147 Best Custodians of the Game by Golf Club Atlas

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Perhaps the most faultlessly constructed course ever thanks to the five years they took during construction using a horse-drawn plough and scoop. The fact that this monument to design happens to be close to where people live means no other “members’ course” ever had it this great. Heavy lies the crown, except here.

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The purest translation of a game born on one island with ideal conditions for good golf to another, also with ideal conditions for good golf.

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Playing golf through dunes on a windswept, rugged island really is all that it is cracked up to be—even if it occurs in the opposite hemisphere from where your mind first wanders.

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Fusing the unconventional with the traditional creates the ultimate Scottish cocktail of brawn, finesse and mental acuity. Its impact on architecture cannot be overstated but go for the sensational golf, courtesy of such holes as Railway, Sea Headrig, Narrows and Alps.

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The start in earnest of the minimalist movement, whereby man had every type of heavy machinery at his disposal but elected not to use it. By embracing its natural setting rather than fighting against it, Sand Hills initiated a return to site-driven golf that has inspired countless courses in its wake, whether they know it or not. Dick Youngscap’s no fuss approach rightly keeps the focus on the golf, and the community that gives the course its name. 

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No golfing ground better epitomizes the flawless transition from fairway to green – making it the gold standard for players of all ages—or better exposes one’s appetite for risk. Plateau greens with front-to-back slopes present questions one never tires of attempting to answer.

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One of the game’s one-off wonders is County Down, where several rules on architecture were bent, if not broken. The man who deserves the most credit? George Comby, probably not the name you were expecting. As the game transitioned to the rubber core ball, this autocratic member took it upon himself to expand the course, sometimes out of his own pocket. Design greatness stemmed from a person who knew the land the best. County Down has never felt like an architect’s 50th or 100th course—because it wasn’t.

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Parkland golf may not sound as alluring as links or heathland—until you play here. This gets my vote as best of breed for several things including parkland golf, restorations, and inland greens.

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Darwin’s exclusion of this course from his Golf Courses of the British Isles is explained by the fact that the course as we know it today was still evolving in 1910. Tom Simpson’s touches in the 1930s provided key finishing elements and his wonderful green complexes at 6, 8 and 9 elevate the course into the stratosphere. The club’s seven year concerted effort to return to all-fescue playing surfaces has paid off handsomely.

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The sheer variety of obstacles, hazards and greens makes other courses appear deadly dull. For originality, only Prestwick, St. Andrews, and Westward Ho! can compete.

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Pinehurst No. 2 is a design of great nuance. Its wide fairways are deceiving as advantages can be gained by heading down the right side of the 1st fairway, the left side of the 2nd, on and on based on the respective green’s orientation to the fairway. Gaining even a slight advantage can make the difference on where the final roll of the ball occurs up at the green. No. 2 will always be the ultimate study of grace under pressure as all is revealed by watching the player who has just had a chip, pitch, or putt return to his feet by these turtleback greens. This mighty course gave the sport what it sorely needed in 2024—a captivating major with the game’s best battling to the very end over the Southeast’s most noble playing surfaces.

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Not many courses west of the Mississippi better than this one. Everything is on point here, including the mow lines. Nothing is more hapless (and easier to fix) than bunkers detached from play by thick rough. Here, bluegrass fairways release the ball forthwith into bunkers while still providing just enough friction to highlight different stances on lumpy fairways, combining the virtues of links golf in spectacular fashion with the allure of the American West.

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Plenty of courses feature exciting topography. Fewer are along a coast and of those, only a handful feature a lighthouse as a promenient land mark. Still, no course couples those three features with views of Mt Fuji except, you guessed it, the Fuji Course at the Kawana Resort. However, a great course was not a foregone conclusion. Indeed, the founder, Baron Okura, was smart enough to pivot away from an initial plan and elicit the help of C.H. Alison. That’s when things started to fall in place as Alison’s subsequent routing took seamless advantage of the abundant fairy-tale features.

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As beneficial for an architect and shaper to study as any course in the world, Riviera explains how to tease the most from on a site not blessed with obvious greatness. Calling out each player’s name on the elevated 1st tee snug to the clubhouse sets the stage for a memorable round, each and every time, on what is a surprisingly quiet course.

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In 1887, Laidlaw Purves built a burly, adventuresome, in-your-face experience for the Gutta-Percha age. Much changed in the ensuing decades in terms of equipment and design preferences (including the desirablity of blind shots). Through it all, Sandwich remained triumphant, held together by the constant of its immense scale. Purves would take great pride in knowing the course still tests the very best while its tumbling dunes remain awe-inspiring for the rest of us. The fact that few professionals list it among their favorite Open venues confirms how good it is.

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The timeless appeal of moderate size greens and cross-hazards makes today’s golfer wonder why modern architecture veered off track to the degree it did. Whaling away with the driver on this throwback does you no good and the emphasis remains refreshingly on hitting fairways and greens, as championship competitors found to their dismay in 2022.

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The clifftop setting captures the imagination but it is the strength of the interior holes that make the course a world-beater. Luscious though they may be, aerials of the fingers of land don’t convey the rolling topography and it’s the release of tee balls 30 and 40 yards along the broad sloping fairways that is such a distinctive underpinning to the joy of playing here.

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Even when Darwin was quoting from someone else, he was the best: “The greatest compliment I have heard paid to Lahinch came from a very fine amateur golfer, who told me that it might not be the best golf in the world, but it was the golf he liked best to play.” The incomparable dunescape deflects attention from the course’s greatest design attribute: its diverse green sites.

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Similar to Cypress Point, the routing meanders through a variety of environments but unlike Cypress, it doesn’t receive credit for doing so. Once upon a time, the club’s reputation carried the course. Now, the course, if anything, is underrated and should enjoy an elite status in design for the uncommon number of interesting questions that it poses, starting straightaway at the domed 1st green. Coore & Crenshaw’s restoration work exposed the dunescape and enhanced the greens, and is arguably their most startling transformation, though folks at Old Town might disagree.

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The President’s Putter, the sport’s finest annual occurrence, highlights the joys of golf being an outdoor pursuit. Covering Rye’s 6,500 yards in 68 strokes seems wholly unreasonable due in part to a famed quintet of one shotters. Covering the course in less than 3 hours, however, is de rigueur at this two ball and foursomes haven. To quote Darwin, “I regard St. Andrews and Rye as the most entirely seaside golf courses.”

