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Curious about how GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World list comes together? This behind-the-scenes conversation with our expert course raters shines a light on the process. The group discusses the most important trends and surprises from this year’s list. Which course just missed the cut? How did the pandemic impact the rating process? Will another course ever challenge Pine Valley for the top spot? GOLF Architecture Editor Ran Morrissett, course raters Thomas Brown and Simon Holt, and GOLF Senior Editor Sean Zak share their insights.

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The post 10 of the toughest tee times to get on GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World ranking appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 of the toughest tee times to get on GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World ranking appeared first on Golf.

Our list of the greatest courses in the world features a wide range of amazing places to play. But these 10 courses all share one thing in common: you need to be well-connected to get a tee time.

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The post Golf’s traditions they are a changin’, if more gradually than some would like appeared first on Golf.

The post Golf’s traditions they are a changin’, if more gradually than some would like appeared first on Golf.

Golf doesn’t do social justice, or least not well. The game’s underlying value is more basic than even that rich two-word phrase. Golf bends toward the light of fair, toward do-the-right-thing. Every rules question ultimately goes to those two things. Broadly speaking, golf gets there — to fair — slowly, but it gets there.

On Friday, Pine Valley sent out a letter to its members announcing the club’s first three female members. Pine Valley was founded as a private men’s club in 1913. That was perfectly normal, then. All-male golf clubs were commonplace in American society, for many decades. Now they are not. Society and its values changed and its golf clubs have, too. Over time. Golf doesn’t rush.

Not in any regard. Last week, two golfers, Harris English and Kramer Hickok needed more than two hours at the Tour’s venerable Hartford stop to play a sudden-death playoff that went eight holes. Eight driver-wedge holes. No wind. No rules issues. Two hours, six minutes. For two world-class golfers? That’s hideous.

News

Pine Valley admits first female members, including Annika Sorenstam

By: Sean Zak

Yes, four back-to-the-tee cart rides, once the playoff began, slowed things down. Still, the pace was painfully slow, especially on the greens. It’s not the fault of these two players. It’s the culture in which they were raised. They don’t know what our ancestors did: Golf is just not that important.

I predict, sometime in the next 100 or so years, the rules of golf will be changed, in the name of faster putting.

*Stripes will not be allowed on balls;

*Golfers will not be allowed to straddle their putting lines;

*Only brief ball-marking will be allowed, so that a soiled ball may be cleaned, unless a ball is in another player’s putting line.

*No repairs to the green will be allowed except for obvious ball indentations;

*In stroke play, the golfer who is putting will continue to putt until he or she or they finishes the hole.

Those handful of changes in the rules might sound like a wild segue from where we started today, nodding toward social justice. Au contraire, my good peeps. The nod to modern pronoun usage is more than window dressing. For one thing, the number of transgender golfers will only increase over time. (Welcome!)

Also, a faster game is a more egalitarian game. Faster golf would eventually yield lower green fees and a more affordable game. Faster golf would encourage more people to play, from a wider variety of backgrounds. Arnold Palmer and Lee Elder and Lee Trevino were not country-clubbers. They played after work.

Golf was never meant to be a leisure activity. It’s a rugged cross-country game. It requires hiking, bending, twisting, raking. Plus, you are your own grounds crew. Leave the course as good, if not better, than you found it, for the benefit of the golfers behind you. A foundation of fairness.

As Augusta National’s leadership looks to its founding fathers, Bob Jones and Cliff Roberts, for guidance, it always serves us well to look at how our forebears in Scotland played, and play, the game. The Old Course is a muni, you know. There are no truly private courses in Scotland. Every course there is open for outside play. The first shot at next year’s Open Championship, No. 150, at St. Andrews, will (he typed optimistically) the official end of this pandemic, golf-style. 

Back to do the right thing. At the Detroit tournament this week, the Rocket Mortgage Classic, there was one spot reserved for a Black golfer. There was a special 36-hole qualifying event called the John Shippen National Invitational.

