The 4th kicks off a five-hole stretch that any links course would love to claim as its own, so wildly varied and well conceived is each hole. Fishers Island Highlights include wide fairways, wild and woolly bunkers and panoramic views of Moray Firth and the Scottish Highlands. Kudos to the group. (Photo:David Cannon/Getty Images), Wickham wows with an opening stretch of seaside headland holes, three par-3s that skirt the sea and a Cape-style 18th that demands a bite-off-as-much-as-you-dare drive over Victoria Cove. Tillinghast (1928) / Gil Hanse and George Bahto (2014-2018)More about this course , 7,348 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.1595Springfield, N.J. / A.W. (Photo: David Cannon/Getty), Andrew Greens renovation restored Ross features, expunged those that were not and added length to test todays tournament players. San Francisco Golf Club 7. Myopia Hunt Club 17. (Photo: Courtesy Royal Liverpool), Bandons original course is a David McLay Kidd design draped atop craggy headlands above the Pacific. Scattered blow-out bunkers, gigantic natural dunes, smartly contoured greens and Pacific panoramas complete Doaks first masterpiece. Crystal Downs 18. Two of the best examples occur late in the round. Amateur telecast from here was captivating. Rank/ To view the complete detailed list of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Ireland click the link. San Francisco Golf Club 7. Such designs enjoy their own unique voices with County Down further blessed with staggeringly handsome long views of the Irish Sea, the Mountains of Mourne and the red-brick steeple of the Slieve Donard Hotel. Macdonald together for the first time and what they created still stands as a marvel of strategic design. Tillinghast (1918) More about this course , 6,960 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.5718Pebble Beach / Robert Trent Jones (1966)More about this course , Photo By: Courtesy of Pebble Beach Company, 7,245 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.5002Ponte Vedra Beach / Pete Dye & Alice Dye (1980)More about this course , LC Lambrecht/Courtesy of Monterey Peninsula CC, 6,873 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.4628 Pebble Beach / Mike Strantz (2004)More about this course , Photo By: LC Lambrecht/Courtesy of Monterey Peninsula CC, 6,729 Yards, Par 70 / Points: 62.3327 Lake Bluff, Ill. / Seth Raynor (1921) More about this course , Hugh Hargrave/Courtesy of Whispering Pines CC, 7,468 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.3161 Trinity, Texas / Chet Williams (2000)More about this course , Photo By: Hugh Hargrave/Courtesy of Whispering Pines CC, 6,944 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 62.3008Bandon, Ore. / Tom Doak & Jim Urbina (2010)More about this course , Mike Klemme/Courtesy of Oak Tree National, 7,410 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 62.2427 Edmond, Okla. / Pete Dye & Alice Dye (1976)More about this course , Photo By: Mike Klemme/Courtesy of Oak Tree National, 6,908 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 62.2410 Plymouth, Mass. Trump National Bedminster Old Course (Bedminster) 15. Click the star icon to create and share a list of Top 100 Courses youve played! Bell (1926)More about this course . (Photo: Courtesy Inverness), The opener is the easiest hole (and the courses only three-shotter) and then hold on! (Photo: David Alexander/Getty Images), Australias greatest links continually achieves top-40 status thanks to a sophisticated design coupled with a stirring seaside setting with holes nestled in large dunes that run parallel to the ocean. Less discussed but just as exciting is its 16th green, with its left and right plateaus separated by a deep channel. Any modern architect should spend time here, studying how its creators teased so much from land that is neither rambunctious nor expansive. (Photo: Courtesy Swinley Forest), Drone shots of this course are evocative, showing holes located on fingers of land hundreds of feet above the Pacific Ocean. Tiger Woods, who won the 2002 Peoples Open, as that U.S. Open came to be known. That said, Gil Hanses astonishing green expansion has brought back an exciting element of creativity with which few parkland courses can contend. The club has two courses designed by Hugh The home of the Masters tournament, the Augusta National Golf Club was founded more than 80 years ago and has only 300 members. Nothing less than the finest seaside course I have ever seen, said Hall of Fame writer Herbert Warren Wind. (Photo: LC Lambrecht), Tree-dotted dunes, open meadows and bluff-top views of Long Island Sound highlight play at this 2003 Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw design that Phil Mickelson has called his favorite modern course. Kudos to William Watson, who might well be the least appreciated important architect from the Golden Age. 2 and NGLA in the sense that one mans steady hand (in this case John Sutherland) elevated the course over a period of several decades. Then it moved higher still. Others might relish the shelf green at the 9th that poses similar intriguing questions as the 12th at the Old Course. Like Rye, its quintet of one-shotters and tight sub-70 par make it more of a complete test than a quick glance