Top 10 Former PGA Tour Courses You Can Play

Undeniably, we all enjoy walking in famous footsteps—teeing it up at golf courses where history was made. A multitude of different public-access courses have served as PGA Tour venues over the past century and a substantial number continue in that role today. Think Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, TPC Sawgrass, and Harbour Town, for starters. For those traveling golfers who relish a stroll—or cart ride—down memory lane, there are also plenty of terrific, accessible layouts that once were longtime Tour stops—but no longer are.

If you’re seeking a great golf experience where you can re-live history and make some of your own, here are the top 10 ex-PGA Tour courses you can play.

Poppy Hills Golf Course—Pebble Beach, Calif.

Owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association, Poppy Hills is a 1986 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design located in the middle of the Del Monte Forest in Pebble Beach. Praised upon opening, it earned a slot as a co-host to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am from 1991­–2009. Over time, however, it was evident tweaks were in order.

In 2013­–14, the Jones team returned and performed a makeover. They sand-capped the entire course, providing bouncy fairways, and eliminated traditional rough utilizing just one fairway-height cut of grass. Native sandy areas now linked fairway to forest; 1980s-style mounds were eliminated; and the old roller coaster greens were softened and regrassed. Among the design changes were the creation of a new par-five 9th hole, a par-three 11th that now heads in the opposite direction, and a transformation of the dogleg par-five 12th to a straightaway par four that yields a stunning ocean view. In 2016, they flipped the nines, so the superb risk/reward 9th now plays as the 18th. Once a “should-play,” Poppy Hills is now a must-play.

Glen Abbey Golf Club—Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Few courses in Canada have the bucket-list status of this 1976 Jack Nicklaus design that’s played host to 30 Canadian Opens, most recently in 2018. The greenside amphitheaters that taught Pete Dye about Stadium Golf frame holes such as 11–15, the Valley holes, which are crisscrossed by 16-Mile Creek, and the 18th, the watery par five where Tiger Woods famously clinched the 2000 Canadian Open. Lying in a fairway bunker, Tiger slammed a 6-iron from 213 yards, over water straight at the flag which was perched near the lake edge on the far right of the green. His ball hit the putting surface and stopped on the back fringe, 15 feet from the cup and just short of a bunker. Two putts later, Tiger took the title.

With a recent redevelopment that has created the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, host to the 2025 RBC Canadian Open and likely others in the future, it’s uncertain whether Glen Abbey will get another turn as tournament host. Still, never say never.

Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, No. 4 (Dubsdread)—Lemont, Ill.

Former Western Open/BMW Championship venue Cog Hill in the southwestern Chicago suburbs became Tiger Woods’s personal playground. In 14 appearances, he triumphed five times between 1997 and 2009. His final win, at the 2009 BMW Championship, was pure Tiger dominance, as he clipped runners-up Jim Furyk and Marc Leishman by eight shots, with a 19-under-par 265.

Dick Wilson and Joe Lee crafted the moderately rolling, liberally trapped fourth course at Cog Hill in 1964. More than 50 years later, Rees Jones added new back tees and reworked bunkers and greens to restore the dread in a course nicknamed “Dubsdread.” At 7,554 yards from the Black tees, with a stratospheric 78.0 rating and 153 slope, it’s well deserving of its moniker. The course hosted 16 Western Opens from 1991 to 2006, where other winners included major champions Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price, Furyk, and Trevor Immelman, and was the venue for four BMW Championships from 2007–11, where the final two champions were Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose, respectively.

The Greenbrier (The Old White)—White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Following a sensitive 2007 restoration by Lester George, this 1914 C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor effort has charmed and wowed fans of Golden Age golf. The PGA Tour played the Greenbrier Classic here from 2010 through 2019, except for 2016, when flooding closed the course and canceled the tournament. Amid undulating terrain in the foothills of the forested Allegheny Mountains, players delighted in the classic templates, such as the Redan par-three 8th, Punchbowl par-four 9th, and Eden par-three 15th. The course closes in an unusual fashion, with a par three that measured 177 yards. Winners of the PGA Tour event included Angel Cabrera, Xander Schauffele, and Joaquin Niemann.

Trump National Doral (Blue Monster)—Miami, Fla.

In 2014, an extraordinary makeover from Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner transformed a tired resort course into one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour, a fire-breather that once again lived up to its name. Newly installed teeth in the form of added yardage, altered angles, contoured greens, and steeper slopes around the greens dramatically altered the Dick Wilson-designed spread, strengthening it in every way. Now home to a LIV Golf event, this iconic resort layout remains a quintessential Sunshine State tournament track, awash in lakes and stylishly crafted bunkers and culminating in one of golf’s most demanding closing par fours.

In its PGA Tour heyday, which began in 1962 mere months after Wilson and associate Joe Lee designed the layout, the Blue Monster was a fabled stop on the Florida Swing, and the anchor tenant in March until TPC Sawgrass debuted in the early 1980s. The Doral Open (and its various names) lasted from 1962–2006 and the glittering list of champions featured Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods. From 2007–10, the Blue Monster hosted the WGC-CA Championship and from 2011–16, the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, and Ernie Els were among those who triumphed here in those years.

TPC Harding Park—San Francisco, Calif.

