Oklahoma is in the heart of three historic, cultural regions as a destination for early settlers or Sooners, as part of the Chisholm Trail cattle drive route, and as the designated Indian Territory until 1907, correspondingly, the state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people.” The state is a producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products in addition to a growing aviation, telecommunications, and biotechnology segment with two-thirds of the population living near Tulsa or Oklahoma City.

Two of the top public golf courses in Oklahoma in this guide, Karsten Creek and Jimmie Austin are affiliated with OSU and OU universities respectively. Others like Forest Ridge or Cherokee Hills near Tulsa or the Lincoln Park or Lake Hefner municipal layouts of Oklahoma City are the best public golf courses there. This map and guide to the best golf courses in Oklahoma identifies those remote golf courses across this vast territory such as Winstar Golf Club and Chickasaw Pointe on the Texas border or Shangri La on Grand Lake.