The Ultimate Top 100 Public Golf Road Trip: Miles, Days and Cost (2026)

Playing every course on TheGrint 2026 Top 100 U.S. Public list in one trip takes about 119 days, 13,639 driving miles and roughly $73,000 for one golfer. The route covers 95 courses by car, from Belgrade Lakes, Maine, to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, then flies to Hawaii for the last five.

Every golfer has said "we should play all of them someday." We took that literally. We pulled the green fee for each course from its own rate card or a recent listing, ran the 95 drivable courses through a route solver on real road miles, and priced the gas, hotels and meals. The result is the longest, most expensive and most ridiculous golf trip we could build that still follows a map.

Every course below shows two numbers: its stop, the order you play it on the route, and its rank on the list, where #1 is Erin Hills. Each course links to its page in TheGrint golf course directory, with the scorecard for every set of tees. All costs are estimates for one golfer as of November 2026, and prices change. If you only want a few of these, save them to your Bucket List in TheGrint.

How long is the ultimate Top 100 public golf road trip?

The ultimate Top 100 public road trip runs 119 days, with 118 nights on the road, 13,639 driving miles and about 293 hours of driving. Here is the trip by the numbers:

That rank-order number is not a typo. Going from #1 to #2 to #3 sends you from Erin Hills in Wisconsin to Kiawah Island in South Carolina and straight back to Whistling Straits, about 73 road miles from where you started. Do that 94 more times and you have driven about ten times farther than you need to. The smart route plays the list by region instead.

The day rule is simple: one round a day, and no more than six hours of driving after it. A longer drive adds a day with no golf. Sixteen legs of the drive run longer than six hours, which is where the 17 drive-only days come from.

When is the best time to do the Top 100 road trip?

The best time to start is mid-May, which runs the route with the seasons and finishes in Hawaii in early September. No start date puts all 100 courses in perfect weather, though: on this route the desert leg lands in late July and early August, the hottest weeks of the year in Arizona and Las Vegas.

If you can change one thing, take the desert out of the summer trip. Arizona, Utah and Las Vegas are at their best from late winter through spring, which is also when their rates peak, so they work better as a separate spring trip. A 2027 start also has two bonuses: the Links at Spanish Bay is scheduled to reopen in spring 2027, and Sea Island's Seaside course, closed from May through October 2026 for restoration, should be back on the summer schedule. Check each course's calendar before you book.

What is the route for the Top 100 public road trip?

The route starts in Maine, runs down the East Coast to Florida, swings through the South to the Great Lakes, crosses the Plains to the desert Southwest, climbs the West Coast and finishes in Idaho before a flight to Hawaii. Each leg lists every course in the order you play it, with its rank on the list, its peak public rate and who can book it.

Leg 1: New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio (days 1 to 13)

The trip opens in Maine at Belgrade Lakes and heads south through Massachusetts to Farm Neck on Martha's Vineyard (the car ferry is not in our totals). Then comes New York, where Bethpage Black is the best deal on the whole trip for a top-10 course, and Baywood Greens in Delaware, the cheapest. The route swings west through Bedford Springs to Firestone in Ohio, then back through the resort country of Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. You leave Primland with 1,802 miles on the odometer.

Leg 2: The Carolinas, Georgia and Florida (days 14 to 27)

This is the most expensive stretch, and the most fun. Three Pinehurst courses in three days in North Carolina, then the Ocean Course at Kiawah and Harbour Town in South Carolina, then Sea Island and TPC Sawgrass back to back. In Florida, the three Streamsong courses take three days with no driving at all. At peak rates the 14 rounds cost about $6,400, the most of any leg.

Leg 3: The Gulf Coast to Indiana (days 29 to 34)

The first long haul is 607 miles from Streamsong to Fallen Oak in Mississippi, then 451 more to Sweetens Cove, the nine-hole cult favorite in Tennessee that you play twice. Two Indiana courses, the Pete Dye Course at French Lick and Purdue's Kampen-Cosler, point you north.

Leg 4: Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin (days 36 to 55)

The Great Lakes leg has the most stops, 19. Michigan has six, from Arcadia Bluffs up to Greywalls in Marquette. Then it is across to Minnesota and into Wisconsin, where the stops come thick: three at Sand Valley, two at Whistling Straits, two at Blackwolf Run and Erin Hills, the #1 course on the list, on day 54. TPC Deere Run in Illinois closes it out.

