With the PGA Tour having completed its two annual stops in Hawaii, play is shifting to the five-event West Coast Swing in California and Arizona.
Starting this week, players will tee off in The American Express in La Quinta, California, followed by the Farmers Insurance Open on two courses in San Diego; the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at three courses in Pebble Beach, California; the WM Phoenix Open in Arizona and the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California.
That’s 10 courses in all, but which are the best of the West? We can use Golfweek’s Best ratings of thousands of courses in the U.S. for some insight.
The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final, cumulative rating. Then each course is ranked against other courses.
Below are the top five courses on the West Coast Swing with location, year of opening, designer and other information.
No. 5 West Coast Swing: Torrey Pines South
Golfweek’s Best rating: 7.02
Event: Farmers Insurance Open
Location: San Diego
Year opened: 1957
Designers: William Bell Sr., with renovations by Rees Jones in 2001 and 2019.
Perched on cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, the South Course is one of the most scenic layouts in the United States. A municipal facility, it was home to the U.S. Open in 2008 (Tiger Woods won) and 2021 (Jon Rahm). The Farmers Insurance Open (formerly the San Diego Open) has been played at Torrey Pines since 1968.
Torrey Pines South ranks No. 103 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S. It also ranks No. 4 in California on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access layouts in each state.
Book your trip to Torrey Pines todayNo. 4 West Coast Swing: Spyglass Hill
Golfweek’s Best rating: 7.62
Event: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Location: Pebble Beach, California
Year opened: 1966
Designer: Robert Trent Jones Sr.
One of three courses used in the Pro-Am, Spyglass Hill tees off at a high point before spilling toward the ocean for the first five holes, which play through sandy dunes before the routing returns inland. The course, part of Pebble Beach Resorts, debuted in what was then called the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am in 1967.
Spyglass Hill ranks No. 31 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses built since 1960 in the U.S., and it is No. 3 in California on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access layouts in each state.
Book your trip to Spyglass Hill todayNo. 3 West Coast Swing: Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course
Golfweek’s Best rating: 7.70
Event: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Location: Pebble Beach, California
Year opened: 1961
Designers: Originally designed by Robert Baldock and Jack Neville, the Shore Course was extensively renovated by Mike Strantz in 2004.
Strantz, known for bold design, created 12 new holes in his renovation and reworked the other six at the private club. The layout features ocean vistas and plenty of natural rock. It occasionally was part of the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am in the 1960s and ’70s, and it returned to the AT&T rota in 2010.
The Shore Course ranks No. 25 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses built since 1960 in the U.S., and it is No. 8 in a very stacked California on Golfweek’s Best list of private layouts in each state.
No. 2 West Coast Swing: Riviera Country Club
Golfweek’s Best rating: 8.18
Event: The Genesis Invitational
Location: Pacific Palisades, California
Year opened: 1927
Designers: George C. Thomas Jr., William P. Bell
The hilly layout – which features one of the world’s best short par 4s, the 10th – has hosted three major championships: the U.S. Open in 1948 (Ben Hogan) then the PGA Championship in 1983 (Hal Sutton) and 1995 (Steve Elkington). It first hosted the Los Angeles Open in 1929, and the event that has been renamed The Genesis Invitational has been there since 1973 except for two years (1983 and 1998). It also hosted the 1998 U.S. Senior Open and the 2017 U.S. Amateur.
Riviera ranks No. 18 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses in the U.S., and it is No. 4 in California on Golfweek’s Best list of private layouts in each state.
No. 1 West Coast Swing: Pebble Beach Golf Links
Golfweek’s Best rating: 8.77
Event: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Location: Pebble Beach, California
Year opened: 1919
Designers: Douglas Grant and Jack Neville, with numerous renovations over the decades by William Herbert Fowler, Alister MacKenzie, H. Chandler Egan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and others.
Considered one of the most scenic courses in the world, Pebble Beach features nine holes either approaching or playing alongside Stillwater Cove and the Pacific Ocean. The seventh hole is one of the games most-celebrated short par 3s, the par-4 eighth plays over the cliffs on the approach shot and the par-5 18th is as famous as any hole in golf. The Bing Crosby National Pro-Am moved to Pebble Beach in 1947 and has been there since, now called the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The layout has hosted six U.S. Opens (1972, 1982, 1992, 2000, 2010 and 2019) and one PGA Championship (1977). It next hosts the U.S. Open in 2027.
Pebble Beach – the namesake of Pebble Beach Resorts – ranks No. 9 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses in the U.S., and it is No. 1 in California on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access layouts in each state. It is also No. 1 on Golfweek’s Best list of all public-access courses in the U.S.
Book your trip to Pebble Beach today