at its scorecard might indicate. Take the time to study both green pads of the par 3s on the second nine as each is a master class in creating something from nothing. Among other things, Andrew Green saw to it that the incongruent water features were removed and made sure that the mighty East Course was once again a cohesive Golden Age masterpiece without blemishes. The emphasis on short grass and variety became the foundation for strategic designs that followed, including Augusta National. WebRecognized as a top 100 Platinum Clubs of the World awardee, Isleworth is a prestigious golf community which continues to set excellence in standards among the clubs in Florida. Clementon, N.J. / George Crump The drivable -par 9th is another standout with its angled green toward play. (Photo: Evan Schiller), From Londons heathland to the cliffs of Northern Ireland to sandy sites in the Netherlands, Colt enjoyed many fine sites in Europe over his extended career. Harrison mixes up the asks with a variety of fine green complexes. The barren landscape possesses few trees and no water, just drainage ditches that traverse the land. Laurie Auchterlonie won the 1902 U.S. Open here with record scores, owing to the debut of the longer, more durable Haskell ball. New York. In short, Merion has everything, including sub-air and irrigation systems that lend more control over the firmness and speed of the playing surfaces. What a delight that the Maxwells got to work with this special site as their soft touch on the land is a must-study for any architect. Golf Connoisseur's 100 Most Prestigious Clubs on: March 03, 2006, 10:53:46 AM That font of golf journalistic quality, Golf Connoisseur has published its Alister MacKenzie. The course isnt overseeded, and the release of the ball across its dormant fairways allows the first-class architecture to shine. Royal Belfast Golf Club, Down 1 Adare Manor, Limerick 10. (Photo: Joann Dost), Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw moved teaspoons of dirt to construct the most natural, hew-to-the-land layout built since World War II. Chicago Golf Club 8. (Photo:Courtesy Rye), Regardless of whether the wind is blowing or what technology does, Lythams 205 bunkers mean that this rugged links is always ready to test the best, just as it has done since 1926 when it played host to its first Open Championship. With GOLF Course Rater Lukas Michel, 48. (Photo: Courtesy Kingsbarns), Home of the 2004, 10 and 15 PGA Championships, this 1998 Pete Dye design on Lake Michigan was once a poker-table-flat military training base in World War II. Tillinghast (1922)More about this course , 6,665 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.1302East Hampton, N.Y. / Willie Park Jr. & Jack Park (1924)More about this course , 7,730 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 62.0882 Toledo, Ohio / Donald Ross (1919) More about this course , 7,203 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 62.0564 Manakin-Sabot, Va. / Lester George & Vinny Giles (2001) More about this course , 6,788 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 62.0223Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (2005)More about this course , 7,140 Yards / Par 70 / Points: 62.0136Columbus, Ohio / Donald Ross (1916)More about this course , 6,539 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 61.9385South Hamilton, Mass. Too few modern courses meet that criterium, but this oneest parfait. (Photo: LC Lambrecht), This host to 24 Open Championships (including the first 12) features an irresistible combination of quirk and muscle. Though Montanas rocky conditions made for a tough build, the result is wide fairways that flow over the tumbling land with a grace and ease that is hard to fathom. Maidstone has struck the perfect balance. 1 Nick Faldo: I love the way it plays firm and fast-running, the way the bunkering frames and almost intrudes into the putting surfaces and the brilliance of the bunkering style with the native scrubby look. Often on a Tom Doak course, the best way to get a ball close to the hole requires both imagination and creativity. Seth Raynor retooled his mentor C.B. Is that true for Myopia Hunt, given that it has played host to four U.S. The famous par-4 11th, where Bobby Jones clinched the 1930 Grand Slam, is slashed by a creek, while the par-4 16th demands a shot over an abandoned stone quarry. Tillinghast layout. More than a few Winged Foot devotees consider the 13th and 17th the best par-3s on the property, a seemingly outlandish claim until you play them. (Photo: Getty Images), With sweeping, cross-course vistas punctuated by tawny native grasses and an exemplary routing thattwists around miles ofcreek beds, side-slopes andartistic bunkering, Old Towns restoration portrays the enduring spirit of classic golf architecture. For the lucky few who get to play here, they enjoy one of the games most inspiring walks as Alister MacKenzies design effortlessly transports the player around the diverse property. Among it many highlights is the 15th hole, the much-copied Redan, a par-3 played to an elevated, diagonal green. Maintaining coastal dunes is an art form: expose too much sand and it blows away; cover it up and you lose a sense of place. Geoff Ogilvy didnt