The Best of 2024
For our annual tribute to the best in the golf lifestyle, our staff and expert panelists cogitated and collaborated to select the golf courses, hotels, restaurants, fashions, influential figures, and more that made the strongest impressions over the past year.
Golf Courses
An instant classic in North Carolina, a stunner in the Sandhills, and other new and rejuvenated layouts that rose to the top in 2024.
La RĂ©serve Golf Links
Built upon former sugarcane fields, this contemporary links course—the first of its kind in the Indian Ocean—relies on native grasses to promote ecological diversity. The routing provides plenty of variety, too, with five par-5s, five par-3s, and a couple of drivable par-4s.
Hotels & Resorts
Our panelists’ selection of the best new and renewed places to stay takes us from the beaches of the Bahamas to the streets of Rome.
Dar Tantora the House Hotel
Built directly out of the 800-year-old mud-brick Old Town at the center of AlUla, Saudi Arabia, Dar Tantora is a brand-new luxury hotel with 30 dars (rooms) that incorporate a mix of traditional materials with modern engineering.
Food & Drink
Our panelists’ favorite meals, mixed drinks, and more from 2024.
Wa Shin
Michelin-starred chef Sky Zheng has a reverence for the traditions of Japanese cuisine, a respect that is deliciously evident at this new omakase restaurant in Boston.
Gear & Style
The equipment, accessories, and apparel that kept our panelists playing—and looking—their best in 2024.
Titleist GT Driver
By the time this year’s Scottish Open rolled around, more than 100 PGA Tour pros had switched to Titleist’s new GT Driver, which debuted five weeks earlier. Looking for further validation? Will Zalatoris described his first tee shot with the club as “euphoric.” That’s a mic drop.
Game Changers
The people and projects that pushed the envelope in golf, one way or another, during the past 12 months.
Grant Thornton Invitational
A collaboration between the LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, and title sponsor Grant Thornton produced a new event pairing PGA Tour men with LPGA Tour women. In a world-class field, the ultimate champions were New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and Jason Day.
Hidden Gems
Perhaps a little out of the way or out of the spotlight, these golf courses remain go-to rounds for our panelists.
Apes Hill
“Apes Hill extends to almost 1,000 feet above sea level, which makes it ideal terrain for golf [and] for spectacular views,” David DeSmith says. “Every inch of the golf experience is a full-fledged nature expedition through stands of sea grape, frangipani, baobab and bearded fig trees, traveler’s palms, flamboyant trees with their blazing red blossoms, and dense jungle from which no misdirected golf ball will ever return.”
Ones to Watch
From soon-to-debut courses to an Annika Sörenstam–hosted cruise, these are the new golf destinations and experiences we’re looking forward to in 2025.
Portrush Adelphi Hotel
Timing is everything, and Marine & Lawn’s sixth hotel—the Portrush Adelphi—is due to open in February 2025, five months ahead of the Open’s return to Royal Portrush.
The Panelists
PGA Tour caddie Geno Bonnalie
PGA professional and master coach
Scott Cranfield
Former collegiate golfer and writer David DeSmith
Journalist specializing in food, drink, and travel Paul Feinstein
Premier Golf’s business development manager Bill Hogan
Golf course designer David McLay Kidd
Golf Channel correspondent Alexandra O’Laughlin
10-time major champion Annika Sörenstam
Golf content creator, presenter, and ambassador
Roger Steele
