Most golfers might expect mountain layouts when they think of the best courses in West Virginia. But the top public-access course in the state isn’t about the hills – it’s all about the history.

The Old White Course – named for the nearby hotel at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs – was completed by famed architect Charles Blair Macdonald in 1914, with assistance from Seth Raynor. After decades of alterations and degradations, the course was restored by architect Lester George to its Macdonald pedigree, with that work wrapping up in 2007.

Golfweek ranks courses by compiling the average ratings – on a points basis of 1 to 10 – of its more than 750 raters to create several industry-leading lists of courses. That includes the popular Best Courses You Can Play list for courses that allow non-member tee times. These generally are defined as courses accessible to resort guests or regular daily-fee players.

The Old White is No. 1 on that list in West Virginia. After George’s restoration, the Old White hosted the PGA Tour for a decade and introduced many Tour players to Macdonald’s famed templates including the Redan, the Biarritz, Eden, Alps and more. These stylized green designs have been celebrated at courses around the world.

The Old White also ranks No. 37 among all resort courses in the United States, and it is No. 126 on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses for U.S. layouts built before 1960.

Snowshoe Mountain’s Raven Course in West Virginia (Courtesy of Snowshoe Mountain)

Arnold Palmer’s layout at Stonewall Resort in Roanoke is No. 2 among the state’s public-access tracks. The Stonehaven Course at the Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels is No. 3, followed by No. 4 Snowshoe Mountain’s Raven Course in Snowshoe and the No. 5 Cobb Course at the Resort at Glade Springs.

Unlike the long history at the Greenbrier, West Virginia’s private golf scene is full of more modern stars. No. 1 in West Virginia’s ranking for Golfweek’s Best Private Courses is Pikewood National in Morgantown, which also ranks No. 27 on Golfweek’s Best list for all modern courses built in the U.S. in or after 1960. The No. 2 private layout in West Virginia is Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, which is No. 37 on Golfweek’s Best list for modern courses in the U.S.

Greenbrier Sporting Club in White Sulphur Springs is the No. 3 private course in West Virginia, followed by Williams Golf and Country Club in Weirton at No. 4 and Moundsville Golf Club at No. 5.

Each year, we publish the three lists that are the foundation of our course-ratings program: Golfweek’s Best 2020: Top 200 Classic Courses, Golfweek’s Best 2020: Top 200 Modern Courses and Golfweek’s Best 2020: Best Courses You Can Play.

These are the best courses you can play in West Virginia.

  1. The Greenbrier (Old White), White Sulphur Springs (No. 126 c)
  2. Stonewall Resort, Roanoke (m)
  3. Resort at Glade Springs (Stonehaven), Daniels (m)
  4. Snowshoe Mountain (Raven), Snowshoe (m)
  5. Resort at Glade Springs (Cobb), Daniels (m)*

*New to the list in 2020

(m): modern
(c): classic

How we rate them

The 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 together to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in its state, or nationally, to produce the final rankings.