Power Rankings: Florida resort tops ratings, plus a reviewer's golf trip to Ireland

The top-rated course of the week is no stranger to great rankings on Golf Advisor, but there's also a lot of new blood in the latest top ten, which showcase the top-rated courses according to reviews from the past week.

El Campeon at Mission Inn, one of Florida's most historic resort courses, led the way. It was the no. 2 course in 2015 on Golf Advisor in the U.S.

"In 18 years as a Florida resident I've played nearly all the great courses and this one is still my favorite," wrote wrote reviewer wb4659. "You won't know you are in Florida, except for the palm trees. Great elevations changes, perfect greens, and just challenging enough (pick the appropriate tees for your talent, keep your ego at home)."

The rest of the top ten features courses both in warm, southern destinations as well as the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

Top 10 courses of the week

Howey in the Hills, Fla.


Maricopa, Ariz.


Avondale, Ariz.


Holland, Mich.


Naples, Fla.


Selbyville, Del.


Port Orchard, Wash.


Palm Springs, Calif.


Canton, Tex.


Bourne, Mass.

Reviewer of the week

Royal County Down, Northern Ireland

We're very pleased to see Golf Advisor reviewer jcheh344 return from his golf trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland and submit reviews from all his rounds. His itinerary included such standout links as Royal County Down, Royal Portrush and Portmarnock. Not all of his courses received five stars, so you can visit his profile and see which courses lived up to the billing. Royal Portrush certainly did, as he wrote the following:

Wow, one look over the layout from the road as you pas by shows why this course is included in the Open rotation. The Dunluce course (yes there are two) has a broad sweep moving back and forth between duned areas to moguled valley holes. There is ample room for a large gallery to watch, something that Royal County Downs, a far tougher course does not have. Our group took forecaddies and glad we did as knowledge of lines and distances with even the mild elevation changes was of real help. RCD has many completely blind shots while RPR is more subtle but requires long accurate shots over deep fescue and dune grasses on many holes. A perfect example is #5 (White Rocks) , a modest length par 4 that goes slightly downhill then turns sharply right and back up hill. The carry from the white tees is over 200 yards and coming up short will likely result in a big number if you find the ball. Unlike many of the Irish links courses that tend to divide the two nines between the high dunes along the coast and the low areas leading up to the dunes, RPR mixes both nicely and makes for a more continuous look and challenging round through out the 18. The course is getting ready for the Open in 2019 and you could see a lot of activity but this never detracted from our play. There is a decent range and practice facility and a nice club house with upstairs patio to enjoy afterwards. Thee is a quaint little halfway house in the middle that you should make sure to visit. This is definitely a bucket list course and I am looking forward to a return.

Brandon Tucker is the Sr. Managing Editor for GolfPass and was the founding editor of Golf Advisor in 2014, he was the managing editor for Golf Channel Digital's Courses & Travel. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and nearly 600 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at @btuck34.
0 Comments
Now Reading
Power Rankings: Florida resort tops ratings, plus a reviewer's golf trip to Ireland