Our raters’ favorite courses on GOLF’s Top 100 Resorts in the World list

By: GOLF's Course Ratings Panel September 15, 2023

Bandon Trails at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

Brian Krehbiel

GOLF’s Top 100 course panelists are among the most respected and well-traveled course evaluators in the game. They’re also keen to share their opinions. Check out GOLF’s latest Top 100 Courses in the U.S., Top 100 Courses in the World, Top 100 Courses You Can Play, Best Municipal Courses in the U.S., and 100 Best Short Courses. Meet all of our Top 100 panelists here.

GOLF’s recently released list of the Top 100 Resorts in the World is loaded with dream golf courses, but some stand out among the rest. What are some of your favorite courses from the resorts named on the list?

Philip Gawith (rater since 2019): Sand Valley has an incredible collection of courses with the elegant, original Coore-Crenshaw course and David McLay-Kidd’s fun Mammoth Dunes now joined by the jaw-dropping Lido. Rosapenna in Ireland offers the best choice of links courses with the gentle Tom Morris, the bracing Sandy Hills and now the Doak-designed St. Patrick’s Links, the best new links to be built in many years.

St. Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna in Ireland. Clyde Johnson

Pete Phipps (rater since 2021): William Flynn was one of the greatest architects of the 20th century, yet to play some of his best designs you need an invite from a member at an esteemed club. Thankfully that’s not the case for the Cascades Course at Omni Homestead. You get to play a Flynn classic that winds through the Virginia mountains, showcasing once again why the “Nature Faker” was so good at making his courses feel like an extension of the land they were built on.

Steve Lapper (rater since 2009): There are so many to pick from. A list of my favorites would include Cabot Cliffs, Bandon Trails and Pacific Dunes, Kiawah Ocean, Cape Kidnappers, Kauri Cliffs, Punta Espada (Cap Cana), Pinehurst No. 2, Turnberry, Prestwick and Rosapenna. Most of these would be on anyone’s Top 100 World list.

Thomas Brown (rater since 2014): We’re on vacation, right? I’m refusing to get up from my beach chair for more than a few hours. Golf in Mexico has the advantage of being able to build golf holes directly on the seashore without any setbacks. Several courses on our list are featured on the beach in Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Baja California. Coming up this autumn is a visit from the PGA Tour to my favorite Baja resort, The Resort at Diamante, where Tiger Woods’ design team built the resort’s second course, El Cardonal, in the sand dunes above the seashore.