News

At The John Shippen, opportunity abounds for Black golfers. Which is exactly the point

By: Sean Zak

As a starting point, more people are now aware of this important name in golf history. Shippen was a slight, young Black teenager when he played in the second U.S. Open, held at Shinnecock Hills in 1896. His father was a minister at the neighboring Shinnecock Indian Reservation. Club members paid his entrance fee. When some players objected to his presence in the field, the USGA president, Theodore Havemeyer, said that the tournament would be called unless Shippen and his buddy Oscar Bunn, a Shinnecock Indian, played. Talk about doing the right thing.

Shippen finished in a tie for fifth. That earned him $10. (The equivalent today is about $320.) As for Havemeyer’s legacy, there’s a venerable trophy with his name on it. Tiger won it in 1994, ’95 and ’96. (The U.S. Am. Nice.) Tim O’Neal, a 48-year-old journeyman golfer, now has a trophy with Shippen’s name on it. How great.

A sponsor’s exemption is just that — the folks who put up the purse get a few spots for the players they choose. It happens every week. There is no question that this whole idea of reserving a spot in the Rocket Mortgage field for a Black golfer is noble in its intent. You can see the fingerprints of Dan Gilbert, an owner of the company and the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, right on the John Shippen Trophy.

News

Timothy O'Neal plays his way into Rocket Mortgage Classic with win at inaugural John Shippen

By: Sean Zak

I am completely in favor of doing what you can to correct historic wrongs, and the hardships that Black golfers have found in this game, on their way to the first tee, is revolting. I don’t think that reserving a place in a PGA Tour event on the basis of a player’s skin color does anything to either correct a historic wrong or to make the game better, despite the good intentions. But it’s not my tournament, not my money, not my logic at work here. 

The history of law is filled with references to “reasonable men.” Reasonable men may differ. Now people say reasonable people may differ. Reasonable minds may differ. The old rule book used he in every example. Now it uses he and she. That usage will look dated before long, and to some it already does. (From the first page: For each stroke, the player plays the course as he or she finds it, and plays the ball as it lies.)

You don’t turn to golf looking for social justice. But fairness is at its core. The game has had far too many walls surrounding far too many first tees for far too long. As our guy said to their guy back in ‘87, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Slowly — too slowly — they’re coming down.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

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When Pine Valley Golf Club knows what it wants, it does not wait long to take action.

Two months after announcing it would open its doors to female membership, the venerated club has admitted Annika Sorenstam, Sarah Ingram and Meghan Stasi, per an email sent to members Friday morning by club president Jim Davis. 

Sorenstam, whose game needs no introduction, is the biggest name of the three, widely regarded as one of the best female golfers of all-time with 10 career majors and a recent induction in the World Golf Hall of Fame. She continues to be deeply involved with the game, serving as the president of the International Golf Federation. 

While the other two new members might not have dominated the pro game like Sorenstam, each has starred in her own corner of the game.

News

Pine Valley is No. 1 (again): Tom Doak explains why this gem leads our Top 100 Courses in the World ranking

By: Tom Doak

Ingram hails from Nashville, Tenn., and is a Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame inductee after a decorated amateur career that saw her compete in multiple Curtis Cups. She is currently the Curtis Cup captain for the American side.

Stasi is a New Jersey native and was a member of the 2008 Curtis Cup squad, which won the biennial match hosted that year at St. Andrews’ Old Course. She is a member of the Florida State Golf Association Hall of Fame. 

On April 30, Pine Valley, which is home to the No. 1-ranked golf course in the world, announced internally that it wanted to land “on the right side of history,” and thus would hope to have its first female members accepted and introduced by the end of the year. Nine weeks later, here we are. The club also said it would remove any gender-specific language from its governing bylaws. 

