The Best Golf Courses in Virginia Beach
A relaxed, value packed golf coast where Arnold Palmer, Pete Dye and Rees Jones all left their mark, wrapped around the boardwalk, the beach and the Chesapeake Bay. Our ranked eight, with verdicts and how to play them.
Photograph: Bay Creek Resort, via Google
How we ranked them
Virginia Beach is a golf destination built for the visiting group: a string of public, semi private and resort courses spread across the flat coastal plain of Hampton Roads, all within easy reach of the beach, the boardwalk and a famously affordable golf package. It punches above its weight on design pedigree too. Arnold Palmer shaped two of the area's best courses, Pete Dye built the former tour venue, and Rees Jones is responsible for a pair of the most enjoyable public tests in the city. Just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, the Eastern Shore adds the resort golf of Bay Creek, which many regard as the finest golf in the region.
Every fact here, the designers, the opening years and the access, was checked at the time of writing in June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. We weighed the quality and variety of the golf, the strength of the setting, the conditioning, and how easily a visiting group can play it, which on this coast usually means very easily. Most of the courses below take public or package play, and the area is a natural pairing with the wider Virginia and Carolinas golf coast. The verdicts are ours. If your group wants any of these built into a costed stay and play trip, with the tee times, the lodging and the transfers secured, that is exactly what our concierge does.
The 8 best golf courses in Virginia Beach
Bay Creek, Palmer Course
The finest golf in the region, an Arnold Palmer design of about 7,250 yards on the Eastern Shore at Cape Charles, just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from the city. Sweeping views of the bay and Old Plantation Creek, generous corridors and a strong run of finishing holes have earned it a place among Golf Digest's best in the state and, in its day, the best public courses in the country. Worth the short drive north, and the clear number one.
Virginia Beach National
The headline test inside the city, a Pete Dye design of about 7,200 yards built for both tournament and public play and once the home of a Nationwide Tour event as the TPC of Virginia Beach. Water, waste areas and the trademark Dye bunkering give it real teeth, yet it stays fair from the right tees. The most serious championship round a visitor can book in Virginia Beach.
Hell's Point Golf Club
A Rees Jones design from 1982 that was named one of Golf Digest's best new courses on opening and has stayed a local favourite ever since. Routed through tall pines and around water on sandy soil, it is a handsome, well bunkered par 72 with a quiet, mature feel. One of the most consistently praised public access rounds in the city and a fixture of any Virginia Beach package.
Heron Ridge Golf Club
The Fred Couples and Gene Bates design, opened in 1999, has grown into one of the best kept and most enjoyable public courses in Hampton Roads. Water comes into play on most holes across an open, links like layout, and the conditioning is reliably excellent. A friendly, well run facility that suits a group of mixed handicaps and books easily into a stay and play.
The Signature at West Neck
Palmer's second area course, an Arnold Palmer Signature design opened in 2001 and threaded gracefully through a wooded residential community with wetlands and lakes throughout. Polished, scenic and a little more forgiving than Virginia Beach National, it is many visitors' favourite for a relaxed, good looking round, and a natural pairing with the Palmer course at Bay Creek.
Honey Bee Golf Club
Rees Jones's second Virginia Beach design, a compact, plush layout opened in 1988 in the heart of the city that has long been prized for its conditioning and clever short par 4s. It will not overpower the big hitter, but it rewards the thinker and the accurate iron player, and its central location makes it one of the easiest rounds to slot into a busy golf week.
Cypress Point Country Club
A Tom Clark design of the Ault, Clark practice, opened in 1987 beside Lake Lawson and Lake Smith in a quiet corner of the city. Mature trees, water and well guarded greens make it a pleasant, playable semi private round that holds up nicely against the bigger names, and it offers public access and packages. A solid, dependable addition to a Virginia Beach itinerary.
Stumpy Lake Golf Course
The pick of the municipal courses, a Robert Trent Jones layout of about 6,800 yards hidden among natural woodland around Stumpy Lake. Mature, tree lined and full of character for the money, with Bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens, it is the value round of the group and proof that the city's everyday public golf is better than the green fee suggests. A great warm up or budget day.
Designers and opening years verified June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Bay Creek is a resort on the Eastern Shore; the city courses are public, semi private or municipal and take package play; a handful of area clubs are private. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking.
Where they are, and indicative costs
Virginia Beach golf is wonderfully compact. Almost every course in the city sits within a twenty to thirty minute drive of the oceanfront and the resort hotels, so a group can base on the beach and play a different course each morning. The one course worth a longer trip is Bay Creek on the Eastern Shore, about forty five minutes north across the spectacular Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and many visitors build it in as a marquee day. The area is also a natural bookend to a wider mid Atlantic golf trip, pairing with Williamsburg to the north or the Carolinas to the south. Green fees here are among the best value on the eastern seaboard, especially in a package.
| Item | Indicative 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| City public courses, per round | Around US$50 to $110 | Hell's Point, Heron Ridge, Honey Bee and similar, by season |
| Bay Creek and Virginia Beach National | Around US$90 to $160 | The marquee rounds, higher in spring and autumn |
| A 3 night stay and play, all in | Around US$600 to $1,200 per person | Oceanfront lodging and several rounds, excluding flights |
Indicative third party figures for the 2026 season, shown to set expectations only. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Always confirm directly before booking.
Plan your Virginia Beach golf trip
Tell us the courses you want and roughly when. One concierge costs the whole stay and play to the head, secures the oceanfront lodging and replies within one working day, with no obligation.
Virginia Beach golf questions
What is the best golf course in Virginia Beach?
The Arnold Palmer course at Bay Creek, on Virginia's Eastern Shore just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from Virginia Beach, is the standout, a 7,250 yard layout with sweeping bay views that has featured among Golf Digest's best in the state and best public courses nationally. In the city itself, Pete Dye's Virginia Beach National, the former TPC of Virginia Beach, is the headline public test. Our ranking weighs the design, the conditioning, the setting and how a visiting group can play it.
Are Virginia Beach golf courses open to the public?
Most of the best courses around Virginia Beach are public, semi private or resort access, which makes it an easy destination for a visiting group. Bay Creek is a resort, Virginia Beach National, Hell's Point, Heron Ridge, the Signature at West Neck and Honey Bee take public and package play, and the municipal courses such as Stumpy Lake are open to all. A handful of clubs in the area are private. Always confirm access and rates directly before booking.
When is the best time to play golf in Virginia Beach?
Spring and autumn, roughly April to June and September to November, are the prime windows, warm and comfortable with the firmest turf and the most reliable conditions. Summer is hot and humid and busy with beach holidaymakers, while winter is mild enough for year round play on the coast, with the occasional cold snap. The shoulder seasons pair the best weather with better golf package value. Always confirm conditions and rates before booking.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designers and indicative fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.