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Imagine the pressure that Raynor felt going back to re-do the one course that meant as much to his mentor as NGLA. Thankfully, he didn’t choke and the student became the master when he served up the finest collection of greens on any Macdonald/Raynor/Banks course. Golf Club Atlas‘s 2024 Book of the Year was The Prairie Raynor by John Moran and Dr. Rand Jerris.

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The permanence of rock resonates with me on some primal level, and this personal list reflects that (e.g. Kawana, Rock Creek, Cape Kidnappers, Point Hardy, Fishers, Banff, Lofoten, Ladera, etc.) . Others are drawn to broad swaths of sand but I see a maintenance nightmare. Here, they sand capped fifty yards out from every green, so the golfer has all options when the Inner Hebridean winds kick up but Bob Harrison only needed 34 bunkers to augment what is a stiff challenge in an incomparable setting.

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The Prestwick of the East, nothing had changed for two generations of players, including tree growth. Martin Ebert corrected that in 2018/2019 and restored Alison’s trademark brawny features. Its recently published club history book is a must for any golf library.

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Sacrilege not to have one of Stanley Thompson’s Big Five as the best in the country, and I am biased, but after 40+ rounds, I contend that Rod Whitman’s work, especially 30 yards and in to the greens, is supreme, as amplified by the fescue fairways. One of the game’s top dozen set of two-shot holes and example no. 2 after Royal Melbourne of the advantages of a slow build.

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“The national parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” The words of Wallace Stegner ring as true today as when he wrote them in 1983. Indeed, how nice would it be to find yourself in a national park-type setting while playing world-class golf? So it is at CapRock Ranch, where holes dance to and from—and over—the Snake River Canyon. Time to move the conversation past Gil Hanse as the best at restoring courses and to acknowledge his original works, starting with this one.

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Read the November 2021 Feature Interview with Richard Latham to appreciate this heathland course’s transformation over the past seven years. During a 2024 round here, parts of the course that were almost unrecognizable from my initial 1991 visit, so welcomingly deforested the property has become, allowing the heather to bounce back in spectacular fashion. Many may argue but the best inland course in England is no longer around London.

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A course’s core duty is to embrace its environment, and next to no course does that better than Point Hardy. Located on a volcanic island, this Coore & Crenshaw design maximizes both the interior hills as well as the rugged shoreline. What you hit over matters in golf, and it is hard to beat launching a ball over a churning ocean as you do here five times. To put that in perspective, you do it twice, maybe three times, at Pebble Beach. Still, you hire Coore & Crenshaw to make sure that the inland golf complements the intensity of the cliff holes—and so it does. For those that prize accurate driving and the art of the knockdown, this is heaven.

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Thanks to the land’s abundant natural elements and with his trips to Britain fresh in his mind, A. W. Tillinghast produced an American classic that happily remains cloistered from outside hustle and bustle to this day. Brian Slawnik (Renaissance Golf Design has consulted here since 2004) rightly suggests that the greens are a touchstone of design. This club epitomizes what it means to be a custodian of inspired architecture.

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Of all the places within 30 miles of Big Ben to go for an invigorating walk over captivating heathland, this is the best. Better yet, you get to do so with clubs in hand and dog in tow.

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One of the Kings of Routing was given the opportunity to showcase his talent along a jagged island’s perimeter, before property prices exploded. He didn’t mess up, further highlighting how the engineer Raynor excelled with rocky sites. Time to celebrate clubs like here where a course closure and a monster restoration project were never required because they never screwed things up.

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Might this rival Barnbougle Dunes as Doak’s ultimate expression in architecture? All the key ingredients are present: ideal soil, one-off landforms captured within the fairways, lack of eye candy, and eye-popping interior green contours with short grass often to the high side of the putting surfaces. Throw in knowledgeable owners and no telling how high this young fescue course may climb as it matures.

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Raynor’s lack of dirt movement from tee to green perfectly synthesizes with the unpretentious Lowcountry vibe fostered by the savannah and live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Alas, the soothing tones get hijacked by the intense golf requirements of his dazzling greens, highlighted by the Double Plateau 1st, Redan 6th, Cape 10th, and Knoll 14th. Scores high for being a course you could play all year without losing a ball.

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Naturalists rejoice at man’s supremely light touch across the land as they battle the rumpled fairways, sleepered bunkers, wind, great sea rushes, livestock, a road, ditches, and a stream. Let’s not forget that Herbert Fowler deserves the most credit for today’s design, even though golf was played at England’s oldest course some 45 years before he worked his magic. Bernard Darwin nailed it when he wrote in 1947 for Country Life that “for fun and adventure, there is no more ideal golfing country in the world.”

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Golfers who revel in course management look across this sandy expanse with its plethora of punishing, centerline hazards and are reminded of Winston Churchill’s quote, ” A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” I enjoy comparing courses on a match play, hole-to-hole basis. This amazingly accurate/faithful Wisconsin reincarnation is a bear in any head-to-head as C.B. Macdonald hammered great quality into all (20>) his courses. Brian Schneider spent 221 days on site crafting this Wisconsin version—and it shows. For instance, take time to marvel at the playing virtues of the 17th green complex and how it bedevils similarly to the invincible 14th at St. Andrews.

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Talk about whetting the whistle—rounding the bend along the coastal road as you approach the course from the east, there is no sight more inspiring than seeing the golfers below with trolleys bobbing and weaving across the fairways draped over these mighty dunes. Certainly the finest site Harry Colt was ever given, and he knew exactly what was required. What wasn’t needed was a gob of bunkers and it has the fewest bunkers of any Open rota site.

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America’s unique contributions to architecture have been the genres of desert and prairie golf. An exemplar of the latter, this brand of treeless golf is set in the chop hills of northeast Colorado and exhilarates in the same manner as any tumbling links. Golf’s ultimate benefit is that it reconnects man to nature—few places do it better than here.

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Refinements completed here over the past four years by Kyle Franz have this Fowler design rivaling Fishers Island for both golf and your heart. Like most island courses, it enjoys a host of swoon-worthy moments, but it is how high its lows are now that make this as welcome an invite to receive as any course in New England.

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Who needs the ocean as a backdrop when holes are this good?! Give the man who created North America’s finest/purest golf destination credit too. Golf in America had strayed too far from its roots by the mid-1990s, and Mike Keiser more than any single person knocked it back on track.

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Regardless of how much its greens have been altered (i.e. shrunk) over the decades, the game’s most captivating stretch (holes 3-10) rightfully acts as the magnet that draws wide-eyed golfers here from around the world. Much to the resort’s credit, it has been relentlessly kind to walkers for decades.

