Bandon, Pebble, St. Andrews and more

Golf was invented on foot, and it’s still best played that way. Sure, there are times and situations where that golf cart beckons. A modern fleet keeps many older players going round and round, and there simply are days when the heat would chase just about anybody into the shade of a cart’s roof.

But the best of golf is sampled while walking.

Here’s a look at some of our favorites:

Pacific Dunes

Jason Lusk (Travel editor)

Golf is full of aha moments. Walk behind the clubhouse at Augusta National – aha, this place is really hilly. Stroll through 16 tree-lined holes at Harbour Town Golf Links – aha, saltwater. … and there’s the lighthouse. My favorite comes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, but it might not be the one some players expect, which would be David McLay Kidd’s incredible aha moment on No. 4 at Bandon Dunes, the original course at the resort.

After three holes up and down a giant ridgeline, players reach their approach shots on No. 4 to face a downhill shot between towering dunes with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. The scene is perfectly framed. It’s as aha as aha gets. But that isn’t my favorite walk. Maybe because I played the resort’s Pacific Dunes first, my favorite walk on the property is from that course’s second green up a wall of sand to the third tee.

After two short par 4s in the dunes, which create a splendid sense of isolation, Tom Doak’s layout opens wide on the perched tee box of the par-5 third. There’s the ocean, finally in view. The cliffs some 500 yards away. Rolling, bouncy terrain. Tall grasses swaying in the breeze. Anticipation. Gorse. The whole gist of the property is laid out in front of you – they could charge double the green fee to use that back tee as a picnic ground. If this is your first round at the resort, this is the introduction to why Pacific Dunes ranks No. 2 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses.

Aha, indeed.

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Beth Ann Nichols (Senior writer, LPGA)

If there’s a bigger goose bump walk in golf that’s open to all, I can’t think of it. In fact, a tee time isn’t even necessary. Anyone who’s simply in the area can drive onto Pebble Beach property, pull into the parking lot, walk past a line of boutique shops and the putting green, pop out on the other side of the lodge and – BAM!

There’s the 18th green at Pebble Beach and all its splendor. You’ll speed walk up to the little wooden fence and stare at the Pacific Ocean, marveling that it looks as good in person as it does on TV. You’ll watch the players coming up the 18th, picturing yourself there later that day or the next or sometime in the distant future once you’ve saved up. Whether it’s your first time walking out to the 18th at Pebble or your 50th, the anticipation never changes. And each time you’ll find yourself thinking – God, please let it be a clear day.

Cypress Point Golf Club

Adam Schupak (Senior writer, PGA Tour)

The only walk in golf better than the one from the 14th green across 17-Mile Drive to the 15th tee at Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, California, is the short trek from No. 15 to 16, two of the most scenic par 3s on the planet.

That sound you hear? It’s hard to tell if it is the waves crashing against the jutted Pacific coastline or your heart pumping with anticipation.

Under a canopy of ancient cypress trees and down a dirt path is a short curve to what may be the most natural and picturesque challenges in golf. Good thing there’s a bench at the tee box, because the site of the 200-plus-yard carry over water will take your breath away.

Of course, after you gaze at golf’s pin-up model of a hole, it’s decision time. Sure, there’s room to bail out left, but I didn’t come here to lay up at the 233-yard beauty. Who knows if I’ll ever get another chance to play Cypress again – I had the privilege to do so during my bachelor party – but I do know my video of the walk from 15 to 16 is second only in my heart to the one my bride took a few months later down an aisle.

Maidstone Club

David Dusek (Senior writer, equipment)

My favorite walk in golf is short, maybe 75 yards in total, but it involves two holes. As you approach the seventh green at the Maidstone Club in New York, the eighth green is on your left. I always try to take note of it, because after finishing the seventh hole and strolling around a bunker that separates the putting surface from the eighth tee, you face a blind, 155-yard shot over a dune into the wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have played Pebble Beach, Augusta National, the Old Course at St. Andrews and all the courses at Bandon Dunes except Sheep Ranch. No tee shot unnerves me more than that little punch 8-iron at Maidstone, yet I adore it.

The wispy grasses on the dune never stop bobbing in the wind, there is always a briny smell in the air and if the wind isn’t howling too loudly, you can hear the surf breaking on the beach some 200 yards away. That walk, to finish the seventh hole and play the tee shot on eight, is my favorite 30 seconds in golf.

St. Andrews’ Old Course

Jay Blasi (Golfweek ambassador)

Pure joy. Excitement. Wonder. Gratitude.

Each step off the first tee of the Old Course in St. Andrews sent these powerful emotions rushing through my body. Standing on the tee and looking in all directions, I was struck with the joy and excitement of fulfilling a lifelong dream.

The clock on the clubhouse, the Old Tom Morris Shop, the Swilcan Bridge, the rumpled turf that is better than you imagined. Your heart races when you realize you are about to take the walk that has produced so many of the game’s great moments. You see Jack and his yellow sweater. You see Rocca on his knees in the Valley of Sin. Tiger and his triumphant march. You wonder how a course could fit so perfectly with the town? How turf could be this perfect and firm? How a 127-yard-wide fairway could be so terrifying to hit?