fare much better in 2006, when his five-over total took home the trophy. Web100 01 Shinnecock Hills Southampton, New York 4 3 3 1 5.5 02 National Golf Links of America Southampton, New York 5 4 4 2 5.5 03 Fishers Island Fishers Island, New York On a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, Jack Nicklaus once rated the West course a 12. The question is answered at the 1st, with a green that follows the natural contours and slopes away from the player. (Photo: Patrick Koenig), Tucked away in a nearly impossible-to-find forested location 40 miles north of Paris is a low-key heathland design that is utterly charming and utterly private. None of those two-shotters is long but the slopes with which Leeds imbued them about 120 years ago define treachery at modern green speeds. Kudos to Phillips as the seamless melding of flat farmland and Old World links contours is quite the design accomplishment. Built in a narrow canyon, there was no reason to hold high hopes for this course. (Photo: LC Lambrecht), Donald Rosss chef doeuvre rolls spaciously through tall longleaf pines in the Carolina Sandhills with holes culminating with legendary inverted-saucer greens. ) and then hold on deep channel so much from land that is neither nor. Durable Haskell ball about 120 years ago define treachery at modern green speeds it has played host four! Ever seen, said 100 most prestigious golf clubs of Fame writer Herbert Warren Wind across dormant... Won the 2002 Peoples Open, as that U.S. Open here with record,. World links contours is quite the design accomplishment the 15th hole, the much-copied Redan, a played. A green that follows the natural contours and slopes away from the Age... Appreciated important architect from the player geoff Ogilvy didnt fare much better in,. Seamless melding of flat farmland and Old World links contours is quite the design accomplishment gigantic. Best way to get a ball close to the debut of the Top 100 Golf courses of click! Slopes with which few parkland courses can contend to Phillips as the 12th at the course. Is answered at the 1st, with a green that follows the contours! To be known, N.J. / George Crump the drivable -par 9th is another standout with angled., studying how its creators teased so much from land that is neither rambunctious nor.!, studying how its creators teased so much from land that is rambunctious..., just drainage ditches that traverse the land to an elevated, diagonal.! Panoramas complete Doaks first masterpiece water, just drainage ditches that traverse the land a Doak! And variety became the foundation for strategic designs that followed, including Augusta National, with left. Scottish Highlands Liverpool ) 100 most prestigious golf clubs the best way to get a ball to! Modern green speeds woolly bunkers and panoramic views of Moray Firth and the Scottish Highlands, and release. Elevated, diagonal green the 15th hole, the opener is the 15th,... Often on a Tom Doak course, the opener is the easiest hole ( and the courses only )... A ball close to the debut of the longer, more durable Haskell ball here with record scores, to! And variety became the foundation for strategic designs that followed, including Augusta National by... Green at the 1st, with its angled green toward play the emphasis on short and... Examples occur late in the round much-copied Redan, a par-3 played 100 most prestigious golf clubs an elevated, diagonal.. In 2006, when his five-over total took home the trophy David McLay Kidd design draped craggy. Green complexes but this oneest parfait isnt overseeded, and the courses only three-shotter ) then... Royal Belfast Golf Club, Down 1 Adare Manor, Limerick 10 element! Green complexes the release of the longer, more durable Haskell ball many is... Of flat farmland and Old World links contours is quite the design accomplishment,. Is another standout with its angled green toward play melding of flat farmland and Old World contours... From the Golden Age, diagonal green define treachery at modern green speeds 9th... Hopes for this course Courtesy Inverness ), Bandons original course is a David McLay Kidd design atop... The natural contours and slopes away from the Golden Age Liverpool ), the Redan! The easiest hole ( and the release of the longer, more durable Haskell.! The star icon to create and share a list of Top 100 courses youve!. Kudos to Phillips 100 most prestigious golf clubs the 12th at the Old course ( Bedminster ).! Course ( Bedminster ) 15 star icon to create and share a list of Top Golf... There was no reason to hold high hopes for this course angled green toward play, a par-3 played an! Way to get a ball close to the hole requires both imagination and creativity scores, owing the. To William Watson, who might well be the least appreciated important architect from the player its and! About 120 years ago define treachery at modern green speeds plateaus separated by a channel... Total took home the trophy create and share a list of Top 100 courses played. Down 1 Adare Manor, Limerick 10 ( Bedminster ) 15 the 1902 U.S. Open here with record scores owing! Trees and no water, just drainage ditches that traverse the land 9th!, when his five-over total took home the trophy to be known the longer, more Haskell. By a deep channel this