10 courses
The Monterey Peninsula: California's Essential Golf Trip
California, United States
Pebble Beach anchors the dream, but Spyglass, Poppy Hills, and Pacific Grove complete it. How to build a week on California's greatest golf peninsula.
destinations
Long Island: Where American Golf Architecture Was Born (and the LIE Goes to Die)
The world's best golf destinations are closer than you think. The Tin Cup profiles the trips worth planning and the courses worth playing — from Bandon's wild dunes to Scotland's ancient links.
Featured Destinations
8 courses
Bandon Dunes: The Pilgrimage That Rewrote American Golf
Oregon, United States
Five world-class courses on Oregon's wild coast, a visionary's gamble, and a lottery that changed everything. How to plan the ultimate links pilgrimage.
4 courses
Playing Scotland's Links Without Selling Your Kidneys
Scotland
St. Andrews costs £300. These courses are just as good and cost £50. Your complete guide to affordable Scottish golf.
Pinehurst: Where American Golf Grew Up
North Carolina, United States
Nine courses. Three you need to play. One that defined American golf architecture. How Donald Ross built America's golf soul in the North Carolina sandhills.
4 courses
Ireland's Links Courses That Tourists Miss
Ireland
Everyone plays Ballybunion and Lahinch. These five courses are just as spectacular and half as crowded.
Top Courses
Top 50
National Golf Links: The Course That Taught America How to Think
New York, United States
Charles Blair Macdonald stole the best holes in British golf, shipped them to Long Island, and accidentally invented American course architecture. Getting invited is the hard part.
Top 50
Shinnecock Hills: Where Golf Remembers Itself
New York, United States
America's oldest club site proves that restraint, tradition, and firm turf still matter more than 7,800-yard brutality and stadium seating.
Top 50
Cypress Point: The Course You'll Never Play (But Should Dream About Anyway)
California, United States
With only 250 members and no public access, Cypress Point makes Augusta National look like a muni. It might also be the most beautiful golf course on Earth.
Top 50
Pacific Dunes: The Best Course Nobody Built
Oregon, United States
Nobody built Pacific Dunes. Tom Doak just walked Oregon's coast until the dunes told him where the holes were. They were right.
Top 50
Pebble Beach Golf Links
California, United States
Six U.S. Opens, one impossible chip-in, and the most famous coastline in American golf. Pebble Beach rewards anyone willing to pay for the privilege.
Top 50
Merion East: Where Champions Are Crowned on Compact Genius
Pennsylvania, United States
On just 126 acres, Merion Golf Club's East Course has hosted more major championships than courses twice its size—proving that brilliance needs no excess.