Anchorage Golf Course: Golf in Anchorage, Alaska

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is the gateway. The golf course's own directions page states: "From the airport drive east on International Airport Road for approximately 1.5 miles to Minnesota Boulevard. Turn right (south) on Minnesota. Follow Minnesota (south and then east following the curve in the road) until you reach the New Seward Highway. Minnesota becomes O'Malley Road at this point. Follow this road for approximately 2 miles until you reach the Anchorage Golf Course sign on the left hand side of the road." From downtown Anchorage, the same page gives a second route: "Start by heading west on 5th Avenue. Make a left (south) on L Street. Drive down L Street going past Westchester Lagoon. L Street becomes Minnesota Drive. Continue driving for approximately six miles. Minnesota Drive becomes O'Malley Road at this point. Follow this road for approximately 2 miles until you reach the Anchorage Golf Course sign on the left hand side of the road." The address is 3651 O'Malley Road, Anchorage, AK 99507. Moose Run Golf Course, the day-two course, operates at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, but its two courses sit outside the base gates: civilians reach it from the Glenn Highway at the Arctic Valley Road exit without passing a base checkpoint.

Golf Digest's 2025-'26 Best in State list ranks Anchorage Golf Course first in Alaska, carrying its own "Public" label; the course's Golf Digest profile records the same result before, in 1989, 2017-'20 and 2025-'26. But the list itself holds only two courses, and Golf Digest says so in its own words: "It's also not simple to get panelists there, thus an abbreviated Best in State list based on just a dozen or so evaluations from some ambitious travelers." Bill Newcomb designed and built the original course, which opened in 1987; the operator's own course page credits him as "renowned golf course architect Bill Newcomb." Forrest Richardson, ASGCA, began a renovation in 2008 that his own project page describes as done a few holes at a time, "due to Alaska's short growing season," with work expected to conclude in 2028. The course hosted a USGA championship in 2022. The operator describes the course as a "6,600 yard test"; Golf Digest's own course profile lists it at 6,601 yards, slope rating 129, with 32 bunkers. The course states its golf season runs from early May through mid-October, with the golf shop open year-round. In midsummer, the operator notes play can run from as early as 5 a.m. to after midnight.

Tee times are open to anyone; there is no membership, residency or affiliation requirement. The standard booking window is five days in advance. Out-of-state visitors are an explicit exception: the course invites travellers to request a tee time ahead of that five-day policy through a form on its Out of State page, and staff then confirm the booking. Single players cannot reserve online and are handled as walk-ons or on the stand-by list. At least 24 hours notice must be given to cancel or make changes to a tee time; online booking requires a valid credit card, and tee times can also be booked by phone at (907) 522-3363. The course's 2026 Rates & Fees page lists 18 holes at $84.00 Non Resident, $57.50 Alaska Resident, $55.00 Senior Resident and $17.00 Junior; 9 holes at $55.00, $37.50, $36.50 and $11.50 respectively; and Twilight at $65.00, $47.00, $44.00 and $17.00. Seniors are defined as 60 and over, Juniors as 17 and under.

O'Malley's on the Green is the bar-and-grill dining room at Anchorage Golf Course. The operator describes it as "Conveniently located just off O'Malley Road at the Anchorage Golf Course," serving "a relaxed atmosphere with a great bar & grill style menu featuring appetizers, salads, fresh cuisine and specialty cocktails." Listed hours: Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The operator's page does not say whether these hours hold once the golf season ends in mid-October.

Moose Run Golf Course's Creek Course sits second on the same Golf Digest Alaska Best in State list, also labelled "Public." The operator's own homepage carries the heading "Creek & Hill Courses Located Outside the Gates of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson." Moose Run is a military golf facility operated at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, but its two courses sit outside the base gates and it is open to the public: the operator states it serves "all Active Duty and Retired Military, Veterans, DoD Employees, their families, and our Civilian Guests," and JBER's own Force Support site confirms the courses "are open to the civilian community." Civilians reach it from the Glenn Highway at the Arctic Valley Road exit without passing a base checkpoint. The Hill Course was established in 1952 by Army Combat Engineers; the Creek Course — the one Golf Digest ranks — opened in 2000, designed by architect Robin Nelson. The course's own rate sheet, updated 08/31/2026, lists civilian Daily Rates of $53 (18 holes) and $36 (9 holes) Monday through Thursday, with a Senior 60+ rate of $50 and $35; and $56 (18 holes) and $39 (9 holes) Friday through Sunday, with a Senior 60+ rate of $53 and $38. Military and DoD tiers are priced separately and lower.

Anchorage Golf Course is a Municipality of Anchorage public facility with no lodging of its own, and Moose Run, operated at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, has none either — so the question is which part of Anchorage to play out of, not which resort to book. Downtown is the answer the course itself supports: its own directions page publishes a route headed "Directions From Downtown Anchorage" that begins "Start by heading west on 5th Avenue," and the Hotel Captain Cook stands on that street, at 939 W. 5th Avenue. It is also the more central base for two rounds, because the courses sit on opposite sides of the city — Anchorage Golf Course in the south off O'Malley Road, Moose Run in the northeast off the Glenn Highway. By OSRM's driving routes the hotel is 9.01 road miles from Anchorage Golf Course, via O'Malley Road, Brayton Drive, the Seward Highway, East Fireweed Lane, A Street and West 5th Avenue, and 8.13 road miles from Moose Run, via West 5th Avenue, K Street, West 6th Avenue, the Glenn Highway and Arctic Valley Road. That second figure is measured to the OpenStreetMap centroid of the Moose Run course, because the Census address geocoder returns no match for its Arctic Valley Road address; it is a derived number, not one the operator publishes. The Census coordinates endpoint returns the same geography at every level for the hotel and for Anchorage Golf Course, so the two records sit in one jurisdiction.

The operator states that "every one of the Hotel Captain Cook's 557 rooms and suites offer stunning views of the neighboring Cook Inlet or Chugach Mountains," that 94 of the 557 are suites, and that the rooms are arranged in three towers, with the Crow's Nest Suites "Perched atop Tower III." Every room tier lists complimentary Wi-Fi and access to the athletic clubs, which the hotel runs as separate facilities for women and men: "Take a class, swim laps in the pool or indulge in a massage." Historic Hotels of America, a programme of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lists the property at 939 West 5th Ave with "Original Property Opened in 1965" and membership since 2016. One room tier carries the operator's own heading "Captain's Deck - Currently Unavailable" — that is the operator's wording about a floor of the hotel, not a statement about the property. No nightly rate is published here: the operator posts no dated rate table and sells rooms through a live third-party booking engine at prices that vary by date. The address is 939 W. 5th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99501, at the corner of 4th Ave. and K Street; the phones are 907-276-6000 and 800-843-1950.

Five restaurants operate in the building — Crow's Nest, Fletcher's, Whale's Tail, The Pantry and The Cubby — and two of them are the ones a golfer is most likely to want after a round. Fletcher's, on the main floor of Tower III, is "Named for Fletcher Christian, the man behind the historic mutiny on the Bounty," and serves "fresh Alaska seafood, handcrafted pizzas, hearty pastas, and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, alongside a full selection of cocktails, beer, and wine in a relaxed, welcoming setting"; the operator posts hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with the bar serving until midnight. The Crow's Nest, at the top of the same tower, offers "panoramic views of downtown Anchorage, the Chugach Mountains, and Cook Inlet" and posts dinner Tuesday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., with the last dining-room seating at 8:30 p.m.; attire is business casual, dining-room reservations are held for guests taking the full dinner service, lounge seating is for guests 16 and over accompanied by an adult and bar seating is for 21 and over.