This venerable 1925 muni sports fairways hemmed in by frequent fog along with cypress trees, lush rough, and a wild closer—a 475-yard par-four that opens with a bite-off-as-much-as-you-can-chew drive over a lake, followed by an uphill smash to a rollicking three-tier green. At the hotly contested 2020 PGA Championship, eventual winner Collin Morikawa hit the shot of the year, driving the green at the 336-yard par-four 16th, when bunkers, trees, and Lake Merced lurking to the left could have wrecked his chances. There’s a bit of sameness to the holes at this William Watson/Sam Whiting design—the same duo that created the Olympic Club’s courses next door—but it’s all challenging and it’s all beautiful.

Besides the 2020 PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park also served as a well-received Presidents Cup venue in 2009, when the U.S. topped the Internationals 19.5–14.5. Tiger Woods led the Yanks with a 5–0–0 record, while Phil Mickelson was nearly his equal, with a 4–0-– mark. Less remembered, but unforgettable, was the October 2005 duel between Woods and John Daly in the WGC-American Express Championship, that Woods captured in a playoff in front a raucous crowd on an NFL Sunday. Even more obscure are the eight editions of the PGA Tour’s Lucky International, contested between 1961 and 1969. Perhaps they deserve more limelight, considering five of the winners—Gary Player, Gene Littler, Jack Burke Jr., Ken Venturi, and Billy Casper—were major champions, and the 1965 winner, George Archer, would go on to snag the Masters green jacket in 1969.

Forest Oaks Country Club—Greensboro, N.C.

Embrace PGA Tour history with 18 holes at Forest Oaks. Designed by Donald Ross protégé Ellis Maples in 1962, Forest Oaks tested the Tour’s best from 1977 through 2007, when champions included Hall-of-Famers Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd, and Lanny Wadkins. Major winners Sandy Lyle and Davis Love III both won twice here, and Brandt Snedeker was the final winner. Tall pines, brilliant dogwoods in the spring, well-bunkered greens, and 7,200 hilly yards are highlights of Forest Oaks, as well as green fees of $70 and under.

While the PGA Tour event was still in full flower, former UNC Tar Heel Love and his Love Golf Design team arrived in 2002 for a fairly extensive renovation. He expanded and recontoured greens, reworked bunkers, and enhanced the drainage and irrigation. In doing so, he injected more variety into what had been a handsome, if repetitive, straightforward challenge that inevitably shone brightest in its traditional April tournament week, just ahead of the Masters.

English Turn Golf & Country Club—New Orleans, La.

Tucked into the Algiers/Westbank neighborhood of NOLA, English Turn was a private facility during its entire run as a PGA Tour host, from 1989 through 2004 and again in 2006. Now semi-private, this 1988 Jack Nicklaus creation witnessed some memorable finishes in its day, due in part to its reachable, island-green par-five 15th and the rugged 471-yard par-four 18th, which ranked as the PGA Tour’s toughest hole at least once thanks to sand and water lining the entire left side.

On a course with 21 water hazards, it’s not surprising that a long, straight driver such as Greg Norman would thrive. Winning, however, was another matter. In the first four years the New Orleans PGA Tour stop was held at English Turn, the Shark finished second three times, with 1990 being the low point. Tied with David Frost on the final hole that year, Norman found himself snakebit yet again, when Frost holed a bunker shot from left of the green for a tournament-clinching birdie. More fortunate to win at English Turn were major champions Ian Woosnam, Ben Crenshaw, Davis Love III, David Toms, and Vijay Singh.

Omni Tucson National Resort & Spa (Catalina)—Tucson, Ariz.

If you’re seeking a break from all the spiny shrubbery of the Sonoran Desert, or just want to walk in famous footsteps, the Omni Tucson National is where to touch down. Bob Charles won the first Tucson Open played here in 1965. Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Phil Mickelson are among others who captured PGA Tour titles at the Catalina course. And nobody tamed it quite like Johnny Miller, who three-peated from 1974–76, a streak that included his otherworldly 66–69–67–61 for a 25-under-par 263 and a nine-shot victory in 1975. Measuring 7,262 yards and playing to an unusual par 73, this graceful 1963 parkland-desert hybrid features wall-to-wall grass, tree-lined fairways, and mountain vistas, among them the Catalinas which give the course its name.

Robert Bruce Harris of Illinois crafted the original version of the Catalina course, though it was substantially renovated in 1979 by the team of Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge. A PGA Tour Champions venue from 2015–22, Catalina rolled out one of the circuit’s toughest holes, the 443-yard par-four 18th, with lakes flanking either side of the fairway driving zone and an elevated green.

La Cantera Golf Club—San Antonio, Texas

The Lone Star State is chock full of compelling public courses that doubled as longtime PGA Tour hosts. Among them are The Golf Club of Houston’s Tournament course (formerly known as Redstone), which hosted the Houston Tour stop from 2006-20; TPC Las Colinas near Dallas, formerly a Four Seasons property and now a Ritz-Carlton, home to the Byron Nelson event from 1986–2017; and Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, home to the Texas Open from 1922–26, again from 1929–40, and again on multiple occasions throughout the 1950s. Nevertheless, the most character-filled Texas public course of those that once hosted multiple PGA Tour events is La Cantera.

From 1995 to 2009, La Cantera’s resort course served as venue for the Valero Texas Open. (The facility once had an Arnold Palmer-designed course as well, but that shuttered for good in 2021.) Former University of Texas great Justin Leonard triumphed three times over the course that remains, a Tom Weiskopf/Jay Morrish creation, twice shooting 19-under-par 261 in the process. La Cantera’s front nine is backdropped by a roller coaster at the Six Flags Fiesta Texas next door, which illuminates the fun factor here. Wide fairways and large, if shallow, splashes of sand lead to aggressive play, such as in 2008, when Zach Johnson closed with 62–64 to win.