Leg 5: The Ozarks, Nebraska and Colorado (days 57 to 68)

Three courses at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, including Payne's Valley, then five in Nebraska, a state that punches well above its weight on this list. Wild Horse in Gothenburg is $85 on a weekend, the second-cheapest round of the trip. The leg ends in Colorado at the Broadmoor and Red Sky.

Leg 6: The Desert Southwest (days 70 to 89)

From New Mexico, the route drops to Black Jack's Crossing in Lajitas, Texas, about as remote as golf gets in the lower 48. The next drive, 749 miles to Arizona, is the longest of the trip. The Phoenix area gives you seven courses in seven days, then Black Desert in Utah and five rounds in Las Vegas, including Shadow Creek, the most expensive round on the list. PGA West in La Quinta is the last desert stop.

Leg 7: California and Lake Tahoe (days 90 to 99)

California starts in Poway at Maderas, then it is up to the Monterey Peninsula for Poppy Hills, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay on four straight days, then Pasatiempo and CordeValle. Lake Tahoe and Truckee finish the leg.

Leg 8: Oregon, Washington and Idaho (days 101 to 112)

Bend first, then the best week of golf on the trip: all six courses at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, six days in a row with almost no driving. Chambers Bay and Gamble Sands carry you across Washington to the Coeur d'Alene Resort and its floating green, where you park the car for good after 13,639 miles.

How much does a Top 100 public golf road trip cost?

We estimate the full trip at about $73,000 for one golfer, with a realistic range of about $50,000 to $97,000. The low case uses off-peak green fees, budget hotels and a 30 mpg car. The high case uses peak rates, $300 hotel nights to cover the resort stays some courses require, optional caddies and a 20 mpg car.

The surprise is how little the driving costs. At AAA's national average of $4.149 a gallon on November 3, 2026, the whole 13,639 miles costs about $2,264 in gas in the middle case, about the price of three rounds at Pebble Beach. Green fees, lodging and food make up about 94% of the middle estimate. The car is the cheap part. The beds and the tee sheets are not.

In the middle case, the trip works out to about $615 a day, or about $730 per course played.

How we estimated it: green fees come from each course's published rate card or, for 32 courses, a recent third-party listing; two (Red Sky and Fallen Oak) are estimates. Some courses have already posted 2027 rates, so the figures mix 2026 and 2027 prices.

Where only a range was published, we used the midpoint. Driving miles and times come from real road routing on OpenStreetMap data, with no traffic and no stops. Hotel and meal rates use published U.S. averages (the GSA per diem and CoStar's weekly average daily rate), and the high-end hotel rate, Hawaii car rental and unstated tips are our own estimates. Blackwolf Run's Meadow Valleys course does not publish a rate, so it is not in the green fee total. The Prairie Club day pass is counted on both days you play there.

Which rounds on the trip cost the most and least?

The five most expensive rounds on the trip cost about $4,700 together, and two of them need a hotel stay before you can book:

At the other end, the best values are courses where a Top 100 round costs less than a nice dinner:

The median peak rate across 96 comparable 18-hole rounds is about $333. Bethpage Black is the standout: the #8 public course in the country for $160, or $80 on a weekend if you live in New York.

Which Top 100 public courses can't you just book?

19 of the 100 courses can't be booked like a normal tee time. "Public" on this list means golfers outside a private membership can get on, not that anyone can call the pro shop on a Tuesday. Here is how the restrictions break down, based on each course's published policy as of November 2026:

• Resort or hotel stay required (14 courses): Pinehurst No. 2, No. 4 and No. 10, Sea Island Seaside, the Broadmoor East, the Greenbrier Old White, Nemacolin Mystic Rock, CordeValle, Sunriver Crosswater, the Lido at Sand Valley, Shadow Creek and Fallen Oak (both MGM Resorts guests), plus Manele and Hualalai in Hawaii.
• Package only (1): Firestone South is a private club that takes outside players only through a stay-and-play package.
• Private club with limited outside play (2): Boothbay Harbor through its cottages and guest programs, and Red Sky Norman through partner lodging such as the Four Seasons Vail.
• Affiliated golfers only (1): Purdue's Kampen-Cosler is open to its members, Purdue-affiliated golfers and their guests.
• Closed for now (1): the Links at Spanish Bay is closed for a renovation and scheduled to reopen in spring 2027. We used its last published rate.

Two more are bookable but come with timing rules. Pebble Beach lets players who aren't staying at the resort book only about 48 hours ahead, and Whistling Straits ties advance tee times to a Kohler stay. That is why the high cost case assumes $300 hotel nights. The cheapest version of this trip only works if you skip some of these courses or treat them as the splurge nights.

