Best golf courses: Around Philly & Atlantic City

Philadelphia to Atlantic City, both offer a good choice of public golf courses and private clubs. Philly's Glen Mills golf course is one of Pennsylvania's best, a championship layout with a number of challenging holes. Atlantic City is home to a number of top-rated public golf courses, all well-maintained open layouts that don't disappoint. They include Vineyard Golf's fast and challenging greens (plus its resort's winery tours) and the popular Sand Barrens Golf Club.

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

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Current design by Donald Ross (1926); modifications by William Gordon (1950s), Dick Wilson, George Fazio and Robert Trent Jones Sr (1985), Ron Prichard (2003) and Gil Hanse (2017).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Atlantic City
Reid, John

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Original design by John Reid (1897); remodelled over the years by Willie Park Jr (1915), William S. Flynn (1925) and Tom Doak (1999).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Schlegel, Dan

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Dan Schlegel (of Ault, Clark & Associates).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Philadelphia
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Rees Jones

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

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Mark Mungeam designed the North course (1999) and South courses (2002).

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

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

New York City

Designer

Mark A. Mungeam of Cornish, Silva & Mungeam.

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Atlantic City
Fazio, Tom

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Tom Fazio

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Philadelphia
Weed, Bobby

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Bobby Weed

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Atlantic City
Coore & Crenshaw

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
New York City
Jones Sr, Robert Trent

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

New York City

Designer

Robert Trent Jones Sr.

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Philadelphia
Flynn, William S.

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Current layout designed by William S. Flynn (1928).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Philadelphia
Wilson, Hugh

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Hugh Irvine Wilson designed both Merion's East course (1912) and West course (1914).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
New York City
Hurdzan/Fry

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

New York City

Designer

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

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Philadelphia
Crump & Colt

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

George Arthur Crump (Philadelphian hotelier and Pine Valley's founder) and Harry Colt. The extent of Colt's input is much debated, but would seem to have been significant in terms of the detailed design of each hole, not least the bunkering and green complexes. The feared par-3 5th and 10th holes are among several fully attributed to Colt.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
New York City
Smyers, Steve

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

New York City

Designer

Steve Smyers
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Allentown
Strong, Herbert

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Allentown

Designer

Old course: original design by Herbert Strong (1921), with later renovations by Perry Maxwell (1943) and Tom Fazio (2008).
Grace course: designed by William & David Gordon (1957).
Weyhill course: designed by William & David Gordon (1968), with later revisions by Tom Fazio (2010).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Philadelphia
Kay, Stephen

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Stephen Kay

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Hearn, Ray

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Ray Hearn

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Wilson & Ross

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Original design by Hugh Wilson & Donald Ross (1914); renovated by Bob Cupp (1998, 2006).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Flynn & Gordon

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Original nine holes designed by William S. Flynn, with construction supervised by Howard C. Toomey (1927). Extension to 18-holes and updating of original nine by William Gordon (1957).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Fream & Dale

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Ronald Fream & David Dale of Golfplan.
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Visitors welcome
Philadelphia
Fazio, Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Tom Fazio

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Philadelphia
Beidel, Ed

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Edward M. (Ed) Beidel Jr.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Struthers, Archie

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Archie Struthers

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Atlantic City
Hurdzan/Fry

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Original design by Hurdzan/Fry Design (1997; lead designer Dana Fry); major renovation by Fry/Straka design (Dana Fry & Jason Straka) (2019/20).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Atlantic City
Shearon, Ed

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Atlantic City

Designer

Ed Shearon

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

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Philadelphia

Designer

Brian Ault (of Ault, Clark and Associates)

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Tournaments

Ryder Cup: Rome plays host to the first ever Ryder Cup to be staged in Italy, with the USA defending golf’s greatest team trophy at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Sept 29-Oct 1).

Solheim Cup: also in September, also in southern Europe, the 18th Solheim Cup will be contested at Finca Cortesin on the Costa del Sol, with Europe defending after their surprise win in Toledo, Inverness Club (Ohio) in 2021 (Sept 22-24). 

Who's Who

Céline Boutier: with many successes as both an amateur and professional golfer, Boutier added a major championship title to her impressive résumé at this year’s Evian Championship.

Alex Cejka: buffeted by rain and high winds, especially on the high-scoring final day, Čejka prevailed over Pádraig Harrington in a playoff at Royal Porthcawl, to scoop the Senior Open Championship title.

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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