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The post ‘The right side of history’: Pine Valley to allow women members, loosen playing restrictions appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘The right side of history’: Pine Valley to allow women members, loosen playing restrictions appeared first on Golf.

Measured by prestige and architectural merit, no one would deny Pine Valley’s greatness.

But there’s always been one thing about the No. 1-ranked golf course in the world: It has never allowed women as members. 

That’s about to change.

On Friday evening, at an annual meeting of Pine Valley trustees and members, the club voted to remove all gender-specific language from its bylaws.

News

Pine Valley is No. 1 (again): Tom Doak explains why this gem leads our Top 100 Courses in the World ranking

By: Tom Doak

As part of the decision, women, who were also previously limited to playing the course on Sunday afternoons, will now be able to use the club without restrictions.

Word of the decision, GOLF.com has learned, went out to the Pine Valley membership by way of an email Friday from club president Jim Davis, who opened his message by saying that the club had made an “historic change.”

“The future of golf must move toward inclusion,” the email continued, “and I am pleased to report that the Trustees and members of the Pine Valley Golf Club voted unanimously and with enthusiasm to remove all gender-specific language from our bylaws.”

Davis said that the club “will begin immediately identifying women candidates for membership” and expected to have its first female members by the end of the year.

In keeping with club custom, Davis said, prospective members would have to be deemed socially compatible, deeply passionate about golf and skilled enough to play the course “with the skill level our founder George Crump intended.”

Crump was a Philadelphia hotelier, and Pine Valley was his first and only design. The course opened in 1914 as an 11-hole layout and was completed in 1922, after Crump’s death. 

Pine Valley has been a fixture atop GOLF’s Top 100 World rankings for decades, as it has on many other respected lists.

Now, it can be commended for moving into the 21st century with its policies, a point that Davis also underscored in his email to members.

Courses

Top 100 Courses in the World, 2020-21: GOLF's raters name the best of the best

By: GOLF Editors

“On a personal note, I have been thinking about this for a long time and, frankly, it’s overdue,” wrote Davis, who went on to recount a conversation he’d once had with a fellow member while on the course. As they were walking up the 15th hole, that member had said to Davis, “Remember, we don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.”

Davis closed by saying that the club would not be “changing the things we love most about Pine Valley.”

“We are simply continuing down the path of making our Club more inclusive,” he wrote. “We want to be proud of Pine Valley in all respects, and I am convinced this change puts us on the right side of history.”

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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.

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The post Why is Pine Valley always #1? appeared first on Golf.

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GOLF.com’s Architecture Editor Ran Morrissett sits down with Senior Writer Dylan Dethier to discuss what distinguishes Pine Valley from other U.S. courses.

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The post The best hole I ever played: Inside a penal, strategic and heroic 18th appeared first on Golf.

The post The best hole I ever played: Inside a penal, strategic and heroic 18th appeared first on Golf.

Our knowledgeable crew of course raters have stuck pegs in the ground just about everywhere. But which holes stand out as the greatest they’ve ever played? We asked them, and they replied with love letters about their faves.

Founded in 1913 by a group of amateur golfers from Philadelphia, Pine Valley Golf Club sits in the pine barrens of Southern New Jersey. It was designed by George Crump, with input from other notable players and architects of the day. Crump sold a Philly hotel and put his life and fortune into building Pine Valley, his one and only course.

But his investment of time and money paid off. As you come off the 17th green — either wishing you had played better and/or praying to finish a good round — you climb a small rise to the middle 18th tee. (Pine Valley has three tee options: Back, Regular and Senior.) Like many of the holes at Pine Valley, the 18th was designed on a grand scale. The elevated tee shot is a forced carry over rugged pine barrens. The ample fairway below slopes gradually to the right. That, along with the prevailing wind, will magnify a fade and can make it play much narrower than it appears.

