The post These notable courses were left off our Top 100 list appeared first on Golf.

The post These notable courses were left off our Top 100 list appeared first on Golf.

Our expert panel of GOLF Course Raters tells us which great courses didn’t make the cut of this year’s Top 100 list. Ran Morrissett, Thomas Brown and Simon Holt discuss why with GOLF Senior Editor Sean Zak.

The post These notable courses were left off our Top 100 list appeared first on Golf.

The post Golf course architect Keith Foster sentenced to 30 days in prison appeared first on Golf.

The post Golf course architect Keith Foster sentenced to 30 days in prison appeared first on Golf.

The post Golf course architect Keith Foster sentenced to 30 days in prison appeared first on Golf.

The post Congressional Country Club fires implicated course designer appeared first on Golf.

The post Congressional Country Club fires implicated course designer appeared first on Golf.

The course fired its architect, Keith Foster, after news broke earlier this week that Foster had pleaded guilty to smuggling items made from endangered species, migratory birds, and other wildlife.

Foster, who potentially faces up to five years in prison, has been charged with transporting between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of items. The decision to let Foster go was made by the club’s Board of Governors on Saturday morning, according to The Fried Egg.

Foster’s work at Congressional was expected to be a redesign of its famous Blue Course, returning it to its original layout, which dates to 1924. The project, which was expected to begin next fall, reportedly required $30 million and included renovations of the Blue Course, the club’s practice and teaching facility, according to The Fried Egg.

“The permitting phase of the Blue Course restoration project will continue as planned,” Club President Bev Lane said in an email to members. “A list of golf course architects has been developed and initial discussions with them have already begun.”

The next 18 years are extremely significant ones for Congressional and its Blue Course. It will host nine PGA of America events in that span, including the 2031 PGA Championship and 2036 Ryder Cup. It will also play host to the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

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Congressional and its Blue Course are no stranger to championship golf, as they have hosted three U.S. Opens and the 1976 PGA Championship.

Foster, 60, has a multitude of renovation and redesign credits that include some of the country’s top-rated courses. His design credits include a handful of original designs including the Quarry in San Antonio. His renovations and redesigns have been far higher-profile, which includes the Greenbrier, Southern Hills, Moraine Country Club, Philadelphia Cricket Club, Country Club of Detroit and many more.

He has also run The Outpost, a Middleburg, Va., antique shop, with his wife since 2012. But the store’s goods for sale crossed the line, according to court documents. A Department of Justice release described more than 100 illegal imports during March and April 2017.

Those included “items protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) such as sea turtle shell, sawfish blades, crocodile skin bags, coral, and mounted birds of prey,” according to the release.

Foster will be sentenced in March.

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The post All of the PGA’s premier events — including the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup — are heading to Congressional CC appeared first on Golf.

The post All of the PGA’s premier events — including the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup — are heading to Congressional CC appeared first on Golf.

The PGA of America is bringing its biggest championships to Congressional over the next two decades.

Nearly three months after the PGA Tour ended another run outside golf-rich Washington, the PGA of America announced an agreement for the club to host the Women’s PGA Championship twice, the Senior PGA Championship twice, the PGA Championship (2031) and the Ryder Cup (2036).

Congressional also will host the Junior PGA Championship and the Professional National Championship, along with an annual event designed to introduce golf to veterans.

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“We are excited to bring major championship golf back to Congressional and to represent our country and the nation’s capital as host of the 2036 Ryder Cup,” said Bev Lane, the club president.

Congressional, across the Potomac River in Bethesda, Maryland, previously hosted the 1976 PGA Championship won by Dave Stockton, whose 1-over 281 remains the last time no one broke par at the PGA Championship.

The club received greater notice when it hosted the 1964 U.S. Open, which Ken Venturi won while battling severe heat and dehydration. Ernie Els won his second U.S. Open title in 1997, and Rory McIlroy set the U.S. Open scoring record at 16-under 268 on a rain-softened course in 2011.

The Ryder Cup has become the biggest draw, though fans will have to wait 18 more years. McIlroy will be 47 and might be an obvious choice for European captain.

Unique about this deal is that Congressional gets all the PGA of America has to offer.

It starts in 2022 with the Women’s PGA Championship. The Junior PGA Championship (boys and girls) will be held in 2024, with the Senior PGA in 2025, the Women’s PGA returning in 2027, the Professional National Championship in 2029 and then the PGA Championship in 2031.

The other Senior PGA will be in 2033.

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John Easterbrook, the interim chief executive of the PGA until Seth Waugh takes over, described the partnership as “monumental in scope and stature.”

It at least keeps golf in Washington, though not every year.

The PGA Tour first came to Congressional in 1980 with the now-defunct Kemper Open, and it stayed there for seven years until moving around the corner to the TPC Avenel, which was not received well by the players and the quality of the field soon deteriorated.

Tiger Woods brought golf back to Congressional with his AT&T National in 2008, built around a military theme, and it was played there seven times, most recently in 2016 when Navy veteran Billy Hurley III won.

Quicken Loans did not renew with the Tiger Woods Foundation, taking on a new tournament in Detroit next year, leaving Washington without top-level golf again.

Congressional last year began hosting “PGA HOPE,” which stands for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere. It is offered at no cost to military veterans. Congressional will continue to host the program each year under the partnership.

The post All of the PGA’s premier events — including the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup — are heading to Congressional CC appeared first on Golf.