From the cliffs of the Monterey Peninsula to the dunes of Bandon, the bluffs of Kiawah and the lava coast of Hawaii, America has more world class seaside golf than anywhere outside the British Isles. These are the ten courses where the ocean is not a backdrop but a playing partner, ranked, with our verdict on each and how to play it.
Photograph: Pebble Beach Golf Links, via Google
An ocean view course is one thing; a course where the sea genuinely shapes the golf is another. We were not interested in a distant glimpse of blue from one tee. The courses below put the ocean in play, run holes along cliffs, dunes and bluffs, and use the wind and the water as part of the test. Three regions dominate: the Monterey Peninsula in California, home to Pebble Beach and Cypress Point; the Bandon Dunes resort on the wild Oregon coast; and the Atlantic links at Kiawah Island, with Hawaii's lava coast adding a tropical chapter.
We weighed the quality of the golf, the drama of the coastline, and how accessible each course is to a travelling golfer, because a list of courses no one can play is of limited use. Most of these are open to visitors through a resort stay or a tee time, and we have flagged the one true private club. Every designer, year and detail was checked at the time of writing. The order and the verdicts are our editors' view, so reasonable people will reorder the field. If you want any of these built into a costed trip, that is exactly what our concierge does.
The most famous ocean golf in America and the one any golfer can actually book. Pebble's run of cliffside holes above Carmel Bay, from the tiny par 3 7th to the storied closing stretch along the cliffs, is the most spectacular stretch in the game, and the course has crowned countless US Opens. It is expensive and busy, but standing on the 7th tee with the Pacific below is a golfing rite of passage. The clear number one for ocean drama you can play.
For pure beauty, Cypress Point has no equal, Alister MacKenzie's masterpiece moving through forest, dune and oceanfront cliff to a finish along the Pacific that includes the most photographed par 3 in golf, the 16th over the sea. MacKenzie himself thought it his finest work. The catch is access: it is golf's most coveted private invitation and essentially impossible to book. We rank it second only because so few will ever play it, but no list of ocean golf is complete without it.
The course that confirmed Bandon Dunes as America's great modern links resort, a Tom Doak design that runs out to the edge of the bluffs above the Pacific and back through towering dunes. Wild, firm and endlessly strategic, with several holes hard against the cliff edge, it is widely rated the best of the Bandon courses and one of the finest built in the United States this century. Walking only, exposed to the Oregon wind, and unforgettable.
A brutal, beautiful Pete and Alice Dye links on the Atlantic edge of Kiawah Island, with ten holes running along the sea, the most of any course in North America. The stage for the 1991 Ryder Cup and two US PGA Championships, it is exposed, demanding and relentless in the wind off the ocean, a true championship test that visitors can play through the resort. The best ocean golf on the East Coast and a bucket list round in its own right.
Pebble's tougher neighbour, a Robert Trent Jones Sr design whose opening five holes plunge through ocean dunes to the edge of the Pacific before the course turns inland into the Del Monte forest. Those first holes are some of the most beautiful and demanding starts in golf, and the whole course is a sterner test than Pebble itself. Part of the Pebble Beach resort and bookable with a stay, it is an essential round on any Monterey trip.
The most exposed course at Bandon, a Coore and Crenshaw design with nine of its greens perched on the bluffs directly above the Pacific and not a single bunker on the property. Wide, wild and wind blasted, it trades subtlety for sheer coastal drama, with the ocean visible from every hole and a famous green sitting out on a headland. A thrilling, unconventional round and proof that the Oregon coast is America's links capital.
The original course that started it all, David McLay Kidd's links along the clifftops that proved real seaside golf could be built on the American coast. Holes run right along the edge of the bluffs above the crashing Pacific, the dunes and gorse straight out of Scotland, and the whole walking only experience set the template for the resort. Still a magnificent round and, for many, the most authentically links of the Bandon courses.
The best ocean view course any traveller can play for a municipal green fee, set on the clifftops of La Jolla high above the Pacific north of San Diego. A long, demanding Rees Jones redesign that has hosted two US Opens, it offers wide ocean panoramas from a public course bookable in advance. It does not put the sea in play like Pebble, but for accessible big time golf with the Pacific as a backdrop, nothing else comes close.
The course that brought championship golf to Hawaii, a Robert Trent Jones Sr design on the Big Island's Kohala coast whose famous par 3 3rd carries across a churning ocean inlet to a green on the far cliff. Cut from black lava and framed by the blue Pacific, it is one of the most dramatic resort courses in America and the pick of Hawaii's many oceanfront layouts. A tropical contrast to the cool links of the mainland and a joy to play.
A Robert Trent Jones Jr design on the lush north shore of Kauai, where the Ocean nine plays along cliffs above the Pacific with views to the Na Pali coast and the occasional whale offshore. Tropical, scenic and a pleasure rather than a punishment, it is the most beautiful resort golf in the Hawaiian islands and a fitting close to a list of American ocean golf. Easy to play with a resort stay and unforgettable for the setting alone.
Designers, years and access verified June 2026 from the clubs, resorts and leading databases; all are open to visitors except Cypress Point, a private club. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.
Tell us whether you want the Monterey Peninsula around Pebble Beach, a Bandon Dunes pilgrimage on the Oregon coast, a Kiawah or Hawaii trip, or a combination, and roughly when. One concierge secures the tee times, sorts the resorts and the cars, and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.
Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula is the most famous ocean golf in America, with a celebrated run of cliffside holes above Carmel Bay that any golfer can book and play. Neighbouring Cypress Point is more beautiful still but essentially private. Together they make the Monterey Peninsula the home of American ocean golf.
Most can be played. Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Sheep Ranch, the Ocean Course at Kiawah, Torrey Pines South and the Hawaii resort courses are all open to visitors, usually through a resort stay or a tee time booking. Cypress Point is a private club and the rare exception you cannot simply book.
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in South Carolina has ten holes running along the Atlantic, the most seaside holes of any course in North America. Bandon Dunes in Oregon and the Monterey Peninsula resorts also put the ocean in play repeatedly across multiple courses, making them the great clusters of American coastal golf.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers, years and access verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.