A strategically played drive favors the left half of the fairway, avoiding the deep penal bunkers along the right side, and setting up a heroic second shot to a massive green that is tilted from back to front and left to right, with ragged-faced bunkers in front and deep bunkers on the sides. You could make the argument that any hole at Pine Valley could be its signature hole. But to me, the 18th is the best of the best, sitting at the end of a challenging and memorable round on a course that incorporates the three main guiding principles of great golf-course architecture: it is penal, strategic and heroic. This demanding par-4 is all you could ever want in a finishing hole. Regardless of the outcome, one cannot wait to play it — and the entire course — again. And again.

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The post The magic number? 3. Here are the 25 best par-3 courses in the world appeared first on Golf.

The post The magic number? 3. Here are the 25 best par-3 courses in the world appeared first on Golf.

With detailed input from GOLF’s 88-member Top 100 Courses ranking panel, its editors, architects from around the world and select other short-course aficionados, we’ve compiled GOLF’s first long look at “short courses,” including our inaugural ranking of the world’s 50 greatest 9-hole tracks, plus the 25 best sub-6,000-yard courses and 25 best par-3 courses. Because good things really do come in small packages.

For the par-3 tracks, we’ve arranged 25 of the world’s best from oldest to youngest. (GOLF plans to do a proper ranking in the near future.) Doing so underscores just how popular par-3 courses have become recently. More than a third of our list opened in the past five years, including two this year, making par-3 courses maybe the hottest trend in architecture. Just look at the design names attached to these tracks: Nicklaus, Fazio, Dye, Doak, Hanse, Coore, Crenshaw.

Many of North America’s high-end resorts have cottoned to the fact that not every golfer needs or wants to play a full-length course twice in a day. From Bandon Dunes to Sand Valley and Cabot Links to Pinehurst Resort, par-3 tracks now thrive.

“The growing popularity of par-3 courses is a wonderful anomaly in a game often obsessed with distance,” says Adam Messix, a head PGA professional in Cashiers, N.C. “From one perspective, par-3 courses are a test of precision. More important, I think, they’re a joy to play for golfers of every caliber. Par-3 courses lack the formality you see at quote-unquote real courses, where you have to follow golf’s various conventions, like four players maximum to a group. They’re all about fun, families, friends and inclusiveness. Their ability to include all players make them the ideal place to enjoy the game no matter one’s age or ability.”

Tackling one of them is also a fantastic way to hone your short-game skills, where the game is generally won and lost.

The 25 best par-3 courses (listed from oldest to youngest)

* Course descriptions compiled by GOLF’s Top 100 Course Panelists and GOLF staffers.

Augusta National, Augusta, Ga., (Cobb & Roberts/1958)

Expert’s take: Perhaps the most famous par-3 course in the world ever since the annual Masters Par-3 Contest was broadcast on TV, this charming layout wraps around two ponds (DeSoto Springs and Ike’s) and employs tiny yet speedy greens.

Grand National/Magnolia Grove at RTJ Trail, Opelika/Mobile, Ala. (Robert Trent Jones Sr./1992)

Expert’s take: More than half of the 18-hole short course at Grand National runs along Lake Saugahatchee and has a nice mix of difficult tee shots and tricky pins. The short course at Magnolia Grove got even better after a renovation years ago that gave a makeover to a number of greens.

Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, N.J. (Tom Fazio/1992)

Expert’s take: In my opinion it’s the best thought-out par-3 attached to a big course. The idea to create templates for some of the big course’s approach shots was brilliantly conceived and superbly executed.

The Olympic Club (Cliffs), San Francisco, Calif. (Tom Weiskopf/1994)

Expert’s take: Many consider the Cliffs course to be the most fun layout at The Olympic Club, and the Morrish-Weiskopf team did a fantastic job routing these holes along the Pacific cliffs back in the 90s. The conditioning is always near perfect and the bunkering really replicates the Lake Course challenges. The views, however, are what makes this course so special. Play it!

