If you believe California is the best state for golf in the U.S., Golf Advisor reviewers have certainly submitting the ratings to back it up.
The top-rated course in the country in each of the past two years according to Golf Advisor has come from California. While in 2015, Sacramento-area Yocha Dehe Golf Club took this honors, this time, it was a remote San Diego County course, Rams Hill Golf Club, that had a superlative year of ratings and reviews from golfers. Six California courses made the Top 50, and it's also worth noting the No. 1-rated value course in the U.S. was also from the state.
Our Top 25 courses in California, gathered from your ratings and reviews in 2016, feature courses from many of the top destinations like Monterey, San Diego and Palm Springs. To compile the Top 25, we used a similar method to that of our our national Top 50 ranking. A course's score is based on their overall (50%) rating and subcategory average (50%). A review is weighted based on how prolific that reviewer is on Golf Advisor, and a course receives a bump in their rating if their score is better than that reviewer's average score.
There are high-end resorts as well as some over-achieving, daily-fee facilities. That's the beauty of our reviews from regular golfers: virtually any facility with enough reviews, and not just those on the ocean or with a $200-plus green fee, is eligible. (A few of the most well known courses in California failed to receive enough reviews to be considered in 2016. Want to see your favorite California course in the 2017 list? Leave a review here.)
Top-rated course in each subcategory in 2016
Course layout: Rams Hill Golf Club
Course conditions: Rams Hill Golf Club
Value:Ranch Course at Diablo Grande
Off-course amenities: Desert Willow Golf Resort
Pace of play: Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Club
Staff friendliness: Yocha Dehe Golf Club
Most improved: Boulder Oaks (Formerly Meadow Lake)
Top 25 courses in California in 2016
Yorba Linda
24. Escena Golf Club
Palm Springs
La Quinta
Carmel
Stockon
Santa Cruz
Moorpark
Poway
Indian Wells
Palm Desert
15. Aviara Golf Club
San Diego
Patterson
Hollister
Seaside
Auburn
Dinuba
Indio
8. La Purisima
Lompoc
Indian Wells
Ojai
No. 41 in the U.S. in 2016
La Quinta
No. 40 in the U.S. in 2016
4. Classic Club
Palm Desert
No. 19 in the U.S. in 2016
Seaside
No. 18 in the U.S. in 2016
Brooks
No. 12 in the U.S. in 2016
Borrego Springs
No. 1 in the U.S. in 2016