Brooke Henderson throughout final 12 months’s U.S. Open at Pebble Seashore.
Getty Pictures
You can play Shadow Creek in Vegas — however have to get just a little fortunate on the slot machines first.
Or you can play George Wright 16 instances — and have change left over.
However you can play them, and entry is possibly the perfect a part of GOLF’S newest listing of the prime 100 programs you possibly can play within the U.S. You want no membership for these gems. Simply cash. And that acquired us considering:
How would our employees spend a grand on the listing?
Would we pay Shadow’s four-figure price? Or Wright’s two? Our solutions are under. For reference, we used the article headlined: “The High 100 Programs You Can Play, ranked from costliest to least,” which you’ll learn by clicking right here. (For added studying, please click on right here for our listing of the highest 100 programs within the U.S.)
How our staffers would spend $1,000 on GOLF’s High 100 Programs You Can Play within the U.S.
STAFFER: Josh Sens
HOW YOU WOULD SPEND $1,000: A thousand bucks, eh? Is that alleged to cowl my journey bills, too? In that case, I’m staying native in Northern California, buzzing down the coast from my house in Oakland to Pasatiempo ($385) in Santa Cruz, one of many uncommon Alister Mackenzie designs within the nation that anybody can play. The course is about to reopen in mid-December following a inexperienced and bunker restoration undertaking that I’m having a tough time wrapping my head round as a result of it’s tough to think about how these greens and bunkers may get significantly better than they have been. I’ll in all probability wait til late spring or summer season for this outing, when the times are longer, which can give me time to play 36 on what’s my favourite public course in California. From there, I’ll drive house (complimentary mattress and breakfast), then rise up the subsequent morning and cross the bay into San Francisco for 18 at Harding Park ($125), a significant championship host that occurs to be a muni. The again 9, which loops alongside Lake Merced, is pretty much as good a stretch of golf there may be within the metropolis. This two-day itinerary will give me 54 holes on a pair of top-notch programs, every with a vivid sense of place. And it’ll depart sufficient within the funds for me to seize a burrito within the Mission district on my drive house, with further guacamole, even.
STAFFER: Dylan Dethier
HOW YOU WOULD SPEND $1,000: I began my very own entry, however then I learn Sens’ and I spotted one thing: I’ll simply double-up on his! The most effective golf journey is one which your buddy plans, in any case. If that journey contains free lodging, 36 at Pasatiempo, an ocean view and a burrito? All the higher. The one factor that issues me is Sens’ wily recreation. Earlier than lengthy, I really feel like he could possibly be staring down a 4-for-3 par putt and I’d be down the additional thousand. …
STAFFER: Nick Dimengo
HOW YOU WOULD SPEND $1,000: Don’t get me fallacious — enjoying any spot on GOLF’s High 100 Programs is at all times unbelievable, but when I’ve acquired $1,000 to spend, I’m reserving my tee time at Pinehurst No. 2. Certain, there are many spots with oceanfront views and sprawling cliffs, however I’m selecting the house of the 2024 U.S. Open, the place I noticed firsthand how the structure gave the perfect gamers on the planet all kinds of suits. How effectively would a mid-handicapper like myself handle Pinehurst No. 2, with its globed greens and tough “native areas?” My guess will not be nice — however the perfect half about golf is the component of shock, so possibly I’d shoot the spherical of my life and eventually break 80 on the course the place Bryson DeChambeau received his second main title.
High 100 Programs You Can Play within the U.S. for 2024-25: America’s greatest public golf
STAFFER: Jessica Marksbury
HOW YOU WOULD SPEND $1,000: Am I the one particular person on employees who has but to make the sojourn to Bandon Dunes? That must be rectified, stat! With 4 programs on the High 100 You Can Play listing (Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, Bandon Dunes, Outdated Macdonald — all ranked within the prime 13!), I might attempt to maximize the worth and get all 4 in for that $1K. Which means enjoying within the offseason, when the costs are decrease. Resort visitor charges are highest from June via September, at $370 per spherical. However it can save you fairly a bit by visiting in April, when inexperienced charges are $235 apiece — and $235 x 4 = $940! A comparatively smokin’ deal, to be truthful, with room for taxes, too.
