The 8 Best Public Golf Courses in the South
When it comes to enjoying golf, there’s nothing that quite beats spending afternoons on a stunning yet challenging course with friends or family. Unfortunately, with so many private golf courses and exclusive memberships in the South, the high price of playing a round might keep you off the greens.
If you’re looking not only for accessible golf courses but ones that you can play year-round, this list of public golf courses in the South is for you.
How This List Was Made
This list includes top public golf courses in states that the U.S. Census Bureau considers to be in the South that were featured on Golf Digest’s list of 100 best public golf courses. Some of these greens are openly accessible, and some are private courses that require a stay-and-play hotel package. However, these require a hefty membership fee or a long acceptance process.
Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, North Carolina
- Architect(s): Donald Ross
- Year Built: 1937
- Yardage: 7062 yards
- Par: 71
Often overlooked due to its vicinity to Pinehurst No. 2, Pine Needles is a beautiful Donald Ross heritage course that John Fought has restored. Spanning over 7000 yards with rolling hills and meticulously placed fairway bunkers, Pine Needles was named the #4 golf course in North Carolina by Golf Week.
Its stature isn’t ignored by tournament authorities either. So far, Pine Needles has hosted four U.S. Women’s Opens.
The Ocean Course, South Carolina
- Architect(s): Pete Dye and Alice Dye
- Year Built: 1991
- Yardage: 7849 yards
- Par: 72
Designed specifically for the 1991 Ryder Cup tournament, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island offers players a special kind of golfing experience. This links-style / lagoons type golf course requires players to be at the very top of their game to score well.
Golfers can expect unreadable slopes on every green, thick sawgrass lining every hole, and bunkers that merge into the dunes and see the Atlantic surf on most holes.
TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium), Florida
- Architect(s): Pete Dye
- Year Built: 1980
- Yardage: 7245 yards
- Par: 72
Home of the nerve-wracking do-or-die 17th par three island green, TPC Sawgrass’s Stadium Course is the epitome of target golf and precision striking.
Almost all the greens have random lumps and hollows (that Dye calls his “grenade attack architecture”), and the windy Atlantic coast winds make the already tough course even more challenging.
Streamsong Golf Course Red, Florida
- Architect(s): Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw
- Year Built: 2012
- Yardage: 7110 yards
- Par: 72
Initially, the site of a phosphate strip mine Streamsong Golf Course (Red), offers players a unique mix of links-style holes (where you can bump and run your approach shots up to the green) and water holes (where the only option you have is to play target golf).
If you decide to visit Streamsong, don’t forget to check out its companion courses (the Blue course, ranked 26th best public course, and the black course, ranked 34th).
Karsten Creek Golf Club, Oklahoma
- Architect(s): Tom Fazio
- Year Built: 1994
- Yardage: 7449 yards
- Par: 72
Developed by Oklahoma State University, Karsten Creek is the winner of Golf Digest’s Best New Public Course title (1994) and one of America’s best collegiate golf courses.
Developed by Tom Fazio, Karsten Creek has a surprisingly challenging layout that will challenge even the best golfers. It’s not all golf at Karsten Creek, either; if you visit, be sure to visit the beautiful clubhouse, three guest lodges, and incredible practice and teaching facilities.
Harbour Town Golf Links, South Carolina
- Architect(s): Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus
- Year Built: 1969
- Yardage: 7099 yards
- Par: 71
Heralded as a favorite by PGA Tour players, Harbour Town Golf Links is where finesse, shot-making, and creativity win over brute strength. With some of the best par threes in golf and a finishing hole that brings even the best players to their knees, Harbour Town is an iconic public golf course that has won many awards over the years. Note, the course will close May 5, 2025, and is scheduled to reopen in November.
Bonus piece of trivia: the term “waste bunker” originated from Harbour Town when Pete Dye decided to cover a massive amount of sewer sludge with acres of sand next to the par-four 16th.
Highland Course At Primland Resort, Virginia
- Architect(s): Donald Steel
- Year Built: 2006
- Yardage: 7053 yards
- Par: 72
Unlike all the other public golf courses on this list, the Highland Course at Primland Resort is a pure mountain course. Sitting on top of a mountain plateau, the Highland Course offers golfers scenic views on every hole of the deep river below.
With the help of his associates, Donald Steel created holes that followed ridges, chasms, and side slopes but always offered a safer alternative to every tough carry. For a majestic experience at one of the premier mountain courses in America, visit the Highland Course at Primland Resort.
Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside Golf Course), Georgia
- Architect(s): Tom Fazio
- Year Built: 1999
- Yardage: 7005 yards
- Par: 70
Described by Bobby Jones as having one of the best nine holes he’s ever played, the Seaside course at Sea Island Golf Club is a Tom Fazio transformation of two nines that initially didn’t match at all.
Home of the PGA TOUR’s RSM Classic, the Seaside public golf course combines the natural beauty of the oceanside with manicured greens and fairways to create a dramatic playing experience for visitors.
NEXT: I’ve Golfed for 50 Years. Here’s 10 U.S. Golf Resorts Worth the Trip
Golf is played in some of the most beautiful places. If you want to combine your passion for golf with your next vacation, here are ten relaxing properties where the greens are just as impressive as the resort.
I’ve Golfed for 50 Years. Here’s 10 U.S. Golf Resorts Worth the Trip
America’s 25 Most Historic Golf Courses Revealed
For many, golf is not just how well you play but where you’ve played. Talk to any avid golfer, and they’ll ask about the courses you’ve teed off at. There is certainly no shortage of excellent golf courses across the United States, but these courses steeped in the game’s history deserve a place on bucket lists.
You don’t need to make the record books at these historic golf courses; instead, just enjoy a golf getaway at one of these courses designed by some of the most legendary architects of the game.
America’s 25 Most Historic Golf Courses Revealed
Seven of The Best Public Golf Courses in the Northeast
One of the best parts of golf is going out onto the course with friends or family and enjoying the game together, but the cost of playing a round can be sky-high, busting your budget, or keeping you off the greens altogether.
Public golf courses let you do that without the exclusivity and high membership prices of private golf courses. If you live in the Northeast or plan a vacation there, here’s my curated list of public golf courses, including the icon hosting the 2025 Ryder Cup.
