Bandon Dunes, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst top this golfer's bucket list of resorts

What’s the best golf resort in America? That was the question posed to me the other day by Charlie Ricks, who had me as a guest on the NOLA Golf Academy show he hosts on Fox Sports Radio 107 in the New Orleans area.

More accurately, my task was to name the five best golf resorts I’ve been to, and fortunately I’ve been to a lot of good ones in the United States. The top three were pretty easy, but after that, the choices get kind of murky because, quite frankly, there are so many great golf resorts.

I went with Bandon Dunes as my No. 1 golf resort in America, but my No. 2 and No. 3 choices respectively, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst, could be argued for the top spot as well. (You can listen to the radio interview here.)

Bandon Dunes wins out for me because it’s all about golf, and it’s the only place where you will find true links golf in the United States. Like Pebble, Bandon Dunes is laid out on a stunning setting, the cliffs above the Oregon coastline. And now, with four distinctly different and wonderful courses, great golf accommodations and excellent dining, Bandon Dunes is not only unique but complete as well.

Pebble Beach, on the other hand, doesn’t need much of a justification. Its history, variety of courses and setting are terrific, too. And the same can be argued for Pinehurst, which like Pebble, has a great U.S. Open legacy and eight golf courses, including the recently renovated No. 2 Course. All three of my top choices should be on every golfer’s bucket list.

After that, I went with The Boulders Resort in Carefree, Ariz., and La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. La Costa just underwent a $50 million renovation, which included redoing the North Course (now called the Champions). I recently returned from La Costa and can tell you that the new Champions Course redone by Pascuzzo & Pate is a dramatic and tour-worthy improvement of the original Dick Wilson design.

But I could have easily included one of several great golf resorts in Hawaii in the mix. An argument could be also made for Whistling Straits in Wisconsin or PGA National in south Florida in the top five. And the The Broadmoor in Colorado isn’t too shabby, either.

Bottom line is that these are some of my favorites. I’m sure you have yours, and we would love to hear about them. Feel free to comment below.