The best public-access and private golf courses in Washington, ranked

Looking to play the best golf courses in Washington? Welcome to our annual Golfweek’s Best ranking of public-access and private courses.

Following are the rankings for both types of courses, as judged by our nationwide network of raters. The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

• Best public-access courses in each state
• The best private courses in each state
• The details: How we rank courses

The courses on the first list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.

KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. For courses with a number preceding the (m) or (c), that is where the course ranks on Golfweek’s Best lists for top 200 modern and classic courses in the U.S.

* indicates new or returning to the rankings

Best public-access courses in Washington

Gamble Sands in Washington (Courtesy of Gamble Sands/Brian Oar)

1. Chambers Bay
University Place (T40m)

2. Gamble Sands
Brewster (T49m)

3. Wine Valley
Walla Walla (T134m)
Book your tee time at Wine Valley today

4. Gold Mountain (Olympic)
Bremerton (m)
Book your tee time at Gold Mountain today

5. Palouse Ridge
Pullman (m)

T6. Salish Cliffs
Shelton (m)

T6. Indian Canyon
Spokane (c)

8. Kalispel
Spokane (c)

9. White Horse*
Kingston (m)
Book your tee time at White Horse today

T10. Suncadia (Rope Rider)*
Cle Elum (m)
Book your tee time at Suncadia today

T10. Suncadia (Prospector)*
Cle Elum (m)
Book your tee time at Suncadia today

Best private courses in Washington

Aldarra in Washington (Courtesy of Aldarra)

1. Aldarra
Sammamish (T161m)

2. Sahalee (South/North)
Sammamish (T184m)

T3. Seattle GC
Seattle (c)

T3. Suncadia (Tumble Creek)
Roslyn (m)

5. Tacoma G&CC
Lakeland (c)