Top public and private courses in Maryland

The top two public-access courses in Maryland share a distinction: They are both Pete Dye designs.

Bulle Rock in Havre De Grace, designed by the famous architect and opened in 1998, is No. 1 in the state on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list. The Links at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels is another Dye design, the last on which he ever worked before his death in January of 2020, and that layout ranks No. 2 among the state’s public-access layouts.

Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with the list of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list for Maryland’s distinguished private offerings is likewise included below.

MORE: Best Modern | Best Classic | Top 200 Resort|
Top 200 Residential | Top 100 Best You Can Play

(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960
(c): Classic course, built before 1960

Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses. Several of the private courses listed below do not qualify for those premium lists because they haven’t seen enough rater play in the past 10 years, but they are still eligible for the state-by-state lists.

* New to or returning to list

The Links at Perry Cabin in Maryland (Courtesy of the Links at Perry Cabin)

1. Bulle Rock GC
Havre de Grace (m)

2. Links at Perry Cabin
St. Michaels (m)

3. Whiskey Creek
Ijamsville (m)

4. University of Maryland GC
College Park (c)

5. Lake Presidential
Upper Marlboro (m)

6. Links at Lighthouse Sound
Ocean City (m)

7. Queenstown Harbor (River)
Queenstown (m)

8. Worthington Manor
Urbana (m)

9. Musket Ridge
Myersville (m)

10. Rum Pointe Seaside
Berlin (m)

The ninth green at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm during the final round of the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship. (Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports)

1. Congressional (Blue)
Bethesda (c)

2. Baltimore CC (East)
Timonium (46c)

3. Woodmont (North)
Rockville (c)

T4. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm
Potomac (T149m)

T4. Caves Valley
Owings Mill (T149m)

6. Burning Tree
Bethesda (c)

7. Chevy Chase CC
Chevy Chase (c)

8. Congressional…