Headwaters, Cashiers, N.C. (Tom Fazio/1999)

Expert’s take: Tom Fazio created a nine-hole gem with tremendous variety in its subtle greens. Combine this with a stunning mountain setting with idyllic flora to make repeat rounds in one day.

Hamilton Farm (Hickory), Far Hills, N.J. (Hurdzan & Fry/2001)

Expert’s take: One of the most fun two hours you can spend on a golf course. This is no pitch and putt. Eighteen beautifully maintained green complexes ranging in length from 104 to 229 yards.

Kanawha Club, Manakin-Sabot, Va. (Lester George/2003)

Expert’s take: This private 9-hole par-3 course has undulating greens and superb conditioning. It calls for shots ranging from 108 yards to 225 yards (from the back tees), but don’t dismiss the middle or forward tees, either. They call for just as many exciting shots from different numbers, some as short as 62 yards.

Quarry at La Quinta, La Quinta, Calif. (Tom Fazio/2003)

Expert’s take: A very sporty short course and always in unbelievable condition. The landscaping, running water, rock work and incredible turf grass make this an unforgettable experience, and the golf holes themselves are loads of fun to play.

Palm Beach Par-3, Palm Beach, Fla. (Dick Wilson/1961; Updated by Raymond Floyd/2009)

Expert’s take: Stunning views of the ocean and intercoastal waterway. A great place for family fun. My son and I played there many times when he was a junior. An added benefit is the outstanding restaurant overlooking the dunes and ocean for lunch or post-round drinks.

Origins GC, Watersound, Fla. (Davis Love III/2006)

Expert’s take: There’s more than one way to tackle this gem. The Origins Course has six regulation holes yet also plays as a 10-hole par-3 short course that’s not only a blast but extremely walkable. Played at about 1,800 yards, the course is forgiving enough for beginners yet still calls for strategic shots for experienced players.

Mission Hills Haikou (Stepping Stone), Hainan, China (Brian Curley/2010)

Expert’s take: As the architect here (Brian Curley), I wanted to create an experience where only a few clubs were needed (holes range from about 100-150 yards) and something that was more target-style as opposed to the typical par-3 built upon a connected swath of turf. Key to its presentation is that while there are paths for maintenance (and the few golfers who do have a cart), golfers walk a straight line through the lava rock on unique trails that weave through vegetated lava rock walls. Wild variety of green designs and any hole can be inserted into any of the full-scale courses.

The Prairie Club (Horse), Valentine, Neb. (Hanse & Shackelford/2010)

Expert’s take: No tee boxes? Yes, please. This 10-hole short course lets you call the shots, and it’s a blast. It can play anywhere from 485 to 1,125 yards and is the perfect way to start or end your day at The Prairie Club. Better yet, it’s complimentary with any visit, with a suggested donation to The Prairie Club Foundation.

The Olde Farm, Bristol, Va. (Bobby Weed/2011)

Expert’s take: The Orchard Course has holes ranging from 50 to 130 yards, yet you can always pick your own route and swing away. There are a ton of different shots to pull off to increase the fun factor.

Bandon Dunes (Bandon Preserve), Bandon, Ore. (Coore & Crenshaw/2012)

Expert’s take: The best-kept secret at Bandon Dunes. The trip will not be complete if you did not play the Bandon Preserve. It’s 13 holes of pure golf joy — and make sure to use your putter when teeing off on the last hole.

St. Andrews Club, Delray Beach, Fla. (Pete & Alice Dye/2013)

Expert’s take: An 18-hole par-3 course designed by the Dyes is exactly how you would imagine it — challenging. Yet it’s a gorgeous walk with few trees, water views and blooming flowers. A blast for any age.

Big Cedar Lodge (Top of the Rock), Ridgedale, Mo. (Jack Nicklaus/2014)

Expert’s take: The Top of the Rock Golf Course is the first-ever par-3 course to be included in a pro golf tournament (Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf) and looks even better in person than it did on TV. Dramatic tee shots, waterfalls, lakes and gorgeous golf holes make this place a must-play for any trip to Big Cedar Lodge.

