have the nineteenth-century history in the British Isles, the five 18-hole courses here, driven by Pacific Dunes, have amazing landscapes and rough terrain, all of which procure top 100 placements in many publications.
It might be difficult to get to this beachfront section of southern Oregon, yet the actual resort is widely inclusive with a myriad of accommodations and F&B choices, also including remarkable services featuring an astounding caddie program and 24-hour courtesy transport for guests.
7. Scottsdale-Phoenix, Arizona
The powerful Saguaro cactus of the Sonoran Desert is an American icon, and it’s also a fixture on magnificent, modern desert golf course designs all throughout the Valley of the Sun. During the 1980s, Troon North brought the great member-for-a-day golf to the desert, and today there are scores of emerald-green fairways twisting through the desert from TPC Scottsdale to We-Ko-Pa. On top of that, five-star luxury and wellness resorts attract sun-starved northerners to the desert for serenity and sunshine.
8. Northern Michigan
Not many golf destinations can match the variety found in Northern Michigan, which, contingent upon how much driving you’re willing to do, runs approximately two dozen courses deep, including an assortment of multi-course resorts.
Rolling hills and hardwood forests make this the ultimate raised tee shot capital of American golf. Dr. Alister MacKenzie’s private Crystal Downs influenced present-day architecture heavily as a haunt of top architects Mark DeVries and Tom Doak, while Tom Watson played a bit of childhood golf at the memorable, semi-private Belvedere in Charlevoix.
Scores of reasonable, off-the-beaten-path courses are just waiting to be found. No visit here is finished without a look at the lakeshore of Bay Harbor and Arcadia Bluffs or a trip to America’s most prominent sand trap: the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
