Top Under-The-Radar U.S. Golf Destinations

The par 5 5th spread astatine Dismal River's White Course, 1 of 2 18-hole layouts astatine the destination spot successful the sprawling soil hills of occidental Nebraska.

Erik Matuszewski

Destination play recreation is enjoying a moment, to opportunity the least. There tin beryllium fierce competition, and moreover hold lists conscionable to book trips, astatine immoderate of the apical play resorts successful the country.

Popular bucket database spots for illustration Bandon Dunes (Oregon), Pinehurst Resort (North Carolina), Pebble Beach (California), Sand Valley and Kohler (Wisconsin), Streamsong (Florida), and Big Cedar (Missouri) are each seemingly getting bigger and better. And caller play people improvement is astatine its highest levels successful much than 15 years, according to the National Golf Foundation, momentum spurred successful portion by grounds aliases adjacent grounds levels of play travel. Among the caller nationalist play getaways that person precocious debuted, still building retired aliases coming soon are Rodeo Dunes (Colorado), Wild Spring Dunes (Texas), Old Shores (Florida), and Candyroot Lodge (South Carolina).

But location are immoderate resorts and regions that – while apt well-known to those itinerant and well-traveled golfers – are still flying a spot nether the radar from a nationalist perspective. And fixed that 1 awesome people doesn’t make a destination, the lineup beneath includes aggregate courses crossed 1 spot aliases area alternatively than simply one-off hidden gems.

Western Nebraska

This 1 tends to astonishment immoderate people, but the Sandhills region successful Nebraska is 1 of the astir unspoiled and unsung places for play successful the full country, pinch a play that mostly runs from April 1 to the extremity of October.

The Uber backstage Sand Hills Golf Club successful galore ways gave emergence to destination golf, inspiring Mike Keiser to create Bandon Dunes connected a distant agelong of Oregon seashore moreover though galore people, astatine the time, thought it would fail. While Sand Hills and CapRock Ranch are private, places for illustration The Prairie Club, Dismal River, and Wild Horse boast perfectly phenomenal courses. Driving sparsely populated roads from 1 to the next, pinch a oversea of rolling grassy dunes interrupted only by the occasional windmill and watering holes for cattle, golfers will invariably spot hundreds of spots that would seemingly make a cleanable mounting for a play hole.

The Prairie Club is location to 2 18-hole title courses – some pinch a par of 73 – pinch the Dunes Course designed by Tom Lehman and Chris Brands, and the Pines Course by Graham Marsh. There’s besides the 10-hole Horse Course, crafted by Gil Hanse and Geoff Shackelford, that has nary existent group tee boxes, making for a choose-your-own-short-course adventure. There’s serene and premium lodging, from the Lodge to the Guesthouse, Bunkhouse and Cabins connected a spot that gets extended late-day sunlight during the summertime months fixed that it almost hits the Mountain Time Zone.

Dismal River offers enactment and play packages astatine a nine that combines title play – including courses from Tom Doak and Jack Nicklaus – pinch guided hunting. The 2 courses, the White and Red, are defined by the dunes and influenced by the ever-changing upwind conditions that tin output a different acquisition each round. The rustic cabins and lodge are designed for multiday stays, allowing for an immersive reset successful the Sandhills, whether playing play aliases pursuing different outdoor activities.

Not acold from North Platte Regional Airport is Wild Horse, which features a highly rated title people designed by Dave Axland and Dan Proctor successful summation to a caller short people called The Pony that free to play for juniors, members and on-site lodging guests.

Southwest Utah

This picturesque region, champion known for its earthy beauty and parks for illustration Zion, Snow Canyon and Red Cliffs, continues to softly look arsenic a play mecca.

It was conscionable complete 60 years agone now that the City of St. George developed the nine-hole people of Dixie Red Hills on a agelong of sandstone cliffs, portion of an effort to tie successful tourism and toggle shape the region from much than conscionable a state position extremity successful the desert. Today, the area is location to immoderate of the astir visually stunning courses successful the game.

And if Dixie Red Hills introduced play to the St. George/Zion area backmost successful the 1960s, Black Desert Resort and Sand Hollow are introducing the region to the remainder of the country.

Black Desert was Tom Weiskopf’s last people design, a showstopper of a layout that cuts done achromatic lava fields and is backed by reddish rocks and mountains. The monolithic resort, pinch a 600-acre field successful an otherworldly setting, landed some PGA Tour and LPGA events immediately.

Sand Hollow, meanwhile, is among the astir photogenic courses successful the country, peculiarly a drawstring of holes connected the backmost 9 that play on the edges of steep cliffs. Nearby, UTV riders bounce crossed the hills astatine Sand Hollow State Park.

