Best Golf Courses

In my area, my favorites that I play a decent amount are:

Spyglass Hill

Pebble Beach

Pasatiempo

I'd love to play Cypress and Monterey CC someday. I'll trade anyone a round at Pebble, Spyglass, or Pasa, for one at either of those. :-D

Favorite Vacation courses that I play are:

Wailea Gold (Maui) 

Mauna Kea (Hawaii)

Mauna Lani (Hawaii)

I have been lucky enough to play alot of courses in Scotland, Ireland and England.  My top 10 best courses so far is:

Royal Dornock - Scotland

Turnberry - Ailsa - Scotland

Milwaukee Country Club - Wisconsin

Carnoustie - Scotland

Whistling Straits - Wisconsin

Cruden Bay - Scotland

Royal Portrush - Ireland

Royal County Downs - Irland

Narin - Scotland

St. Andrews - Old Course - Scotland

On my bucket list would be Augusta, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst

Both courses are great to play. Royal County Down is a tough course to play if you don't hit the fairway but is a great track to play and had to use almost all of my clubs in the bag. I played it twice and both times, the wind was 20-30 mph which made it more difficult to play after 5 month winter break without playing.  I would perfer to play both courses as each has it's own unique qualities and I was impressed with both!

Nice choices there Connell, I have played Bethpage Black, and Valderramma in Spain, (check on the bucket list) my wish to play courses would be

TPC Sawgrass, Augusta, Pebble Beach 

I have been lucky enough to play a few courses in Ireland and I loved Ballybunion and Lahinch. Two of the finest links courses in the world. I also loved Teeth of the Dog in the D.R. Great times!

Gary

Favorite courses I've played:

Torrey Pines (South)

Sahalle CC

Spanish Bay

Wish List (Realistic):

Whistling Straits (plans to play next year)

Pinehurst #2

Bandon Dunes

Bay Hill (father-in-law's account)

Being from Rochester NY, I have not had the pleasure of playing "Oakhill CC".  Its on my bucket list as they say.  However being a huge Golf City, we do have some fantastic courses available to us.  Deerfield CC is one of my favorites.  

The best I have played in no particular order.

Waterville         Ireland

Pinehurst 2,4,& 8             

Whistling Straits

Torrey Pines South

Turnberry  Scotland

Royal Troon  Scotland

Port Rush Ireland

Sawgrass

Old White

Golden Horseshoe

Would like to play:  St Andrews, Royal County Downs, Pebble Beach, and any other course I can play.

Pebble Beach, Augusta National and TPC Sawgrass are on my list to play, but TPC Deere Run and TPC Cancun were very fun to play.

My favorite that I have played would have to be North Berwick West Links in Scotland, just a magical experience.

Others I've been fortunate enough to play include:

Merion East Course

TPC Sawgrass

Turnberry Ailsa

Prestwick

Western Gailes

Gullane #1

St. Andrews - New

May River Golf Club

I totally agree with the selection of the West links at North Berwick … I could play that course every day for the rest of my life and never be tired of it.  In the US, I have similar feelings for Pasatiempo … Perhaps I should spend summers in Scotland and the rest of the year in Santa Cruz!  LOL.

I played Prestwick and Western Gailes on a trip to Scotland several years ago.  I did 36 at Western Gailes.  The people there were very friendly and after lunch and a couple pints following the morning round it was hard to turn down the offer of a second round.  

Others at the top of my list would be: St. Andrews, Old and Jubilee, Bandon Dunes, Barona Creek, Torrey PInes North and South, PGA West Stadium, Oakland Hills South, any of the Paiute courses and Marysville Golf course in Marysville, Michigan where I learned to play the game over fifty years ago.

Favorites that I've played include (no particular order):

• Royal County Down
• The Judge at Alabama Golf Trail
• Bandon Dunes
• Royal Portrush
• Whistling Straits
• Barona Gold Club
• Los Angeles CC
• Riveria
• We-Koo-Pa
• Sandpiper

Places to play include:

• Pebble Beach
• Chambers Bay

Like most respondents, I could go on and on...that is one of the beauties of golf - a never-ending quest to play great courses within one's socio-economic reach. Good times.

You guys are doing better than I.  Im In the Army and have been stationed in Monterey and Fort Bragg but i cannot afford to fork over the cash to play Pinehurst or Pebble.  I will have to live through your stories. 

St Andrews would be the must play, but the favourite course that I've played is probably Loch Lomond

Best courses I have played :

Oakmont

Pebble Beach

Pine Valley

Tpc Sawgrass

Pinehurst #2 & #4

Winged Foot

Westchester CC

St. Andrews ( old course )

Carnoustie

Ballybunion

Bethpage Black

Courses I would like to play :

Cypress point

Whistleing Straits

Cape Kidnappers ( New Zealand )

Augusta National

     I don't know how I am going to do it but I will try as hard as I can To play Augusta!!!!!

I have never been able to travel on a golf outing before but, I do have 2 of the most beautiful courses in the state of Kansas within 40 minutes of me. Colbert Hills in Manhattan, KS and Firekeeper in Mayetta, KS. I would love to play a TPC course some day.

Here are my favorites that I have been able to play over the years:

Lahinch

Ballybunion

Copperhead, Innisbrook

Laguna National, Singapore

Tanjung Puteri, Malaysia

English Turn

Teeth of the Dog

Milburn CC (I grew up on this course)

Indian Hills CC, Bowling Green, Ky. (My uncle was the PGA pro there)

Courses I would like to play:

St. Andrews (Old Course)

Augusta

Whistling Straits

Whistling Straits and Bandon Dunes resort are magical places.  They are both truly amazing places.  

Great post!!  

My list to play is better than my list that I have played: 

Favorites I have played are: 

TPC Las Vegas

Club Campestre San Jose (San Jose del Cabo, Mexico)

TPC Riversbend

& Pine Hill Golf Club (now Trump National Philadelphia)

Have played numerous Private clubs and Top #1 ranked public courses but not that would make a lot of people's top lists...

Would love to play around Ohio: 

- Muirfield Village Golf Club

- The Golf Club

- Scioto Country Club

Around the US & World: 

- Bandon Dunes Resort

- TPC Sawgrass

- Bethpage Black (mad that I had a tee time and never made the 2 hour drive while living in NJ)

- Pebble Beach

- Torrey Pines

- Kapalua Plantation Course

- Golf trip in Ireland

- Golf trip in Scotland

- Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand

Bottom line, I have a lot of work to do!!!  Ha.

I've only been playing 5 years, and northwestern PA doesn't offer a whole lot of great courses.

One of the best courses in PA, and one I've played, is Whispering Woods. Not a great clubhouse (it's a double wide trailer practically) but the course is phenomenal.

BUT

Best course I've ever played, maybe will ever play is Sanctuary, in colorado.

Privately owned by the founder of remax. People told him he couldn't make the land he had a golf course. It was not possible. He did and the outcome was one of the toughest courses I've ever played. No scrambling possible. And facilities from the clubhouse to the short game area, putting green, range are impeccable.

Incredible greens, with the occasional elk hoof print. Haha

He's been asked numerous times by the USGA to hold tournaments, which he's turned down.

The best I've played has been East Lake GC. I got to play it recently; they were already building grandstands and growing the rough out. 

The courses I want to play most are St. Andrews, Augusta National, and Pine Valley.