Whistling Straits is one of Wisconsin’s premier golf courses.
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Even though our 50 states may seem disparate some days, here’s a safe thing to argue about: which of those states make the best golf destinations.
The topic came up in a recent episode of GOLF’s new travel-focused podcast, Destination Golf, where my partner, Simon Holt, and I went back and forth, each ticking off our four favorite golf regions.
Simon’s first choice was hard to top. He went with Oregon, which you might say has the unfair advantage of being home to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. In Bandon alone, as Simon points out, all five of their 18-hole courses (Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Old Macdonald, Bandon Trails and Sheep Ranch) are on GOLF’s list of Top Courses. 100 to play. But Oregon golf is more than just its south coast. Enter the land of the high desert, and discover another 100 top tracks, the designs of Nicklaus and Fazio at Pronghorn, while in the Portland area, a bright constellation of public access lessons awaits.
As a counter, I gave Wisconsin. I was thinking of Sand Valley, with its four big boys courses (Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, Sedge Valley and its private siblings Lido), but also Kohler, Erin Hills, Lawsonia Links, SentryWorld and so on. The Badger State punches above its weight.
Out of greed, I once again searched for my homeland in California. The journey here, I suggested, would continue from San Francisco (Harding Park), south through Santa Cruz (Pasatiempo) and Monterey (Pebble Beach), then on to Los Angeles (Rustic Canyon) before turning east toward Palm Springs. The golf-loving Rat Pack hangs out there for good reason.
But California is a big country, and Simon is not someone who, as he puts it, “likes to spend a lot of time behind the windshield.” With that in mind, he shot in North Carolina (you could spend the rest of your life playing golf in the Sandhills without getting bored); South Carolina (Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head, to name just two of the state’s top quality/big value spots); and in Florida, where Streamsong and Cabot Citrus Farms highlight a rich array of world-class resorts.
With my two remaining choices, I went with New York (Bethpage Black was the biggie I thought, but there are four other courses within that same state park, worth playing) and Michigan, where, at the height of summer, it always shines through 9 pm That gives plenty of time to get into must-play rounds like Belvedere, Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, American Dunes and more. Eight hours later, you can get up and do it all over again.
You can listen to the entire discussion of the best region here.
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