TPC’s stadium concept was the idea of then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman. The 1980 design was pure Pete Dye, who set out to test the world’s best golfers by mixing demands of distance with target golf. Most greens are ringed by random lumps, bumps and hollows, what Dye calls his "grenade attack architecture." His ultimate target hole is the heart-pounding sink-or-swim island green 17th, which offers no bailout. The 17th has spawned over a hundred imitation island greens in the past 30 years.

Coore and Crenshaw’s Red course is part of a resort triple-header that gives golfers a rare opportunity to compare and contrast the differences in styles and philosophies of three of America’s hottest design firms. The Red was built from sand spoils created by a massive phosphate strip mine, with some piles forming dunes reaching 75 feet into the air. The Red has a wonderful mix of bump-and-run links holes and target-like water holes. The turf is always firm and fast, but it’s a terrific walk.

Although congenial rivals, Tom Doak and Bill Coore actually collaborated on Streamsong’s original 36-hole routing, walking the site and mentally weaving holes around stunning mounds, lagoons, sand spits, savannahs and swamp, all elements left after a strip-mining operation. Coore then gave Doak first choice on which 18 he wanted to build, so Doak’s Blue Course includes a few holes routed by Coore. (Coore and Crenshaw’s Red, ranked No. 118, contains some holes originally envisioned by Doak.)

Gil Hanse’s Black Course at Streamsong, Golf Digest’s Best New Public Course of 2018, sits a mile south of the Red and Blue, with its own clubhouse and its own personality. Hanse provided strategic character and variety: There’s a hidden punchbowl green at 9, dual putting surfaces at 13, a meandering creek on the par-5 fourth and a lagoon cove guarding the 18th green. These are the biggest, most complex greens found on our national ranking—some might call them “polarizing,” but we prefer “fun.”

The linchpin of the famous four-course complex at Trump National Doral Miami previously known as Doral Golf Resort, the Blue Monster had hosted a PGA Tour event annually from 1962 to 2016. The fearsome layout has been given added bite by Hanse and Wagner by creation of new slopes and ridges on several holes and the excavation of new lakes on par-3 15 and drivable par-4 16 to add more excitement to the finish. But they wisely left the legendary 18th nearly untouched. Why mess with history?

Open only to members and guests staying at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, the world-renowned Champion and Challenger nines make up the 18-hole Bay Hill course played by the game's best at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Charger, a third nine, offers a shorter, more open (but still challenging) experience. You'll still find Palmer's name and trademark umbrella logo on the range, where you'd find him on a daily basis.

Hammock Beach is a Golf Digest Editors' Choice award-winning resort in Florida and has two of the best public courses in Florida: The first being the Tom Watson-designed Conservatory course, which is more inland than the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean course. The Conservatory course is not your typical Florida resort course—it’s equipped with British links-style features throughout and boasts elaborate stone work, waterfalls and streams.

The Copperhead course is most famous for hosting the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship every April, but Innisbrook is home to three more championship courses—Island, North and South—with views more like the sand hills of the Carolinas than you might expect in Florida.

One of five courses at PGA National, the Champion Course hosts the Honda Classic every year. Originally designed by Tom and George Fazio for tournament play, Jack Nicklaus redesigned the course in 2014, creating the infamous three-hole stretch aptly named "The Bear Trap."

This Tom Watson-designed track is not your typical Florida resort course—it’s equipped with British links-style features throughout, and boasts elaborate stone work, waterfalls and streams.