Sonoma, United States
Born from the first golden age of golf course architecture, Sonoma Golf Club is a Sam Whiting design that opened in 1928 on the former J.K. Bigelow ranch in the heart of California's wine country. Set on 177 acres of rolling terrain amid ancient oaks, vineyards, and views of the Sonoma and Mayacama mountains, the par-72 layout stretches to over 7,000 yards and has been described as "fair but formidable" — a course whose naturalness and strategic intelligence have stood the test of time. A private members' club with access extended to guests of the adjacent Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, it is one of Northern California's most celebrated and historically significant courses.
Sonoma Golf Club
Born from the first golden age of golf course architecture, Sonoma Golf Club is a Sam Whiting design that opened in 1928 on the former J.K. Bigelow ranch in the heart of California's wine country. Set on 177 acres of rolling terrain amid ancient oaks, vineyards, and views of the Sonoma and Mayacama mountains, the par-72 layout stretches to over 7,000 yards and has been described as "fair but formidable" — a course whose naturalness and strategic intelligence have stood the test of time. A private members' club with access extended to guests of the adjacent Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, it is one of Northern California's most celebrated and historically significant courses.
Sonoma Golf Club is a private parkland course situated in the Sonoma Valley of California, approximately one hour south of San Francisco, set among vineyards in one of the United States' most celebrated wine-producing regions. The course was designed by Sam Whiting and opened in 1928, originally established as the Sonoma Mission Inn Golf and Country Club. Its origins trace to the early 1920s, when the president of the California Golf Association and a group of golf professionals identified the Sonoma Valley site as an ideal location for a golf course.
Whiting's layout is characteristic of the Golden Age of American golf course architecture, a period defined by strategic design principles, naturalistic routing, and an emphasis on variety and shot-making over raw power. The course is described as presenting a fair but formidable test, with design elements that have remained largely intact for nearly a century. No specific redesign architects are documented in available materials, though the club references the application of modern agronomy and technology to maintain the course.
Sonoma Golf Club gained notable tournament prominence in the early 2000s, serving as the host venue for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event of the PGA Tour Champions, from 2003 through 2009. The club operates as an exclusively private facility, with membership extending access to golf, racquet sports, spa, dining, and other amenities.
The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings
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Overall rating
3.5
Overall rating
3.5
