In 2024, hundreds of Golf Digest course-ranking panelists visited 59 new or remodeled courses that were candidates for our annual awards. The Best New Public and Private awards are given to the year’s most outstanding original courses, including those built over the bones of an older course.

The battle for the Best New Public course, in particular, was among the most competitive in recent memory, with top contenders Pinehurst #10, Cabot Citrus Farms and Sedge Valley at Sand Valley each worthy of special recognition.

In the end, though, it was Tom Doak’s bold new creation in the Sandhills that took the top honor. Why? Golf Digest architecture editor Derek Duncan explains how Pinehurst’s newest course defeated some of the greatest public competition this decade.