Golf video instruction: Adapting to colder and firmer conditions
Averee Dovsek shares a few quick tips on how to get the ball to launch higher and interact with the ground smoother.
Three Mississippi golf courses have made a Golfweek list of the Top 100 best public access courses in the U.S.
Every course on the Golfweek public courses list has public access, though how you gain that access varies. Some have daily green fees, while others require you to stay at an affiliated resort or hotel. Some are tied to local casinos and resorts that offer golf packages that include lodging, food and more.
Unsurprisingly, the same trio leads the ranking for Top 10 pubic courses in the state.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is home to some of the oldest golf courses in the state, and the area was named among the “10 best destinations in the US for a golf getaway” in the USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards. Stellar courses can be found across the Magnolia State.
Whether you love a public fairway or crave a more exclusive experience, your game will be in full swing as soon as you step on the green. Here’s what to know about the best public golf courses you can access in Mississippi.
Top 10 best public-access golf courses in Mississippi
According to Golfweek, these are the best public-access golf courses in Mississippi.
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.
1. Fallen Oak: Saucier (T97m)
2. Mossy Oak: West Point (T132m)
3. Old Waverly: West Point (m)
4. The Preserve: Vancleave (m)
5. Dancing Rabbit (Oaks): Philadelphia (m)
6. Dancing Rabbit (Azaleas): Philadelphia (m)
T7. Shell Landing: Gautier (m)
T7. Grand Bear: Saucier (m)
9. The Oaks: Pass Christian (m)
10. Windance: Gulfport (m)
Golfweek’s Best 2025: Top public-access golf courses in every state, ranked
Which Mississippi golf courses are some of the best in the US?
Here’s how Mississippi courses ranked among Golfweek’s Top 100 public-access courses in the U.S. for 2025.
Golfweek has hundreds of people who work to rate courses across the U.S. Each criteria gets a score of 1-10 and a single overall rating. The overall ratings are averaged to create the rankings.
Fallen Oak: Tied for 35th place
Fallen Oak Golf Course in Saucier is regularly ranked the top course in the state by GolfDigest. (The site also ranks it No. 48 in America’s best public courses.)
Architect Tom Fazio built the 18-hole course around streams, lakes, marshes and century oaks, along with pecan and magnolia trees. It’s exclusively for guests at Beau Rivage, which offers golf and hotel packages.
2024 ranking:Â Tied for 33rdAverage rating:Â 7.10Architect:Â Tom Fazio.Era:Â Tied for 97th best Modern.Mossy Oak in West Point: Tied for 47th place.
GolfDigest ranks Mossy Oak in West Point the No. 2 course in the state and No. 82 for best public greens in the nation.
Late businessman George Bryan headed up the project, turning a dairy farm he played on as a child into the popular golf destination.
The course opened in 2016 and was designed to look like it had been there for decades. Architect Gil Hanse did his work on the course just after finishing the Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro. They removed one tree and used dirt from the bottom of a course bond to build up some holes. Sand for the traps came from the Tombigbee River.
2024 ranking:Â 46Average rating:Â 6.93Architects:Â Gil Hanse, Jim WagnerEra:Â Tied for 132nd best ModernOld Waverly: Tied for 87th place.
GolfDigest ranks Old Waverly in West Point No. 3 in Mississippi.
Old Waverly is a sister course to Mossy Oak and another project of Bryan’s. It opened in 1988 and has hosted the U.S. Women’s Open.
The design was the second collaboration between course architects Bob Cupp and Jerry Pate.
You must stay on the property to play, and rates vary by season.
2024 ranking:Â Tied for 81stAverage rating:Â 6.62Architects:Â Bob Cupp, Jerry PateEra:Â Modern
What are the Top 10 public golf courses in the country?
According to Golfweek, these are the Top 10 public access golf courses in America.
Pebble Beach Golf Links at Pebble Beach Resorts in Pebble Beach, CAPacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, ORPinehurst No. 2 at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, NCStraits at Kohler Whistling Straits in Mosel, WIBandon Trails at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, OROld Macdonald at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, ORBandon Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, ORBlack at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, NYShadow Creek by MGM Resorts in North Las Vegas, NVOcean at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, SC
Jason Lusk is the travel editor and creative director for Golfweek.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.