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When you are the best at what you do, proving so need not take so long (think Secretariat at Belmont). Harry Colt only made a couple of visits to North America but his work at Pine Valley and in the great Industrial cities of Chicago and Detroit proved transformational. Likewise, north across the border, Colt was given a wonderful piece of property and the Maestro wasted little time in devising a series of holes that took maximum advantage of the course’s ravines and interesting landforms. The addition of Paul Scenna as Green Keeper and his subsequent work to reveal the property’s majestic elements evelate this course into the top echelon of Colt’s work.

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The respect Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw share for Prairie Dunes is immense. Though Coore in print has cited Cypress Point as his favorite design, conversations I have had with him make me suspect that Prairie Dunes could be candidate 1B, so soft is the Maxwells’ touch upon the land. How Perry (and Press) infused so much golf interest into greens that are moderate in size is a lesson modern architects need to study.

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Pennard’s incomparably romantic “links in a sky” setting sets the tone, but its strengths are multi-faceted and include 1) several elite, world class holes, headlined by 7 and 16. At some point, I will figure out how to handle its notorious 17th, but that is taking longer than hoped, 2) one of the world’s best set of par 5s, 3) some of the game’s wildest fairway contours, 4) one of the best collections of doglegs, including Braid’s personal favorite hole 14, and 5) diverse green placements from dells to shelves. All this is bookended by thrilling opening and closing holes. 

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What a ride! You start with arguably the best four hole stretch on the property, which gives way to the course’s two most famous holes in 6 & 10. Then the golfer loops around a church before climbing to high ground. You gather your breath on the 15th tee before concluding the round with the second best four hole stretch. Afterwards, grasping for superlatives for Braid’s work becomes the pleasant task in the clubhouse.

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I played in drizzle here in 2012 and felt like I missed something. So, I returned for a few rounds in November, 2014. This time, the light switch went on and I have been besotted ever since by the asks of this links shot after shot. I have met a slew of neat people since starting Golf Club Atlas but time spent with Mark Parsinen both here and NYC (with BC-D) was truly inspiring. For attention to detail, none were better than Mark and the right group owns it now to see his vision through.

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You can carry your bag at any time. Additionally, there are trolleys, should you prefer that mode or perhaps you desire a caddie? Golf carts are around back of the pro shop, out of sight. You can do that too but the Cal Club has enjoyed a walking culture since Kyle Phillips overhauled the course in 2008. Its ever-rising golf IQ attracts members that appreciate keeping carts off the fescue fairways, a defining component of the joy of playing here. A contender for the best run club in America.

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This is one of my very favorite stories in golf, to the point where I helped John Raese and Bob Gwynne tell it in a club history book that was released in July 2025. These two men with no prior experience designed and built a thorough original that pays tribute to the handful of design tenets that shape classic design. It instantly became my favorite mountain course, courtesy of its artful routing, features being at grade and a superior set of greens. Never once did they run low on ideas or resort to bunkers as a design crutch.

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As easy to overpraise in the name of “fairness” as it is to overlook in the name of topographical subtlety, Muirfield is proof that a masterclass in routing, bunkering and dignified restraint can remain as joyful for senior members playing a winter foursome as it is testing for a champion golfer at the height of summer. Holes 13 and 17 are to architecture what the club’s famous lunches are to the game’s social fabric.

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The golf world is fortunate that Coore & Crenshaw have worked on some of the finest properties over the last thirty-five years, including coastal sites in five different countries. Yet, somehow they transformed this landfill 8 miles south of Dallas into arguably one of their top five designs. To understand how that is possible is to understand that one to four foot rumples often yield the best golf, especially when a club is blessed with such a talented Green Keeper as Casey Kauf.

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Read the March 2017 Feature Interview with Richard Macafee for details on all the things that have gone right on this 125 acre parcel since inception. It is a timely – and important – reminder that not all courses have to occupy an ungodly amount of land. This is the Merion of the Southern Hemisphere, except even better as you can take a trolley here – and even roll it across the green because the surfaces are incomparably firm.

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The concept of a two green system made sense back in the day when there were warm and cold weather grasses. That impetus has gone away and yet, by some design miracle, it works to perfection at this elegant course, thanks to recent work by Gil Hanse and Neil Cameron. Koymo Ohtani, who closely studied Alison’s work, is the mastermind behind the original design.

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Distance for distance sake gains no footing in the Custodians. However, the need to hit every club is lauded and this lengthy heathland course accomplishes that without surrendering one iota of its charm. That’s a very neat, but elusive, trick to pull off. In my eyes, its back nine is arguably the finest side in England. 

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Green Keeper Mike Vessely’s tireless work, backed by the school’s support, has this Langford & Moreau emerge as the world’s finest 9-holer, as well as being the best course in its home state of Indiana. Every single shot holds interest, and the course has become as elite as the school itself.

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The pace of the greens is the only thing that Maxwell and MacKenzie wouldn’t recognize; otherwise, the course remains remarkably pure to their original vision. As a set, these greens expose the fragility of the human psyche like few others and have influenced/inspired several of the finest green builders in golf today.

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The Garden City Golf Club of Europe, with countless open greens at grade from the fairways, except you can take trolleys here. What trajectory and where you land your approach shot is up to you, making it a supreme design for all ages. Bumbling across sandy loam in the French countryside blessed with a panoply of textures and colors, trolley in tow, has become a golf ideal. Given its expansive coastline, it is curious how many of France’s finest courses are found in its interior.

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A delight to find a course where accurate driving still matters, courtesy of some of the game’s most vertical fairway bunker walls. The stringent demands of its two-shot holes deserve to be the toast of England, and how fitting that Seve Ballesteros conquered here twice.

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One of the world’s most breathtaking settings for a course, and happily the architecture by and large keeps pace with the opportunity. Its stellar three-hole start makes you glad that you made the journey to inside the Arctic Circle and by the time you play 12-14, you are already planning a return trip, especially when you are on the 14th tee at 3am! For those that relish a sense of adventure, heading to Frode Hov’s creation is the thrill of a lifetime.

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The golfer alternates between being awed by four majestic elements: the immediacy of the Canadian Rockies, the Bow River, the castle-like hotel and Thompson’s architecture. Impossible to want more, other than firmer playing surfaces.

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Darwin once enthused that the plateau greens on The Old Course require the player actually have to hit shots. Agreed (!) and that same principle has been on display here since inceptioperhn, most recently during the marvelous 2021 PGA Championship. Indeed, the raised green complexes are so clever and rife with challenge that green speeds above 10 aren’t an underpinning for the course to test the best. How refreshing!

