Jordan McDonald reached his goal at Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula, but he isn’t stopping there.

Jordan McDonald spotted the Top 100 U.S. Public Golf Courses on a bathroom wall while on a father-and-son golf trip to Pebble Beach in 2017. The thought hit him immediately: “How cool would it be to play all those courses?” So he did just that. And many more.

He’s now played a course in all 50 states and has teed it up in 14 different countries, too. All while working full-time, currently as an assistant professional at the Victoria Club in Riverside.

But as his course numbers piled up, combined with ones he played growing up in Washington State, McDonald realized last year that he was quickly approaching 1,000 overall.

“I had just started plugging away,” explained McDonald, who was 29 when he began his serious golf travels. “My days off at the club I was at then (Hidden Valley GC in Norco.) were Mondays and Tuesdays, so I would take a Sunday red-eye flight somewhere, get two rounds in, then fly back and work Wednesday to Sunday. Next thing you know, I’m traveling 42 out of 52 weeks a year for about eight solid years.”

He tracked his progress on an Excel spreadsheet, reaching 600 courses (counting 18-hole rounds only) in 2022. “I was on this track where (I was) getting anywhere from 90 to 110 different courses played every year. But there were certain private clubs that I needed help getting onto. So I started reaching out to various people, members, etc. and going on day trips.”

In 2023 he flew to Kapalua in Hawaiʻi on Christmas Eve, played on Christmas Day and flew back that night to be at work the following day. A month later, he took a 72-hour roundtrip to Dubai – via Paris – to play three courses. Then last November, he drove up to Sacramento overnight, played three courses the next day and drove home that night.

He wanted an extra-special destination for the 1,000th course, and it turned out to be the toughest tee time of all: Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula last May.

“I got to bring my dad along with me, and it was everything that I thought it was going to be,” he said, crediting Ed Holmes, a member at the Victoria Club, with plenty of help landing the coveted tee time. “Perfect weather, perfect day. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

McDonald estimates a quarter of his 1,000 rounds were played in Southern California, and his overall total ended up being split nearly 50-50 between public and private courses. The majority of the latter rounds were comped, while his PGA member status lessened the costs at the former.

Playing in non-prime time hours increased his access, too. He also took full advantage of travel during COVID. “I did a lot of COVID tests and a lot of flying then because it was extremely cheap. If they required a mask, I was wearing a mask. If they required a 24-hour COVID test, I’d take the test. I was flying round trip to Hawaiʻi back then for $175.”

The standouts along the way? Cypress Point, of course. Also, National Golf Links of America on New York’s Long Island and Oakmont CC in Pennsylvania. In Southern California? Lakeside GC in Burbank.

And yes, he kept souvenirs. Scorecards and pencils. Close to 200 ball markers; 186 bag tags; about 70 flags, too. “It would vary on what they had in the shop,” he said. “I made some shadow boxes for my U.S. bag tags and others for my international bag tags. And I have a U.S. map at home with pins showing where I played.”

His advice for anyone who dares to play 1,000 courses? “Be social, meet as many people as you can and don’t be afraid to ask for help. The worst thing you could hear is no, and that’s completely fine. But ask the question if you know somebody who might know someone else.”

No matter where he roams next — France, Spain and Portugal are on his list — McDonald’s journey has already far exceeded his original expectations. “I just think being on a golf course is one of the best things that you could do,” he said. “I would encourage people just to venture out a little bit more because there’s a lot out there you could see.”