2013 Golfweek's Best Courses: Next 100, Classic
*–new to list
101. (105) Beverly Country Club, 6.82
Chicago
1907, Donald Ross, Private
102. (98) Philadelphia Country Club (Spring Mill), 6.80
Gladwyne, Pa.
1927, Howard Toomey, William S. Flynn, Private
103. (108) Saucon Valley Country Club (Old), 6.79
Bethlehem, Pa
1922, Herbert Strong, Private
104. (113) Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Dunes), 6.79
Pebble Beach, Calif.
1926, Seth Raynor, Charles Banks, Robert Hunter, Private
105. (88) Indianwood Golf & Country Club (Old), 6.77
Lake Orion, Mich.
1928, William Connellan, Wilfred Reid, Private
106. (NR) *Country Club of Birmingham (West), 6.77
Birmingham, Ala.
1929, Donald Ross, Pete Dye (1986), Private
107. (111) Laurel Valley Golf Club, 6.76
Ligonier, Pa.
1959, Dick Wilson, Private
108. (99) Vesper Country Club, 6.76
Tyngsboro, Mass.
1922, Donald Ross, Private
109. (120) Wykagyl Country Club, 6.76
New Rochelle, N.Y.
1920, Donald Ross; A.W. Tillinghast (1931), Private
110. (109) Greenbrier Golf Club (Old White TPC), 6.76
White Sulphur Springs, Va.
1915, Charles Blair Macdonald, Seth Raynor; Lester George (2009), Resort
111. (101) Deepdale Golf Club, 6.75
Manhasset, N.Y.
1956, Dick Wilson , Private
112 ...
2013 Golfweek's Best Classic Courses
d–daily fee; p–private; r–resort; NR–not rated
*–first time in top 100
^–returns to top 100
1. Pine Valley Golf Club 9.63
(No. 1 in 2012, p) Pine Valley, N.J.
1919, Harry S. Colt, George Crump
2. Cypress Point Club 9.62
(2, p) Pebble Beach, Calif.
1928, Alister MacKenzie
3. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club 9.51
(3, p) Southampton, N.Y.
1931, Howard C. Toomey, William S. Flynn
4. National Golf Links of America 9.34
(4, p) Southampton, N.Y.
1911, Charles Blair Macdonald
5. Augusta National Golf Club 9.23
(6, p) Augusta, Ga.
1932, Bobby Jones, Alister MacKenzie
6. Oakmont Country Club 9.13
(5, p) Oakmont, Pa.
1903, Henry Fownes
7. Merion Golf Club (East) 8.93
(7, p) Ardmore, Pa.
1912, Hugh Wilson
8. Pebble Beach Golf Links 8.88
(9, r) Pebble Beach, Calif.
1919, Douglas Grant, Jack Neville
9. Crystal Downs 8.73
(10, p) Frankfort, Mich.
1931, Alister MacKenzie, Perry Maxwell
10. Fishers Island Golf Club 8.71
(8, p) Fishers Island, N.Y.
1927, Seth Raynor
11. Pinehurst Resort (No. 2) 8.69
(11, r) Pinehurst, N.C.
1903-1946, Donald Ross
12. Chicago Golf Club ...
2012 Golfweek's Best Classic Courses
d–daily fee; p–private; r–resort; NR–not ranked
- First time in top 100 Returns to top 100
Note: Ties broken through decimal points
1. Pine Valley Golf Club 9.56
(No. 1 in 2011, p) Pine Valley, N.J.
1919, Harry S. Colt, George Crump
2. Cypress Point Club 9.48
(2, p) Pebble Beach, Calif.
1928, Alister MacKenzie
3. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club 9.36
(3, p) Southampton, N.Y.
1931, William S. Flynn, Howard C. Toomey
4. National Golf Links of America 9.29
(4, p) Southampton, N.Y.
1911, Charles Blair Macdonald
5. Oakmont Country Club 9.10
(6, p) Oakmont, Pa.
1903, Henry Fownes
6. Augusta National Golf Club 9.08
(10, p) Augusta, Ga.
1932, Bobby Jones, Alister MacKenzie
7. Merion Golf Club (East) 9.00
(5, p) Ardmore, Pa.
1912, Hugh Wilson
8. Fishers Island Golf Club 8.92
(7, p) Fishers Island, N.Y.
