Has it been 10 years already? Man, time flies when you're playing, talking and writing about golf.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to keep doing this for
@GolfPass
. Can't wait to see what the next decade brings.
Gil Hanse on
@GolfChannel
Live From the PGA Championship just now:
“We would rather compromise green speeds than compromise great architecture.”
A-freakin’-men.
Official motion to add a The Country Club to the U.S. Open rotation. The history, the golf course, the Boston fans. Just an ideal place to hold a golf tournament.
The PGA Tour’s stiff-arming of the USGA and R&A’s attempts to make golf more sustainable by moderating the distance the golf ball travels will go down as one of the most selfish, short-sighted and misguided moves by any major sports organization in its history.
TOT HILL FARM G.C.
Asheboro, N.C.
Mike Strantz, 2000
$110
After significant, loving investment (new Zoysia greens, 1,500 felled trees +++) by new ownership, Strantz’s most polarizing design has shed years of neglect. Finally, it’s the quirky jewel it was always meant to be.
I’ve seen enough: hold the PGA Championship at Southern Hills every 4 to 6 years.
Bunkers that are real hazards, wind, slopes greens, guys BOUNCING BALLS INTO GREENS! (in the U.S.!)
If you genuinely have greater affection for a golf ball than you do for, say, The Old Course, please do the rest of us a favor and just play on a simulator.
CABOT CITRUS FARMS (KAROO)
Brooksville, Fla.
Kyle Franz, 2024
$165
Course
#607
Tons of cheeky contouring on and around huge greens, some of the most extensive bunkering you’ll ever see, split fairways galore and newly-open vistas make for an intense but rewarding trip.
Look at all these backtrack tee boxes that have had to be built to keep The Old Course challenging for pros and elite ams.
If you would really rather see the game's greatest courses desecrated than see the pros drive the ball a little bit shorter, shame on you.
LANDMAND GOLF CLUB
Homer, Neb.
@KingCollinsGolf
, 2022
$150
Course
#551
Landmand is a whole damn vibe.
@GOLFPASS
review to come soon, so here are some photos to whet the appetite: of 5, 10, 17 and 18.
Not only does
@PinehurstResort
get a lot of big stuff right, there’s a lot of cool small stuff, too, including several different (wood!) tees for different courses. The Carolina Hotel even has its own tee (far right)!
Per Chairman Fred Ridley, Augusta Municipal Golf Course, affectionately called “The Patch,” is now under ANGC oversight and will be renovated by Tom Fazio and
@beauwelling
beginning Jan. 2025, reopening April ‘26.
The
#Munaissance
🤝 Augusta National
"By putting its head in the sand with regard to the distance issue, the sport of golf threatens the entire fabric of the game."
I channeled my anger at the PGA Tour's decision to betray the USGA and R&A into a column for
@GolfPass
:
TALKING STICK GOLF CLUB (O’ODHAM)
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Coore & Crenshaw, 1998
$54 (summer PM)
Course
#634
Crispy summer conditions had it as fiery as any course played in recent memory, turning the strategy factor up to 11. Not a single wasted opportunity. Pinehurst in the desert!
PINEHURST NO. 3
Pinehurst, N.C.
Donald Ross, 1910; Kye Goalby, 2017
$165
Course
#616
Lay-of-the-land routing, well-tuned greens, bunkers placed perfectly and shaped with no more fuss than necessary. Par 68. Played in 3 1/2, hit 13/14 clubs. Is this the golf course of the future?
With Tiger, Rory and the Justins getting ready to christen Payne's Valley
@BigCedarLodge
, be sure to read
@BrandonTucker
's excellent preview of the course:
Not only is McIlroy on the correct side of history, but by saying he'll play the new ball, he projects confidence that he will remain among the world's greatest golfers while playing it.
What a mental edge he now has over his grousing, mewling peers.
BOOKMARK THIS!
My favorite
@GOLFPASS
list ever came out the other day: the Top 100 Under $100. Dozens of awesome golf courses that we can all afford to play. Big shoutout to
@WorldGolfer
for managing this project.
“Golf has never been so popular! Why roll back the ball *now*?!”
This argument is incredibly weak, bordering on bad faith.
Imagine rollback had been proposed ca. 2018-19, when golf was declining. Those folks would have said, “Golf is declining! Why roll back the ball *now*?!”
(Public golf edition)
City I dislike: Naples
City I begrudgingly respect: Houston
City I think is overrated: Orlando
City I think is underrated: Omaha
City I like: Spokane
City I love: Grand Rapids
City I dream of living in: Charleston
CABOT CITRUS FARMS (THE SQUEEZE)
Brooksville, Fla.
