1. Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Pebble Beach, Calif.

How can a course that is invariably ranked in the top 50 courses in America be underrated? Simple. Spyglass Hill suffers in the long shadows cast by its neighbors, Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. Many serious golfers will claim under oath that Spyglass is harder than its more celebrated neighbors-and more than a few will whisper that it's better. Critics harp that once you leave the sixth tee, you're done with the ocean. That's true, but the inland holes are gorgeous and tough. Two are among the most underrated in golf: the reverse cambered par-4 8th that slopes to the right but doglegs left, and the brutal 16th, a rare par-4 these days where merely hitting the green in regulation is cause for celebration. Throw in recent improvements in drainage that have Spyglass in the best shape it's ever been and you have America's most underrated course.