1927, Seth Raynor
9. Pebble Beach Golf Links 8.88
(9, p) Pebble Beach, Calif.
1919, Douglas Grant, Jack Neville
10. Crystal Downs 8.78
(8, p) Frankfort, Mich.
1931, Alister MacKenzie, Perry Maxwell
11. Pinehurst Resort (No. 2) 8.70
(17, r) Pinehurst, N.C.
1903-1946 ...
2011 Golfweek's Best
No. Name
Raters avg.
(2010 rating) Location
Year, Architect
Note: d–daily fee; p–private; r–resort; * First time in top 100; Returned to list
• Click here to see The Next 100
1. Pine Valley Golf Club
9.57
(No. 1 in 2010, p) Pine Valley, N.J.
1919, George Crump, Harry S. Colt
2. Cypress Point Club
9.48
(2, p) Pebble Beach, Calif.
1928, Alister MacKenzie
3. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club
9.32
(3, p) Southampton, N.Y.
1931, Howard C. Toomey, William S. Flynn
4. National Golf Links of America
9.13
(4, p) Southampton, N.Y.
1911, Charles Blair Macdonald
5. Merion Golf Club (East)
9.04
(5, p) Ardmore, Pa.
1912, Hugh Wilson
6. Oakmont Country Club
9.01
(6, p) Oakmont, Pa.
1903, Henry Fownes
7. Fishers Island Golf Club
8.96
(10, p) Fishers Island, N.Y.
1917, Seth Raynor
8. Crystal Downs
8.82
(7, p) Frankfort, Mich.
1931, Alister MacKenzie, Perry Maxwell
9. Pebble Beach Golf Links
8.80
(8, r) Pebble Beach, Calif.
1919, Douglas Grant, Jack Neville
10. Augusta National Golf Club
8.69
(9, p) Augusta, Ga.
1932, Bobby Jones, Alister MacKenzie
11. San Francisco Golf Club ...
2006: America's Best courses - Continental shift
For the first time in the 10-year history of our America’s Best course ratings, there has been a change at the top. There is a new No. 1 on the list of Top 100 Classic Courses. Cypress Point Golf Club has displaced perennial front-runner Pine Valley Golf Club by the narrowest of margins.
How tight is it at the top? Not as tight as it is farther down the elite list of top-100 courses. The difference between Cypress Point in California and Pine Valley in New Jersey is a tad more than two-tenths of a point (0.21078, to be exact). Farther down the list, the difference between the No. 82 course, Point O’Woods Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich., and No. 101, which is off the list, is 0.18.
If small margins of difference evoke loud disagreements, that’s simply the inherently controversial nature of subjective ratings when choosing among 16,500 layouts.
Dividing the courses into two lists – Classic (pre-1960) and Modern (1960 and after) – helps our national team of 400 raters sort through some basic differences. But with new courses coming on line at the rate of roughly 125 per year, and older courses ...
2005: Routing’s big picture
Every course architect knows the key to a good layout is the proper location of the holes upon the land. This is what’s known as routing – the sequencing of holes so that they flow naturally, adhere to the land’s contours and present themselves in some sort of sensible order – ideally one that can be walked.
The Old Course at St. Andrews is a perfect example of routing that emerged in the most natural way – by people going out for a walk and then coming back.
An awareness of routing isn’t just a technical exercise of interest to course designers, however. It’s also an intimate part of the way golfers experience the course. The more aware we are of the routing, the more enjoyable our round will be and the better we are likely to play.
The best test of a routing is whether it enables you to experience the setting you’re in and to feel a course’s unique and special aura. Pebble Beach, for instance, offers a frightening scary start – there’s no semblance of the ocean on the first two holes. In fact, you might be at any resort. But as you walk ...
2005: Why lengthen Augusta?
Confucius once said that only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. For the sake of argument, let’s rank the men at Augusta National, caretakers of the esteemed Masters Tournament, somewhere in the middle, and pose a question that needs asking: Did Augusta National really need lengthening?
To their credit, the powers running the Masters have done a nice job staying ahead of the curve that is modern technology. Anyone who watched Tiger Woods hit a wedge to the first hole at this year’s Masters, or nearly drive the 380-yard 10th at Cog Hill on Sunday, realizes today’s golf ball travels a long way.
