By:
GOLF’s Course Ratings Panel
April 26, 2025
The Lido in Nekoosa, Wis.
Brandon Carter
When you think about world-class golf in the United States, it’s easy to let your mind wander to East and West Coast giants like Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Seminole and Augusta National. But the middle of the country — the Heartland — is, of course, also loaded with awe-inspiring designs.
From Sand Hills in Nebraska to Southern Hills in Oklahoma down to Colonial in Texas, the broad and fertile swath of land that divides east from west is home to a deep collection of golf courses that rank among the best in the United States.
The region also does not lack for exceptional public golf: In Wisconsin alone, you can take the golf trip of a lifetime by hopping from Whistling Straits to Lawsonia Links to Sand Valley, which is home to one of the game’s hot newcomers, The Lido (No. 8 on our Heartland ranking).
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So, how did this magnificent list of courses come together? To produce more detailed local portraits of golf across the country, GOLF created rankings within our rankings by carving the U.S. into four regions and identifying the top 50 courses in each, based on votes cast by our raters in 2024.
We first conducted this regional ranking in 2020, and we liked it so much — as did you — we decided to do it again.
Below you’ll find the top-50 rankings for the Heartland region. To browse the list, keep scrolling.
MORE TOP 50 REGIONAL LISTS: Southeast | West | Northeast
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The top 50 golf courses in the Heartland (2024-25)
1. Sand Hills, Mullen, Neb.
2. Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Ill.
3. Prairie Dunes, Hutchinson, Kansas
4. Oakland Hills — South, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
5. Crystal Downs, Frankfort, Mich.
6. Southern Hills, Tulsa, Okla.
7. Shoreacres, Lake Bluff, Ill.
8. The Lido, Nekoosa, Wis.
9. Camargo, Cincinnati, Ohio
10. Inverness, Toledo, Ohio
11. CapRock Ranch, Valentine, Neb.
12. Whistling Straits, Sheboygan, Wis.
13. Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio
14. Pikewood National, Morgantown, W.Va.
15. The Golf Club, New Albany, Ohio
16. Scioto, Columbus, Ohio
17. Interlachen, Edina, Minn.
18. Medinah — #3, Medinah, Ill.
19. Milwaukee, River Hills, Wis.
20. Moraine, Dayton, Ohio
21. White Bear Yacht, Dellwood, Minn.
22. Lawsonia — Links, Green Lake, Wis.
23. Saint Louis CC, St. Louis, Mo.
24. Old Elm, Highland Park, Ill.
25. Trinity Forest, Dallas, Texas
26. Kingsley, Kingsley, Mich.
27. Sand Valley — Sand Valley, Nekoosa, Wis.
28. Erin Hills, Hartford, Wis.
29. Lost Rail, Gretna, Neb.
30. Sand Valley — Sedge Valley, Nekoosa, Wis.
31. Davenport, Pleasant Valley, Iowa
32. The Country Club, Cleveland, Ohio
33. Pine Hills, Sheboygan, Wis.
34. Brookside (Canton), Canton, Ohio
35. Sand Valley — Mammoth Dunes, Nekoosa, Wis.
36. Prairie Club — Dunes, Valentine, Neb.
37. Blackwolf Run — River, Kohler, Wis.
38. Forest Dunes — Loop, Roscommon, Mich.
39. Colonial, Fort Worth, Texas
40. Blue Mound, Wauwatosa, Wis.
41. Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
42. Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
43. Wakonda, Des Moines, Iowa