More than anything, you are grateful. Grateful to share this magical walk with your dad who taught you the game. Grateful that this Old Course is responsible for the career you wanted since you were a kid. Grateful that this place is truly for the people and you can’t think of a better place on earth for a picnic on Sunday.

Augusta National Golf Club

Todd Kelly (Assistant managing editor)

To think I’ve won a golf lottery not once but twice. The biggest prize was a tee time at Augusta National. I watched the Masters on TV for many years. I was lucky enough to later go as a fan on two separate occasions. I always dreamed of playing the golf course and walking the hills and slopes and greens. Then, I got the call. I was one of 28 lucky souls drawn to play the day after Tiger Woods’ historic 2019 Masters victory.

Walking off the first tee (no, we were teeing off nowhere close to where the pros do), I was suddenly struck by it all. My caddie in tow, I made my way around the golf course, and at one point, I laughed at loud. This isn’t really happening, is it? After kicking my ball around a bit on the 11th, I stood on the 12th tee box with not a ton of confidence. It’s perhaps the most famous par 3 in golf and if it’s not, it’s on a very short list. First, some pictures with my foursome and our caddies. Then it was time to pull a club. I didn’t hesitate, taking the Ping Zing 2 7-iron out of my bag.

After teeing up my ball, I stood for a second and noted the calmness of the moment, the very tips of the pine trees behind the green swaying ever so slightly.

Then it was go time. I must have summoned the perfect blend of tempo and timing at the exact moment I needed it because I made the most flush contact of my life, the kind where you don’t even feel it. I remember looking up and seeing my ball in flight and tracking it to the center of the green, landing right over the tongue. A perfect shot on a perfect day on a perfect golf course.

As we made our way over the Hogan Bridge and then turned right towards the green, we looked back to the 12th tee, a view that few get to experience.

Sure, I proceeded to three-putt, but I can always cherish the memory of that 7-iron.

My other lucky draw came in 2022 when I was invited to play Riviera Country Club. Our group went off on No. 8. Two holes later, we were standing on the tee of one of the most talked-about par 4s in golf. After we all putted out, our caddie looked around and said, ‘The next group is way behind. Let’s go play 10 again.’ No arguments here.

Because of the shotgun start, we didn’t get to the Riv’s other famous hole, the par-3 sixth, until late in our round. Like Augusta’s 12th, this is one where you want to summon your best effort and I managed to do so once again. Using my 6-iron, I flushed one right over the hole and to the back of the green. The pin was left of the famous bunker on this donut hole and as I approached my ball, I started to worry about this tricky downhill six-footer. Hacks like me can only envision a three-putt in this situation.

Our caddie knew his stuff, though and gave me a read. I had no choice but to follow his instructions, and I made a pass at the ball, nudging it more than hitting it, and I watched it head on its line. With my caddie using my phone to shoot video, we all watched it curl in for a 2. Needless to say, I’ve shown this video to everyone I know. A birdie on No. 6 at Riviera. What a day.

Will I be lucky enough to get to Pebble’s famous seventh? What about the Postage Stamp, the eighth hole at Royal Troon? The island green 17th hole at Sawgrass? Well, as they say, dreaming is free, but I do know this: I got to play Augusta’s 12th and Riviera’s sixth and if my dream list ends here, I’m good with it all.

Whistling Straits

Tim Schmitt (Managing editor)

Growing up in Buffalo, I learned a few painful lessons, one being that golf along the Great Lakes can be as difficult to bear as a December Sunday at Highmark Stadium. When I was chosen as a last-minute fill-in for a Golfweek raters trip at Kohler, even though it was in July, I expected whipping winds, French onion soup-colored water and a smattering of lakefront holes.

But rather than let me down, Whistling Straits lifted my spirits. The water looks closer to Destin or Trunk Bay than it does to my beloved Lake Erie. (Not exactly the same, mind you, but closer.) The winds can dictate play, for certain, but the currents typically follow similar patterns, so you adjust accordingly. And the course presents two real challenges: an amazing array of Pete Dye holes and the ability to take in so many breathtaking waterfront vistas without allowing the experience to numb you.

For example, by the time you reach the 17th hole, you’ve seen plenty of Lake Michigan, and the “Malibu of the Midwest” (that is truly Sheboygan’s slogan) has become your norm. But clear your mind, close your eyes and take a deep breath — an amuse-bouche for all your senses — before you waltz up to the 17th tee, the hole made famous by Jordan Spieth’s moonshot in the 2021 Ryder Cup.

As you get closer, you see the pot bunker on the right side, in front of the hill which serves as the aiming point for mid-level handicappers like me. This is a walk to cherish, knowing you’re finishing your time against the lake. A great shot here (my only birdie of the day) becomes something you’ll never forget.

Some of this story originally appeared in Issue 3, 2020 of Golfweek magazine.