STAFFER: Connor Federico
HOW YOU WOULD SPEND $1,000: It is a enjoyable recreation! Let’s construct an itinerary with as a lot selection as doable, and never a care on the planet for lodging and journey prices. Selection in pure environment, architectural types and price will actually add to our totally hypothetical expertise. Let’s begin with the perfect bang for our buck. Black Mesa ($93) locations us within the New Mexico desert, Rustic Canyon ($104) winds via Southern California mountains, Wild Horse ($75) supplies huge views of the Nebraska Sandhills, and George Wright ($62) is a Donald Ross-designed muni simply exterior Boston. Spending lower than $350 on 4 High 100 Programs off the bat now permits for some actual bucket listing locations. The Lido ($295), the epic C.B. Macdonald masterpiece revived at Sand Valley Resort, is a must-experience for any golf structure nerd. After that, I’ll take the remainder of my money to the Oregon coast for a crack at Pacific Dunes ($370) and true hyperlinks golf right here within the U.S., bringing this journey’s grand whole to $999.
STAFFER: Josh Berhow
HOW YOU WOULD SPEND $1,000: Since it is a enjoyable train and it doesn’t must make sense logistically — if you’d like these journeys, I already created eight High 100 street journeys you possibly can take — I wish to get not less than a couple of rounds in, which implies Whistling, Pebble, and so forth., are out. I’ll splurge and spend $420 at Sheep Ranch, because it’s the one Bandon course I’ve but to play, after which drop $265 at Chambers Bay (as you possibly can see, I’m a sucker for a view). I’ll then head to South Carolina for a $120 tee time at Caledonia, after which end off my itinerary with rounds at Lawsonia Hyperlinks ($99) and Wild Horse ($75). That leaves me $21 to spend on a brat and beer.
STAFFER: Zephyr Melton
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000: I’d begin my thousand-dollar splurge with a spherical at certainly one of my favourite programs, Pasatiempo ($385) in Santa Cruz, Calif. With the remaining ~$600, I’d purchase as a lot merch as I probably may from the professional store — I child (type of). The Loop at Forest Dunes ($195) has been on my bucket listing for some time, so I’d must knock that one out on this boondoggle. Assuming I may play the reversible course ahead and backward on a single inexperienced price, I’d have about $400 remaining. With that, I’d head to the sandhills of North Carolina for a spherical at Pine Needles ($305), certainly one of Donald Ross’ most underrated designs. I’d take my remaining ~$100 down the street to Pinehurst and spend it on a fast spherical on the Cradle ($50), with the remaining funds going to cocktails on the porch overlooking No. 2’s famed 18th inexperienced.
The High 100 Programs You Can Play, ranked from costliest to least
STAFFER: Jack Hirsh
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000: Realizing that each certainly one of these programs is good, I might begin by splurging on a couple of premium programs earlier than scattering the remaining among the many least expensive choices to make sure I stretch that $1,000 so far as I can. To start out, I’m going to make a trek out to Bandon as a result of I’ve been on property as soon as earlier than and acquired to play solely Bandon Trails as a part of a event. So I’ll add Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Outdated Mac and Sheep Ranch to the touch all of them. Usually, this is able to be excess of $1,000, however we’ll go in March, when the speed is simply $200 for resort company, with a replay fee of $100. Certain, we may get chilly, 40-degree days, however we’ve nearly the identical likelihood of getting sunny-and-65 climate. I’ll accept something within the higher 40s and 50s, although. We’ll spend two days, play 36 every day and get to tee it up at 4 High 100 public programs for $600. Now let’s make that $400 final. We’ll begin with the most affordable possibility on the listing, George Wright in Boston ($62), as I’m at all times keen on Ross munis, having grown up close to Jeffersonville in PA. Subsequent, we’ll go to Wisconsin and play Lawsonia Hyperlinks ($99), the most affordable possibility on the High 100 listing, public or personal. Lastly, we’ll head over to the East Coast to play each Bethpage Black ($140) and Crimson ($90) throughout the week. That leaves us $9, which sadly will get you solely a scorching canine at most of those locations, besides possibly George Wright.
STAFFER: Nick Piastowski
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000: What’s the value of postage today? No matter it’s, simply divide it by our quantity so I’d know what number of letters I’d have to jot down to Chairman Ridley asking for Augusta membership. Kidding, kidding. I’m from Wisconsin, however have sadly but to play Erin Hills ($455), so I’d begin there. Then let’s go quantity, as a result of if that is on the corporate dime, I would like max vacay, too. So we’ll play Wright ($62), Wild Horse ($75), Black Mesa ($93), Lawsonia (Hyperlinks) ($99), Bethpage (Crimson) ($100) and Rustic Canyon ($104) — and have $12 left over, which we’d spend on a beer and a brat on the meals shack on the flip at Lawsonia.
