Best PGA Tour Played Golf Courses
As good as television technology gets, there’s nothing quite like stepping foot on the hallowed grounds where your favorite PGA TOUR players hit your favorite shots. There’s a certain charm in digging into a greenside bunker where Tiger once made up and down or rolling in a six-footer a putter’s length away from where the drama of the 2015 U.S. Open unfolded. There’s just something about “Playing Where the Pros Play,” and if you’re looking to experience that special feeling, there’s no better place to start than the list of magnificent must play courses listed below.
- Westwego, Louisiana
- Home to the PGA TOUR’s exciting team event, The Zurich Classic, TPC Louisiana is a challenging Pete Dye design built on 250 acres of wetlands, shot-altering cypress and expansive water hazards. TPC Louisiana is also home to Tripod, a gigantic three-legged alligator that looks enormous on TV and even bigger in person. A short skip from Bourbon Street and the best that New Orleans has to offer, TPC Louisiana is undoubtedly a great place to Play Where the Pros Play.
- Palm Harbor, Florida
- Host of the Valspar Championship, Innisbrook Golf Resort – Copperhead is considered one of the most difficult golf courses on the PGA TOUR- but don’t worry, it offers tee boxes for players of all abilities! Especially famous for its final three holes that are aptly named “The Snake Pit,” Copperhead’s closing stretch packs a venomous bite with ample bunkering, tight corridors and well-protected greens, and the whole experience is certain to give all who play it a newfound respect for those select TOUR pros who are able to charm it.
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Home to one of the most exciting stops on the PGA TOUR, the Phoenix Waste Management Open, TPC Scottsdale – Stadium Course features a dramatic risk-reward layout which demands players to be precise with their shots. Nowhere is this excitement more apparent than on the famed 16th hole, “The Coliseum,” where over 20,000 fans surround the hole to watch players battle the hole. And for a few weeks surrounding the tournament, golfers can tee off on 16 with the stands still up and envision what it would be like to play on golf’s biggest stage.
- White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
- Considered one of the best classic designs in the United States, The Old White TPC at the Greenbrier is a miraculous mountain-style course that has captivated golfers for over 100 years. Designed by renowned golf architect Charles Blair Macdonald, Old White incorporates several holes styled after famous links-style holes found at St. Andrew’s, North Berwick and Prestwick. Viewers of the PGA TOUR’s Greenbrier Classic get a glimpse of Old White’s allure, but this historic track must be played to truly appreciate its majesty.
- Pebble Beach, California
- Just a short ride off the iconic 17 Mile Drive, Poppy Hills is an immaculate Robert Trent Jones Jr. layout that rivals the best golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula. Jones once described playing Poppy Hills as “close as you can get to playing golf in a National Park,” because of how seamlessly the course meshes with the towering pines of the Del Monte Forest. Poppy Hills wowed pros and celebrities alike as host of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but you don’t have to be a star to experience golf in one of its finest settings.
- Silvis, Illinois
- One of the top-rated courses in the Midwest and host of the John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run has catapulted young players like Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau into stardom, and it also allows everyday golfers the opportunity to take their own game to the next level. Sprawled across the natural rolling terrain of northwestern Illinois, TPC Deere Run is a D.A. Weibring design that masterfully utilizes the Rock River and its surrounding ravines to create a stimulating layout that suits the eye perfectly.
- University Place, Washington
- The first course in the Pacific Northwest to host the U.S. Open, Chambers Bay is a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. track that embraces the complex landscape to give players a test unlike any other course on TOUR. Chambers Bay’s intricate links-style layout features dramatic landforms and severely undulating greens that bring out the very best in players. As one of only six public courses to ever host the U.S. Open, Chambers Bay presents golfers with a unique opportunity to play at a major championship venue.
- Lahaina, Hawaii
- Kapalua – Plantation Course, host of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, is a tropical Hawaiian oasis that features a thrilling layout masterfully crafted by Crenshaw and Coore. Home to one of the best closing stretches on the PGA TOUR, Kapalua’s 17th and 18th holes play downhill and downwind to counterbalance tee boxes that tip out at 508 and 663 yards! And whether you hit the biggest drive of your life or a middling fade off to the right, the contrast of your golf ball against the perfectly blue horizon of the Pacific Ocean is a vantage point you’ll never forget.
- La Quinta, California
- The host of the first stop on the PGA TOUR’s California swing, The CareerBuilder Challenge, the Stadium Course at PGA West is a desert-style test designed by the legendary architect Pete Dye. Boasting a 150 slope rating, the Stadium Course features wicked water hazards, deliberate bunkering and visually menacing tee shots. The highlight of the round at the Stadium Course is the 168-yard, par 3 17th hole, aptly named Alcatraz because of its isolated rocky island green where only those with the best of shots will escape with a good score.
- Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
- Home of the PGA TOUR’s deepest field and biggest purse, TPC Sawgrass – THE PLAYERS Stadium is the permanent host site of THE PLAYERS Championship. From the 17th hole’s iconic island green to one of the toughest closing holes in golf, TPC Sawgrass is one of the most recognizable courses in the world and it gives golfers a chance to walk in the footsteps of the greatest players to ever play the game. Simply put- a round at THE PLAYERS Stadium is truly “better than most.”