I’m not sure if any credentials are required to create a list of the ten best of anything, but it’s fun, and more or less harmless unless you’re talking about something important like barbeque. Assuming the position of every man, I know that I’ve been in agreement with as many list as I’ve disagreed with. For example, why is Cool Hand Luke not considered the best movie ever made? But I digress.
Several years ago I wrote an article about caddying for Champions Tour Pro and golf course designer D.A. Weibring. As we walked down the fairways of Oak Hill Country Club in San Antonio, we chatted about what great golf courses A.W. Tillinghast had designed back in 1922. Here was a seemingly simple 6,765-yard course that had survived golf technology because it was protected by the Bermuda grass rough that surrounded each tiny green. Miss the green, add a stroke to your card. But being a great golf course can’t be that simple, I thought.
Throughout the day I asked myself why is this golf course better than my course. Since that day, I’ve asked many friends and foes alike what makes a golf course great and few if any have agreed. Perhaps that’s why it seems to take many years for any golf course to make anybody’s top ten list, or perhaps golf and golf courses are locked up forever in a time warp. It’s the good old days personified.
I’ll give you an example; in the top-ten U. S. course list I have included only two were built after 1933, and none are on the world list. In addition, seven of the top-ten courses in the world are in the United States, which may have more to do with who made the list than anything else.
Pine Valley seems to be everybody’s number one golf course. Robert Trent Jones said, “Pine Valley fills you with dread and delight… it takes your breath away… It’s monster, but it’s beautiful.”
So, is it the dread or the delight that makes Pine Valley number one? I’m thinking dread. For many years it was considered the most difficult golf course in the world, and golfers all over the world still take great pride in being embarrassed by Pine Valley, which proves another theory of mine that golfers are basically masochist. Why else would we return to the scene of the crime so often?
Another puzzling thing about the lists is the diversity of the course designs. Pine Valley is nothing like Augusta National, or St. Andrews, or Pacific Dunes, or Royal County, and perhaps therein lies the answer. Great golf courses don’t require the vistas of Pebble Beach, or the hills of Augusta, or the winds of St. Andrews to be great. They require uniqueness without gimmicks. Great courses are like great wine requiring time to mature. I can imagine hearing Old Tom Morris at the opening of Royal County after being asked if his new course was as good as St. Andrews, “No, but it will be in a hundred years.”
Okay, so we still don’t know what make a golf course great, but here’s what many Americans consider the top-ten courses in the U.S. and worldwide. If I were ranking them I’d do it by which courses are the most fun to play. On the other hand, you may be one of those golf masochists who thinks difficult is the true measure of greatness, but that’s why we have lists, so we can disagree.
By the way, if you don’t live in the U.S., Scotland, or Ireland, you’re going to really hate these lists.
Top Ten Golf Courses In The United States
1. Pine Valley, Designers George Crump, H.S. Colt in 1918 in Pine Valley, N.J.
2. Cypress Point, Designer Alister Mackenzie in 1928 at Pebble Beach, Calif.
3. Augusta National, Designers Alister MacKenzie, Bobby Jones, 1933 Augusta, Ga.
4. Shinnecock Hills, Designer William Flynn, 1931 Southampton, N.Y.
5. Pebble Beach, Designers Jack Neville, Douglas Grant, 1919 Pebble Beach, Calif.
6. Oakmont, Designer Henry Fownes, 1903 Oakmont, Pa.
7. Merion (East), Designer Hugh Wilson, 1912 Ardmore, Pa.
8. Sand Hills, Designers Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, 1994 Mullen, Neb.
9. National Golf Links of America, Designer C.B. Macdonald, 1911 Southampton, N.Y.
10. Pacific Dunes, Designer Tom Doak, 2001 Bandon, Ore.
Top Ten Golf Courses In The World
1. Pine Valley, designers George Crump, H.S. Colt, 1918, Pine Valley, N.J., US
2. Cypress Point, Alister Mackenzie, 1928 Pebble Beach, Calif., US
3. Augusta National, Alister MacKenzie, Bobby Jones, 1933 Augusta, Ga., US
4. St. Andrews (Old Course) Nature, St. Andrews, Scotland
5. Royal County Down Old, Tom Morris, 1889 Newcastle N. Ireland
6. Shinnecock Hills, William Flynn, 1931 Southampton, N.Y. US
7. Pebble Beach, Jack Neville, Douglas Grant, 1919 Pebble Beach, Calif. US
8. Oakmont, Henry Fownes, 1903 Oakmont, Pa. US
9. Muirfield Old, Tom Morris, 1891 H.S. Colt, 1925 Gullane, Scotland
10. Merion (East), Hugh Wilson, 1912 Ardmore, Pa. US