Courses for illustration Copper Rock and The Ledges pinch their melodramatic surrounds adhd to the extent of play successful the area.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

While Northern Michigan is rightfully celebrated, pinch terrific destinations specified arsenic Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, and aggregate Boyne properties, the precocious peninsula has immoderate little heralded awesome golf.

Island Resort & Casino has 2 beardown courses successful Sweetgrass and Sage Run and precocious had a soft opening of its caller 9-hole layout (Cedar) to meet heightened request astatine 1 of the largest golf, casino and intermezo destinations successful the Midwest. With template greenish complexes inspired by places for illustration National Golf Links connected Long Island and Prestwick successful Scotland, it’s an offering that adds to the entreaty of the enactment and play offerings astatine the resort.

The prima of the U.P. mightiness very good be Greywalls, a Mike DeVries creation that takes advantage of the wilder and much geologically melodramatic terrain of the region. The routing jags done granite outcroppings, pinch an abundance of exposed stone passim that includes sheer grey walls – hence the people sanction – that framework fairways and greens.

Timber Stone astatine Pine Mountain Resort is yet different layout that masterfully incorporates the scenery of the Northwoods.

Pacific Northwest

While this region could encompass a wide range, successful this lawsuit it’s circumstantial to Eastern Washington and the adjacent Couer d’Alene region successful Idaho.

Gamble Sands has been gaining attraction since afloat opening its 2nd 18-hole people this year, a spectacular summation (Scarecrow) that helps modulation the spot from what’s been chiefly a location escape. While embracing the aforesaid move terrain and erstwhile farmland precocious supra the Columbia River, Scarecrow is simply a spot much friendly and strategical than the sprawling Sands Course.

The spot besides boasts 1 of the game’s awesome short courses successful the 14-hole Quicksands par 3 course, not to mention what is arguably the champion putting people successful the world of destination golf. The Cascade putting course, besides designed by David McLay Kidd, is simply a 100,000 square-foot roller coaster of a layout that sits straight down the inn and has majestic long-range views of the stream beneath and mountains successful the distance.

A mates hours distant into Idaho is Lake Couer d’Alene and a lush, forested region that couldn’t beryllium much different than the precocious plains successful Eastern Washington. It’s a operation that makes for an epic play trip. The Couer d’Alene Golf Resort features 1 of the game’s astir iconic holes pinch its floating greenish and accompanying vessel ride, while adjacent Circling Raven is 1 of the finest casino courses successful the country.

Central Oregon / Bend

There are dozens of nationalist play courses successful the Bend area that return afloat advantage of the scenic Cascade Mountain views and arsenic galore arsenic 300 days of sunshine per year.

Three of those courses are regular fixtures successful Top 100 lists, including Crosswater astatine the Sunriver Resort, a layout that crisscrosses the Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers aggregate times and first put Central Oregon connected the play map. Sunriver has been selected to big 4 USGA championships from 2027 done 2036, including the 2031 U.S. Mid-Amateur astatine Crosswater and Sunriver’s Meadow course.

There’s besides Pronghorn astatine Juniper Preserve, a play and wellness edifice which features a nationalist Jack Nicklaus Signature creation among its 2 18-hole courses successful the juniper wood of Central Oregon.

And astatine the Tetherow Resort, a 700-acre spot 20 minutes from Mt. Bachelor, David McLay Kidd’s Scottish-links-inspired layout is simply a opposition to immoderate of its godforsaken style neighbors.

Other gems successful the area see 36 holes astatine Black Butte Ranch, Aspen Lakes and Brasada Canyons.

Ocean City, Maryland

With different spots concentrated successful the Midwest and further west, it seems due to touch connected a region that counts astir 4 1/2 cardinal golfers wrong a 250-mile radius on the Eastern seaboard but gets understandably overshadowed by places a spot further southbound – from Pinehurst, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head successful the Carolinas to historical resorts successful neighboring Virginia.

But Ocean City, Maryland, provides value, assortment and accessibility, pinch courses from celebrated designers that boast bay views aliases play done maritime forests. There’s besides nary deficiency of accomodations, pinch 11,000 edifice rooms successful the area.

Among the 10 courses successful Ocean City are The Links astatine Lighthouse Sound, which features picturesque holes that tally on Assawoman Bay and boasts the longest cart span successful the U.S. astatine astir 1,500 feet.

There are besides the 2 courses astatine GlenRiddle – a erstwhile thoroughbred training installation – that are named aft Triple Crown winning horses Man O’War and War Admiral, 2 much astatine Ocean City Golf Club, and different celebrated nationalist accommodation specified arsenic Eagle’s Landing, Nutters Crossing and Rum Pointe.