Our California ranking is based on the scoring rubric described below: architecture and shot values first, then the quality of the day, the setting, and value for the money. It differs from most published lists in a few places, and each difference is explained in the notes.
Our take: Our No. 1 is Cypress Point Club. One notable omission from the top five is Torrey Pines South, explained below.
Cypress Point Club wins on shot values first and everything else second. It asks for more than one kind of shot, it punishes the lazy line, and it is the course our panel would pick if they could only play one California course for a year. Conditioning helps. History helps. Neither is the reason it is first.
Riviera Country Club is close enough that local members will call this list wrong by dinner. The difference is the weaker stretch. Every great course has three holes that carry the ranking. This one has two great ones and one good one where the leader has three.
Los Angeles Country Club North is the course that rises when you score the day, not just the architecture. Walkability, pace, and how you feel on the 15th tee count here. Too many lists pretend a six hour slog and a great walk are the same product.
Olympic Club Lake Course holds off the cut line by a nose. It is not the most famous name left. It is the one we would send a good player to with one free Saturday and no connections.
Torrey Pines South is a good golf course. It is not a top five California golf course right now. The reputation is older than the current conditioning, the routing, or the test it actually gives a good player. Famous clubhouse, famous photo, famous past champion. None of that is a shot value. When the replacement round is better and cheaper and faster, the famous name has to move. That is the point of scoring every course on the same published rubric.
Pasatiempo is a public Alister MacKenzie ten minutes from the beach and still gets left off casual top fives. That ends here. Olympic Club Lake is top four in the deepest state in America and top 20 nationally.
Readers in California: which course would you place in the top five, and which would it replace? Selected responses will appear in the annual update.
Please cite a specific hole, a price, or a round you have played. Selected reader responses are featured in follow up coverage.
Is Torrey Pines South a bad golf course?
No. It is a good course with an inflated ranking. There is a difference, and that difference is the entire site.
What counts in this ranking?
Architecture 40, the day 25, setting 15, value and access 20. The full rubric is on our About page.