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Ben Cowan-Dewar told me in ~2010 that I would like this course more than I imagined because the property was so darn good. Roll the clock forward a decade, a core, knowledgeable group of members pushed for the Australian design firm of Ogilivy Cocking and Mead to be hired. The result is one of the world’s finest parkland courses and a course befitting of its iconic Morroccan clubhouse. OCM’s fresh approach—including the sensational use of out of bounds on holes 5-7—proved just the tonic.

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Some courses are for long hitters, some courses are for straight hitters, and some courses are for smart hitters. A good golf club welcomes all kinds, but a proper club like Portmarnock knows that having a course that rewards smart hitters means their members will never tire of the prospect of arriving at this sanctuary for golf.

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Not all architecture is created equal. If you want to understand how architecture can elevate a modest site and turn it into an absorbing chess match, head to the Sacred Nine.

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No wonder Alister MacKenzie vacationed here. Child-like giddiness grips the golfer as he steps onto the dramatic, cliff-side first tee but it’s the set of greens that make the course worth the drive as their roly-poly contours match the wonderful micro-movement that precede them in the fairway. Indeed, a 2019 visit here with David Davis served as a reminder of how many good greens the incoming nine possesses, particularly the incomparable string from 12-15.

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The U.S. private club scene is often suffocatingly expensive and tedious. Nick Schreiber charted a different path for Old Barnwell, one whose overarching goal is to do good. Setting the tone is the course, co-designed by Brian Schneider and Blake Conant. Everything about the design is superlative, from how the fairways play less wide than they appear to how the greens keep even the best at bay. Additionally, this course embraces the agronomic advancements in warm weather grasses as well as any course built this century, including dazzling centipede rough with its rustic pop of color. Throw in you can tether your dog to your trolley and all of a sudden, the gap in golf IQs between the U.S. and the U.K. might finally start to shrink.

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History and the ability to test the best matters. So does being able to walk a course when you turn 70 years old. Darwin’s line of “there is little but the line of sandhills in the distance to suggest all the glory and beauty and adventure of seaside golf” says it all. What a thrill—more like an honor—to have watched Tiger’s virtuoso tactical performance here in 2006.

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Called home by both the Curtis sisters and Donald Ross, American golf grew up on these 19th century grounds. Ancient mounds, ditches, ravines and exposed bedrock set the stage for a series of long short holes, short long holes, and long long holes that offer a glimpse into golf’s sporty origins. The members should be inordinately proud of the fact that the course is presented today with more vitality than at any point in the club’s distinguished history.

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Admittedly you need to be fit like a Dutchman to play 36 holes in a day over its heaving dunes, but there is something deliciously confrontational about the golf here. Namby-pamby tactics gain no favor, you need to bring game but the exhilaration derived from a well played round over its rollicking landforms is deeply satisfying.

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A celebration of the Sonoran desert. Jackson-Kahn excelled at making it look like the site was fantastic and that little work was required. In my mind, its wide fairways and wild greens earn it the moniker of NGLA West, which also means numerous rounds are required to understand all the playing angles that the architects infused into the sublime design.

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Some sniff at the classic out-and-back routing but I see great pacing. The golfer edges into the round with several manageable two shotters along the Firth of Clyde, the long 6th transports him into the juiciest dunes for half the round, and then its classic 5-3-4 finish asks any remaining questions. The cherry on top is finishing directly in front of the clubhouse with out of bounds tight behind. A treasure for traditionalists.

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We live in a second Golden Age with jet travel making it easy for architects to bounce around to multiple sites per month, or even week. Yet, even more so than the first Golden Age, the best of the best courses being built these days find architects wed to sites for extended durations, spending over 200 days on site in some cases. So it is here with Scott Hoffman having created an instant classic, in no small part based on his time commitment from finding the rolling site outside of Omaha to carefully sculpting holes from the rural landscape.

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Sir Guy Campbell, Major C.K. Hutchison and Colonel S.V. Hotchkin expertly exploited the pines and heather at this course on the edge of the South Downs National Park, well removed from London. In common with many elite English courses, par is under 70, which means the course barely has to measure 6,200 to provide ample challenge. It also means you are done in under three hours. A golf nirvana.

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Two ways to tell the chops of an architect: what he does when presented with bountiful natural features and what he does when he isn’t. This is a study of the latter, with Walter Travis making the most of a rectangular parcel when he layered A+ hazards and greens onto it. Renaissance’s Brian Schneider crushed the course’s restoration, with the finishing touch in 2022 being the re-done 17th.

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New York has by far the deepest state roster of high-quality courses in the country. Even in such a tough neighborhood, this thorough original (Charles Banks’ undisputed masterpiece) stands out for its adventurous spirit, headlined by bold features like the punchbowl 7th green and the split fairway 14th.

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A course’s routing provides its backbone yet as a topic, it isn’t understood and therefore, rarely discussed. Doak’s 2020 book on routing greatly helped and thirty years prior to that, just before The Confidential Guide, he wrote this pearl about Cruden Bay: “The genius of this is that the golf course is routed exactly the way you might be inclined to wander the property if there was no golf course here.” And yes, that means no parallel holes.

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Opened in 1939, Perry Maxwell’s design brought a close to the Golden Age of Architecture with an exclamation mark. If you think that golf should be a series of level lies that provide perfect stances, well, let’s just say that Maxwell disagrees! Attention to detail by Dunlop White here is ruthless.

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I headed here knowing that Sir Peter Allen picked Deal for his last round. Lofty praise indeed (!), and these superb links greens more than justify such a selection.

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Five glacial moraine courses make the Custodians. Kudos to William Watson for the manner in which he captured, and then preserved, the jumbled landforms within his holes. The kicker, though, is his green contours, very nearly the equal to the land itself. The only blemish was the altered Home hole, which Jim Urbina remedied in the winter of 2024 when he replaced a pond with Watson’s beautifully conceived bunker scheme.

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The shortcoming of returning nines is evident as holes 9, 10, and 18 are smushed together near the clubhouse but for exhilaration, few courses can compete, and for variety, the four par-4s in a row from 13-16 are without peer.

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Tom Simpson delivers the kind of thoughtful design that The Architectural Side of Golf implied he would. Cross bunkers and the use of a ravine near the clubhouse elevate this to Paris’s best and highlight for the umpteenth time how wise the contributors were to the 1976 World Atlas of Golf.

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Ayn Rand wrote in The Fountainhead, “The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.” Plans by Rennaissance Golf Design will reveal this heathland gem to be one of Colt’s most intricate and complex designs. Stay tuned.

