Not since the Tiger Woods domination of the late ’90s and the aughts has golf enjoyed so much renewed participation, enthusiasm, and, along with that, new facilities. Good golf is abundant these days, thanks to many courses that have been designed around an aesthetic known as minimalism.

The concept is premised on taking a great piece of ground and using its natural terrain as much as possible, thus minimizing how much earth is moved. Courses in this mold have lots of high native grass and bunker edges that are more roughhewn than the ones we typically see on PGA Tour telecasts. The look—and the aspiration—is a course that blends into its environment and appears as if it was always there, just waiting to be discovered.

Here are the 12 courses, some built on the bones of previous…