The Best Public Golf Courses In The US

Golf Channel chose Bethpage Black, in Farmingdale, NY, as the number one course in the country not only because it's been good enough to host two U.S. Opens but also because:

"The Black is the perfect combination of all that I look for in a golf course: it has history and character; it is walking only; caters to locals with an affordable rate; it’s challenging but fair; there are memorable holes with a climactic finish; and as soon as you walk off the 18th green you wish you could go back to the first tee."

Here's the top ten, which Golf Channel says are all a "must play":

1. Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, NY
2. Pacific Dunes, Bandon, Ore.
3. Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, Calif.
4. Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst, N.C.
5. Pasatiempo Golf Club, Santa Cruz, Calif.
6. Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach, Calif.
7. Bandon Trails, Bandon, Ore.
8. Bandon Dunes, Bandon, Ore.
9. Forest Dunes Golf Club, Roscommon, Mich.
10. Whistling Straits, Sheboygan, Wis.

Catch the whole list over at The Golf Channel >