How we rank America's top 100 courses.

No single ranking is definitive. So we combine the three most respected ones into a transparent consensus.

The sources

• Golf Digest — "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses," judged by a panel of nearly 1,900 raters across seven attributes (shot values, design variety, memorability, aesthetics, conditioning, character, and ambience).
• Golfweek — "Best Classic Courses" (built before 1960) and "Best Modern Courses" (1960 and later), judged by ~800 raters on ten criteria.
• GOLF Magazine — "Top 100 Courses in the U.S.," updated biennially by an international panel of around 100 architecture-focused raters.

How we combine them

1. We take each source's most recent published ranking.
2. We assign each course a points score by inverse rank (rank 1 = 100 points, rank 100 = 1 point).
3. We sum points across all three sources and re-rank.
4. Ties are broken by appearance count, then by Golf Digest rank.

What we don't do

We don't run our own rater panel. We don't accept payment for ranking placement. We don't move courses up or down based on traffic, advertising, or relationships.

What's in each profile

Architect, year built, access, holes/par/yardage, an ~80-word researched history, signature hole when documented, notable tournaments, official URL (or a Google search shortcut), Google Maps location, and accurate latitude/longitude for the interactive map.

Corrections

If you spot a factual error — a wrong design credit, a missing tournament, an outdated link — please email hello@topcourses.golf. We update the site continuously.