Golf Digest recently revealed its latest ranking of the top 100 public golf courses in the United States and Wisconsin has 10 golf courses on the list, more than any other state in the nation.
The public golf courses in Wisconsin that made the Golf Digest list, with their rankings, include:
4. Whistling Straits – Straits Course, Sheboygan County
10. Erin Hills, Washington County
17. Sand Valley, Adams County
18. Blackwolf Run – River Course, Kohler
26. Sand Valley – Mammoth Dunes course, Adams County
52. SentryWorld, Stevens Point
56. Whistling Straits – Irish Course, Sheboygan County
62. The Golf Courses of Lawsonia – Links course, Green Lake
74. Blackwolf Run – Meadow Valleys Course, Kohler
88. The Bull at Pinehurst Farms, Sheboygan Falls
California and Michigan tied for the second most golf courses on the Golf Digest list of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses,” with nine each. Oregon had the fourth most, with eight courses on the list.
Wisconsin’s top golf courses have attracted several major professional golf tournaments, including the 2023 U.S. Senior Open, which was held at SentryWorld, and the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, which will be held at Erin Hills. The 2021 Ryder Cup competition was held at Whistling Straits.
A 2021 BizTimes Milwaukee magazine cover story examined Wisconsin’s status as one of the top golf destinations in the country.
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- Ryder Cup grandstands at the 1st tee at Whistling Straits came alive before sunrise with fans eager to sit front and center.
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- Whistling Straits – Irish Course Location: Sheboygan County Designer: Pete Dye
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- Erin Hills Location: Washington County Designers: Dr. Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry, Ron Whitten Notes: Built on undulating Kettle Moraine landscape, near Holy Hill. Site of 2017 U.S. Open, 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, 2011 U.S Amateur and 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
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- Erin Hills
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- The Golf Courses of Lawsonia – Links course Location: Green Lake Designers: Bill Langford and Ted Moreau
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- SentryWorld Location: Stevens Point Designer: Robert Trent Jones Jr. Notes: Known for its iconic “Flower Hole.” Site of 2023 U.S. Senior Open.
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- 33,000 flowers surround SentryWorld’s 16th hole, famously known as the “Flower Hole.” Photo credit: SentryWorld
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- Sand Valley – Sand Valley course Location: Adams County Designer: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw Notes: Built on central Wisconsin sand dunes.
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- Sand Valley
