Best golf courses: Boston / Cape Cod / R.I.

Boston / Cape Cod / R.I.: the table below provides brief details about the top golf courses in this country or region. Each golf club has been visited and/or researched by Where2Golf. Click on the course name below to discover more. The course ratings below range from 5 highest, to 2 lowest. They attempt to provide an indication of the golfing experience you might expect at the course (based on its design, condition and surroundings). Hover your cursor above the Rating Key for the rating definitions.
5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Newport, RI
Cornish, Robinson & Mulligan

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Newport, RI

Designer

Front-nine designed by Geoff Cornish & William G. "Bill" Robinson (1978); back-nine designed by Patrick Mulligan (1980).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Plymouth, MA
Nicklaus II, Jack

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Plymouth, MA

Designer

Jack Nicklaus II

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Plymouth, MA
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Plymouth, MA

Designer

Rees Jones

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Boston
Silva, Brian

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Brian Silva

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Newport, RI
Hills, Arthur

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Newport, RI

Designer

Arthur Hills and design associate Drew Rogers.

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Providence
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Providence

Designer

Rees Jones
4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Boston
Sanford, John

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

John Sanford

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Newport, RI
Cornish & Silva

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Newport, RI

Designer

Geoff Cornish & Brian Silva

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Boston
Silva, Brian

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Brian Silva

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Plymouth, MA
Hurdzan/Fry

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Plymouth, MA

Designer

Hurdzan/Fry Design (Dr Michael J. Hurdzan & Dana Fry).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Barnstable, MA
Cornish, Silva & Mungeam

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Geoffrey Cornish, Brian Silva & Mark Mungeam

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Barnstable, MA
Silva, Brian

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Brian Silva of Cornish, Silva & Mungeam.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Rsrt guests only
Barnstable, MA
Silva, Brian

Visitors?

Rsrt guests only

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Brian Silva of Cornish, Silva & Mungeam.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Plymouth, MA
Cornish, Silva & Mungeam

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Plymouth, MA

Designer

Geoffrey Cornish, Brian Silva & Mark Mungeam

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Newport, RI
Marble & Maurer

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Newport, RI

Designer

Original nine designed by Ralph P. Marble (1963); extended to 18-holes by Howard Maurer (2003).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Barnstable, MA
Silva, Brian

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Brian Silva of Cornish, Silva & Mungeam.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Barnstable, MA
Cornish & Robinson

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Geoff Cornish & William G. "Bill" Robinson (1974), with later improvements by Mark Mungeam.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Boston
Mungeam, Mark

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Mark A. Mungeam
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Plymouth, MA
Silva, Brian

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Plymouth, MA

Designer

Brian Silva

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Providence
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Providence

Designer

Donald Ross

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Boston
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Donald Ross's design work started in 1928, but the project was shelved due to the Wall Street Crash. Course eventually opened in 1938.

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Barnstable, MA
Small, Isaac

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Original layout by Isaac Small (1892); redesigned by J. Henry McKinley (1913).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Providence
Palmer, Hanse & Faxon

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Providence

Designer

Original design by Arnold Palmer (2002); redesigned by Gil Hanse in consultation with Brad Faxon (2007).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Providence
Flynn, Hood & Hanse

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Providence

Designer

Original design by William S. Flynn & Frederic C. Hood (1922); renovated by Gil Hanse (1998, 2012).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Cornish & Silva

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Geoff Cornish & Brian Silva
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Providence
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Providence

Designer

Original nine-hole course designed by Willie Campbell (1898), which was folded into the original 18-hole Donald Ross design (1914). In 1926 Ross returned to further improve his original design. Restoration project led by Ron Forse (2008).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Leeds & Cornish

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Original design by Herbert C. Leeds (1894); modifications by Geoff Cornish (2005) and Gil Hanse (2013).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Campbell, Willie

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Original 6-hole course designed by three club members (1893). Extended to nine holes (1894) and then 18 holes (1899) by the club's first professional, Scotsman William "Willie" Campbell. The course was lengthened by Alex Campbell* (1902) and later revised and renovated by Rees Jones (1988). 9-hole Primrose course designed by William S. Flynn (1927). *Willie and Alex Campbell were not related, other than by the clan Campbell name.

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Current layout designed by Donald Ross (1913).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Newport, RI
Davis & Tillinghast

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Newport, RI

Designer

Original nine-hole layout designed by the club's first professional, William F. Davis (1894), and extended by him to 18-holes (1899). Later improvements by Albert W. Tillinghast (1924) and Ron Forse (1999). Although Donald Ross was thought to have been involved at some stage in Newport's design, this was not apparently the case.

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Hanse, Gil

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Gil Hanse

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Barnstable, MA
Fowler, Herbert

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Barnstable, MA

Designer

Original design by English course architect Herbert Fowler (1922); modifications by Keith Foster (2007).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Cornish / Fazio

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Pines course: designed by Geoffrey Cornish with input from Francis Oiumet (1956); modifications by Robert Trent Jones Sr (1972). Redesigned by the firm of Coore & Crenshaw (Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw) (2021).
Oaks course: original design by Tom Fazio (2001); modifications by Tripp Davis (2021).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Designed by Donald Ross (1917); modifications by Tom Doak (2008).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Plymouth, MA
Coore & Crenshaw

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Plymouth, MA

Designer

Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Boston
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Boston

Designer

Course designed by Donald Ross (1925), when club moved to its current Peabody site.

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Tournaments

The Masters: The 88th Masters Tournament at Augusta National sees LIV golfer Jon Rahm defend his title against the world’s best. Pressing hard will be world No.1 and 2022 champion Scottie Scheffler and world No.2 Rory McIlroy (April 11-14).

Chevron Championship: the women’s major championship season gets underway for the second year at its new Carlton Woods home outside Houston, Texas. World No.2 Lilia Vu defends (April 18-21).

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Scottie Scheffler: narrowly missed out on matching Nelly Korda’s three-in-three, when he placed second at the Houston Open. This followed back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players. Like Korda, he remains comfortably ahead in the official world golf rankings.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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