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Building medium size greens is not the flavor of the month which makes this timeless design all the more appealing as it ambles over stunning landforms.

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This course got a head start in life as it was designed by Harry Colt with its construction overseen by Donald Ross from 1914 to 1916. Yet, like every other parkland course, tree growth and a reduction in fairway width over the decades negated its design pedigree. That began to change in 2009 with the hiring of Curtis James as Green Keeper. Poorly situated trees were felled, and short bent grass went from 25 to 63 acres. Dave Zinkand then came in and rebuilt every single bunker according to Colt’s original plan and notes. If that all sounds perfect, that’s because it is.

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Only the chicest host the Walker Cup these days and it was a fitting tribute when the Walker Cup came to the world’s sixth oldest golf club in 2011. The contestants were surely impressed by how natural the holes snuggle into the dunescape on the famous outward nine but the bigger surprise had to be the quality of the inward nine. Though away from the water and on higher ground, holes such as Blind, Dyke, and Hill command full respect, and set up the 1-2 punch grand finish of 17 and 18.

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Golfers flock to Scotland to play on sand-based properties beside large bodies of water. Thanks to a massive sand capping project that occurred in the waning years of Tom Weiskopf’s life, this course fits that bill. A true Garden of Eden that captivates by embracing Scotland’s multi-faceted beauty, this early 1990s design was ahead of its time with its focus on finesse shots and a multitude of 1/2 par holes. Weiskopf’s 30-year relationship with the club speaks well of both parties.

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An architect’s crew—the people whom he surrounds himself with to do the vast majority of the shaping—largely determine the success of any project. Here in Japan, Coore & Crenshaw assembled a stellar team headlined by James Duncan, Keith Rhebb, Trevor Dormer, Quinn Thompson, Toby Cobb and Rob Collins. The result? As I wrote on Instagram, “Sometimes, everything falls into place on a project and magic happens.”

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Cleveland gets my vote as America’s most underrated city for golf, with this William Flynn masterpiece leading the charge. Holes 11, 15 and 17 are all among the ten best holes in the state, though you might not know it since they are never on television.

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The best example of the Kiwi golf culture, where the expense of the game is within reach for all over this special, rumpled land. Mercifully, the task to tease holes from this dunescape fell to Alex Russell—and his light touch remains a marvel to this day. Anyone who goes to New Zealand and doesn’t play here has messed up.

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This was the pivotal moment in design from World War II to Sand Hills. Hard to believe Harbour Town has already celebrated its 50th anniversary with its glued-to-the-ground features lending the course a timeless quality. The challenge to shape shots around live oaks and to hit and hold such innovatively configured green complexes as the 9th, 13th, and 17th only increases in appeal as modern architects build flabby courses that are too big and wide and that prioritize length over shotmaking.

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In the first few decades of his storied career, Pete Dye received outstanding, natural sites well suited for golf. One of the very best was at Kohler where he created an original course in 1987 that proved so popular, it later was split into the River and Meadow Valley courses to handle the crush of play. The original course, which you can play several weeks a year, is exemplary and highlights how good Dye was at routing holes. It also embodies the rugged beauty of the Badger State as well as any course in the state, with its winding river, rolling topography and specimen trees.

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No more powerful combination in golf than beauty and great architecture. This headland design affords views to Rest Bay from virtually all parts of the course, and serves as a reminder how often links holes are disappointingly tucked at the base of dunes with truntacted views. Just don’t let the mezmerizing long views hijack the conversation away from its great short 4s, its sterling collection of 3s, and Colt’s superb green contours.

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When people dream of playing golf in Scotland, this is what they are thinking of, even if they don’t know it. Holes like 6, 15 and 17 are as special as they come and if a day comes when the livestock no longer roam freely, so what.

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A much easier walk than the Haagsche, the Colt architecture delights but throw in holes on each side that engage large dunes and you have the epitome of the ideal course to play on a regular basis. The thatch roof clubhouse completes the idyllic picture.

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A round at St. Andrews is enhanced by sharing it with golfers from around the world. Selfishly, a round here is typically made extra special by the sense that you have the place to yourself. Still, Brancaster remains far more than a walk back in time as holes such as 8, 9 and 14 are as good as the game offers. Though I doubt that John Dutton pushed cattle through Norfolk, his endearing campaign slogan about “being the opposite of progress” rings true here.

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This discreet club in a leafy, rolling suburb outside of Cincinnati has enjoyed a 35+ year relationship with Renaissance Golf Design. Don Placek’s refinements began with a bunker restoration project and expanded to include grassing line adjustments, green expansions, tree and vegetation management and teeing ground edits. Recently, RGD reintroduced Camargo’s original edition of The Road, helping to broaden the conversation beyond the obvious talking point of Camargo’s invincible set of one shotters, which is arguably Raynor’s finest. 

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As golf gained in popularity at the turn of the 20th century, Londoners wanted courses closer to home than Sandwich or Rye. Turns out that the heathland around London was ideal and this think-tank of design came into being right when the country needed direction on how to build thoughtful, inland designs. Sir Guy Campbell sums it up perfectly, ‘I never cease admiring the genius which created these holes, especially when one remembers that they were made long before the southern golfer had been educated up to this kind of thing.’ England is my favorite country in the world for golf but it likely wouldn’t be if not for Woking and what Stuart Paton accomplished here. As I wrote in its profile, “One only wonders what architects like Harry Colt, Alister Mackenzie, S. V. Hotchkin, C.K. Hutchison, Hugh Alison, J.F. Abercromby, Herbert Fowler, and John Morrison took away from their visits to Woking.”

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George Thomas described in 1929 why you should love this course and nothing has changed since. Banff, Cape Breton Highlands and here are all elite, world top 50 designs and the Canadian Park System needs to allow them to be maintained as such, including when poorly situated trees for golf need to be felled.

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One of the grand expanses in the game and one of the few heathland courses that actually adheres to the definition. Golf Club Atlas‘s 2021 Book of the Year was A Matter of Course – The Life of William Herbert Fowler, 1856-1941.

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Kudos to engineer Luther Koontz, who oversaw the creation of the graceful random humps, bumps and swales throughout the property for Alister MacKenzie. How good a job did Koontz do? MacKenzie wrote in The Spirit of St. Andrews, “The course has a greater resemblance not only in appearance but in the character of its golf to the Old Course at St. Andrews than any inland course I know.”

