Best Golf Courses in Virginia (2026)

TheGrint Virginia golf course directory page on thegrint.com on an iPhone, beside a card noting four Virginia courses on the 2026 Top 100 lists

The best golf courses in Virginia, according to golfers on TheGrint, are Kinloch Golf Club (96.6), Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (96.3) and Bayville Golf Club (96.1). Virginia has four courses on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100: Kinloch (No. 83) and Robert Trent Jones (No. 97) on the U.S. Private list, and Primland (No. 80) and the Homestead's Cascades Course (No. 98) on the U.S. Public list.

This guide covers all four, the highly rated public courses just outside the Top 100, and how hard each one plays. Rankings come from golfers who played the courses, not a panel.

Every course links to its page in TheGrint's directory of 361 Virginia golf courses, with the full scorecard for every set of tees.

Which Virginia golf courses are on TheGrint Top 100?

Four Virginia courses made TheGrint's 2026 Top 100. Here they are with their list and rank, TheGrint Rating out of 100, and TheGrint Difficulty:

List and rank	Course	City	TheGrint Rating	Plays harder than
U.S. Private No. 83	Kinloch Golf Club	Manakin Sabot	96.6	94%
U.S. Private No. 97	Robert Trent Jones Golf Club	Gainesville	96.3	99%
U.S. Public No. 80	Primland Resort	Meadows of Dan	93.4	96%
U.S. Public No. 98	The Homestead: Cascades Course	Hot Springs	93.0	90%

Kinloch and Robert Trent Jones are the two highest-rated courses of any kind in Virginia on TheGrint. Primland and the Cascades Course are both mountain resort courses in the western part of the state.

What are the other highest-rated golf courses in Virginia?

Several more private clubs rate above 94, from Virginia Beach to Roanoke, including:

Course	City	Type	TheGrint Rating	Plays harder than
Bayville Golf Club	Virginia Beach	Private	96.1	99%
Ballyhack Golf Club	Roanoke	Private	95.0	99%
Country Club of Virginia: James River	Richmond	Private	94.8	82%
Hermitage Country Club: Sabot	Manakin Sabot	Private	94.8	98%
Creighton Farms	Aldie	Private	94.1	99%

These are member clubs, so access usually means playing with a member or as a guest.

Where should you play golf in Virginia?

Virginia's best-rated golf is spread across four regions, so plan by area:

Richmond: Kinloch and the Country Club of Virginia are private. Public and semi-private picks include Magnolia Green in Moseley and Independence Golf Club in Midlothian. Richmond, Williamsburg and Virginia Beach tie for the most courses of any Virginia city in the directory, with 16 each.
The mountains: Primland in Meadows of Dan and the Homestead's Cascades and Old Course in Hot Springs. Around Charlottesville are Keswick Hall and Birdwood at Boar's Head Resort.
Williamsburg and the coast: Bay Creek Resort in Cape Charles and Golden Horseshoe's Gold course in Williamsburg.
Northern Virginia: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville and Creighton Farms in Aldie, both private.

Resort and club courses can have booking rules for guests, so check each course's page and the course itself before you plan around it.

What are the hidden gems in Virginia golf?

These public and semi-private courses rate highly with golfers on TheGrint but aren't on the 2026 Top 100. Each ranks in the top 45 of the 302 well-reviewed courses in Virginia:

Bay Creek Resort: Nicklaus Front/Palmer Front (Cape Charles, 92.8): harder than 99% of rated courses.
Magnolia Green Golf Club (Moseley, 92.3): harder than 98%.
Keswick Hall (Keswick, 91.8): harder than 86%.
The Homestead: Old Course (Hot Springs, 91.4): harder than 53%, the easiest of these picks.
Independence Golf Club: Championship (Midlothian, 90.3): harder than 84%.
Golden Horseshoe Golf Club: Gold (Williamsburg, 89.8): harder than 97%.
Birdwood at Boar's Head Resort (Charlottesville, 89.6): harder than 95%.

What is the hardest golf course in Virginia?

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is the hardest of Virginia's Top 100 courses, playing harder than 99% of rated courses on TheGrint. Bayville, Ballyhack and Creighton Farms, all private, also play harder than 99%.

For public golf, Bay Creek's Nicklaus Front/Palmer Front combination plays harder than 99%, and Primland 96%. The Homestead's Old Course is the gentlest pick in this guide, at 53%. For more, see the hardest golf courses golfers rank among the best, and check what tees to play before a hard course.

How are these golf courses ranked?

TheGrint Rating is a score out of 100 built from golfers' reviews and their head-to-head course rankings on TheGrint. TheGrint Top 100 uses those signals, including the Course Ranking Game, and gives more weight to golfers who have played more courses.

TheGrint Rating: golfers' ratings of the course, plus where it places in their personal rankings. It is not the Course Rating^™ that the USGA^® and authorized golf associations assign to each set of tees.
TheGrint Difficulty: how hard a course plays compared with every other rated course, based on the scores golfers log there.
Hidden gems: public and semi-private courses with a state rank, meaning enough golfer reviews to be ranked, that aren't on the 2026 Top 100.

How we counted: ratings, difficulty and state ranks come from TheGrint's Virginia directory and course pages on October 26, 2026. Ratings update as golfers add reviews and rankings. For more on the lists, see how TheGrint Top 100 works.

How does TheGrint help you plan a Virginia golf trip?

TheGrint has the scorecard, ratings and difficulty for every course before you go, and GPS and scoring when you get there.

Browse the state: all 361 Virginia courses by city. Williamsburg, Virginia Beach and Richmond tie for the most with 16 each.
See the full lists: TheGrint's 2026 Top 100 U.S. Public list, the U.S. Private list and the rest of TheGrint Top 100.
Play and rank: free GPS on more than 40,000 courses, live scoring for your group, and the Course Ranking Game to rank each course you play.
Save it for later: add courses to your Bucket List.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best golf course in Virginia?

Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin Sabot, west of Richmond, is the best golf course in Virginia according to golfers on TheGrint, with a TheGrint Rating of 96.6. It is a private club and No. 83 on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100 U.S. Private list. Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville (96.3) is next.

What is the best public golf course in Virginia?

Primland Resort in Meadows of Dan is the best public golf course in Virginia on TheGrint, with a TheGrint Rating of 93.4. It is No. 80 on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100 U.S. Public list. The Homestead's Cascades Course in Hot Springs (93.0) is the state's other course on that list, at No. 98.

What are the best golf courses near Richmond?

The best-rated courses near Richmond on TheGrint are private: Kinloch Golf Club (96.6), the Country Club of Virginia's James River course (94.8) and Hermitage Country Club's Sabot course (94.8). The best-rated public and semi-private options nearby are Magnolia Green in Moseley (92.3) and Independence Golf Club in Midlothian (90.3).

How many golf courses are in Virginia?

TheGrint's golf course directory lists 361 golf courses in Virginia: 105 public, 123 semi-private and 133 private. Williamsburg, Virginia Beach and Richmond tie for the most of any city with 16 each. Each course page has a free scorecard for every set of tees.

What is the hardest golf course in Virginia?

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club plays harder than 99% of rated courses on TheGrint, the most of any Virginia Top 100 course. Bayville, Ballyhack and Creighton Farms, all private, also play harder than 99%. Bay Creek's Nicklaus Front/Palmer Front is the hardest public option in this guide, at 99%.

Plan your Virginia round with TheGrint

Pick a course, check the scorecard and your tees, then keep score in TheGrint with free GPS distances and live scoring for your group. Rank the course when you're done to help shape next year's Top 100. Get started with TheGrint.