Which major city has the most 100 courses within 100 miles?

If you want to visit a city and see as many of the GOLF World’s Top 100 courses as possible, there’s a definite destination.

New York City has 11 of the World’s Top 100 golf courses within 100 miles (a reasonable golf day trip), more than twice as many as any other city in the world. The next closest are London and Edinburgh in the UK, both of which have five top 100 courses within 100 miles.

But a trip to New York can be a perfect starting point, with six courses within 30 miles, including major championship venues such as Winged Foot’s West Course and Bethpage Black, one of the most accessible courses in the Top 100 in the world.

On the east end of Long Island, you’ll find the Hamptons’ premier courses, the perennial top 10 Shinnecock Golf Course, the National Golf Links of America, and Friar’s Head and Maidstone.

If you live in New York City, you’re spoiled for choice with top-notch golf courses, albeit somewhat difficult to access thanks to the city’s famous transportation.

But nonetheless, if you want to check out most of the top 100 courses, there’s no better place to start than New York!

Read on to learn about all of the GOLF World’s Top 100 courses within 100 miles of New York City.

No. 5: Shinnecock Hills (83 miles)

It has hosted five U.S. Opens since 1986, most recently in 2018 – a masterpiece designed by William Flynn. In addition to gaining an incredibly spacious piece of land to work on, Flynn also gained something almost as valuable: time. Construction began in 1928 and the course did not open until 1931. Granted, the Depression began during construction, but the holes on the course flowed gracefully thanks to the hands-on, slow construction process.

No. 6: U.S. National Golf Links (82 miles)

NGLA, known as “National”, brought together Seth Raynor and CB Macdonald for the first time to create a body of work that epitomized strategic design. Some of its template holes, including Alps No. 3, Redan No. 4, Short No. 6 and Leven No. 17, are arguably better than the hole of the same name copied by Macdonald in the UK. Legendary golf writer Bernard Darwin summed it up well: “The National Links is a truly great course; even as I write this I feel that my allegiance to Westward Ho!, to Hoylake, to St. Andrews is crumbling.”

No. 23: Friar’s Head (69 miles)

Tree-dotted dunes, open meadows, and cliff-top views of Long Island Sound accentuate the experience designed by Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw in 2003. Even more impressive is how seamlessly golfers move between these different environments. The sandy holes — including holes 7 through 10 and 13 through 18 — are mesmerizing, but holes like the maddening No. 5, with its rippled ground contour, and the classic dogleg No. 6, which tempts you to hug the tee shot, are standouts in their own right. Continuous improvements, no matter how small, make Friar’s Head as perfect as any course in the country.

Hale Irwin survived the “Winged Foot Massacre” in the 1974 U.S. Open to win at 7 over par. Geoff Ogilvy’s performance wasn’t much better in 2006, when he captured the trophy with a five-over total. Mark Brooks, the 1996 PGA champion, summed up the design of the golden-era AW Tillinghast this way: “There were probably six difficult holes, six really hard holes and six impossible holes.” Horrifyingly contoured pear-shaped greens, cavernous bunkers and a row of rugged par-4s were all problems. On a “difficulty” scale of 1 to 10, Jack Nicklaus once rated the West Course a 12. That said, Gil Hanse’s astonishing green expansion brings an excitement of creativity that few park courses can rival.

No. 49: Maidstone (97 miles)

Maidstone’s glorious location on the edge of the Atlantic is once again fully realized thanks to a recent restoration by Coore & Crenshaw. Maintaining coastal dunes is an art: Expose too much sand and it blows away; cover it up and you lose your sense of place. Maidstone strikes the perfect balance. Adding to its romantic location is a series of unique Willie and John Park greens, many with eye-catching false fronts. Maidstone is a dream course to play regularly, partly because its requirements change daily with the weather.

No. 51: Somerset Mountain (31 miles)

After 25 years of restoration work and meticulous attention to detail, Somerset Hill has reached the point where some are praising it as the finest design of the AW Tillinghast regular game. Its two nine holes are distinct from each other – the first is on more open land, while the second plunges into the woods, where Tillinghast beautifully incorporates natural water features. Tillinghast’s experience in Scotland is reflected in holes like Redan’s No. 2 and No. 5 9, with their attractive cross hazards. One die-hard New Yorker commented: “It’s enough to make you want to live in New Jersey.”

No. 52: Garden City (20 miles)

Devereux Emmet and Walter Travis created this vintage design across the Hempstead Plains on Long Island. The waters are 10 miles north and south, so sea breezes often accompany it. Laurie Auchterlonie won the 1902 U.S. Open here with a record score thanks to the debut of the longer, more durable Haskell ball. Garden City’s sloping greens, such as Nos. 10 and 15, are the highest form of ground architecture. To understand what “making the most of the land” means, study the small parcels surrounding the clubhouse that contain the 1st, 2nd and 18th holes, each with their own character.

No. 56: Bethpage-Black (29 miles)

Black tried to intimidate golfers by putting a sign on the first tee that read “For Advanced Golfers Only.” Among them? Tiger Woods won the 2002 People’s Open (the U.S. Open became known as the People’s Open). Woods was the only golfer to break par through 72 holes, thanks to the rugged, uphill par 4s, huge bunkers and wrist-breaking rough on Rees Jones’ restored AW Tillinghast layout. The Blacks enjoy one of the greatest routes, highlighted by the masterful way Tillinghast takes the fairways and greens from the second hole in the valley to the dogleg left of the ninth. The par-5 fourth hole and its signature cross bunkers are world-class.

No. 70: Baltusrol – Lower (17 miles)

Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner’s 2020 restoration showcased Tillinghast’s immense talent for innovative bunker patterns and stunning greens. Here again center hazards appear, most notably on holes 2 and 17, where large bunkers bisect the fairway. Equally impressive is the diagonal bunker scheme that cuts into the fifth fairway, making it one of the best 400-yard fairways in the country. While the terrain in the middle of the property is milder, it’s here that Tillinghast creates some of its best greens. Take a moment to study the two green mats on the par-3 second nine, as each one is a masterclass made from scratch.

No. 77: Sleepy Hollow (29 miles)

This Westchester County course has always been spectacular, with stunning views of the Hudson River, especially on holes 15 and 16. What its holes lack is interest in play starting at 50 yards. That changed in 2016, when Gil Hanse began a two-year project to imbue the greens with a CB Macdonald touch that even Macdonald would appreciate.

The East, while not as old and gritty as its famous Western brethren, has its own loyal fan base for its variety and encouraging approach to ground game selection. We paid a lot of attention to the cut lines, with short, tight fairway grass on the high sides of the approach to all greens. Many Winged Foot enthusiasts consider Nos. 13 and 17 to be the best par 3s on the course, which may seem strange until you play them yourself. Spend the time laying out greens like Nos. 1 and 11, and you’ll wonder what AW Tillinghast understands about green building that most other architects don’t.

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