When golf meets nature’s grandeur, there’s no spectacle quite like a waterfall cascading beside a fairway or green. Beyond their jaw-dropping beauty, these courses blend drama with world-class design, elevating the game into experiences you’ll never forget.
What follows are seven (plus a bonus!) waterfall courses, each bucket-list worthy and each offering a unique test of skill surrounded by awe-inspiring visuals. Whether tucked in tropical paradise, etched into desert canyons or nestled into lush forests, these destinations promise a lifetime of memories.
Barton Creek Resort – Austin, TX
Huge oaks, rolling limestone hills dramatic drops to fairways and greens, and natural waterfalls. This sets the stage for this Texas Hill Country course that’s hosted Tour and PGA of America tournaments. The 7,125-yard Fazio Foothills is the signature track, a rollercoaster ride of sorts, where creeks tumble through canyon walls and greens protected by cliffs perched near water’s edge. Precision is critical and nature itself becomes the course’s greatest defense. Its companion Palmer Lakeside course is well known for its signature hole No. 11 highlighted by a torrential waterfall and native flora.
Big Cedar Lodge – Ridgedale, MO
Johnny Morris’ Ozark resort blends rugged wilderness with theatrical waterfalls carved into limestone bluffs. Tiger Woods’ first public design, Payne’s Valley, is indescribably cool. The waterfall starts on the par-3 No. 2, aptly named “Cascades,” where water on golfers’ left must be avoided. No. 3, Lion’s Den, is unlike any golf hole on earth as tee shots are hit from inside a cave behind a breathtaking waterfall to a downhill green. No. 8 could represent a watery grave with a long green from front to back protected by a bunker short right and a large waterfall with rapids on the backside. Yet another waterfall is on No. 15; however, the closing hole with a gargantuan 200-foot waterfall, natural rock formations and a drive-through cave steals the show. Add Buffalo Ridge and Ozarks National exceptional layouts, and this lodge is full of golf escapades .
Cascata Golf Club – Boulder City, NV
“Cascata” literally means waterfall in Italian. At this Rees Jones, par-72 design soaring to 3,200 feet above the Las Vegas desert valley amid the foothills of the River Mountain Range, you’ll hear it before you see it. A 418-foot man-made waterfall flows from the steep mountainside, over boulders and through the clubhouse while also weaving into fairways and ravines. Combined with gigantic mountain peaks contrasting lush fairways and accented by lakes, streams and wildlife, Cascata Golf Club is breathtaking thanks to a mix of lavishness, drama and tranquility at every turn.
Horseshoe Bay Resort – Horseshoe Bay, TX
Perched on Lake LBJ in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin, Horseshoe Bay features four championship courses. Ram Rock is known for narrow fairways and its stunning waterfall holes. No. 14 on the Slick Rock course boasts a bi-level waterfall that sends approximately 8,000 gallons rushing down every minute, creating an intense visual as golfers tee off. The aquatic feature costs nearly $1 million to construct in 1990; hence the nickname “Million Dollar Hole.” It embodies the shot-value philosophy of designer Robert Trent Jones, Sr. with a “hard par, easy bogey” layout.
Ko Olina Golf Club – Oahu, HI
Hawaii is synonymous with waterfalls, and Ko Olina captures that magic with lush tropical landscaping and water features framing eight holes. Designed by Ted Robinson, waterfalls on Nos. 12 and 18 are especially memorable. That’s what Tour players faced at Ko Olina, where not only water hazards but multi-tiered greens often drove them batty. And that’s partly why Golf Digest lauds this course annually. Don’t’ forget, LPGA star Michelle Wie, who grew up in Honolulu, developed her championship game here; lest we forget her countless golf cart drives through a cascading waterfall en route to the No. 12 tee box.
The Golf Club at Black Rock – Coeur d’Alene, ID
Since its opening in 2003, Black Rock has remained in Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Golf Courses” rankings. Cut into wooded mountains overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene, the private Black Rock is the poster child for alpine wilderness golf, traversing through wooded forests, across prairies and wetlands, up and down elevations, and around enormous outcroppings of basalt from which Black Rock gets its name. Naturally, there’s much-talked-about No. 11, a par 4, 413-yard gem with an approach shot that involves splitting a pair of waterfalls to reach the unique, V-shaped, two-tiered green that’s located within a rock amphitheater.
Wynn Golf Club – Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas’ only Strip-side course delivers luxury golf at its peak. All class and in always immaculate condition, golfers revel in the par-70 masterpiece with six par 3s for birdie opportunities. Surprisingly, despite views of resort towers, Wynn Golf Club often feels more like Pinehurst than Sin City with towering trees, pine straw and secluded feel. The finishing hole showcases a 35-foot, 100-foot-wide waterfall tumbling into a shimmering lagoon and other parts of the course. Visually stunning is a complete and utter understatement. Overall, Tom Fazio’s blend of modern design and theatrical water features makes every round feel like an event. Yes, you can see The Sphere from the course.
Bonus No. 8: Highland Falls Country Club – Highlands, NC
Perched on a rock ledge at the base of a 100-foot waterfall created by the headwaters of the Cullasaja River is the private Highland Fall’s signature par 3, No. 15, that Ron Whitten, longtime Golf Digest Senior Editor of Architecture, described as “the most memorable par three in golf.” Only 130 yards from the tips, it requires a dead-aim-at-the-pin flop shot away from the massive flow down a steep, rocky cliff. And, yes, you’ll get sprayed with water coming off the rocks while standing by the rail along the green’s backside. The other 17 holes are outstanding with panoramic views and amid a quietly charming, mountain-style layout.
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