Golf Capital of the US?

[Milwaukee City]

I think we should go for quality over quantity.

[jefffla01]

Some great new courses in Wisconsin----Erin Hills and the course around Kohler where the PGA was recently held.

Erin Hills looks like a great course----its a contender for some majors in the future. Looks like a great place for a revitalized Greater Milwaukee Open with some sponsors.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

I think we should go for quality over quantity.

Fortunately for Minnesota Golfers we have both quantity as well as quality having 4 or 5 courses that regularly make the top 100 lists as well as many "affordable" quality courses that don't require a fistful of Benjamins to set foot on and for all practical purposes don't really even exist to us average working stiffs.

my favorite stop up in the resort area to the north...
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ehkj45ehej/wilderness-mn

Plenty of opportunity to attend quality tournaments even without a regular Men's PGA stop. The Seniors play a regular stop at which attendance, even before the recent switch to free admission, was one of the biggest on tour. The 2009 Men's PGA Championship held at Hazeltine set attendance records approaching 50,000 for each of the four days of tournament play. Each trip the men make to Hazeltine for the majors over the years set attendance and merchandise sales records that assure a regular spot in the majors rotation for years to come. Hazeltine would likely be a regular tour stop but the members have elected not to participate and turned down the chance to host the 2012 BMW Championship.

Minnesota was the first (and 1 of 2 states) to host all 13 of the USGA Championships as well as having hosted the USGA Mens and Womens State Team Championships, Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, several PGA Championships, US Opens, NCAA Championships and will host the Ryder Cup in 2016.

If we aren't the Golf Capital then we're likely it's summer home.

[PDD]

The best golf resort that the public knows little about but many of the pros play here on a regular basis.
Site of the 2014 Mens Open Championship as well as the Woman's Open Championship the following week.
Both on the famous Pinehurst #2 course.
Not inexpensive but the best never is.

North Carolina Golf & Spa Resorts | Pinehurst Resort | Golf Vacations North Carolina

[SkiScree]

I'd say northeast Florida (Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine) has to be tossed in the conversation.

Orlando is huge, too. There's a reason many pros live in these locations.

I'm sure one could toss Scottsdale in the mix as well.

[Milwaukee City]

You have to throw in Jupiter Fl now as well.

Pro golf's hottest new address: Jupiter, Fla. - PGATOUR.COM (http://www.pgatour.com/2012/r/02/28/jupiter-feature-wacker/index.html - broken link)

JUPITER, Fla. -- At the intersection of Florida State Road A1A and South Beach Road, just before you cross a small drawbridge that spans one of several waterways that lazily wind through this sliver of southeast Florida, a police car sits in an empty parking lot, keeping an eye on the traffic going on and off Jupiter Island. It's been that way ever since Tiger Woods (http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/87/93/ - broken link) moved to town last year and instantly became the most famous of the some 50,000 residents in this sleepy, albeit wealthy, town.

It used to be that Orlando was literally and figuratively the center of the golf universe -- and it's still the leader in the clubhouse in terms of players living there -- but the Jupiter area is quickly gaining ground with Woods, Keegan Bradley (http://www.pgatour.com/players/03/31/41/ - broken link), Rickie Fowler (http://www.pgatour.com/players/03/21/02/ - broken link), Dustin Johnson (http://www.pgatour.com/players/03/09/25/ - broken link), Camilo Villegas (http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/77/70/ - broken link) and Steve Marino (http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/81/58/ - broken link) among the dozens of current PGA TOUR players now calling the area home (not to mention several more part-time residents such as Luke Donald (http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/39/83/ - broken link) or those from the Nationwide and Champions Tours and LPGA).
There are a number of reasons why so many are migrating farther south and closer to the coast in income tax-free Florida. For one, there's been a dramatic rise in earnings over the last 15 years, and, subsequently, private jet usage -- no longer does a top player need to live near a big international airport, like Orlando. For another, there's that old real estate adage: location, location, location.


"In Orlando, there's a bunch of lakes, but it's not the ocean," says Woods, who moved from Isleworth to a $54 million compound with nearly 10,000 square feet of living space on 12 oceanfront acres complete with a tee box, bunkers and four practice greens with different types of grasses. "Jupiter is just a great area to live."
That's what attracted Greg Norman (http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/18/76/ - broken link) to nearby Hobe Sound nearly three decades after Nicklaus left the Ohio winters in 1965 and planted his flag at Lost Tree Village in North Palm Beach.

[macroy]

I've never been to the great lakes/N. Central US area for golf, but definitely have Whistling Straits, Erin Hills and Cog Hill at the top of the list in that area if we ever get out there. When one mentions "golf capital" - most will think Myrtle Beach simply because its pretty much the de facto standard for the "golf buddies" destination (although I've personally never been there).

My favorite places are Scottsdale, Palm Springs, and the Sandhills area (Pinehurst). Coming from the mid-atlantic where the traditional tree lined (and even links style) are the norm. The desert scenery is simply breathtaking when we go out to the desert SW. Favorite specific courses in AZ are We-ko-Pa, Troon North and The Boulders. And PGA West courses in Palm Springs area. There's nothing like playing golf among a backdrop of saguaros, HUGE tuscan houses, and desert mountains.... just watch out for rattlers. Two years ago we went a bit earlier than normal...and saw a good number of rattlesnakes sunning themselves on parts of the green.

Also looking forward to golfing with gators in FL one day.....

And since I live here - I am obligated to provide some insight to golf in the mid-atlantic. Unfortunately - most of the "famous" courses are not publicly accessible (Oakmont, Merion, Congressional, RTJ, Aronimink). But there are also a lot of known resorts like The Greenbrier, Homestead, Kingsmill etc. Then there are also the courses along the ocean in MD/VA (although anyone making a specific trip out here for beach/golf - you'd might as well go to Myrtle or Hilton Head).

On the other end of the spectrum..... I found Torrey Pines to be very overrated for the price. Maybe its to keep the outsiders from overcrowding a local gem... but ~$300 to play basically a muni? not to mention a $30 non-refundable "service charge"? Bethpage Black is a much better deal (and bigger challenge) for 1/2 the price.

The other course that was a bit underwhelming is TPC Scottsdale. Now, granted I've only played there off season (May/June) - but aside from a few holes (2, 10, 15-18), the rest of the course is just... meh. Service is top notch though.

[Milwaukee City]

Florida
California
Texas
South Caroline

[psurangers11]

New Jersey has to rank up there in terms of quality courses.... NJ gets many courses on the Golf Digest Top 100 Courses in USA.... even some land on the World Top 100.

[Govie]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

The Minneapolis/St Paul area has 170 courses.

By state, Minnesota has the most public and private courses per capita, of any state (not named Nebraska) of the following that I checked.

people per golf course (# of courses):

9,158 - Minnesota (575)
9,361 - Wisconsin (604)
9,872 - South Carolina (462)
12,330 - Michigan (1,047)
12,452 - Hawaii (104)
12,517 - Florida (1,481)
15,667 - Arizona (421)
16,615 - Illinois (777)
19,443 - New York (976)
19,872 - Nevada (133)
23,805 - Texas (1,041)
32,422 - California (1,140)

golflink does not seem to have a usable search engine by state and does not list the count (they do list the courses individually by city). To search by state - google: "number of "state" golf courses" and look for the golflink link. State populations by google.com/puplicdata

Nebraska Golf Courses | Public and Private

I never understand it. But it is true.


Also the most southpaws in the entire country as well.