Brickyard is on the north side of Macon off I-75 at US 23 slightly to the north.
The layout is over rolling terrain along fairways defined by pine trees and mature hardwoods. There’s multiple ponds and a stream in play on numerous holes and 25 sand bunkers scattered along the landing zones and green side. There’s multiple tees from 5,099 yards to 7,128 yards off the tips, the green tees play to 6,256 yards, 71.2/132, course/slope ratings, designed by Chic Adams, redesigned by Mark McCumber.
Located 45 minutes northwest of Fort Wayne off US 30, Stonehenge is on the southeast side of Warsaw on Pierceton Road in a residential community.
The layout traverses a combination of broad and narrow fairway corridors over level topography. There’s eight water features in play in the form of lakes and streams, 25 pot, conventional, and waste sand bunkers, and modest, kidney shaped greens. There’s six tees from 4,545 yards to 7,041 yards off the tips, the blue tees are 6,084 yards, 68.5/124, course/sloe ratings, designed by Florida based golf course architect, Ron Garl.
Midway between Cheyenne and Omaha just off I-80 there’s a worthy stop for golf. Rivers Edge Golf Course is located on the south bank of the North Platte River just north of downtown.
The layout is over level terrain with one hole along the River with a pond and a stream bisecting the course. Its fairways are lined with trees and there’s several dramatic doglegs with 25 +/- sand bunkers defending the modest, oval greens. It’s in a predominately natural setting on river bottom land without homes or development along the golf course. There’s four sets of tees, the Blue tees are 5,888 yards, 69.2/127, course/slope ratings.
The Morris CC is off I-80 at the Morris exit 60 miles west of Chicago on the north side of the Illinois River with its Nettles Creek track open to public play on the weekends only.
The Creek course has a wide open, prairie/links feel to it as it moves over slightly rolling topography within a residential community. There’s patches of tall prairie grasses throughout bordering the landing zones, six ponds, 35 sand traps, and generous, undulating and contoured green complexes. There’s tees from 5,059 yards to 6,562 yards off the back tees, the white tees play to 6,129 yards, 68.8/118, course/slope ratings, designed by Buzz Didier.
The Waynesville Inn is a classic North Carolina resort from the 1920s located on the south side of Waynesville on Market Street and its golf course is private, but open to outside play to guests of the lodge on site.
The original 27 hole course has been reduced to 18 holes by Bobby Weed with the original Donald Ross “The Carolina Nine” becoming the front side. The Carolina is over the valley floor while the backside moves over rolling terrain along wooded fairway corridors. It is situated in a scenic setting surrounded by mountain views throughout the at an elevation of 3,000 feet.
With its recent reopening, there are now four excellent golf courses in the Waynesville area making it a legitimate golf destination. It’s especially favorable this time of year as the temperatures are generally 10-15 degrees cooler at this elevation. Our guide for Waynesville includes the Springdale Country Club, Maggie Valley Resort, Laurel Ridge, and the newly reopened Waynesville Inn.
The Elk Rapids Golf Club is on 3,000 feet of frontage on Elm Lake on the east side of Elk Rapids 30 minutes northeast of Traverse City and an hour southwest of Boyne.
The golf club is on an isthmus between Elk Lake and Grand Traverse Bay on level land with a couple of fairways bordering the lake and the occasional lake view. It’s a proper 9 hole layout along fairways defined by trees with 25 sand bunkers in play and mid-sized, raised greens. It’s a Donald Ross original design, mostly untouched, and plays to 3,067 yards off the back tees, 69.0/121, course/slope ratings with two shorter tees.
The Best Public Golf Course guide feature 4,500 of the best golf courses from the national golf periodical lists as well as those hidden gems our readers discover. Every week we profile special courses that may just fly under the radar screen or be located away from traditional golf destinations. The Cassville Golf Club is just such a golf club. It’s located about 1 1/2 hours from either Springfield or Joplin, Missouri on the south side of Cassville. It’s just north of the Rolling River State Park, 20 minutes from the Eagle Rock Marina on Table Rock Lake, and about an hour west of Branson. It’s a small town, community golf club that welcomes public play and was designed, financed, and currently supported by its membership.
The course is set on a roomy tract of land with homes well off the fairway on a couple of holes. Its fairways are dotted with trees along straightforward and slight to moderate doglegs. There’s three ponds impacting play on multiple holes, but less than 15 sand bunkers overall. There’s four sets of tees from 4,809 yards to 6,665 yards, 71.3/122, course/slope ratings.
There’s so many recent lists of the most expensive rounds of golf in the United States like from Links Magazine, Bleacher Report, or the venerable Golf Magazine, yet none of which seem to have noticed Canyata. It may be because it’s certainly not in a high profile resort location, but in east central Illinois 20 miles west of Terre Haute, Indiana.
Canyata is an exclusive, private club completed in 2004 by the Forsythe Family with Gerald Forsyth the patriarch. The land is former farmland that’s been in the family for 150 years. Mr. Forsythe is known throughout Illinois and the Midwest as a philanthropist and entrepreneur as owner of the industrial Indeck Group as well as investments in sports and entertainment including another golf course in Illinois.
The course generates loads of superlatives for those who have been fortunate enough to play there: world class, amazing, immaculate, impeccable, perfect, luxurious. It will set you back $850 to play 36 holes, but that does include lunch and free range balls! The layout is classic parkland over rolling terrain of pastures, hardwood corridors, and along streams and ravines with bent grass from tee to green. The fairways average 50 yards in width, the greens 7,000 square feet, and mounding has created totally isolated and unique holes. It’s a challenging golf course with numerous tee boxes, the Blue tees play to 6,094 yards, 70.2/142, course/slope ratings, designed by Michael Benkusky.
PGA Frisco is 40 minutes north of downtown Dallas off the Dallas North Tollway. It’s the PGA of America’s headquarters and includes two 18 hole championship courses, The Swing, a lighted 10-hole short course, The Dance Floor, a lighted 2-acre putting course, practice facility, an Omni Resort, and a retail and entertainment district, including an outdoor pavilion for concerts and events.
The East Course follows the natural lay of the land over rolling hills through dry washes and along Panther Creek. It includes a couple of drivable par 4s, long and short par 3s, and green complexes of varying shapes and sizes. The West Course, with significantly more sand bunkers as the East, also follows Panther Creek over its prairie field setting with over 75 feet of elevation change along fairway corridors bordered by native grasses, live oaks, and mesquite trees. The East course has multiple tees from 5,012 – 7,863 yards, 78.9/151, course/slope ratings, designed by Gil Hanse. The West Course tees from 4,166 – 7,319 yards, 76.2/142 off the tips, designed by Beau Welling.
Kickingbird is a municipal golf course located 20 minutes north of Oklahoma City off US 77 at Danforth to the west. It’s a 1971 design that been recently re-imagined to the tune of $5 Million and includes a Trackman range and short game area as well as an 18 hole, championship course. It’s been under a $17 Million renovation over the past two years It was redesigned by Matt Dusenberry, whose municipal work has included Keney Park renovation of the Devereux Emmet many has received various honors as well as his Sandhill Crane update.
The course is a parkland design with generally broad fairway corridors bordered by mature hardwoods with a couple of ponds in play and a scattering of sand bunkers. There’s variety of interesting green complexes including punch bowl, Biarritz, lion’s mouth in addition to a number of greens with false fronts, and undulating swales. There’s four sets of tees from 5,051 yards to 6,922 yards, the white tees are 5,758 yards, 67.6/111, course/slope ratings, originally designed by Floyd Farley and redesigned by Matt Dusenberry in 2023.
