A Colorado course cracks top 35 of ‘America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses’ for the first time since 2013; 3 from Centennial state make list overall
By Gary Baines – 6/12/2025
Arguably the grandaddy of course rankings was published last month, and, for what it’s worth, Colorado emerged looking very good.
Golf Digest puts out its “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses” list once every two years. Because it’s been doing so since 1966, and because it’s a well-respected publication, America’s 100 Greatest is near the top of the heap — if not at the pinnacle — of the golf course rankings world.
For quite some time now — more than 20 years — three Colorado courses have made the list each time America’s 100 Greatest is published. Since 2005, for instance, Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock and Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village have been regulars on the list, with Sanctuary in Sedalia (2005, ’07 and ’09) and then Ballyneal in Holyoke (ever since 2011) having taken the third spot.
This year, a Colorado course made the top 35 in the rankings for the first time since 2013.
Ballyneal, which has been steadily climbing since first making the top 100 14 years ago, checks in at No. 34 this year, its highest ranking ever. It’s joined in the 2025 version of America’s 100 Greatest by Castle Pines GC (50th) and Cherry Hills (63rd).
Perhaps not coincidentally, Castle Pines has made the top 50 every year over these last two decades. The club hosted the PGA Tour’s International annually from 1986-2006, then the BMW Championship last year.
Cherry Hills, meanwhile, was home to its 10th USGA championship in 2023 when the U.S. Amateur came calling. The 2014 BMW Championship also was contested there.
Only three states have more courses in Golf Digest’s top 65 than does Colorado — New York (12), California (8) and Ohio (4) — while Oregon, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina and Georgia match the Centennial State’s total.
Here’s what Golf Digest had to say about the three Colorado courses:
34. Ballyneal — “If Sand Hills Golf Club stands for the notion that there’s nothing more glorious than a round of golf beyond the range of cell phone reception, then Ballyneal (Tom Doak’s northeast Colorado answer to Nebraska’s Sand Hills) proves that isolated golf is even better when spartan in nature. With no carts and with dry, tan fescue turf on fairways and greens, Ballyneal is even more austere than Sand Hills. It provides absolute firm-and-fast conditions, and with many greens perched on hilltops, the effect of wind on putts must be considered. The rolling landforms, topsy-turvy greens and half-par holes make playing here feel like a joyride, and that sense of exuberance has catapulted Ballyneal from an original ranking of 95th in 2011 to its highest ranking to date at 34th.”
Castle Pines Golf Club.
50. Castle Pines — “When Golf Digest began its annual Best New Course awards in 1983, the review panel selected Castle Pines as the Private Course winner, but Bill Davis, co-founder of Golf Digest and founding father of all its course rankings, didn’t care for the course and vetoed its inclusion. So no private course was honored that year. Davis soon recognized his error, and in 1987 — its first year of eligibility — Castle Pines joined America’s 100 Greatest and has remained there ever since. Club founder Jack Vickers, a Midwest oilman, had urged architect Jack Nicklaus to produce a mountain-venue design worthy of a major championship. Jack did, but when (such) a championship never resulted, Vickers established his own, The International, which for many years was the only PGA Tour event played under a unique Stableford format. The tour returned to Castle Pines in 2024 for the FedExCup’s BMW Championship. Like Muirfield Village, the only other solo Nicklaus design in the top 50, Castle Pines has undergone a steady procession of hole alterations to keep pace with changing technology, and changing tastes. It’s been lengthened to over 8,000 yards, but in Castle Rock’s thin air, that still only equates to about 7,300 yards.
Cherry Hills Country Club.
63. Cherry Hills — “When Cherry Hills opened in the early 1920s, it was a ground-breaking design, with the nation’s first par-5 island green and closing back-to-back par 5s, although in championships the 18th is played as a par 4. In the 1960 U.S. Open, winner Arnold Palmer popularized the idea of a drivable par 4 by going for the first green in every round. Curiously, when Palmer and partner Ed Seay remodeled Cherry Hills in 1976, they lengthened the first hole so no player could duplicate Arnie’s feat. Almost 50 years later, modern equipment has once again made the first hole reachable from the tee. A decade’s worth of renovation and individual feature restoration by Tom Doak and Eric Iverson of Renaissance Golf have primed Cherry Hills for the next phase of its illustrious tournament history, which began with the 2023 U.S. Amateur.”
For reference sake, the top 10 on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest rankings are:
1. Pine Valley in New Jersey
2. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.
3. Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, Calif.
4. Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.
5. Oakmont in Pennsylvania
6. Merion in Ardmore, Pa.
7. National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.
8. Sand Hills in Mullen, Neb.
9. Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.
10. Fishers Island Club in New York
For the entire list of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com