I encourage you to hop in a car and journey through one (or more) of these five U.S. regions, playing a set of delightful public golf courses and rounding out your trip by relishing local cuisine and activities along the way.
Within 500 miles in every region, I included courses that are highly regarded and some that are less well known but offer their own charms. The routes work forward or backward and there is plenty of golf to discover with the help of a good GPS system and a full tank of gas. Wherever you go, ask someone to tell you the local course rules, the best restaurant in town, or what special place you simply must visit.
Northeast
7 Courses—Approximately 228 Miles
Start at Keney Park in Windsor, Conn., a municipal course with the first nine designed by Devereux Emmet and the second by Robert “Jack” Ross. Next, head to Winnapaug Country Club, a prominent Donald Ross layout in Westerly, R.I., with excellent conditions and greens that roll true. Continue to Goddard Memorial State Park, Rhode Island’s only state-run course, near Greenwich Bay, but call ahead as hours are limited for this 9-hole facility. Carry on to the fantastic Triggs Memorial in Providence; another quality Ross design, this is a par-72 layout topping out at 6,588 yards with three par fives on the back nine. Head east until you reach Little Harbor Country Club in Wareham, Mass., for a scenic and low-stress round on its 18-hole par-56 executive course. Drive an hour north just outside of Boston in Quincy to play 27 proper holes at semi-private Granite Links as you enjoy great views of the Beantown skyline. Craving one more round? Go 30 miles farther to The Meadow at Peabody, known for its big greens and fun atmosphere.
South
8 Courses—Approximately 492 Miles (depending on route)
Begin at True Blue or Caledonia Golf & Fish Club along the Grand Strand in Pawleys Island, S.C., and enjoy some sunshine, southern hospitality, and fascinating Mike Strantz designs. Continuing north into North Carolina on your personal Strantz tour, stop for a round unlike anything you’ve ever experienced at acclaimed Tobacco Road in Sanford before driving northwest to the recently restored Tot Hill Farm in Asheboro. Additionally, tee it up at Oak Hollow, designed by Pete Dye in High Point, with many of his signature traits including pot bunkers, railroad ties, and tiny greens full of movement. Head into Virginia, stopping at the Pete Dye River Course at Virginia Tech, a unique layout adjacent to the New River in Radford that’s ranked among the top college courses in the country, and leaving time to enjoy the clubhouse, perched above the course and river below. Travel a little farther northwest to experience a wonderful Dick Wilson design at Fincastle in Bluefield, where you’ll switch gears from the parkland front nine to dramatic elevation changes on the mountainous back. If you’re interested in making this a Mike Strantz-themed journey, from Tobacco Road head northeast to finish your trip playing Strantz’s 7,013-yard Stonehouse layout through wooded hills near Williamsburg, Va.
Midwest
7 Courses—Approximately 417 Miles
It’s wildly popular, and so are its wide fairways, so check out Wild Horse in Gothenburg, Neb., designed by Dave Axland and Dan Proctor, to start your Midwest journey. Travel east to Woodland Hills in Eagle, with first-rate practice facilities and a 6,670-yard design built by Jeff Brauer on the site of a tree farm. Continue in The Cornhusker State to Quarry Oaks in Ashland, with an 18-hole design—spread across a former limestone aggregate mine—that was recently renovated by original designer John LaFoy and a new clubhouse opening in 2025 amidst a serene setting above the Platte River. Bent Tree in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is your next stop and with hole names like Bluestem and Honeysuckle you are sure to appreciate the beauty of this round amongst prairie grasses and flowers. Keep going east to enjoy the 18-hole championship course offered at The Legacy near Des Moines in Norwalk with its bentgrass fairways, tees, and greens, and Kentucky bluegrass rough. More quality golf on offer in Iowa includes Finkbine in Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa Men’s and Women’s collegiate golf teams, or gamble on a tee time at Blue Top Ridge, a 7,400-yard design by Rees Jones at Riverside Casino & Golf Resort.
Pacific Northwest
5 Courses—Approximately 258 Miles
Begin with a round at Port Ludlow in Washington, designed by Robert Muir Graves with awe-inspiring views of the Hood Canal, Ludlow Bay, and the Olympic and Cascade Mountains; you can arrive here by boat, ferry, sea plane, or more conventionally, by car, which you will need to take you south to your next stop at Gold Mountain in Bremerton. Play one or both of these walkable, tree-lined municipal courses, Olympic and Cascade. Continue south in The Evergreen State to Salish Cliffs in Shelton, a Squaxin Island Tribal-owned facility which plays 7,269 yards from the championship tees and is known for its natural surrounds. (Fun Fact: Salish Cliffs became the first Salmon-Safe certified golf course in the world in 2012.) Travel into Oregon to Gearhart Golf Links, in Gearhart, to visit what’s known as the oldest course west of the Mississippi River, along with its new 20,000-square-foot putting green, the Clam Bed, and the adjacent Sand Bar for food and drink. Head southeast to North Plains to play Ghost Creek, the high-end, Bob Cupp-designed public course offering at Pumpkin Ridge, where on the Witch Hollow course Tiger Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Amateur and two U.S. Women’s Opens were contested. If 258 miles of staying and playing aren’t enough for you, add on Wine Valley in Walla Walla, Wash. by heading four hours inland. Drive another 200 miles north to enjoy the designs of David McLay Kidd at Gamble Sands in Brewster.
Southwest
6 Courses—Approximately 446 Miles
Play golf and sightsee simultaneously in Page, Ariz., at Lake Powell National, a 1995 William Phillips design which has views of Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam, and the Vermillion Cliffs. Head north to Sky Mountain and enjoy its Jeff Hardin-designed course, owned and operated by the City of Hurricane, Utah, with a stunning setting next to Zion National Park and the Pine Mountain Range. Your next stop is the posh Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah, the final design from the late Tom Weiskopf. With its 18 holes (plus a bonus 19th) routed through black lava fields, Black Desert hosted a PGA Tour event in 2024 and will host an LPGA event in May of 2025. Next on your trip is Cascata, a standout Rees Jones course in the foothills of the River Mountain Range in Boulder City, Nev., and then cross the border into Needles, Calif., to play Rivers Edge, a par-71 along the Colorado River. Finish your trip at Lake Havasu in Arizona where there is plenty of desert-style golf across its Desert East and Desert West courses. This property was formerly known as London Bridge Nassau Course due to the legendary bridge nearby, which was purchased from the River Thames in London and transported to Arizona where it was reconstructed in Lake Havasu City in 1971.
What public courses would you include on a road trip in these regions?
If you’re going to play Gold Mountain and Salish Cliffs why not also play Chambers Bay( the former US Open venue) it’s in the same general area
Absolutely right! I play all these a lot annd I can’t imagine how it got left off. It’s better than anything on the list, with the possible exception of Gamble.
I agree that Gamble Sands is very fun, but Wine Valley and Chambers Bay are both better courses. But, really just play them all and include the WSU course Palouse Ridge as well.
You’ve managed to pick two of New England’s worst golf courses along with three others that are merely mediocre. Newport National, Waverley Oaks, George Wright, Meadow Brook and Red Tail would be far better complements to Keney Park and Triggs. And that’s without adding any mileage. Your list would be even better adding Cape Cod and the Islands.
Just play Michigan, both UP and LP. great courses