United States · Course Ranking
Birdied's best golf courses in the United States are Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, Bethpage Black, the Ocean Course at Kiawah, Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay - a handful of rounds worth crossing the country for. The shortlist is ours; the order below moves with the ratings members leave once they've played them. Almost none of these courses are where you'd put them if you were drawing the map yourself: a cliff edge on the Monterey Peninsula, dunes above the Oregon coast. The pine and sand of the Carolina sandhills. A barrier island off South Carolina. A state-park course on Long Island where golfers sleep in their cars for a tee time. These are the rounds whole trips get built around, the ones that sit on a life-list as unfinished business until they're finally logged.
The cliff edge on the Monterey Peninsula, and the reason most of these trips get booked at all.
Pine and sand rather than dune and wind: the Carolina sandhills, a long way from any coast.
The Long Island state park golfers sleep in their cars for, so getting on is half of it.
A barrier island off South Carolina, so whatever the Atlantic is doing that day, you are playing it.
Dunes above the Oregon coast, and the course that makes the journey out there worth making.
The one at Bandon set back from the water, so it asks different questions from the dunes above the beach.
A few minutes up the road from Pebble Beach, and the reason you book more than one night.
The northern end of the same Monterey stretch, and the round that fills the spare afternoon.
Every course here is chosen by Birdied's founder. The numbered order is that shortlist.
Every course on this list is chosen by Birdied's founder. The numbered order is that shortlist.