This year, golf enthusiasts were given the ultimate excuse to hit the green: social distancing. Some much-needed time to practice your swing, enjoy the sunshine, and take advantage of different courses.
For those looking to extend their golf seasons and perfect their putt, we’ve rounded up some of the most challenging golf courses from around the world. Would love to share these with your readers as they look to plan winter escapes and 2021 travel plans.
Nevada
The state’s diverse terrain extends to Nevada golf, with a range of courses featuring rolling hills of lush green grass, towering pines, swaying palms, languidly flowing streams, and serene waterfalls, with backdrops ranging from striking desert terrain to towering snow-capped peaks. Any way you slice it, Nevada is your premier golf experience destination.
Some of Nevada’s—and the world’s—most beautiful courses can be found in Northern Nevada at Lake Tahoe, with Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline as a clear frontrunner. Offering stunning views and great golf on a George Fazio-designed course, Edgewood is challenging but fair, with four sets of tees ranging from 5,567 years to 7,555 yards. Stay overnight at the gorgeous, recently renovated Edgewood Tahoe Resort, and don’t miss the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, hosted at Edgewood Tahoe each summer.
Spend a day on the green at Lakeridge Golf Course in the Biggest Little City. A favorite among locals and visitors alike, this Reno golf course boasts a par-71 course, with its signature hole, No. 15, a par-3 perched on a ridge overlooking a lake.
Head south with driving ranges right off the Las Vegas Strip and lush fairways set against striking Mojave Desert landscapes. From the top-rated Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas to the rocking club-like ambiance at Top Golf, the exclusive Bali Hai Golf Club and beyond, the over-the-top Las Vegas golf course experience fits right in at a city that doesn’t do anything small.
Bermuda
The island is a golfer’s paradise with ideal weather, dramatic oceanfront fairways and more golf courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Following in the footsteps of champions is easy in Bermuda, where you’ll find six world-class courses spread over just 21 square miles. The best golfers of the past century – not to mention celebrities, presidents and royalty – have played more than a few rounds on the island’s links.
Turtle Hill Golf Club offers 18 challenging holes, not to mention impressive views of the Atlantic Ocean all along the fairways. Ranked one of the top five par 3 courses in the world by Golf Magazine, Turtle Hill is the perfect course for golfers of all skill levels and is the home of the Dark ‘n Stormy World Par 3 Championships.
Ranked among the world’s best public golf courses by Golf Digest and named Bermuda’s finest course by the New York Times, Port Royal Golf Course features 18 championship holes over 6,842 manicured yards, the longest and most picturesque course in all of Bermuda. The legendary 16th hole here has confounded even the world’s best golfers, and it was a favourite of Jack Nicklaus himself. It also played host to the PGA Grand Slam seven years running.
Tucker’s Point Golf Club is one of Bermuda’s oldest courses, but a dramatic redesign by Roger Rulewich in recent years has put it on the golf world’s cutting edge, earning accolades such as “Best Golf Resort” from Travel + Leisure Golf. All greens have been rebuilt with Tif Eagle, an imported hybrid Bermuda grass providing a faster, truer putting surface.
Featuring 6,100 yards of strategically laid out bunkers, multi-tiered greens and slender fairways, the Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Course layout by Algie M. Pulley, Jr. offers a challenging test for players of all handicaps. Soak up panoramic views of Hamilton Harbour and the Great Sound – an inspiring accompaniment to every shot.
Maryland
Get in a quick nine with a backdrop of mountain vistas or get the lay of the links along the shores of the mighty Chesapeake. Spend a week in OC trying to golf til you drop, or duck out for an afternoon at a top-class public course. With so many amazing courses to choose from, Maryland is a true duffer’s delight.
The Eagle’s Landing Golf Course challenges players with occasional ocean winds but with prices set lower than many top-tier premier golf courses in the area.
Cut into the mountains surrounding Deep Creek Lake, the Lodestone Golf Course at Wisp Resort course combines breathtaking scenery with challenging play with narrow fairways and undulating greens. Famous Architect Arthur Mills doesn’t build golf courses as he conjures them from the landscape. At the Maryland National Golf Club, he utilized natural changes in elevation and wetland to create a Maryland take on the classic style. A true must-play.
North Carolina
The North Carolina Golf Panel annually ranks our state’s top courses to help guide your choices or find a hidden gem when you come here to test your skills.
Asheville and The Omni Grove Park Inn, which Conde Nast Traveler featured in its list of top-20 Southern golf resorts. Packed with plenty of challenges into Grove Park’s 6,400-yard course, you’ll have to carefully plan attacks for the uphill, downhill and sidehill lies along with crowned greens. The accommodations score well, too. Choose a historic room in the Main Inn or a modern one in the Sammons or Vanderbilt wings. Its 43,000-square-foot spa features a full menu of treatments and a lap pool with 6,500 fiber-optic stars and underwater music.
