Golfweek this week unveiled its list of the best casino resort golf courses for 2024, and once again, the rankings are dominated by tracks owned by sovereign tribes.
The top spot comes as no surprise, as MGM Resorts’ Shadow Creek in Las Vegas has consistently been ranked the No. 1 casino golf course in the United States. It also has a hefty fee — $1,250.
MGM also takes the second spot with its Fallen Oak Golf Course, which is part of the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Mississippi’s Biloxi. French Lick, another commercial casino, comes in tied for third with its Pete Dye Course in Indiana. French Lick is tied for with The Greenbrier’s Old White famed track in West Virginia.
Here is where the tribes begin to take control of the Top 50 Casino Golf Courses list, with tribes claiming the six through nine positions.
Also tied for third is the Yocha Dehe Golf Club, a course aligned with the Cache Creek Casino Resort in California owned and operated by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. No. 6 is Barona Creek Golf Club at Barona Resort & Casino near San Diego. The Barona Band of Mission Indians owns the resort and golf course.
No. 7 comes from Scottsdale’s We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort and its Saguaro Course at the We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. No. 8 is The Wilderness at Fortune Bay Resort Casino in Minnesota, which is owned by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. And No. 9 is Turning Stone Resort Casino’s Atunyote Golf Course in New York, which is owned by the Oneida Indian Nation.
Resort Golf Leaders
While tribal nations account for half of the top 10, their dominance grows significantly for the remaining top 40 golf courses at casinos. Of the remaining 40, tribal golf courses account for 24 spots, according to a tally by Casino.org.
Tribal golf courses offer premier, championship-caliber tracks and unforgettable golfing opportunities at a fraction of the cost of playing an MGM property (assuming you aren’t a high roller gambling $5K a hand at blackjack in exchange for a comped round at Shadow Creek).
While a round at MGM’s Fallen Oaks runs $275 and a round at The Greenbrier’s Old White is $665 for non-hotel guests, rounds at We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro Course in sunny and warm Arizona are available this weekend for $170.
At the Eagle Falls Golf Course at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Southern California in the Coachella Valley, rates are even cheaper.
Owned by Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians and ranked No. 24 on the Golfweek list, a round this weekend is just $125 before 1 pm with a cart, range balls, four bottles of water, and a play $20 get $20 in free slot play coupon. The greens fee drops to $100 after 1 pm.
How Courses Are Ranked
Golfweek says its hundreds of course raters continually evaluate courses and rank them based on 10 criteria points.
Those conditions include each course’s routing, design integrity (classic courses) and shaping quality (modern), overall land plan, greens and surrounds, variety and memorability of par 3s, variety and memorability of par 4s, variety and memorability of par 5s, tree and landscape management, conditioning and ecology, and “walk in the park test.” The latter refers to determining whether the setting is worthy of four hours of your time.
Those overall ratings are averaged to produce a final rating given to each course.
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