The 50 greatest courses built since 2000

Shelter Harbor, a lovely course built over difficult terrain, has been trending continually upward, and there’s no reason to think the engaging design old New England vibe won’t continue to push it inside the top 150.

Though Concession has fallen overall since its debut, dipping to No. 141 in 2021, it’s actually climbed 14 spots since then and is experiencing momentum. It’s reasonable to believe there is more room to advance.

It’s difficult to see how White Oak, one of the most exclusive courses in the U.S. built for Los Angeles Dodgers owner and conservationist Mark Walter, can climb higher since so few people, including our panelists, play it. It takes data to change data.

Though the numbers were always strong, Coore & Crenshaw’s “mountain” course was late to the rankings, primarily because the club was slow to garner the 50 ballots needed to qualify.

Kiawah Island Club’s Tom Fazio-designed River Course faded from the Second 100 Greatest in 2025 while Cassique clings to its position, the novelty of this lowcountry links full of humps and moguls eclipsed by 25 years’ worth of newer architecture.

I would make the case that Chambers Bay should be ranked considerably higher given its incredible setting, unique design and U.S. Open host status. It should score higher in Shot Options and Character. However, there’s been enough scoring dispersion to prevent it from cracking the top 100 thus far, so this position feels about right.

The courses at Streamsong would have to qualify among the most popular in the U.S. built this century, but only the Red has had, briefly, the scores to touch the 100 Greatest, showing how difficult it is to garner the consensus opinion needed to remain in that rarified company.

The ranking trajectory of Sage Valley, a beautiful and highly exclusive private club in the model of nearby Augusta National, shows how architectural attitudes the past 25 years have shifted away from composed landscapes toward more rugged, natural designs.

Coore and Crenshaw’s original course at Sand Valley has followed a similar path as their design at Streamsong, built five years earlier. It’s receded slightly as more courses have entered this space, but it remains arguably the best expression of the resort’s riveting sand and pine landscape.

New courses generally come in hot and then cool off, but the continued and growing admiration among architecture purists for this new design that entered the ranking in 2025 makes us think this number will improve.

Because of their proximity and overlapping construction and opening timelines, Tree Farm and Old Barnwell will always be linked together even as several new courses are set to debut around Aiken. Their ranking status is also likely to follow a similar trajectory.

At French Lick, Pete Dye did what Pete Dye did best, giving resort players thrills in the extreme, and our panelists have rewarded that. I’m curious to know if the modest slide is a trend or if it’s settling into a more appropriate tier. Will Dye’s style become more, or less, appreciated the farther we get from his career?

Sometimes clubs are upset or confused to see their ranking fall, even through no fault of their own. Mountaintop is still the exciting, scenic joyride it’s always been even though other courses that play to a different architectural imperative have nudged it.

Mayacama has been a staple in our rankings since its debut in 2005, and though it’s dropped from its high early positions it remains one of Nicklaus’ best accomplishments—a stellar example of his move toward more playable, aesthetically complete designs. Our prediction is that it stabilizes in its current range.

This course, beloved by good players for its intense challenge on a windy site, rose as high as No. 48 in 2011 and is an example of how early rankings can skew how courses are perceived. No. 48 was always too generous for Eagle Point, and its fall of over 70 places also paints a false picture. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

A surprise winner for 2024 Best New Private Course, The Covey is also a surprisingly interesting and cohesive design that debuted just outside the top 100. It will be interesting to see if panelists from around the country continue to be surprised by it and judge it at this high level as time goes by.

It might not be in our 100 Greatest any longer, but we don’t expect The Preserve to drift much farther than it has—its setting is too entirely enchanting. The holes play through a landscape so attractive and majestic that one architect approached to build the course declined. He thought it should be left to nature.

It took Kingsley Club a decade to crack the rankings, and it slid back to No. 133 before achieving its highest position in 2025-2026. This is one of the most unique courses in the U.S., striking an unlikely balance between intense fun and intense challenge, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it ascend higher—it deserves it.

Madison Club is one of only a handful of Fazio designs that have earned bonus points for moving up in the ranking since it opened. It achieved a high position of No. 108 in 2017, a sign of respect for the way the design team carved the course into uninteresting desert, blending it artistically within the surrounding real estate.

The designs of Tom Doak from the early 2000s often received the anti-Fazio treatment: They were dramatically underrated by our panelists out of the gate. But the scores for courses like Stone Eagle, sitting in the rocky foothills south of Palm Springs, have been rapidly catching up to their architectural merits.