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This Fowler-Simpson 6,250-yard collaboration rivals the finest parkland courses in England. A taxing three-hole start gives way to a charming series of 1/2 par hole to the turn, which is followed by an impeccable run from 10 through 15. The 459-yard 16th tries to ruin you while the 358-yard Home hole reminds you why you love the sport. There are no tee times at this discrete club but it is blessed with knowledgeable golfers that create a convivial atmosphere devoid of pretense. As a club, it has no peer.

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5

Contender for best restoration in the southern hemisphere this century, Victoria went from being choked by trees and brush to being exposed for what is: a spectacularly located course in the heart of the Sandbelt. Bunkers edge into the fairways in all sorts of uncomfortable places with the tight fairway grasses expertly feeding directly into them. Mike Clayton instilled lots of interesting, though subtle, playing angles into its widened playing corridors.

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A cheery start with the first six holes played downhill gives way to even better golf as Stanley Thompson transports the golfer back uphill without the golfer ever realizing it. Its four hole closing stretch cements it as one the most admirable designs on the west coast of North America.

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Ben’s marching orders a few months after purchasing Rolling Oaks were simple: Create compelling golf while having the course embrace its Old Florida vibe. I think we accomplished that, as the star of the show remains the rolling property itself and how peacefully the holes flow across it and past all the live oaks, capped off by a diverse set of Rod Whitman greens. Its four bunkerless holes reflect well on the abundance of natural features with which the four architects were given.

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A marvel on many levels, including how the course looks like it has been there forever, though it is just celebrating its second birthday. This is the ultimate in an architect moving dirt/rock and making it look like he didn’t. The net result of Hanse and Wagner being able to configure fairways as they wished is a collection of holes that bend this way and that, creating a highly strategic course. It is also incredibly peaceful/quiet and the interplay of the light against the nearby mountains is ethereal. Might have the most consistently firm turf of any course on this list—and the architecture takes advantage of such.

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Very few—as in perhaps none—clay courses feature this kind of land movement, which proves the perfect canvas for Thompson’s theatrics. The Toronto Terror deserves more credit for his ability to seamlessly route holes.

104

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Some greens are in dells, some on high, some are narrow strips and it all adds up to England’s least-seen and least-appreciated gem, located 20 miles from the Scottish border. For more, please read the February, 2020 Feature Interview with Club Secretary Alan Oliver.

105

19

Willie Park Jr. gave this design his greatest gift: his time. He worked and worked on it, teasing into each green such character that modern architects now come here seeking inspiration. Today’s course has fewer than 20 bunkers, with grass hollows frequently deployed to superior effect. William Blake, who wrote ‘You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough,’ would be proud. Green Keeper Grant Stewart’s work over the past decade in firming up the playing surfaces allows this design to shine.

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A prime example of central features—be it bunkers, mounds, or grass-covered rock piles—instilling playing interest. While the 3rd with its island green on the beach will always be its most photographed hole, it is an anomaly in that every other green is open in front to aid in your battle with the coastal breezes.

107

13

In the battle between the heart (North Berwick) and brain (Muirfield), this East Lothian gem offers its own distinct brand of golf that has inspired players for generations.

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The course once again reflects its name, which guarantees a stimulating time. Worth noting is that Alex ‘Nipper’ Campbell routed some of the tougher holes uphill and some of the shorter holes downhill, a ploy that Pete Dye later honed in on.

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“The ideal hole is surely one that affords the greatest pleasure to the greatest number, gives the fullest advantage for accurate play, stimulates players to improve their game, and never becomes monotonous.” Having read Alister MacKenzie’s quote, my mind goes here.

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Bereft of indifferent holes, this links plunges you into the dunes on the opening tee shot and so you remain throughout the round. All questions are posed by its mix of holes from the beefy two shotters from 14-16, to its devious short one shotters at 5 and 13, to the short fours at 10 and 11. Add in the West Course, and you have one of the great days in golf at this very friendly club.

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Ridgewood features 27 holes by A.W. Tillinghast and there are a variety of ways that the club configures the holes for big events. In part for that reason, Ridgewood doesn’t have a set identity and it is awkward to discuss holes by hole numbers based on that confusion. At least, that’s the only reason I can think of why this course isn’t more universally praised as the range of holes from a Nickel and Dime 275 yard short 4 to 600 yard 5s is superb.

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Courses no longer long enough to tax professionals are often the precise ones we should head toward. A seven handicap would rather find himself here in the ‘Riviera of the Highlands’ than most anywhere else.

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A group of passionate golfers led by Seth Waugh and Dirk Ziff galvanized support to prevent this fallow municipal course in Palm Beach County from being buried under condos. Jim Wagner and Gil Hanse did pro bono work and along with Ziff, created a design with similar panache to those in Melbourne’s Sandbelt. The stretch of 10-17 is one of my favorite anywhere, but it is The Park’s air of inclusiveness that embraces the spirit of the game as well as any place in America.

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Hard to fathom but the back nine of this suburb course east of Cleveland laid out by C.H. Alison is the inland equivalent to County Down’s front nine, with every hole crammed full of great golf and natural wonder. And its best hole is arguably on the front (the 9th).

115

21

Similar to George Thomas in Los Angeles, Abercromby didn’t need to stamp out a bunch of courses to prove he was one of the best. Clayton, DeVries & Pont’s on-going work has Abercromby’s bodacious masterpiece rounding into form. By 2027, this course should look and play as good as its black and white photographs have long conveyed—and be 50 spots higher.

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This cornerstone design still constitutes the ideal country club course—6,500 yards, tight routing, deep, well-placed hazards and great green contours. As with Myopia Hunt, one wonders how architecture veered off course with so many bland designs when a design ideal of this magnitude has existed since 1914. Even worse, this was in the middle of America where all could take note. Unfortunately, the people who borrowed the most design tenets from this Macdonald/Raynor were, alas, Macdonald/Raynor!

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22

MacKenzie began his career as an ordinary, frustrated club member, and was underwhelmed by the inland architecture in north England in 1907. He prepared a routing with detailed notes for Alwoodley, which are still in the club’s possesion today. After Harry Colt was called up from London and blessed MacKenzie’s plans, one of the great careers in architecture was born. The rest is history!

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Kudos to Mike DeVries for being a pioneer as this design was ahead of its time and flew in the face of convention. Back in late 1990s and 2000 when he was building it, wide fairways, bouncy-bounce playing conditions, wild and wooly bunkers, and bold green contours were atypical. Move the clock forward and its playing attributes are now emulated worldwide.

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Situated in Canton, Ohio, the wonderfully rolling property replete with natural features and Ross’s routing serve up a litany of surprises. Highlights include Ross’s use of a stream at 4, 5 and 11 and central hazards at other holes. This is parkland golf at its dynamic best, though conversations bog down on several of its boldest greens as neat hole locations are surrendered at modern speeds.

