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The best Jack Nicklaus golf courses
Back in the 1960s, an Ohio kid checked in on the construction of what would become the highest-ranked course in the state. The design was The Golf Club, and the kid was Jack Nicklaus—a curious observer to the work being done by Pete Dye. Nicklaus, who by 1966 was a career Grand Slam winner, would sign up with Dye as his player consultant, starting a partnership that included Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, site of an annual tour stop since 1969. The host venue to the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament for more than 35 years, Jack's Muirfield Village Golf Club actually sits on land that Nicklaus and Dye prospected back in the late 1960s, although that project didn't come to fruition. By the time Muirfield Village came to be in 1974, Nicklaus and Dye had split. Fast-forward almost four decades, and Nicklaus' design company has eight offices in six countries, with Jack designing more than 300 courses and growing his business into one of the most successful design firms of his generation.
Here's a look at Nicklaus' best courses—ranked in the order our Golf Digest course-ranking panelists scored them based on our most recent America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses ranking and Golf Digest's Second 100 Greatest courses. Note: Our previous ranking of Nicklaus' best courses included international courses, but with our new World 100 Greatest Courses ranking going live in a few weeks, we've removed them for now and will republish this list when the new ranking goes live!
We urge you to click through to each individual course page for bonus photography, drone footage and reviews from our course panelists. Plus, you can now leave your own ratings on the courses you’ve played … to make your case why your favorite should be ranked higher.
![13. Desert Highlands Golf Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/course-photos-for-places-to-play/Desert-Highlands-Frwy-371.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.574.suffix/1707244965814.jpeg)
![12. Spring Creek Ranch](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2021/5/spring creek ranch 18 hero.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.431.suffix/1620096584029.jpeg)
![11. Sherwood Country Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2021/9/Sherwood CC - ninth hole - courtesy of the club hero.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.431.suffix/1631382291933.jpeg)
![11. Sherwood Country Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2021/9/Sherwood CC - ninth hole - courtesy of the club hero.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.431.suffix/1631382291933.jpeg)
![10. The Bear's Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/course-photos-for-places-to-play/bears-club-florida-19390.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.287.suffix/1682774270688.jpeg)
From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten:
The Bear’s Club marked a transition point in Jack Nicklaus’ design outlook when it opened in 1999. His architecture had typically been analytical and, while still lovely, oriented toward factoring how players might break down the features tactically. That strategic backbone is present in The Bear’s Club, but the team approached the design more holistically than they had previously, factoring in aesthetics to an unprecedented degree. Instead of building holes on a golf site, Jack and his associates created a golf environment, expanding and enhancing a dune ridge running through the low pine and palmetto scrub and anchoring large, sensuous bunkers into the native vegetation.
The course is part of an upscale residential development near the Intracoastal Waterway, but it blends so well you wouldn’t know it. The change in perspective that Nicklaus Design developed at The Bear’s Club pushed the firm toward similar successes in the 2000s like Sebonack (with Tom Doak), The Concession and Mayacama.
![9. The Reserve At Moonlight Basin](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/course-photos-for-places-to-play/moonlight-basin-big-sky-seventeenth-27767.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.646.suffix/1679934693198.jpeg)
![8. Harbour Town Golf Links](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2019/01/08/5c33f381bc9d282d38b367f0_136 - Harbour Town - 18th hole - The Sea Pines Resort_Rob Tipton.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.574.suffix/1573162684752.jpeg)
![7. Manele Golf Course](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/course-photos-for-places-to-play/Manele Golf Course 1803.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.574.suffix/1649428324044.jpeg)
![6. Mayacama Golf Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/course-photos-for-places-to-play/Mayacama GC1.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.574.suffix/1649949632479.jpeg)
![5. Sycamore Hills Golf Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2019/01/08/5c341ebfbc9d282d38b3680a_147 - Sycamore Hills - 7th hole - Jim Mandeville.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.574.suffix/1573162720454.jpeg)
![4. The Concession Golf Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/course-photos-for-places-to-play/The Concession Golf Club Aerial.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.574.suffix/1649338536867.jpeg)
![3. Shoal Creek](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2019/01/06/5c32634c47886f2d34f6ec30_118 - Shoal Creek No. 6 - Michael Clemmer.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.485.suffix/1573162529635.jpeg)
![2. Valhalla Golf Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2023/1/GD0524_FEAT_VALHALLA_01.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.485.suffix/1712858509394.jpeg)
![1. Muirfield Village Golf Club](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2021/11/best-new/Muirfield Village _18_JM21_0352 hero crop.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.861.431.suffix/1637778571094.jpeg)
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