Jim Engh had an Icarus-like career, flying into the sun with nationally ranked courses before plummeting toward the back end of the rankings. Black Rock, his only remaining course on our Second 100 Greatest list, debuted inside the top 30 but symbolizes a highly deliberate vision for design that’s been penalized in the era of naturalism.

Shooting Star is a relatively lowkey Fazio design where the alpine vibe and valley views of the Tetons are the center of attention. Like its name, it streaked 25 places into the top 100 in 2023 before leaving orbit in 2025. Whether or not that was the bright spot, time will tell.

The holes at this Coore & Crenshaw design on Colorado’s Front Range southeast of Denver chug up and down foothill slopes, crossing through meadows and upland pine forests. It’s also been chugging up the ranking—does it have the power to crack the top 100?

Given its rural location in south Virginia, Olde Farm might be one of the least-known courses in our ranking, but it consistently earns high marks across each of our scoring categories. The design rewards panelists for the effort it takes to get here, and we don’t anticipate that changing.

Tom Fazio courses have a history of debuting high in the rankings, often inside the 100 Greatest, and then slowly sliding backward as the newness wears off and other courses come on the scene. Diamond Creek, part of his magnificent Western Carolina triptych along with Mountaintop and Wade Hampton, looked like one of his steadier designs until 2025 when it dropped to No. 95.

Until two cycles ago, Dallas National was consistently ranked between No. 59 and No. 71. It dropped the last two periods but is coming off a major rehaul by Fazio’s team, with the hope it can move the 20+ places back its former tier. We’re guessing it comes close.

It’s difficult to explain why the Bluffs' position has declined in recent years (it’s slipped from No. 68 in 2019-2020 to No. 102 in 2025-2026), other than a general tightening of panelist scoring and the introduction into the market of similarly brilliant aesthetic displays that synchronize more naturally with their settings.

You won’t find a more stable course in the 100 Greatest than Boston G.C., the first prominent new design Hanse and Wagner built. That said, it’s likely to remain fixed in this range, while the next Hanse & Wagner design listed, Ladera, has much greater upward potential.

I’m confident this course would have debuted inside the top 50 in the U.S. had it been built 20 years ago. Since then, architectural vision and execution have risen significantly, and dozens of historic courses have also made improvements. The barrier for entry inside the 100 Greatest is as high as it’s ever been, to say nothing of top 50, so this placement for a debut course is notable.

Canyata’s challenging, sculpted parkland/meadow design bucks the current fashion of Neoclassical naturalism, making its tenacious cling to a position inside the top 90 impressive. The Escalante group purchased the property last year and is transitioning the once ultra-private club to a national membership, and how the increased play will impact the rankings will be fascinating to see.

Admittedly, our system of tracking overall trajectory does Calusa Pines no favors: it’s climbed 28 places over the last five rankings from a high of 96 in 2017, though only gets credit for climbing three spots. Regardless, it’s one of the most creative and consistent courses built in the last 25 years.

It’s unclear if Old Macdonald’s plunge from No. 56 to No. 81 the last two cycles is a trend or an aberration. Did the opening of Sheep Ranch, which did not make this ranking, dilute the point pool? Did the opening of The Lido at Sand Valley, the literal recreation of the course Old Mac was based on, suck enthusiasm? The next ranking will provide answers.

The evolution of architectural tastes since Kinloch and the No. 1 course in this ranking opened the same year can be tracked through their 100 Greatest tenures. Kinloch, intensely private, is polished, clean, orchestrated and entered the ranking higher. The other, a resort course, captured attention for its minimalism and a devotion to finding holes in the raw land. Both are remarkable examples of their genre, but one became ascendant and the other, while still elite, regressed.

As was the case with their Ohoopee Match Club, it was never a matter of if Hanse and Wagner’s CapRock would crash the 100 Greatest ranking, only when and where. It nudged their Ladera design in the mutual debuts of both courses by nine spots, but that’s just for now. The competition between this layout on a stunning, natural canyon-side site and the other on a completely created flat desert property will be one to watch for the next decade.

Since 2001, 34 courses have debuted inside the top 100 on the America’s 100 Greatest Courses list, but only six have done it since 2015. Three of those, however, came in 2025 with The Lido leading the way. The feeling here is that there’s potential for this course, one of the most unique in the world, to elevate into the top 50 despite occasional detractors who don’t understand it.

Rock Creek is an example of the merits of the heat index score—few courses have streaked hotter than this off-the-beaten path design in the Rocky Mountain foothills of Montana. It took time for panelists to get there, and a little longer for Rock Creek’s architectural merits to sink in, but it’s a course that has the potential to orbit around the top 50 range indefinitely.