How do you finish the trip in Hawaii?

After Coeur d'Alene, fly from Spokane to Maui and play the Plantation Course at Kapalua ($475) and the Emerald Course at Wailea ($345). Take the ferry to Lanai for a day at Manele ($550, resort guests only), then hop to the Big Island for the Nicklaus Course at Hualalai ($420, resort guests only) and the South Course at Mauna Lani ($275) before the flight home.

The five Hawaii rounds add about $2,065 in green fees at peak rates, and the flights, inter-island hop and ferry add about $559 to $1,347. It is the only part of the trip where you don't have to drive, which feels earned by day 114.

How can you do a shorter version of this golf road trip?

Almost nobody has 119 days and $73,000, so the best way to do this trip is in pieces. Every leg above works as its own trip.

• Pick one leg: Bandon Dunes (six courses, almost no driving), Wisconsin (nine stops from Sand Valley to Erin Hills) and the Phoenix area (seven courses within about 68 miles of each other) are the easiest to do in a week.
• Bring a buddy: sharing a car and a room splits the fuel and lodging. In our middle case, that cuts each golfer's cost by about $11,800 over the full trip.
• Go off-peak where you can: off-peak rates cut the green fee total from about $36,400 to about $25,200.
• Check seasons first: northern courses close for winter, SentryWorld's season runs from late May to the end of September, and some courses close for renovations, like Sea Island's Seaside from May through October 2026.
• Book the resort stays first: for the 19 restricted courses, book the room first and the tee time second.

How can TheGrint help you plan a Top 100 golf trip?

TheGrint Top 100 is free, on the web at thegrint.com/golf-courses/top-100 and in the app under Courses. The rankings come from golfers, not an expert panel: golfer ratings, rounds played, personal rankings and head-to-head Course Ranking Game results. Read how TheGrint Top 100 works.

• Bucket List: save the courses you want to play and build the trip around them. How to build a Bucket List.
• Course pages: check the scorecard for every set of tees before you book.
• On the course: free GPS distances, score tracking and basic stats on your phone at every stop.
• After the round: rate and rank each course. Those ratings and rankings are what the Top 100 is built from.

For more trip ideas, see the hidden gem golf courses in 41 states, the hardest courses golfers rank among the best and our state guides for Wisconsin, Oregon and Arizona.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long would it take to play every Top 100 public golf course?

About 119 days, or 118 nights on the road, if you play one round a day and drive no more than six hours after each round. That covers 95 golf days on the mainland, 17 days that are only driving, and 7 days for the flights and five rounds in Hawaii.

How many miles is a road trip to all of TheGrint's Top 100 public courses?

13,639 driving miles and about 293 hours behind the wheel, using real road distances and the shortest order we found through the 95 drivable courses. The five Hawaii courses are reached by plane and ferry. Driving the list in rank order instead would take about 141,000 miles.

How much does it cost to play all 100 courses?

For one golfer, we estimate about $73,000, with a low case of about $50,000 and a high case of about $97,000, as of November 2026. Green fees are about $25,200 at off-peak rates and $36,400 at peak rates. Green fees, lodging and food are about 94% of the cost; fuel is only about $1,900 to $2,800.

When is the best time to do a Top 100 public golf road trip?

Start in mid-May and the route runs with the seasons: Maine in spring, the Great Lakes in early summer, the Pacific Northwest in late August and Hawaii in September. The catch is the desert leg, which lands in late July and early August. Play it early in the morning, or save Arizona, Utah and Las Vegas for a separate spring trip.

What is the most expensive Top 100 public course to play?

Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas, at $1,250, and you have to be staying at an MGM Resorts hotel to book it. Firestone's South Course is next at $1,220, but that is a stay-and-play package with a night and two rounds. TPC Sawgrass ($775), Pebble Beach ($755 for players not staying at the resort) and Wynn Golf Club (about $700) round out the top five.

Can anyone play every course on the Top 100 public list?

Not quite. 19 of the 100 courses need a resort or hotel stay, limit play to guests, members or affiliated golfers, or are closed for now. Pinehurst No. 2, Shadow Creek, Sea Island and the Greenbrier all need a stay, and the Links at Spanish Bay is closed for renovation until spring 2027.

Track every round of your road trip with TheGrint

Whether you play five of these or all 100, keep score in TheGrint with free GPS distances, add each course to your Bucket List before you go, and rank it when you're done to help shape the next Top 100. TheGrint is free, always. Get started with TheGrint.