Scottsdale National (Bad Little 9), Scottsdale, Ariz. (J. Kahn Golf Course Design/2016)

Expert’s take: Perhaps the most diabolical nine holes in all of golf. Impossible for ANYONE to play in par or better. Purportedly modeled after a video game. Who says life can’t imitate art? A mix between devil and delight, no player can help but smile when a well-struck wedge is but the mere start of an adventure.

Pinehurst (The Cradle), Pinehurst, N.C. (Gil Hanse/2017)

Expert’s take: Brilliant design and fun experience for all levels of golfers. The sandscapes incorporated as part of the design provide stunning views. The adjacent Thistle Dhu putting course makes this a can’t-miss experience for those coming to the area.

Ballyneal (The Mulligan), Holyoke, Colo. (Tom Doak/2017)

Expert’s take: There are 12 greens here but no right way to play The Mulligan Course. It’s creativity at its finest — both in how you play your round and the shots you need to pull off. Less than five years old, this place is still somewhat unknown but definitely a gem.

Big Cedar Lodge (Mountain Top), Ridgedale, Mo. (Gary Player/2018)

Expert’s take: Thirteen holes that are more like an adventure with golf clubs. It has dramatic views and some really fun but fair golf holes. My personal favorite among all of the courses there.

Sand Valley (The Sandbox), Nekoosa, Wis. (Coore & Crenshaw/2018)

Expert’s take: When they designed The Sandbox, Coore and Crenshaw wanted to break the typical golf mold. So they designed 17 holes and ended it at that. Seventeen! How great is that? And the 17th ends with an 83-yarder that mimics Pine Valley’s famous par-3 10th (with the Devil’s Asshole bunker). On most days the entire course can be played with exactly three clubs: a lob wedge, one slightly longer club, and the flatstick. We love that.

The Concession GC (The Gimme), Bradenton, Fla. (Chris Cochran/Nicklaus Design/2019)

Expert’s take: This is barely a year old and fun for a number of reasons, but the best part is in the name: it’s called The Gimme as a hat tip to Jack Nicklaus’ conceded putt to Tony Jacklin in the 1969 Ryder Cup. So, what’s that mean for you? Everything inside two feet, as marked on the flagstick, is good!

The Hills (The Farm), Arrowtown, New Zealand (Darius Oliver/2019)

Expert’s take: Brilliantly routed to follow the water race, the Farm is a leisurely walk across dramatic land overlooking postcard views of Queenstown. The nine par-3s are eminently playable with huge teeing areas providing extensive options and alternative routes which provides challenge and fun for all abilities. From the back plates it’s a helluva test whilst from the front you can play each hole with a putter. An epic set of greens are punctuated by a dell, halfpipe and a wild double green which may well be the biggest putting surface Down Under.

Les Bordes Golf International (Wild Piglet), Saint-Laurent-Nouan, France (Gil Hanse/2020)

Expert’s take: A 10-hole par-3 that opened this year. Yardages are from 131 yards to 198. Gil Hanse has been on a roll with his short courses. Just wish this one was closer!

Cabot Links (The Nest), Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada (Whitman & Axland/2020)

Expert’s take: It’s hard to imagine Cabot getting better since it already had the Links and Cliffs courses, but the 1,300-yard Nest was a fantastic changeup. You can hit wedges and woods and, despite being a par-3 course, that’s angles aplenty.

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The post Here are the 5 most famous bunkers in golf (and how to conquer them) appeared first on Golf.

The post Here are the 5 most famous bunkers in golf (and how to conquer them) appeared first on Golf.

What’s the most common hazard in golf? The one you can find on (almost) every hole on every course. Bunkers. And while many bunkers are unimaginative, there are a few that are so great they earn status.

