Since 2020, when golf was one of the few activities that allowed for safe socializing, the game has continued to climb a growth curve of participation. In other words, country clubs and public courses across the country are packed.
Bandon Dunes in a remote enclave of coastal Oregon is fully booked two years out and has become so popular, a lottery is now held twice each year for the chance to book your trip. Pinehurst Resort, which hosted the U.S. Open last year on its No. 2 course, just announced the construction of its 12th course this fall.
The National Golf Foundation reports that in 2024, 28.1 million people played golf, the highest number of participants since 2008, when Tiger Woods' electric game and omnipresent ad campaigns flooded the game with beginners and newly converted zealots.
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If you've fallen in love with the game, you know one of its pleasures is traveling to find more courses to play.
The appeal of golf is that no two courses are alike. Each offers a different set of challenges, and the setting often dictates those challenges. Golf along the ocean is different from golf in the mountains, not just what you see visually, but how you must play the course.
A slew of podcasts and websites have made the average golfer more educated about the principles of course design and the virtues of well-constructed courses — like how that Art Appreciation course changed your concept of shading freshmen year.
In some ways, that’s made it even harder to find great courses with great value as they’ve gotten more popular, but there are still plenty of greens to discover.
Here, you can find a mix of places to visit that offer excellent golf — and are tucked away enough to beat the crowds. These destinations will require you to gas up your car or rental and are definitely worth the trek, offering first-rate golf courses in unique environments.
1. Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg, Nebraska
Three hours west of Omaha, Wild Horse is an unlikely golf course in what might seem like an unlikely landscape — the Sand Hills of Nebraska.
Yet the region is the locus for a golf travel movement that reshaped the industry when the eponymous Sand Hills Golf Club opened in Mullen in 1994. That private course proved golfers will travel to out-of-the-way locations to play spectacular golf.
Its success spurred the town of Gothenburg to enlist Dave Axland and Dan Proctor, who worked on the crew building Sand Hills, to construct its own course as a means to improve the town’s quality of life.
What they received is a course that moves through subtle, undulating ground, providing strategic shot-making decisions and one of the best deals in the country at a top rate of $80 per round on the weekend with onsite lodging as well.
2. Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington
Hours from the Canadian border and 136 miles from Spokane, Gamble Sands has emerged as one of the most desirable and picturesque golf settings in America. Architect David McLay Kidd has fashioned a course that sits above the Columbia River, offering panoramic views of its winding path set against a mountain landscape.
The golf is as good as you’ll find anywhere, offering players of all levels challenges and loads of fun. For 2025, a second course, Scarecrow, opens August 1 and joins the original course, as well as a short course. Peak rates for hotel guests are $245 per round.
3. The Golf Courses of Lawsonia, Green Lake, Wisconsin
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I drove to Green Lake last summer at night in a rainstorm across numbered roads sitting next to agricultural fields. One of them might have been dirt.
In the morning, I made my way to the Golf Courses of Lawsonia and was astounded by how good the golf was, particularly its Links Course, an architectural gem that flew under the radar for many years to all but the golf cognoscenti. What makes the Links so special are its greens, which are built into hillsides and perched above you with interesting contours.
The course is a wide-open affair you can look out over, but it also has enough movement in its land to provide several blind shots. Peak rates are $125 per round.
4. The Highlands, Harbor Springs, Michigan
Northern Michigan provides long days of sunlight, and you'll want to take advantage of that to play the four courses at The Highlands. Situated four hours north of Ann Arbor, The Highlands provides some of the best golf in a region rich with it.
The Heather is the oldest of the resort's courses but its best – and sternest. The par-5 fifth hole is framed by water and reaching pine trees, hallmarks indicative of the course’s beauty and the way it uses the land to draw out its challenges. Peak rates are $110 per round.
5. Barnsley Resort, Adairsville, Georgia
About an hour north of Atlanta, Barnsley feels much farther away. Its rustic setting is perfect for an extended weekend in one of its onsite cottages, which have recently been updated.
The golf course provides an excellent mix of challenge and ease off its tees and winds through a surprisingly hilly terrain. The greens are large and inviting and, like most resort courses, relatively flat. Still, there is some fire with moderately fast green speeds and challenging approach shots.
The closing hole is the toughest of the batch, but you can take the sting out of hitting into the water (as I did) by heading to the resort’s inn for a nightly bourbon tasting. An 18-hole Himalayas putting green course is to open in early fall. Peak rates are $130 per round.
6. Sand Valley Resort, Nekoosa, Wisconsin
The resort in middle Wisconsin sits on the ground Aldo Leopold made famous in his seminal work of environmental literature, A Sand County Almanac. That unique ecosystem and its plentiful sand makes for superb golfing ground and is also the Keiser family’s Midwest answer to Bandon Dunes, which they also founded.
With five courses (and more on the way), the resort has grown to become one of the most popular in the country despite being almost three hours from Milwaukee and two from Madison, its nearest airports for those not flying private.
Every course is a must-play at Sand Valley, but the original, Sand Valley, and the Lido are both striking examples of how golf courses can become thrilling theaters, providing as much unique visual pleasure as the golf they engender. Peak rates are $295 per round.
7. Rancho de los Caballeros, Wickenburg, Arizona
An hour outside the crowded Scottsdale golf market, Rancho de los Caballeros is a working dude ranch and resort.
Exceptional course conditioning is often the least important criteria for me when evaluating a course, but given the climate and location, Los Caballeros deserves some praise for how well maintained it is.
Greens are often unobstructed by obstacles, allowing golfers the option of running shots in on the ground or providing newer players a chance to still get on the green with mishit shots.
Then there are several elevated greens that add to the course's variety. Peak rates are $140 per round.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Los Caballeros' peak rates.
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