Best golf courses near Cherry Hill, NJ

Merion East has long been considered the best course on the tightest acreage in America, and when it hosted the U.S. Open in 2013, its first since 1981, the present generation of big hitters couldn’t conquer this clever little course. They couldn’t consistently hit its twisting fairways, which are edged by creeks, hodge-podge rough and OB stakes. Additionally, players couldn’t consistently hold its canted greens, edged by bunkers that stare back. Justin Rose won with a 72-hole total of one-over-par, two ahead of Jason Day and Phil Mickelson. With Gil Hanse's extensive two-year renovation after that tournament, making even more improvements at Merion's East Course, the design should be even more polished and pristine when the U.S. Amateur returns in 2026 and the U.S. Open returns again in 2030.

Philadelphia Cricket was A.W. Tillinghast’s home club in his early years as a golfer, so when he laid out a new course for the club in the early 1920s, he devoted special attention to it. Over the century, it aged. Greens shrank, bunkers eroded, trees grew (including one right through the roof of a clubhouse veranda). In 2008, Keith Foster was retained to restore the course to its Tillinghast glory, but a poor economy postponed the work until the summer of 2013. The Cricket is now faithful to Tilly once again, with trees removed and original greens and bunkers reclaimed, including the famed “Great Hazard” that must be carried on the par-5 seventh. As per his request, Tillinghast’s ashes were scattered in the Wissahickon Creek that crosses the 18th green. The PGA Tour's Truist Championship was moved to Philly Cricket Club for 2025, with Quail Hollow Club hosting the PGA Championship.

A genuine original, its unique character is forged from the sandy pine barrens of southwest Jersey. Founder George Crump had help from now-legendary architects H.S. Colt, A.W. Tillinghast, George C. Thomas Jr. and Walter Travis. Hugh Wilson (of Merion fame) and his brother Alan finished the job, while William Flynn and Perry Maxwell made revisions. Throughout the course, Pine Valley blends all three schools of golf design—penal, heroic and strategic—often times on a single hole. Recent tree removal at selected spots has revealed some gorgeous views of the sandy landscape upon which the course is routed, and Tom Fazio has put his own touch on the design with bunker remodels that have given the barrens a more intricate and ornate look.

The original 18 at Philadelphia Country Club, known as Spring Mill, was designed by William Flynn in 1927 (Tom Fazio later added an additional nine holes in 1990, called Centennial). The appropriate word to describe the course and the property is “grand,” especially after Jim Nagle’s 2023 and 2024 renovation work expanded fairways and greens, upscaled the bunkering to better match Flynn’s original hazards and opened up the remaining sight lines so the full scale of the land’s movements and vistas across the west Philadelphia horizon could be appreciated. The design is full of standout holes like the uphill, double-dogleg second, the sweeping downhill fourth and the par-3 seventh nestled in a cove. But the second nine stretch of holes, particularly from the par-5 12th walking along a high ridgeline through the powerful dogleg right 17th that banks through a valley corridor into a green sitting in a secluded hollow are in a class with the best of any course in the Philadelphia market. Philadelphia Country Club was the site of the 1939 U.S. Open, won by Byron Nelson only after an additional 36-hole playoff with Craig Wood and Denny Shute. The tournament may be most remembered, however, as Sam Snead’s best chance to win the Open. Playing the 72nd hole, he needed only par to win but thought he needed a birdie to tie Nelson. After driving the ball in a bunker on the par-5 18th, he elected to go for the green with his 2½ wood instead of laying up with an iron. That shot caught another bunker under the lip and he proceeded to make an 8. The infamous hole is now the par-5 third—the sequencing changed when the clubhouse was relocated to the other side of the course in the 1970s.

Founded in 1897, Huntingdon Valley started out as a nine-hole course before expanding to 18 in the 1910s. The club then had to move to its present site in the 1920s and acquired enough land for 27 holes. The main 18 was designed by William Flynn and Howard Toomey and opened for play in 1928. The third nine, called the C course, fell into disrepair during the Great Depression and only the main 18 was maintained. However, to coincide with the club’s centennial, they hired Ron Prichard to bring back what is now called the Centennial nine. The greens are difficult in terms of both undulation and slope. Huntingdon's routing is its strength, as it makes great use of incredibly rolling topography, where the only flat lie one gets is on the tee box. It also takes advantage of the valley and creek that the property sits on, meaning golfers have to navigate and avoid the tough features they bring.

Manufacturers' Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington is ranked as one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and tee time information

Philadelphia Cricket Club's Militia Hill course in Flourton is ranked as one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and tee time information

Formerly The Ace Club, built by the Chubb Foundation back in 2003, Union League Liberty Hill is a Gary Player design sitting on 311 rolling acres. Liberty Hill was now acquired by the Philadelphia Union League as part of its growing golf portfolio.

Trump National Philadelphia, in Pine Hill, N.J., is a Tom Fazio design with some rolling terrain down the street from Pine Valley. Donald Trump told our John Barton in 2014: "I think it's as good as Pine Valley, OK? People from Pine Valley are playing it all the time, and some say it's just as good, and some say it's better."

Situated just north of Philadelphia, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club was the first 18-hole course designed by George C. Thomas. Thomas designed the course, originally known as Mount Airy Country Club, on his family’s estate. The course is one of the few that Thomas created before heading to California, where he designed Los Angeles Country Club, Riviera and Bel-Air Country Club, among other notable layouts. At Whitemarsh, Thomas used sprawling bunkers with jagged thumbs to shape many holes, as he would come to do at his top designs. Many of the greens accept run-up shots, making Whitemarsh playable for the average golfer, though clever shaping requires precise shots to get close to many hole locations.

Hugh Wilson built just two courses in his short life (he died at 46 years old in 1925)—the famed Merion East course, one of the best routings in America on a tight plot that would become one of our country’s great championship designs, and the club’s second course, the West. The sporty Wilson design, with work later done by William Flynn and Perry Maxwell—an impressive design lineage—boasts intriguing greens and is always in great shape—as one of the best superintendent programs in the country ensures that the same elite-level diligence is paid attention to over at the West, which is about a mile from the East course. Just like the East, Wilson was given limited space for the West but delivered some impressive holes, like the downhill 4th and the "quirky corner" holes of Nos. 6, 7 and 8.

The Union League Golf Club At Torresdale is one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and course information.