Sometimes, status comes from imitation — bunkers that are reused on courses around the world because of their excellence and strategic vigor. Others are so iconic that no one would dare copy them.

So what separates a famous bunker from an average one? Its name. Here are the five most famous (and weirdly named) bunkers in golf.

Travel

The 5 weirdest design features in golf and what makes them so strange

By: Desi Isaacson

Principal Nose

The original appears on the 16th hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews. Maybe the best name for a bunker in all of golf, this design has been copied all over the globe. Two bunkers sit side by side with a bump (nose) between them, making them appear similar to nostrils.

From a distance, you might not see the resemblance, but once you hear their name, it’s hard to think of anything else. Like many features from overseas, C.B. Macdonald was the first to bring the principle (pun intended) to the U.S., first at the National Golf Links of America, and then at several other courses designed with Seth Raynor. This bunker complex is large enough that it forces strategy when placed correctly, the best are often placed right in the middle of the fairway.

Lion’s Mouth

The name lion’s mouth incites fear into whoever hears it, and for good reason. This bunker is part of the lion’s mouth hole template, which is one of the most striking in all of golf. The original is also from St. Andrews, but the Old Course’s version doesn’t look much like the template that made its way throughout golf.

There are variations on shape, but typically a lion’s mouth bunker sits below the surface of the green, meaning you might short side yourself to several pin locations because the green will surround you. It is a treacherous-looking shot, but makes for some wonderful strategic questions.

The Country Club of Charleston has a wonderful example of a Seth Raynor-built lion’s mouth. Since then, Coore and Crenshaw built a fantastic lion’s mouth template at Sand Hills and Gil Hanse built one at Rustic Canyon.

Road Hole bunker

This bunker comes from possibly the most iconic hole in all of golf, the 17th (Road Hole) at St. Andrews. While the hole and the bunker are named for the road that runs behind the green, the deep pot bunker that sits in front might be even more integral to the hole’s strategy.

The bunker is deep and difficult to escape, but it is just as much about the angles it forces players to consider from the tee. This bunker usually sits off the front left portion of a green with little depth. This forces players to try to stay as far right as possible for the best angle into the hole, staying far away from this dreaded bunker. Seth Raynor and C.B. Macdonald built many versions of this bunker and template all over the U.S.

Church Pews

The church pews have undergone some major changes since the original Oakmont Country Club design by Henry Fownes. Its current iteration is a massive bunker with twelve turf islands within.

This round-killer sits between the 3rd and 4th fairways and can derail you before you even find a rhythm. The “pews” as they are called, are long strips of grass that run from one end of the bunker to the other, perpendicular to the direction of the hole. This means you can get unlucky trying to clear a lip no matter where you end up.

The area originally had separate bunkers, then there were eight pews, now it’s all the way up to twelve. And you don’t just have to avoid them once, but twice. When playing the third, the church pews are down the left, but there isn’t much room to bailout with deep bunkers down the right as well. On the par-5 4th, there are again bunkers guarding the opposite side of the fairway. You might find islands in bunkers around the US that make lies more difficult, but none will make you pray to the heavens like the pews at Oakmont.

Devil’s A******

It might be more accurate to call our last bunker infamous rather than famous. We find ourselves at the #1 ranked course in the world, George Crump’s master creation, Pine Valley.

Hole #10 brings players to a short par-3, only 142 yards from the tips. The green falls off around much of the edge with large bunkers on either side. But neither of those are what truly strikes fear into the hearts of golfers.

Sitting just short of the green on the right side is a bunker so small and deep that you need stairs to get in and out. Trying to get a sand shot over the front wall of this funnel-shaped bunker is nearly impossible. The smart shot is often to play out backward. The front of the green slopes off toward this bunker so even a shot you think is safe might slowly pick up speed as it funnels down into the bunker (with you watching in horror). The hole might be short, but like the bunker, the penalty for a mistake might be the steepest in the world.

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