10 courses that give you the best bang for your buck, ranked by our course experts

Colorado Golf Association member: $46-62
Non-member: $59-80

Less than 10 miles east of downtown Denver, CommonGround is a public layout designed by Tom Doak. The course—home to the Colorado Golf Association—plays on relatively flat terrain, and many fairways are framed by tall native grasses, giving the track a links feel. The fairways are generous, but well-placed bunkers pinch the landing areas in at strategic places, making the course playable for the average player yet more challenging for the low handicap.

Houston resident: $21-38
Non-resident: $90-140

A significant renovation was completed by Tom Doak (in collaboration with Brooks Koepka) to transform the old municipal course at Memorial Park—which hosted the first Houston Open in 1947 and then again from 1951 through 1965—into a layout worthy of being a PGA Tour venue. Originally built in 1912 at a hospital near Camp Logan for recovering soldiers to use, architect John Bredemus redesigned the course in 1935 and added a second nine. Now with signature Doak green complexes and tour-level conditioning, Memorial Park is once again a must-play in the state and averages 60,000 rounds a year.

San Diego resident: $42-85
Non-resident: $141-292

Torrey Pines sits on one of the prettiest golf course sites in America, atop coastal bluffs north of San Diego with eye-dazzling views of the Pacific. Rees Jones’ remodeling of the South Course in the early 2000s not only made the course competitive for the 2008 U.S. Open (won by Tiger Woods in a playoff over Rocco Mediate), it also brought several coastal canyons into play for everyday play, especially on the par-3 third and par-4 14th. An annual PGA Tour stop, Torrey Pines received another boost by Jones prior to hosting its second U.S. Open in 2021, this one won by Jon Rahm.

South Carolina Charleston or Tri-County resident: $20-40
Non-resident: $60 (Juniors under 18 play free)

A thrifty but artistically ambitious renovation reopened in 2020. The 92-year-old working-class golf course has always been popular, but flooding, wet turf and excessive tree growth negatively impacted playability. Between an allocation of funds from the city (which continues to oversee operations) and private donations collected through an organization called “Friends of the Muni,” approximately $3.5 million was raised, enough to enact significant upgrades without raising green fees. Residents can walk for around $20, and out-of-town players—if they can get a time, can play for under $100.

Boston resident: $46-55
Non-resident: $55-62

George Wright is consistently recognized as one of the best, most affordable public golf options anywhere. Much like The Country Club, "The Wright," as it’s known to locals, is routed through rocky outcroppings similar to Brookline and wild terrain that challenges the golfer with constant elevation changes, many blind shots and smallish greens. Donald Ross' routing through tree-lined corridors is bold and adventurous, but also highly walkable, with nearly every green just a few short steps away from the next tee. At $41 to walk for city residents ($50 for non-residents), you won't find a better deal in the state, which is probably why it's hard to secure a tee time. Plus, the course is always in good condition thanks to superintendent Leo Curtin and his crew, with our panelists reporting that George Wright’s greens are routinely on par with any of the high-end private courses operating with an exponentially higher budget. George Wright hosted the 2018 state amateur along with its sister course, William J. Devine.

Rates: $61-75

The turf is fescue with some bluegrass, kept firm and fast, so straight drives seem to roll forever but wayward ones can scurry across those wide fairways and into the rough. The rough is all native grasses irrigated only by Mother Nature, so most times it's dry enough that you can usually spot a ball from 50 yards away in what looks like ankle-deep grass and extract it with a single swing. Most of the greens are generous targets, too, and all are surrounded by wide swaths of fairway wrapped to one side or the other or completely around. You can bump and run to some spot on every green, but if you miss one left or right, even badly, you'll likely still have the option of pitching or putting. What really makes the course are its 68 bunkers, cunningly placed to require challenge or avoidance. The bunkers are deep, have gnarly edges and powdery sand. If you hit one, quite often you'll simply aim toward the nearest point of escape. The Wild Horse bunkers are akin to those at Sand Hills Golf Club, although smaller in scale and more manmade, but nonetheless appearing more like eroded pits than formal bunkers. It's a style several designers have adopting in recent years, some no doubt inspired by Nebraska courses. 

Rates: $44-82

Of course, Pebble Beach is on most golfers' bucket lists. For locals, though, it's tough to beat the $40-60 normal rate at Pacific Grove, aka The Poor Man's Pebble. Pebble's designers, Jack Neville and Chandler Egan, did the layout for Pacific Grove, too—and the back nine has a Pebble feel in terms of your sense of enjoying the intimate setting on the Monterey Peninsula. Just like everyone should experience Pebble Beach once in their life, you should play Pacific Grove, too.

Rates: $24-104

Rustic Canyon earned the honor of Golf Digest's Most Affordable Public Course in 2002, and it has continued to generate attention as one of Southern California's best public options since. With wide, generous fairways routed through a seasonal stream bed in the foothills north of Los Angeles, this Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackelford design is a natural, minimalistic and strategic gem that should be on any list of the best in California.

Rates: $70-135

A darling of the architecture cognoscenti, Lawsonia Links, designed and built in the 1930s by William Langford and Theodore Moreau, circles through grassy meadows and past an occasional stand of oaks. It’s a purposefully modest and functional design that invites players to rip driver, then buckle down for precise shots into large platform greens perched above deep trench bunkers dug out with pre-modern steam shovels. The par-3 seventh has another explanation entirely. Its green, perched like a birthday cake, was formed by piling dirt over an old railroad boxcar.

New York State resident: $44-80
Non-resident: $88-160

Sprawling Bethpage Black, designed in the mid-1930s to be “the public Pine Valley,” became the darling of the USGA in the early 2000s, when it played the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. Then it became a darling of the PGA Tour as host of the 2011 and 2016 Barclays. Now the PGA of America has embraced The Black, which hosted the 2019 PGA Championship (winner: Brooks Koepka) and the upcoming 2025 Ryder Cup. Heady stuff for a layout that was once a scruffy state-park haunt where one needed to sleep in the parking lot in order to get a tee time. Now, you need fast fingers on the state park's website once tee times are available—as prime reservations at The Black are known for going in seconds.