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In this day of golf destinations that border on being golf factories, Erin Hills is refreshing in that it remains just 18 holes, allowing for a quiet, traditional atmosphere for golf over its glacier-shaped terrain. This rare blend of a championship-minimalist design features superlative holes (e.g. 2, 9, 12, 15 and 18) evenly spread-out, full exposure to the wind, and tight playing surfaces for all to enjoy.

121

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Comparatively, the period from 1950 to 1990 was weaker than the periods before and after. Still, bright spots exist with one of the finest courses from then being Javier Arana’s effortless 1968 masterpiece along the Mediterranean. Alfonso Erhardt’s book on Arana was the Golf Club Atlas‘s 2014 Book of the Year and provides fabulous insight to golf on continental Europe.

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Topography with the occasional rock outcropping, streams and pitched greens vex the player without length needed as a crutch. In 2005, Coore & Crenshaw tied together the work of several architects (including Ross and Tillinghast) with the result being that holes like 8, 14 and 15 rival the best in Westchester County for presentation, playing values and strategy.

123

3

A wonderful links on which to enjoy proper golf as the golfer is ensconced in a most appealing environment, with Snowdon Mountain to the north, billowing dunes to the west and the 13th century Harlech Castle to the east. Similar to Royal Lytham, good driving is the underpinning to success as the well placed, deep fairway bunkers are such that you can generally only advance your ball halfway to the green. This strategic course builds to a crescendo with the two shotters from 15-17 neatly sorting out the player from the poser.

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53

Most clubs struggle to get one restoration right, let alone two. What Ron Prichard accomplished here in 2017 for $675,000 is the greatest bang for buck in America this century. Then, after a 2020 derecho, he got a second chance to dazzle, which he seized upon. My buddy Vaughn Halyard deserves a ton of credit for not only driving the work here but directing the golf spotlight on Iowa in general. Playing Iowa’s Big Four would be a highlight to any golfer’s year, though such plans are hardly ever devised.

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54

This design embraces the impossible scale and beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Driving away for the first time in 2016, I remarked that I couldn’t wait to return. I did so in 2019, also remarking upon departure that I couldn’t wait to return. Is anything more important in architecture than instilling the desire to return?

126

23

Set in the Midlands, this is the fifth (sixth if you count Blackwell, though I think that was all Simpson) Herbert Fowler design on the Custodians. Yet, it couldn’t be any more different to RND, Saunton, Walton Heath and Eastward Ho!. Isn’t that the mark of a great architect, that he took his lead from the property vs the other way around? Standout holes abound, capped off by the reachable par 5 eighteenth green set in a sea of heather. Rivals Capilano for sidehill architecture.

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55

Unlike at Kirtland and Milwaukee, C.H. Alison incorporated the river valley on both nines and his exceptional use of land contours away from the river valley, especially at the 3rd and the eye-popping 7th, leads to a well balanced course that captivates from start to finish. Similar to Lawsonia and Kirtland, this Golden Age design has benefited from the practiced hand of Forse Design.

128

56

The cumulative yards across all eighteen holes whereby one can land a ball short of a putting surface and have it scamper onto the green is as great a distance here as any design in the country, thanks to the designers, the climate and the grassing schemes. What a shame it would be if this municipal course doesn’t get another U.S. Open.

129

1

The more you travel, the more you realize how much you have to learn. This course in Poland features some of the most thought-provoking greens (courtesy of Tony Rissola) and they function beautifully because the greens are keep around 8.5 on the stimp. Any green chairman should come here before allowing Golden Age greens to be altered. There is a lot of golf wisdom to be gleaned by going to Poland—who knew?!

130

57

This gleefully public Langford & Moreau course in central Wisconsin represents that rare time in the United States whereby stellar architecture and affordability commingle. Exposing people to this level of architecture is the surest way to have people fall in love with the sport.

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For those wondering Harry Smead’s best course, this is it. For those wondering who Harry Smead is, he worked for Langford & Moreau, so this wasn’t beginner’s luck that he got so much, so right. In fact, this river valley course was home to Herb Kohler (and Pete Dye when he was working in Wisconsin) and its influence can be seen in Dye’s excellent River Course at Blackwolf Run.

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6

The strength of the individual holes on this public course impel the golfer forward, supplying this young course with a personality all its own. Presentation needs to improve and then holes like 2, 16 and 18 will finally receive their due as among the best in this golf-proud country.

133

24

Hard to fathom how a bunkerless, common ground course could have so many standout holes but after playing the 1st, 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 16th, and 17th, you wonder what the current fascination with artificial, man-made hazards (aka bunkers) is all about. Old Minch is a field of dreams for many (including non-golfers) and congratulations to the Club for following Edmund Burke’s words, “We Reform, in order that we may Conserve.”

134

59

The greater Chicago area has seen as much sterling work done to its Golden Age courses as any American metropolis this century. And it all started here with a prudent approach by the club and Ron Prichard that ultimately saw three different waves of work return this Ross course into one of his most challenging and cerebral designs.

135

15

Peter Thomson’s high regard for Braid as an architect is duly noted by this being the fourth Braid course to make the list. So many gems like this exist across Scotland that the moniker of The Home of Golf still applies. In fact, the seventeen courses from Scotland that appear equate to one course every 1,770 square miles. That just pips England, which averages one course every 1,797 square miles. To put that in perspective, the United States—with seventy-one courses on this list—averages one course every 49,745 square miles. 

136

60

C.B. Macdonald was a keen fan of Devereux Emmet and you will be too, especially after you play St. George’s dazzling six-hole finishing stretch, one of the best anywhere. Emmet’s penchant was for smaller bunker arranged in succession, as well as innovative green complexes. This is the eighth (!) Hanse restoration on the list and this Golden Age beaut should also be congratulated for resisting the senseless addition of several back tees that would hamper what’s otherwise a fine walk.

137

61

Golf courses have become relentlessly larger this century, which is a double-edged sword. It can connote improved playing angles but it definitely means more expense to maintain and longer rounds. Meanwhile, in 2002, Coore & Crenshaw gave us this par 70, 6,400 yard gem on 120 acres. As a set, its intermediate-sized greens might well be their most difficult targets to hit. Yet, to miss a green like 5 to the right or 8 on either side sends your game cattywampus. This thought-producing design is all about position and is exactly the kind of course that America needs a few hundred more of—-and is unlikely to ever get.

