Loving the land: discovering six great minimalist golf courses

Itching to leave behind those oh-so-the-same suburban greens and get back to nature? You'll love spending some time on these rustic North American golf courses.

Sand Hills Golf Club (Mullen, Nebraska; opened in 1995)

This is the course that started the renaissance in minimalist design. Its blown-out sand dunes and sweeping prairie grass showed a path forward.

Pacific Dunes (Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon; 2001)

In Tom Doak’s design, the Pacific Ocean over your shoulder and the rolling terrain in front of you compete fiercely for your attention.

The Loop (Forest Dunes Golf Club, Roscommon, Michigan; 2016)

Plan on staying two days: The first day, you’ll follow this course clockwise; the next, you’ll play it backward, going counterclockwise.

Mammoth Dunes (Sand Valley Golf Resort, Nekoosa, Wisconsin; 2018)

The only thing bigger than the fairways and amphitheater settings of the many green complexes is the smile on golfers’ faces.

Cabot Cliffs Golf Course (Cabot Links, Inverness, Nova Scotia; 2012)

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more stunning setting than the meeting of land and sea at this Canadian gem.

Red, Blue, and Black (Streamsong Resort, Bowling Green, Florida; 2013)

You may feel like you’re golfing on another planet as you chase the white ball around these three magnificent courses resting on the remains of an old phosphate mine covered in native grasses.

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