Mike Nuzzo, 2024
$80
Course
#608
If Karoo is a rock opera, Nuzzo’s 10-hole ode to half-pars is a taut, engaging EP you’ll find yourself listening to on repeat. Appealing, economic bunkering with plenty of thoughtful contours.
HARBOUR TOWN GOLF LINKS
Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Pete Dye & Jack Nicklaus, 1969
$335
Course
#561
Dye & Nicklaus ushered in the modern era of golf architecture so masterfully here that few latter-day courses hold a candle to its mix of intimacy, variety and peculiarity.
CABOT CITRUS FARMS (THE WEDGE)
Brooksville, Fla.
Mike Nuzzo, 2024
$45
Course
#609
If having to hit each club in the bag is a virtue of a big course, what about a lighted 11-hole par-3 loop that’ll make you hit a full range of shots with a single wedge, like this one does? Sweet.
ROYAL NEW KENT GOLF CLUB
Providence Forge, Va.
Mike Strantz, 1996
$98
Course
#576
Even though things cool a bit after the amazing front nine, RNK is a stunning example of course design that doesn’t so much tiptoe up to the line of sanity as tap-dance on it. I love the place.w
THE DUNES GOLF & BEACH CLUB
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Robert Trent Jones, 1948
$309
Myrtle Beach’s midcentury championship course is a rigorous test of driving and aerial approaches. Firm greens! The PGA Tour, long overdue, finally arrives in two weeks. The community is all-in.
FWIW, the USGA and R&A want to do things to golf equipment regulations that make creative full shots like Justin Thomas just hit off the 16th and 18th tees MORE common.
You want to see that, don’t you?
Put me on 17 at Sawgrass every time over having to hit a mid-iron to that tiny green.
The only tougher Dye par 3 I've played than 14 @ Harbour Town is
#12
at Cardinal in Greensboro, N.C.
One of the greatest online golf auctions of the year is live. It benefits Youth on Course (
@yocgolf
), which subsidizes rounds of golf for kids down to $5 or less.
The list of courses you could play if you submit a winning bid is, frankly, absurd:
THE LIDO
Rome, Wisc.
C.B. Macdonald, 1917
Tom Doak, 2023
$295
#623
A complete immersion in the deep end of the pool of golf architecture. Tragedy and comedy relentlessly collide, making the journey of a golf ball from 1 tee to 18 green one of the most exciting America offers.
PINEHURST NO. 2
Pinehurst, NC
Donald Ross, 1907
Coore/Crenshaw, 2010
It methodically exposes your every weakness, especially around the greens and between your ears. I love courses that make me want to be a better golfer, so I love No. 2 more than just about any other.
The sport of golf would continue to exist if current PGA Tour management and current players evaporated. It *literally* does not exist without courses to play on. The Tour’s public rejection of the USGA/R&A’s efforts to save the game from itself is unconscionably disrespectful.
THE PARK WEST PALM
W.P.B., Fla.
G. Hanse/J. Wagner/D. Ziff, 2023
$200 (non-res.)
Course
#568
Three parts Pinehurst No. 4 and one part Streamsong Black, this new super-muni on one of the best pieces of ground in Florida brings a trendy private club-type experience to the public.
Well, it took 15+ years and 25,000+ posts but I've reached the 3,000-follower mark. Thank you for caring what I have to say about golf and, occasionally, other things.
@RDSBarath
Some differences:
- They have a lot more members than US clubs
- Their courses were built a long time ago, inexpensively
- They often don’t have extra amenities like pools, tennis, other stuff that costs $$$ to maintain
- Clubhouses are modest
- F&B is modest
It’s Thanksgiving Week. That means I’m:
1. In Connecticut visiting my parents, and
2. Scouring their house for golf stuff from 15, 20, 25 years ago.
Some assorted gems here:
ROYAL COUNTY DOWN GOLF CLUB (CHAMPIONSHIP)
Newcastle, N. Ire.
Old Tom Morris/Harry Colt, 1890/1925
£425
Course
#640
The otherworldly scenery, the operatic front nine, the more technical but still great back nine, the competitive pedigree…one of the world’s best for good reason.
The Venn diagram of golfers who think you shouldn’t get DQed for signing for a lower score you shot and golfers who think divots should be Ground Under Repair is a circle.
PANTHER NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Jack Nicklaus & Justin Thomas, 2023
Private
Course
#599
Extreme earthmoving, several punchbowl-ish greens and tons of sand and water whirl together to comprise a creative, sometimes overwhelming but overall impressive newcomer.
A reported 7,000 people turned up to watch team amateur match play golf at Sunningdale today. Just an incredible culture of respect for good competitive golf at multiple levels in the UK.
We need to cultivate that here in the U.S.
Last golf-related stop in Omaha before heading to the airport: a tour of Lost Rail, a new private golf club opening in the SW suburb of Gretna. Architect Scott Hoffman’s (longtime Fazio associate) magnum opus. Already a waitlist. It’s going to be very good when it opens 9/1.