138

62

Talking about your home course is like talking about your round—no one cares! Still, walking five thousand miles on one course lends perspective. Kyle Franz’s work in 2021 provided the playing attributes that this Ross routing over rolling sand hills in Moore County long deserved. Four years in, and we are all still trying to figure out how to tackle approach shots like those into the 11th and 13th, which require constant expermentation.

139

25

Growing up reading Following the Fairways, I continually stumbled across Major Cecil K. Hutchison. He was a man of mystery, and all I knew back in the 1980s was that wherever he went, good things happened. So it is with Kington, the highest course in England. A great example of the worth of an architect, as this site was far from ideal but Hutchison made it look so, right down to the Home hole, a steeply downhill, drivable par 4 of alarming excellence.

140

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A course doesn’t need to measure 6,000 yards to be a standout, but it sure helps if it has great greens. Enter Walter Travis, and these greens rival the ones at Hollywood as his best set.

141

64

Hitting to a set of restored Langford & Moreau greens sounds yummy, yes? And so it should. The catch here is what kind of stance (and visuals) are you likely to have for your approach as Wakonda’s fairways are among the most turbulent in inland golf. A huge homefield advantage is derived from knowing where within these fairways to place your tee shot. And designs that reward local knowledge deserve celebration for being infinitely more rewarding to play than designs with elevated tees and perfect visuals that reveal their secrets after just one round. Congrats to Tyler Rae and the club for bringing back this important Mid-West design in such a blaze of glory.

142

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Imagine the incessant whining in the early days—the opening tee shot is too intimidating, the hazards are too deep, the greens are too wild, etc. Happily, like Strantz, the owner never backed down and this unapologetically original design now enjoys a devoted following. Tree clearing and improved Bermuda grasses since Strantz’s passing in 2005 have the vision fully realized. C.S. Lewis wrote, “You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original.”

143

66

As we have seen elsewhere on this list, architecture is the great equalizer. Blue Mound isn’t located on a glacial moraine, river valley or on a huge deposit of sand like some brethren Wisconsin courses but wait until you see the eighteen greens that Raynor cooked up. Bruce Hepner’s restoration efforts coupled with Alex Beson-Crone as Green Keeper have this walker friendly course at peak.

144

16

One of the game’s most authentic and least tamed playing experiences re-affirms that golf can be simple yet exhilarating. Some of the best holes in world of golf are here, even if it isn’t expensive to play. Unfortunately, this business model is struggling and word of poor presentation mutes the desire to trek to the Outer Hebrides, no matter how compelling the stretch is from 6 to 15. Its design has what it takes to be world top 50 if only the green staff could increase to six, or even five, people. Don’t miss it.

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On weekdays, members go about the game in a quiet, dignified manner. On Sundays, families prowl the course, bringing a different joy and energy. In all cases, Harry Colt’s architecture supports the varied playing abilities, via the slew of greens that are open in front, starting straightaway with the excellent 1st green glued to the ground. The best might have even be saved for last as the glorious 350-yard swath of land opened up by Mike DeVries in front of the stately clubhouse reveals itself in its full glory standing on the 18th tee.

146

26

The pacing of this links and the way it builds throughout the round reminds me of another charmer, Royal St. David’s. Here, the course starts with a series of solid, attractive holes, then ramps up things as it heads into the dunes at the drivable 6th followed by the postcard perfect one-shot 7th. Its final six holes are an excellent finishing stretch with the sub-500 yard, short 5 15th being one the most troublesome holes of that length that I have ever encountered. Brancaster’s highs might be higher, but its lows are lower too in the endless debate of Brancaster vs Hunstanton. 

147

17

A lot of summaries of Scottish trips conclude with, “But my favorite round was at Elie.” This 6,275-yarder wasn’t the hardest or longest course that the golfer encountered but is there any more glowing comment than “favorite”? Understanding the design components that would make a course a favorite is vital, yet undiscussed. A third of its greens slope front to back, so a deft touch is frequently required. Unusually, this par 70 features sixteen two shotters, and the absence of three shotters to beat up on means you have your hands full, even though you might be done in 2 1/2 hours.

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This visitor friendly club allows outside play at certain times for a reasonable amount and to say these eighteen William Watson greens measure up to those at nearby Crystal Downs and Kingsley tells you all you need to know about how underrated he is as an architect. Watson’s innovative bunkering scheme being fully restored could propel this course into the top five in the golf rich state of Michigan.

149

69

South Carolina deserves a tip of the cap for the manner in which its clubs improve society. In addition to Congaree and Old Barnwell, the Quixote Club is organized so that the proceeds from the club help fund a nearby technical college. The Man from La Mancha was a big dreamer and he would be proud of how Kris Spence gutted a non-descript course and wholly reimagined it into something special. An early subtle tell-all of all the good things to follow is how the 2nd tee is at grade with its surrounds.

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27

If you want to know how good Alister MacKenzie was as an architect, head here. There is much to be gleaned, including how he adroitly uses par 3 holes to navigate the most tempestuous landforms. Course Manager Warwick Manning’s attention to detail 40 yards and in to these sloping greens makes this sub-6000 yarder a shot maker’s paradise as all options are available. The stretch of holes from 8 thru 15 is must-see stuff, even by MacKenzie’s own impossibly high standards.

151

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In 2003, Sunningdale’s board made the heroic decision to turn the club’s largest asset over to Mike DeVries and let him reimagine the holes in a single cohesive manner. Over a fifteen year period, the course was transformed from being a tree-choked design hodge-podge to a spacious playing delight capped off by sensational greens. Generations of members will forever be thankful that they have a Golden Age fueled course, even if it was built in the 21st century. And what has the club since done? Made a concerted effort to share their course with the MGA and others by hosting amateur events. It’s called giving back.

152

71

Frank Maples was Donald Ross’s right hand man for decades in the greater Pinehurst area. Frank’s son, Ellis, liked to invite the best pros of the day to Pinehurst—and then beat them. He left behind some of the best courses in the state not designed by Ross, including Grandfather Mountain, CCNC and here. He clearly understood what constituted good golf and Kris Spence’s restoration has brought Woodlake roaring back to life. Playing here and dealing with Maples’s shot demands hole after hole has made me a better (or at least less bad) golfer.

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Old Tom Morris deserves credit for putting golf on the map here over 140 years ago. However, how much credit he deserves for today’s expansive course is murky. Not to worry, this isn’t a name game, what matters are the holes before us today – and there are some real beauts, headlined by the 4th, 5th, 13th, and 14th holes, as well as a sterling collection of one shotters. This municipal course is one of the UK’s best bargains.