A ticket to this year’s Ryder Cup would have cost you $750, and we’ll let you decide whether that price was worth the admission. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t.
But there’s perhaps little debate on the value found on the entry fee to play the course that hosted the event. Consider this:
You can peg it at Bethpage Black five times in one day — for just about the price of one of the aforementioned tickets.
And that’s if you’re from out of state ($140 during the week). New York state residents can play it 10 times ($70 during the week).
Bethpage Black, then, heads our list of the five most affordable courses in our Top 100 in the World ranking, which you can view below.
5 most affordable courses in our Top 100 in the World ranking
1. Bethpage (Black), Farmingdale, N.Y., No. 56 in Top 100: The Black intimidates golfers with a sign at the 1st tee that recommends the course “only for highly skilled golfers.” Among them? Tiger Woods, who won the 2002 “People’s Open,” as that U.S. Open came to be known. Woods was the only golfer to break par for 72 holes, owing to rugged, uphill par-4s, massive bunkers and the wrist-fracturing rough found on this Rees Jones-restored A.W. Tillinghast layout. The Black enjoys one of the great routings, highlighted by the masterful way Tillinghast placed the fairways and greens from the 2nd hole in a valley all the way through the dogleg left 9th. The par-5 4th and its iconic cross-bunkering is a world-beater.
2. Cruden Bay, Cruden Bay., Scotland, No. 61 in Top 100: This cult classic is a personal favorite of both Pete Dye and Tom Doak. Twenty-three miles north of Aberdeen, Cruden Bay offers many novel features, including the postcard-perfect par-3 4th, which overlooks the Water of Cruden and the fishing village of Port Erroll, and the par-4 14th, with its funnel-shaped bathtub green. The 4th kicks off a five-hole stretch that any links course would love to claim as its own, so wildly varied and well-conceived is each hole.
3. Machrihanish (Championship), Campbeltown, Scotland, No. 92 in Top 100: On the Mull of Kintyre, the course makes the most of its romantic setting, starting with the opening tee shot set on a diagonal across the beach. One panelist considers the 3rd as an ideal links hole, writing: “The tee ball is blind over a heaving dune, which creates a sense of adventure as you aim your ball into the unknown. Then, as you crest the hill, a view of the Irish Sea emerges in the distance, with the beautifully situated green in the foreground, sunken in its own natural amphitheater.” The rumpled fairways never let up and serve up the awkward stances that complicate playing in the wind. But the real star is the set of greens. The surfaces from 12 through 16 are all brilliant and highlight that the best links holes aren’t necessarily confined to those closest to the sea. It’s always a delight to find a course that poses so many questions, all while measuring under 6,500 yards.
4. Utrecht de Pan, Bosch en Duin, The Netherlands, No. 89 in Top 100: Modern architecture did itself no favors by pursuing holes that constantly scream at the golfer, because at some point the golfer goes tone deaf. Designer Harry Colt never went down that path and thus his courses enjoy timeless appeal. At Utrecht de Pan, he did what he did best: produce a course that is a delight to play every day. De Pan may not have the topography of St. George’s Hill, but it does have sand dunes throughout the property. A master router, Colt incorporated the dunes in every way possible.
5. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin), Woodhall Spa, England, No. 74 in Top 100: Credit architects H.S. Colt and S.V. Hotchkin for enhancing Harry Vardon’s initial work and turning the course into one of golf’s supreme inland delights, an oasis amid the surrounding flat fenland of Lincolnshire. Deep bunkers are Woodhall Spa’s defining trait, along with plentiful gorse and a stellar set of par-3s. A meticulous restoration carried out by Renaissance Golf Design in recent years saw trees felled and heather regenerated. Set 150 miles north of London, Woodhall keeps a relatively low profile as it isn’t among a cluster of great courses. That’s a shame, because this outpost course is emphatically worth the trip.
Editor’s note: Below are additional Top 100 Courses in the World links:
