The post Tour the challenging par 3s at Curtis Cup host Merion Golf Club appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour the challenging par 3s at Curtis Cup host Merion Golf Club appeared first on Golf.

The best women amateurs from the U.S., Great Britain, and Ireland battle it out this week in team match play for the Curtis Cup at Merion (East), a short but mighty test. James Colgan introduces us to the beloved par 3s at GOLF’s World No. 13 course.

The post Tour the challenging par 3s at Curtis Cup host Merion Golf Club appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour the Merion Golf Club men’s locker room, one of the coolest spots in golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour the Merion Golf Club men’s locker room, one of the coolest spots in golf appeared first on Golf.

History is everywhere at Merion Golf Club, especially in the locker room. The two-floor space in the stone clubhouse features hundreds of lockers to accommodate its members and guests, all of it packaged with a classic feel.

Rows of mint-green lockers line the outside of the room, while lofted ceilings with windows above allow light to seep into the room. Calling it heavenly might be a bit of a stretch, but there is something about the space that feels sacred.

Ahead of this year’s Curtis Cup, we took a step inside Merion to enjoy all it has to offer. Check out below for a peek inside one of the coolest spots in golf.

The post Tour the Merion Golf Club men’s locker room, one of the coolest spots in golf appeared first on Golf.

The post What sets Merion apart? The wicker baskets, yes, but also so much more appeared first on Golf.

The post What sets Merion apart? The wicker baskets, yes, but also so much more appeared first on Golf.

What was it about Merion Golf Club that felt different?

Perhaps it’s the stories I’ve read from the club’s legendary events. Or the decades of history commemorated in the clubhouse. Or just significance I had placed on my visit, knowing that getting to see — and play! — Merion ahead of this year’s Curtis Cup was bucket-list caliber stuff.

You know it’s going to be a good day when the staff gives you “the member treatment.” I was provided everything I needed throughout the day, and I even got a locker in the elegant stone-farmhouse clubhouse. And, of course, there was the golf course, routinely rated as one of the best in the world.

Set on a pristine plot of Pennsylvania farmland just west of Philadelphia, Merion’s East Course is a sight to behold. The Hugh Irvine Wilson design is not long by any modern standard (the tips just barely stretch to 7,000 yards), but don’t underestimate its mite. Positioning is key, and it’s quite easy to stray from the optimal path.

News

But the biggest challenge, in my experience at least, is the putting surfaces. There are subtle (and not-so-subtle) slopes all over the greens, which makes getting the ball in the hole damn-near impossible. My caddie for the day, known around the club as “Duffy,” summed up the challenge well.

“We like to joke that they cut the holes at 4 inches instead of 4.25,” he said. “It’s just hard to get the ball in the hole.”

No joke.

But because we golfers are a simple people, the defining feature of Merion is simple, too: its one-of-a-kind flagsticks. In lieu of flags at the top of the sticks, wicker baskets sit in their place. Maybe the proper name should be “wickersticks.”

For diehard golf fans, this quirk of the course is common knowledge, and these baskets were the most exciting thing for me to get a glimpse of when I got to the course. It’s not often a flagstick can get my blood pumping, but like I said, things at Merion are different.

The exact origins of the wicker baskets are unclear. There are a handful of competing theories, but none that has been confirmed. All we know for certain is that in 1915, Merion’s superintendent William Flynn (yes, that William Flynn) received patent approval for his wicker-basket design. They’ve remained ever since. Mini-wicker-basket flagsticks even sit in the holes on the practice greens.

That’s not to say the wicker baskets haven’t generated some controversy over the years. In the 1949 U.S. Women’s Amateur, a contestant saw her ball ricochet off a basket, deflecting it away from the hole. The following year when the U.S. Open came to Merion, flagsticks replaced the baskets. It remains the only USGA championship contested at the club absent of the famed wicker baskets.

None of the players in our group experienced the misfortune of striking one of the baskets with our approaches, but the penalty for such a shot would be steep. The custom-made sticks that hold the baskets are made entirely of metal; a solid strike of the stick is unforgiving. Long ricochets are the norm.

There are other challenges that the baskets present. As caddie Duffy explained, without a flag atop the stick, judging the swirling winds can be difficult. And the baskets can make judging distance a challenge, too. According to Duffy, each basket is a different size, which can have a huge impact on distance perception.

“Some of them are little pinheads on top,” he said. “And some of them are a lot bigger. It can make the green look way further away if it’s a small one, or a lot closer if it’s big.”

You’d think that would make range finders a must, but even modern technology can fall prey to Merion’s baskets. Without a flag to lock in on, the lasers have difficulty picking up the stick.

News

“You’ve got to rely on the yardage book,” Duffy said.

No matter if I relied on the yardage book or more modern tech, Merion bared its teeth. I didn’t set any personal bests, but I came home with a respectable score. My day’s highlight? I made birdie when I holed a lengthy putt from off the green on the par-4 10th. I elected to pull the basket from the hole before striking the putt — if not, the ball may well have ricocheted to New Jersey.

By day’s end, my body was exhausted. I’ve never come away so battered from a 6,200-yard course. But I’ve also never had a wider grin on a post-round patio. As we sipped on our Merion IPAs (emblazoned, naturally, with a wicker basket logo on the can), we observed the grounds crew removing the baskets from the holes and replacing them with traditional white flagsticks.

The swap happens nightly as a way to deter any souvenir-seeking thieves. It would be a hell of a memento to hang above the fireplace, but, really, the wicker basket would look out of place anywhere but here.

It’s part of what makes Merion Merion.

The post What sets Merion apart? The wicker baskets, yes, but also so much more appeared first on Golf.

The post For future U.S. Opens, pros should be treated to a true Merion experience appeared first on Golf.

The post For future U.S. Opens, pros should be treated to a true Merion experience appeared first on Golf.

John Capers III, recipient of the letter below, is the historian at the Merion Golf Club and the winner, over the past 60+ years, of multiple club championships there, in a variety of categories. Capers would order red wicker baskets, the hat on the club’s trademark flagsticks, for an appetizer course, if the club’s dinner menu offered it.

Dear John,

The best news in a long time is that the USGA, in its wisdom, has selected Merion for the 2050 U.S. Open. We all know how prudent the USGA is. The announcement suggests that the ladies and gents in Liberty Corner (formerly known as Far Hills, N.J.) are confident planet Earth will still be spinning 29 years from now, and cool enough for ye olde game to endure.

Here’s hoping.

I’m scheduled to turn 90 that year, and I know you’ll be pushing 110. Let me know if you need a lift to the course. Maybe you can score some clubhouse parking?

It’s kind of freaky, thinking about 2050. Right? You know the origin story better than anyone, since you were there for the launch, Hogan winning the 1950 National Open at Merion, body ravaged, driver and a 2-iron into 18 in the fourth round, the preamble to the two-putt par that got him into a three-man 18-hole playoff. (Or was it a 1-iron?) You probably remember that my friend Fred Anton caddied in that ’50 Open, for Lawson Little. I feel like I was there, I heard the story so often. Never once tired of it.

News

On a related note, I can remember clearly sitting in Howard Rexford’s sitting room, circa 1987, as he told me about caddying for Bobby Jones when Jones completed the Grand Slam with his Am win at Merion in 1930. Mr. Rexford’s pride in showing me the wedding gift that Jones and his wife gave to Howard and his. How cool that you’ll mark that win with the 2030 Open.

I once asked Herb Wind about the confusion over the club Hogan hit into 18. Herb said he believed it was a bent and delofted 2-iron that played like a 1.5-iron. Herb said, “But if Hogan says it was a 1-iron, it was a 1-iron.”

And you’re getting the 2034 and the 2045 U.S. Women’s Opens! Great event. Very cool. I imagine there will be many more U.S. Ams played at Merion — plural — before 2050.

Speaking of which, I saw Edoardo Molinari at the Open at Torrey in June. Told him that there were still ladies at Merion swooning over him from his Amateur win there. He laughed. Where did those 16 years go? Seems like last week.

OK, for whatever it’s worth, and do with this, of course, as you wish:

I’m sure you remember Jaws, that line when Chief Brody says to Cap’n Quint, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Riffing here. For these Opens to work? You’re gonna need a slower ball.

You just are. The first, one of the most iconic starting holes in all of golf, at 350 from the back, with the first tee a spilled lemonade from the porch? You can have players think about hitting driver there, that’s fine. But not reaching. Merion, as a par-70, not even 7,000 yards, all stretched out, is meaningful when the driver maxes out at 300ish. Elite golf needs a slower ball. Period. The second, 560 up the hill? It should barely, barely be reachable in two for the longest hitters. It would be easy to go right through the card. Eighteen should be a driver and a 2-iron, maybe a 1. Merion should test a player’s skill with about seven clubs off the tee, and double that into the green. And then the good times begin.

Travel

You know this better than anyone: You go to Merion to slow down time, to live in the present but remember the past. That to me is the point of bringing all these events there.

As a four-day total, Justin Rose’s 281 at the ’13 Open looks good in one of your display cases. Par should be meaningful. But the way the USGA got there last time was through trickery. The fairways looking like deer paths through the dunes, they were so skinny. The rough was so heavy (and, nobody’s fault, so wet) rounds would not have finished, were it not for the work of volunteer ball-spotters. The pace was painfully slow. That’s not what Hugh Wilson, inspired by the game as it is played in the motherland, envisioned. Merion’s defense has always been her high-seas greens and deep-faced bunkers. If 268 wins, so be it. Merion has to play like Merion. Not many courses have shorter green-to-tee walks. A round of golf should have a flow to it.

On that same note, the players have to experience Merion. Like they’re playing in the Hugh Wilson Invitational. You use the club driveway. You change shoes in the clubhouse. Everybody starts on one and finishes on 18, even for the first two rounds. If you play in four hours, in the long days of summer, that should not ever be an issue, getting everybody in. If you need a slightly smaller field (144 instead of 156), and a smaller corporate footprint, to make that happen, that’s fine. Do what you need to do. But you go to Merion to experience Merion. Trevino, 1971, after beating Big Jack in the playoff: I fell in love with a girl named Merion, I just didn’t know her last name.

BTW, and I know you’ve tracked down most everything there is to track down, but do you have Trevino’s gag snake somewhere in the attic?

How about Hogan’s 7-iron?

So happy for you and the club. This should be great.

Fairways and greens,

Michael

Ed. note: Hogan, famously, didn’t carry a 7-iron at the ’50 Open at Merion. He said, “There are no 7-iron shots at Merion.”

Michael Bamberger may be reached at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.

The post For future U.S. Opens, pros should be treated to a true Merion experience appeared first on Golf.

The post Oakmont named as second U.S. Open ‘anchor site’, rota taking shape appeared first on Golf.

The post Oakmont named as second U.S. Open ‘anchor site’, rota taking shape appeared first on Golf.

OAKMONT, Pa. — A U.S. Open rota is taking shaping.

The USGA announced Wednesday morning that Oakmont Country Club will serve as the second “anchor site” for the national championship, awarding the historic course hosting duties in 2034, 2042 and 2049. Oakmont was previously announced as the 2025 host five years ago. The U.S. Women’s Open will head to the historic Pennsylvania club as well, earning hosting duties in 2028 and 2038.

Across the state, Merion Golf Club was also announced as a future U.S. Open host site, welcoming the men in 2030 and 2050 and the women in 2034 and 2046.

“Oakmont and Merion are iconic in every sense of the word — they’re in rare company in golf and continue to test the best in the game,” said USGA senior managing director of championships John Bodenhamer. “We’re making history and kicking off a new era for our national championships in Pennsylvania, and we couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead.”

News

The USGA called Oakmont “the second U.S. Open anchor site” as the governing body attempts to return to iconic venues every five or six years. Pinehurst Resort and Country Club was named an anchor site last year and will host the U.S. Open in 2024, 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.

The USGA also announced intentions to bring its national championships to Pennsylvania more frequently with 18 championships scheduled to be played in the state between now and 2050.

“Pennsylvania is proud to enter into this new partnership with the United States Golf Association,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development Dennis Davin. “We look forward to hosting new visitors at our world-class golf courses, generating tourism revenue and creating new opportunities for golf fans for years to come.”

A full list of future USGA championships contested in Pennsylvania is below:

2021 U.S. Amateur (Oakmont CC)

2022 Curtis Cup Match (Merion GC)

2022 U.S. Senior Open (Saucon Valley CC)

2024 U.S. Women’s Open (Lancaster CC)

2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (Philadelphia Cricket Club)

2025 U.S. Open (Oakmont CC)

2026 U.S. Amateur (Merion GC)

2028 U.S. Women’s Open (Oakmont CC)

2030 U.S. Open (Merion GC)

2033 Walker Cup Match (Oakmont CC)

2034 U.S. Open (Oakmont CC)

2034 U.S. Women’s Open (Merion GC)

2038 U.S. Women’s Open (Oakmont CC)

2042 U.S. Open (Oakmont CC)

2046 U.S. Women’s Open (Merion GC)

2046 U.S. Women’s Amateur (Oakmont CC)

2049 U.S. Open (Oakmont CC)

2050 U.S. Open (Merion GC)

The post Oakmont named as second U.S. Open ‘anchor site’, rota taking shape appeared first on Golf.

The post The 50 best golf courses in the Northeast: Ranking the region’s best designs appeared first on Golf.

The post The 50 best golf courses in the Northeast: Ranking the region’s best designs appeared first on Golf.

GOLF Magazine recently unveiled its 2020/2021 Top 100 Courses in the United States, and to showcase the country’s geographic diversity, GOLF has, for the first time, broken the country into four regions and ranked the top 50 in each. Each region is shockingly diverse — and overflowing with exquisite golf. To introduce each region, we called upon a star architect to help.

The Appeal of Golf in the Northeast | By Gil Hanse

The Northeast is where golf took root in this country and where so many of its historic moments took place: Bobby Jones’ grand slam, Francis Ouimet’s heroics in Brookline, Hogan’s 1-iron at Merion, the Massacre at Winged Foot. Are we Northeast golfers a touch stuffy, maybe a bit arrogant? Perhaps! But only because we have the greatest collection of courses in the country.

It started with the glaciers, which left behind heaving, golf-ready ground, rock outcroppings and sand — beautiful sand. The result, all these centuries later, is a rich and diverse collection of the finest examples of golf course architecture anywhere, from the parkland courses around New York, to the scruffy windblown coastal courses of Long Island, to the New England coast, to the pine barrens of New Jersey, to the farm fields of Pennsylvania 

When I close my eyes and think of golf in the Northeast, it is a crisp fall day, the leaves are changing and native grasses blowing in the wind. It is the idyllic American golfing landscape. 

The top 50 golf courses in the Northeast

1. Pine Valley — Pine Valley, N.J. (George Crump/H.S. Colt, 1918)

2. Shinnecock Hills — Southampton, N.Y. (Howard Toomey/William Flynn, 1931)

3. National Golf Links of America — Southampton, N.Y. (C.B. Madonald, 1911)

4. Oakmont — Oakmont, Pa. (Henry Fownes, 1903)

5. Merion — Ardmore, Pa. (Hugh Wilson, 1912)

6. Fishers Island — Fishers Island, N.Y. (Seth Raynor, 1926)

7. Friar’s Head — Baiting Hollow, N.Y. (Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw, 2003)

8. Winged Foot (West) — Mamaroneck, N.Y. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1923)

9. The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel) — Brookline, Mass. (TCC Members/Willie Campbell, 1899)

10. Somerset Hills — Bernardsville, N.J. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1918)

11. Garden City — Garden City, N.Y. (Devereaux Emmet, 1899/Walter Travis, 1906)

12. Maidstone — East Hampton, N.Y. (John Park/Willie Park Jr., 1922)

13. Bethpage Park (Black) — Farmingdale, N.Y. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1935)

14. Sleepy Hollow — Scarborough, N.Y. (C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor, 1913/A.W. Tillinghast, 1929/Gil Hanse, 2017)

15. Quaker Ridge — Scarsdale, N.Y. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1926)

16. Oak Hill (East) — Pittsford, N.Y. (Donald Ross, 1921/Andrew Green, 2020)

17. Myopia Hunt — So. Hamilton, Mass. (H.C. Leeds, 1898)

18. Winged Foot (East) — Mamaroneck, N.Y. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1923)

19. Old Sandwich — Plymouth, Mass. (Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw, 2004)

20. Eastward Ho! — Chatham, Mass. (Herbert Fowler, 1922)

21. Piping Rock — Locust Valley, N.Y. (C.B. Macdonald, 1911)

22. Plainfield — Plainfield, N.J. (Donald Ross, 1916)

23. Kittansett — Marion, Mass. (William Flynn/Fred Hood, 1922)

24. Pikewood National — Morgantown, W. Va. (J. Robert Gwynne/John Raese, 2009)

25. The Creek — Locust Valley, N.Y. (C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor, 1923)

26. Essex — Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. (Donald Ross, 1917)

27. Baltusrol (Lower) — Springfield, N.J. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1922)

28. Ridgewood (W/E) — Paramus, N.J. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1929)

29. Baltimore (Five Farms East) — Baltimore, Md. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1926)

30. Hollywood — Deal, N.J. (Walter Travis, 1915)

31. Newport — Newport, R.I. (William F. Davis, 1899/A.W. Tillinghast, 1924)

32. Glens Falls — Queensbury, N.Y. (Donald Ross, 1920)

33. Aronimink — Newton Square, Penn. (Donald Ross, 1928)

34. Mountain Ridge — West Caldwell, N.J. (Donald Ross, 1929)

35. Sebonack — Southampton, N.Y. (Jack Nicklaus/Tom Doak, 2006)

36. Baltusrol (Upper) — Springfield, N.J. (A.W. Tillinghast, 1922)

37. Philadelphia Cricket (Wissahickon) — Flourtown, Pa.

38. Fox Chapel — Pittsburgh, Pa.

39. Lancaster — Lancaster, Pa.

40. Whippoorwill — Armonk, N.Y.

41. Boston — Hingham, Mass.

42. St. George’s — East Setauket, N.Y.

43. Wannamoisett — Rumford, R.I.

44. Atlantic — Bridgehampton, N.Y.

45. Wykagyl — New Rochelle, N.Y.

46. Sankaty Head — Nantucket, Mass.

47. Pete Dye — Bridgeport, W. Va.

48. Congressional (Blue) — Bethesda, Md.

49. CC of Fairfield — Fairfield, Conn.

50. Huntingdon Valley — Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

The post The 50 best golf courses in the Northeast: Ranking the region’s best designs appeared first on Golf.

The post How to tour America’s most exclusive golf courses, and burn calories while doing it appeared first on Golf.

The post How to tour America’s most exclusive golf courses, and burn calories while doing it appeared first on Golf.

Over the 4th of July weekend, I spent a couple of days and nights in East Hampton, N.Y., the tony seaside village on Long Island’s East End. There was no golf on the agenda, so on Sunday morning I thought I’d scratch the itch by lacing up my running shoes and heading out for a trot in the vicinity of the Maidstone Club, which was about a mile and a half from where my family and I were bunking.

Maidstone, which takes its name from the original name of East Hampton, debuted as a beachy golf escape for high-society Manhattanites back in the late 1800s. All these years later, not much has changed. The golf holes are still sand- and wind-swept, and the club is still harder to get into than a supermax prison is to get out of. As the story goes, Groucho Marx was denied membership. So, too, was Diana Ross, even though her then-husband, a Norwegian shipping magnate, was an upstanding dues-payer.   

The great paradox of Maidstone, however, is that for all its Gatsby-grade exclusivity, it’s actually remarkably accessible to public eyes by way of the roadway that bisects it. I kind-of-sort-of remembered this from a long-ago visit but my memories of the place and its setting had faded. So, on a steamy morning I popped in my AirPods and set out toward town, vaguely in the direction of the club.

The opening stretch of my run took me down Mill Hill Lane, an utterly charming road lined with thatched roofs and a dense canopy of leaves. That led me to Main Street, where I hung a left, crossed at a stop sign and came upon a couple dozen folks taking in a service on lawn chairs (and in masks) in front of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. I kept chugging west, now on James Lane, toward what I thought was the club entrance, on Maidstone Lane. A left turn there took me down a long path that did indeed lead to the club, only the wrong part of it. A few passers-by dressed head to toe in white should have tipped me off. I had arrived at Maidstone’s tennis club.

As I backtracked, sweat was now streaming down my brow and my legs were feeling heavy; the Pinot from the night before wasn’t helping. Back on James Lane, I hung a right and headed back east. The next street over was Dunemere. Worth a shot, I thought.

Another right turn. For another quarter mile, still no signs of the course — until…was it? Yes! A fairway! There she was! Mighty Maidstone, No. 64 on GOLF’s Top Courses in the World list. I pressed onward, energized by the dunesy masterpiece on either side of me. Who needs Red Bull when the handiwork of Willie and Jack Park (with a 2013 update from Coore & Crenshaw!) can fill the same role? With each stride I took, the course slowly unveiled itself. The 2nd green to my left, the 3rd tee to my right and, just beside that, the dogleg-right 16th, which curls around a pond. As I stopped for a photo-op, a smirking biker zoomed by and waved.

I ran on, past the 2nd tee and to the intersection of Dunemere and Highway Beyond the Pond, where the pinched-in 17th green sits across the street from the green at the 1st. The course was bustling with golfers of all ages. Up near the 1st tee, the beachside clubhouse was in plain sight. Just west of me was the 18th tee and, just beyond that, the far end of the practice range. You can’t see all of Maidstone from the byways that run through it — certainly not the cabanas up by the sea or the pool by which members sip their Southsides — but you can get a feel for the place.  

For a closer look, I was tempted to venture down one of the dirt paths that connect the course to the roads but the No Trespassing signs gave me pause. Plus, I was more than three miles from my starting point now and the mercury was quickly rising. My tired bones needed to make a move for home.

The return trip got me thinking about other running/hiking/biking trails that give you a peek at some of American golf’s most hallowed grounds and toughest tees times. Driving by these courses is, of course, also an option, but running or walking gives you more time to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells (that salty air!), and to digest the nuances of the landscape. At the top of the list, surely, is 17-Mile Drive, which winds past Monterey Peninsula Club, Spyglass Hill and even gives you a glimpse of the fabled Alister MacKenzie design at Cypress Point Club. Farther south, the roadway offers glimpses of the glories of Pebble Beach. The downside: Who wants to run 17 miles?

Ardmore Street and Golf House Road, which run by and through Merion Golf Club, are a much more manageable jaunt. On Google Maps, I charted a 2.25-mile route that would give you an unobstructed look at the 1st and 2nd holes, plus much of the back nine. Burning calories as you relive Justin Rose’s stirring U.S. Open win? Even your Peleton can’t offer you that. Another U.S. Open venue, Oakmont Country Club, is famously divided by the Pennsylvania Turnpike but has two strikes against it: (1) it’s no fun running with 18-wheelers, and (2) the thoroughfare offers no views of the course because it sits beneath it.  

A couple of roads and trails that run through renowned public courses also come to mind: navigating Round Swamp Road affords you a great look at one of the hardest holes in golf, the par-4 15th at the Black Course at Bethpage State Park. On the other side of the country, Bandon Dunes serves up six miles of hiking trails that meander through four of its much-heralded courses. The most taxing of those traverses, the 2.4-mile Dunetrail, within Bandon Trails, rewards hikers and runners with a diverse medley of flora and fauna, ranging from Port Orford cedars to pileated woodpeckers.     

This past week, resting comfortably on my couch, I polled my colleagues for more of golf’s most thrilling arteries. (Golf Road, which runs parallel to the 18th hole at the Old Course at St. Andrews, is the game’s road de resistance but, for the purposes of this exercise, we’re keeping things stateside.) East End Road, on Fishers Island, offers a fantastic view of a golf course even more exclusive than Maidstone: the Seth Raynor gem at Fishers Island Club. At the historic Field Club of Omaha, golfers must cross a public street — Woolworth Avenue —  four times during their rounds. The club has unsuccessfully lobbied the city to close parts of the road, claiming it has hurt the club’s ability to attract new members. For shame! What fun would closing it be for us sneakered snoopers?!

Tuckahoe Road runs directly past Shinnecock Hills’ clapboard clubhouse and offers a peek of not only the course at Shinnecock but also of the design at its vastly underrated neighbor, Southampton GC. Take Tuckahoe until you hit Sebonac Road. A left turn there will lead you to Shrubland Road, which takes you smack-dab through the southern end of the National Golf Links of America with views to Sebonack Golf Club.

The whole loop is about 4.2 miles, a journey you’ll not soon forget. (My colleague Michael Bamberger told me that for a magazine piece he wrote about NGL in the 1980s, the photographer assigned to the story snapped all of his pictures from, yep … the road.)

As for Washington Road, the commercial thoroughfare that borders Augusta National? Sadly, a run up that street won’t reveal even an inch of Augusta’s verdant fairways. But if golf-road hunters know where to look, they can sneak a look at something even better: Magnolia Lane.  

The post How to tour America’s most exclusive golf courses, and burn calories while doing it appeared first on Golf.

The post From Merion to St. Andrews: The five best opening tee shots in golf appeared first on Golf.

The post From Merion to St. Andrews: The five best opening tee shots in golf appeared first on Golf.

1. Old Course at St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Scotland
“Knees knocking, everyone watching.”
“So wide yet so scary.”
“The hair stands up on any normal neck.”
“It’s so wide…and yet the OB stakes on the right are so white.”
“100+ yards wide never looked so narrow. Did I mention the burn?”

The first hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Courtesy of Today's Golfer

---

2. Merion GC (East)
Ardmore, Pa.
“From lunch to the first tee in less than 10 seconds!”
“Quiet please, on table four.”
“Why did the glassware and silverware suddenly stop clinking when I took my stance?”
“You do not want to hook one here.”
“Would everyone please stop looking at me?”
“At lunch time, it is the scariest opening tee shot.”
“Great anticipation versus fear and exposure!”

The first hole at Merion Golf Club is a good one.

Getty Images

---

3. Machrihanish GC
Argyll, Scotland
“All of Scotland to the right.”
“That drive over the Atlantic!”
“How much do I take off the first shot of the day?”
“Entire rounds have been mentally surrendered here.”
“Better hope the wind is not directly into your face.”
“It’s the ultimate in risk/reward in a dramatic setting.”
“Scary and unique…think of the permissions needed to build this today.”

The opening tee shot at Machrihanish in Scotland.

Getty Images

---

4. Portstewart (Strand)
Portstewart, Northern Ireland
“How steep is that drop?”
“Nothing prepares you for the stunning view down the 1st.”

The opening tee at Portstewart in Northern Ireland.

The New York Times

---

5. Old Prestwick GC
Prestwick, Scotland
“Hope my tee ball doesn’t start heading south in the adjacent coal train.”
“A trip back in time with the railroad!”

The opening tee shot at Old Prestwick is one of golf's most iconic.

Courtesy of Old Prestwick

---

The post From Merion to St. Andrews: The five best opening tee shots in golf appeared first on Golf.