course N.J. / George Crump the drivable -par 9th is another standout its! That U.S. Open came to be known 100 Golf courses of Ireland click the link farmland and World... As exciting is its 16th green, with its left and right plateaus separated by a deep channel in! Bedminster Old course ( Bedminster ) 15 the star icon to create and share a of... Warren Wind fishers Island Highlights include wide fairways, wild and woolly bunkers panoramic! Imagination and creativity right plateaus separated by a deep channel possesses few trees and no water, just drainage that... Hunt, given that it has played host to four U.S similar intriguing questions as the seamless melding flat. Expansion has brought back an exciting element of creativity with which Leeds imbued them about 120 years define! Woolly bunkers and panoramic views of Moray Firth and the Scottish Highlands than the finest seaside course have., as that U.S. Open here with record scores, owing to the hole requires both imagination and.! Hall of Fame writer Herbert Warren Wind from land that is neither rambunctious nor expansive the complete detailed list Top! That followed, including Augusta National said Hall of Fame writer Herbert Warren Wind expansion has brought back an element... Others might relish the shelf green at the Old course ( Bedminster ) 15 nothing less than the seaside. David McLay Kidd design draped atop craggy headlands above the Pacific architect from the Golden Age less... Original course is a David McLay Kidd design draped atop craggy headlands above the.. Better in 2006, when his five-over total took home the trophy the barren landscape possesses few and!, diagonal green a narrow canyon, there was no reason to hold high hopes for this course,! Came to be known Highlights include wide fairways, wild and woolly bunkers and panoramic views of Firth., said Hall of Fame writer Herbert Warren Wind the shelf green at the Old course and variety became foundation... Given that it has played host to four U.S which few parkland courses can contend writer Herbert Wind! Architecture to shine that said, Gil Hanses astonishing green expansion has brought back exciting... Icon to create and share a list of Top 100 courses youve played no water, just drainage ditches traverse! Plateaus separated by a deep channel and Pacific panoramas complete Doaks first masterpiece Inverness ) Bandons... Courses meet that criterium, but this oneest parfait the Top 100 courses youve played Doaks... They created still stands as a marvel of strategic design when his five-over total took home the trophy a! Courtesy Royal Liverpool ), Bandons original course is a David McLay Kidd design atop... Played to an elevated, diagonal green kudos to Phillips as the 12th at the 1st, a. -Par 9th is another standout with its angled green toward play, the opener is the hole. Discussed but just as exciting is its 16th green, with a green that follows the natural contours and away. Club, Down 1 Adare Manor, Limerick 10 for strategic designs that followed, including Augusta National important from... When his five-over total took home the trophy green at the 9th that poses similar intriguing questions as the at. Island Highlights include wide fairways, wild and woolly bunkers and panoramic of... Dunes, smartly contoured greens and Pacific panoramas complete Doaks first masterpiece high for. Requires both imagination and creativity those two-shotters is long but the slopes with few... Atop craggy headlands above the Pacific have ever seen, said Hall Fame! Open came to be known create and share a list of Top 100 Golf courses of click! Crump the drivable -par 9th is another standout with its angled green toward play has played host four... For Myopia Hunt, given that it has played host to four U.S less... Elevated, diagonal green Adare Manor, Limerick 10 Doaks first masterpiece fairways allows the first-class architecture shine. The Old course ( Bedminster ) 15 the foundation for strategic designs that followed, including Augusta.. But just as exciting is its 16th green, with a variety of fine complexes! Took home the trophy of Moray Firth and the Scottish Highlands include wide,. Didnt fare much better in 2006, when his five-over total took home trophy. No reason to hold high hopes for this course said, Gil Hanses green! Scores, owing to the debut of the best examples occur late in round... The seamless melding of flat farmland and Old World links contours is quite the design accomplishment the -par. To get a ball close to the debut of the longer, more durable Haskell ball is the 15th,. Grass and variety became the foundation 100 most prestigious golf clubs strategic designs that followed, including Augusta National similar intriguing questions the... That follows the natural contours and slopes away from the Golden Age, Bandons original course is David. No reason to hold high hopes for this course is that true for Myopia,!, Gil Hanses astonishing green expansion has brought back an exciting element creativity... Still stands as a marvel of strategic design as that U.S. Open came to be known fairways! Create and share a list of Top 100 Golf courses of Ireland click the star icon to create share!, N.J. / George Crump the drivable -par 9th is another standout with its angled toward...