Woods captured his fourth Masters title in a playoff against Chris DiMarco after both players finished 72 holes at 12-under 272. The next closest competitor was 5 under. This year’s course played to a scoring average of 73.987. And this is a layout that hasn’t been dry for the Masters since significant lengthening in 2002.
Woods and Jack Nicklaus each questioned the need to stretch Augusta to 7,445 yards. Earlier this season, Davis Love III said, “Tigerproofing (Augusta) was the biggest joke. Make it 8,000 yards. He ...
2005: America’s best architecture
Some club histories are better than others. Some are a whole lot worse. The genre is easy to dismiss as amateurish. But that’s only if amateurs undertake the project. In the right hands, with adequate time, planning and budget, a club history can be an ideal way to commemorate a club’s past while helping to forge its identity for the future.
The key is to focus on the golf course and to structure the text, layout and photography accordingly. Club histories that spend their pages detailing paddleball champions from the 1930s or the history of those post-World War II pool additions are bound to bore readers to tears and deservedly will be relegated to the dustbin.
Some clubs make odd or revealing choices about what they emphasize. “From Little Acorns,” a 1977in-house book about Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., glorifies the trees, the clubhouse and the club’s great players but makes not a single reference to course designer Donald Ross or to his 36-hole layout from 1926. There’s only one photo of a golf hole (from 1965) and a single sentence devoted to a 1976 renovation of the grounds. With a historical sensibility ...
2004: Opening arguments begin with rankings
By Bradley S. Klein
Last time we published our America’s Best lists I was deposed by a city of Boston attorney asking to account for why their municipal golf course had dropped three spots in the state-by-state public access rankings. Seems they were being sued by the course operator and were looking for evidence of mismanagement.
Not every course rating involves a lawsuit. Judging by how my phone usually rings off the hook in the weeks after, however, there does seem to be a lot of passion about the outcomes. Which is why we take special care to collate the results from our rater team and explain what trends they suggest.
Our eighth annual survey of America’s Best Courses gives Golfweek readers a chance to contemplate – and perhaps to fantasize – about the merits of old and new designs.
Our perennial front-runners retain their respective leads, barely. Our No. 1 Classic course, Pine Valley Golf Club in Clementon, N.J., is challenged by the Cypress Point Club in Monterey, Calif. On the Modern side, Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen, Neb., narrowly keeps its advantage over Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore. But the competition is tight, especially on the ...
2003: America's Best - A matter of rank
Golfweek’s seventh annual America’s Best course rankings are in. Once again, the results are likely to fuel debate and discussion in locker rooms, 19th holes and maintenance yards.
Pine Valley and Sand Hills are still No. 1, respectively, on our Classical and Modern lists. Donald Ross and Tom Fazio remain the leaders of their eras when it comes to ranked courses on the America’s Best list. And for all the development of fine layouts in recent years, the 1920s remain the most-productive decade when it comes to defining an era of great golf course architecture.
Continuities aside, there also are some interesting new trends at work that presage the next decade of course design and development. The benefits of major classical restorations are clear in terms of some dramatic climbs compared with last year’s rankings. A few veteran architects got their first solo listings this year. And the affordable daily-fee category is proving ripe with quality designs.
All of this bodes well for creativity despite an era of reduced course openings. Just because there were 40 percent fewer course openings in 2002 than in 2000 (according to National Golf Foundation data), quality doesn’t have to ...
2002: Aronimink’s inspiring rebirth
By Bradley S. Klein
NewtoWn Square, Pa.
Among the many joys of being an itinerant student of architecture is seeing a golf course brought back to proper form. Consider the case of Aronimink Golf Club, 12 miles west of downtown Philadelphia.
The course dates to a very strong design by Donald Ross in 1928. We know he was on site, thanks to a grainy, 41/2-minute, black-and white film that shows the architect on the grounds. He’s strutting about in a three-piece suit while construction crews around him are felling big trees, cutting trenches and laying irrigation pipe. Some years later he declared that “I intended to make this course my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize I built better than I knew.”
It helps having an enormous site. Ross had 250 acres, more than enough to allow for a well-connected, easily walkable course where each hole exists in its own private micro-landscape. A stream lazes through the middle of the property, and there are dense groves of hardwoods as well as generous playing ground for golf and a massive Tudor Revival clubhouse.
Aronimink was regarded highly enough to play host to the 1962 PGA Championship (won ...
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