What are the most outrageously exclusive, most untouchably private golf courses in the world?
I started this list back in 2015 and updated it today. Some amusing stories from people who have actually played these courses (so they say) in the comments.
SEDGE VALLEY
Rome, Wisc.
Tom Doak, 2024
$295 (7/1)
#624
Intimate only by the resort’s huge-scale standards, the jaunty routing sends golfers on a journey over hill, by forest and thru meadow with amusing half-par holes, wry greens and the sense that golf needs many more par 68s.
It is a finger in the eye of golfers like you and me, who will bear the costs of maintenance practices that will continue to escalate because a couple hundred little baby-men cannot stand to drive the ball 25 yards shorter. They will nail the game onto a cross of male ego.
WE-KO-PA GOLF CLUB (CHOLLA)
Ft. McDowell, Ariz.
Scott Miller, 2001
$99 (summer)
Course
#631
While it’s not on the same level as Saguaro, the original course here is a fine desert layout with good room to play, fun elevation changes and gorgeous vistas everywhere you look.
LONGBOAT KEY CLUB (HARBOURSIDE)
Longboat Key, Fla.
Willard Byrd, 1982; Ron Garl, 2005
$250
Course
#602
The Florida-style (+ bay glimpses) meandering Blue nine gives way to the pleasingly open-plan Red side, with fun pushup greens. Surfaces are fast, firm Paspalum perfection.
BAY HARBOR GOLF CLUB (LINKS/QUARRY)
Petoskey, Mich.
Arthur Hills, 1997
$440
Course
#584
With plenty of Little Traverse Bay views and some wild holes on the second nine, it can be a little overbaked in places but from the right tees, it’s an enjoyable and scenic challenge.
COLLETON RIVER CLUB (DYE)
Bluffton, S.C.
Pete Dye, 1998
Course
#556
That the forested front manages to provide an even better run of golf holes than the strong and scenic back nine is a testament to Dye’s ability to outdo even himself and engage, challenge and thrill the golfer.
PINEHURST NO. 10
Aberdeen, N.C.
Tom Doak, 2024
Course
#617
$350+
Pinehurst’s brand-new big course honors a grand piece of land with dramatic holes that feel like epic, pine-lined hallways + gradually intensifying greens. A healthy walk. Intricate off-fairway texturing is superb.
BOBBY JONES GOLF CLUB
Sarasota, Fla.
Donald Ross, 1926
$99
Course
#605
Richard Mandell’s faithful Ross restoration brings stately city park golf back to Sarasota in the form of a highly playable classic with mellow greens & plenty of eccentric fairway mounding. The
#munaissance
!
SARA BAY COUNTRY CLUB
Sarasota, Fla.
Donald Ross, 1926
Private
Course
#604
Classic city country clubs are a pillar of American golf, and SBCC is one of the best I’ve encountered. Pure Florida parkland golf with a decidedly unfussy vibe. 3-5-5 finish! My kind of place.
The gravest insult, though, is to superintendents, who provide the video-game conditions these children demand, which, on increasingly bloated courses, will require greater labor hours with fewer laborers.
Shame on the whole craven lot of them.
The severity of the bunkers at Royal Liverpool is absolutely brilliant. For once, *real* consequences for going in the sand, to the point that players often need to strategize around them. A quality that close to zero golf courses in the U.S. have.
Hadn’t had a chance to play tournament golf in 2023 until this weekend, but managed to make the most of it. Shot 69 yesterday, 72 today in blustery conditions on a course I always enjoy playing in competition. 🏆
#tournamentSZN
A highlight of my 2020 in golf today: a round at the redone Charleston Municipal Golf Course. Architect
@troymillergolf
nailed an homage to Seth Raynor templates + some original creations in that mode. As if the city wasn’t great enough, it now has a top-tier municipal course.
STONEHOUSE GOLF CLUB
Toano, Va.
Mike Strantz, 1996
$99
Course
#570
The Maverick’s most lightly-bunkered course is nevertheless as bold and unusual as anything else you’re likely to see. Sweeping greens, ravines, dynamite par 3s and a cracking finish make it memorable.
PAWLEYS PLANTATION G.&C.C.
Pawleys Island, S.C.
Jack Nicklaus, 1988
$150
With restored green perimeters, crucial tree removal and milder bunkering, a golf course that helped raise me remains very demanding but is also ready for the coming decades of golfers. I ❤️ Pawleys.
How do you like your fairways?
Squared-off? (Whitemarsh Valley, PA)
Squiggly? (Trysting Tree, OR)
Connected? (The Olde Farm, VA)
Sinewy? (Diamond Springs, MI)
#GoogleMapsGolf