Los Angeles is an ideal place to golf. Not only does our perpetually sunny weather and proximity to nature make it pleasant to play outside but — thanks to golf course architects like William P. Bell, George C. Thomas Jr. and, more recently, Gil Hanse — the city is also home to some of the most aesthetically pleasing fairways and greens ever made. Prestigious tournaments and iconic pro players like Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer have graced these fairways for more than a century. The same with Hollywood icons like Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

Unfortunately, many of those storied courses are private and can cost you upward of $250,000 for an initiation fee alone. I’m certainly not in the tax bracket for that, but I am an avid golfer who makes it to a course at least once or twice a week. (Don’t show this to my boss.)

As someone who was swept up in the wave of new golfers that arrived in summer 2020, I’ve spent the last four years playing all over this city and have golfed a round at every public course that Los Angeles has to offer. I’ve also had the privilege to play at a few of the famed country clubs in the city. (Just in case you’d like to peep my bona fides, my handicap is at a 13, and you can find me on the Golf Handicap Information Network.)

Needless to say, I’m a bit obsessed. I also have strong opinions about where the best spots in the city are to hit the links.

I’ve compiled a guide that looks beyond those elitist and at times discriminatory luxe golf courses and that turns the spotlight on L.A.’s great public courses. Given the recent public uproar over the booming black market of tee times, these spaces are more valuable to our community than ever.

These courses showcase the variety of options L.A. has to offer. In making my choices, I took into account course conditions, location, price, accessibility, staff, services, difficulty and — most important — vibes. However immeasurable, real golf heads can just feel a good spot when they get to the first tee.

There are certainly courses I’ve left off this list, some because they’re simply too far away for the average working Angeleno. But if you do venture outside the city, some of my personal nearby favorites are Rustic Canyon in Moorpark, Soule Park in Ojai and Rams Hill if you’re willing to make the trek to Borrego Springs. And within L.A. County, honorable mention goes to South L.A.’s Maggie Hathaway Golf Course and Chester Washington Golf Course for their efforts to expand the community with their underserved youth programs.

One last note: Even the most idyllic golf course can feel like the worst one when you’re hacking away in a bunker or waiting for the green to clear but my hope is that with each of these spots, even your worst-played game will at the very least be a welcome respite from the chaos of city life. And above all else, let’s all bring a level of respect to these courses and the people who play on them. If you’re bad, just play bad fast and be kind to everyone on the course so that we can continue to enjoy the best this city has to offer.