Black Mountain Golf Course is known for its narrow fairways and strategically placed greens adjacent to tees to make for efficient play on the front nine. The back nine are no less challenging, especially hole No. 17, one of the world’s longest at 747 yards and par 6.
The venerable Pinehurst No. 2 refuses to relinquish the top spot, having perched on high since the first Golf Panel list in 1995. The Donald Ross masterpiece accepts the challenge of any and all players, and seldom gives in, even to top professionals. In fact, No. 2 hosted both the men’s and women’s U.S. Open Championships in June 2014, which means you can test your skills on the same layout as the pros.
Leopard’s Chase is another Tim Cate showpiece in what’s known as the “Big Cats” collection at Ocean Ridge Plantation. Expect the unexpected on a course that traverses more than 220 acres of natural coastal terrain resplendent with native grasses, and culminates in an 18th hole with an elevated green guarded by a spectacular waterfall splashing over coquina boulders.
Arizona
Golf courses in every region of the state celebrate their natural surroundings as much as they do the challenges at hand. Slope and course ratings aside, the following mix of public Arizona golf courses puts the topography in play for a look and feel exclusive to this southwestern state.
The desert layout at The Phoenician Golf Course climbs high onto Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale. From the fairways of this prominent Phoenix landmark, the elevated view is a sweeping cityscape of much of the metro Phoenix area. Remodeled under the direction of architect Phil Smith, and reopened in November 2018, the 18-hole course provides a more natural flow and offers five sets of player-friendly tees.
The Southwestern ambiance golfers enjoy at Grayhawk Golf Club gains an extra dimension with the pervasive McDowell Mountains as the backdrop behind fairways, lakes and the fabulous clubhouse patio. The back nine on Grayhawk’s Talon course features a series of deep box canyons with a handful of holes skirting thick stands of Mesquite, Palo Verde, and Ironwood trees.
In the foothills that separate Scottsdale and Fountain Hills, SunRidge Canyon Golf Club carries players right up to the surrounding desert terrain. As the course descends through a canyon, respite comes with a wide-open desert panorama before the back nine climbs through another ravine to the clubhouse.
No list of Tucson-area courses would be complete without mention of The Lodge at Ventana Canyon. At the highest point of their Tom Fazio-designed Mountain Course is their signature third hole, tucked amidst the Santa Catalina mountains and a canyon of cacti. The Lodge’s Canyon Course slopes down through the Esperrero Canyon, whose washes frequently fill during summer monsoon rains. the Colorado River serves as the recreational mecca locals call Arizona’s West Coast.
In Parker, the river borders Emerald Canyon Golf Course, where fairways cut through mesas of red clay resembling the Painted Desert.
New Hampshire
Got three months? That’s how long it would take you to play every New Hampshire golf course if you played one course each day. That’s right: There are 90 public, semiprivate, and resort golf courses accessible to New Hampshire visitors. But golfing in New Hampshire isn’t merely appealing because of the sheer number and variety of places where you can hit the links; every New Hampshire golf course offers something distinct.
The Country Club of New Hampshire plays from 6,000 to 7,000 yards of challenging golf at the foot of majestic Mount Kearsarge and boasts some of the lushest greens in the state. You’ll soon see why it was twice rated one of the top 75 public golf courses in the U.S. by Golf Digest.
The Plausawa Valley Country Club is an 18-hole golf course that plays like two different courses. Open on the front and very scenic and challenging on the back with ungilating greens and wildlife roaming the premises makes for a pleasant day of golf.
At Portsmouth Country Club, this semi-private course as challenging as it is picturesque. New Hampshire’s only golf course designed by renowned golf course architect, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Several holes play along Great Bay.
The White Mountain Hotel & Resort welcomes you to relax in beautifully appointed mountain accommodations while experiencing splendid cuisine and a boundless range of amenities including stay and play golf packages with Hale’s Location Golf Course, a championship course stunning not only for its breathtaking views, but for its challenging fairways and greens. A 9-hole course featuring 3,025 yards of golf for a par of 36. Enjoy the resorts endless amenities with the outdoor heated pool and hot tub, large sundeck perfect for taking in the mountain views and relax with a glass of wine by the outdoor fire pit.
For visitor guidance due to COVID-19 such as mask-wearing, a list of tourism related re-openings or closures, and a link to public health guidelines, check out the following links:
https://www.gotobermuda.com/guide-bermuda-bound-travellers
https://travelnevada.com/covid-19/
https://www.visitmaryland.org/article/travel-alerts
https://www.visitnh.gov/covid19
https://www.visitarizona.com/covid-19/
https://www.visitwesthollywood.com/travel-updates/
https://www.visitnc.com/advisory/snRb/coronavirus-travel-advisory
