With the arrival of each new Top 100 ranking, the world’s premier course architects peek to see where their work stands — even as they’re skeptical about this business of calling something “the best.” But push them a bit (or a lot) and they’ll offer up their own riffs on what makes a golf course list-worthy, unforgettable and great. For a lengthy roundtable discussion video-captured for GOLF.com’s InsideGOLF, Senior Writer Josh Sens huddled with four course design virtuosos — Tom Doak (Pacific Dunes, No. 19; Ballyneal, No. 35); Bill Coore (Sand Hills, No. 7; Friar’s Head, No. 15); Andrew Green (Oak Hill, No. 36; Inverness, No. 41) and Rob Collins (Landmand, Sweetens Cove) — to chat about all things Top 100. Here are excerpts from that conversation. You can also watch the full video interview on this page.
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GOLF: We recently released our latest iteration of our Top 100 Courses in the U.S. list, so we wanted to have a conversation with some of the experts who’ve created a number of the courses we love to play and argue about. I know there’s ambivalence among designers about course rankings. Bill, over time, you’ve expressed misgivings, possibly seeing these lists as a necessary evil. What are some of your hesitations when you think about rankings?
Bill Coore: I totally understand their purpose, and certainly Ben [Crenshaw, Coore’s design partner] and I have been beneficiaries of them. From a business standpoint, the rankings have been a very positive aspect of our business. I just struggle a bit. How do you pick the best golf courses? It’s so subjective. To me, it’s like viewing any art form: One person viewing that piece of work might think it’s absolutely fabulous; a person with a different perspective might think it’s far less than fabulous. I do really struggle when they try to put them in a numerical order and say, “This is the best golf course in the United States.” I just don’t know how you can possibly do that.
Andrew, I see you nodding your head.
Andrew Green: Yeah, I just think of how much goes into [the experience]: the weather on the day the panelist is playing; how they play the golf course; what is the condition of the turf that day? There’s so many different things that could play into it that maybe aren’t even at the root of the way the golf course presents itself throughout the year. But, at the same time, it’s obviously a fun thing to talk about.
Rob, you’re one of the younger guys on this panel. As you were getting started in the business, did you give much thought to the rankings? Did they influence the way you thought about design or the work you set out to do?
Rob Collins: I was an art history major in college, so I think about golf architecture and golf courses as being a work of art — good or bad or indifferent or somewhere in between. [Laughs] And I think that the criticism in golf architecture is similar to art criticism, and Bill alluded to this: It kind of all comes down to how much the taste profile of the critic is aligned with the art that they’re viewing. But back to your question: I don’t think you really go out necessarily to design something that’s going to be ranked. You do the best you can for any given site.
Rankings, I suppose, are a reflection of architectural tastes and trends. But do they also influence those things?
Tom Doak: Well, I think it’s a full circle. The more you put certain styles of golf courses and certain designers’ courses on the rankings, the more people respect them — and then they’re excited about what [your] next project [will be]. So it circles back and forth. That’s why if you look at the rankings from 30 years ago and you look at them today, there’s a bunch of different names. It’s not that this current generation of architects is blowing away what those guys did 30 years ago, it’s that tastes have changed. To me, this is all subjective. But when I’m trying to decide what I think the best courses are, one of the things that they are is… there’s something really different about them than everything else. You couldn’t name three golf courses that were more different than Pine Valley, Augusta and the Old Course at St. Andrews. They’re all one-of-a-kind places.
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Andrew, I’m going to put you on the spot. Pine Valley has had a stranglehold on the top spot in GOLF’s rankings for some time now. Is it the best course in the country? And if not, what is?
Green: Oh, goodness. Yeah, I like to say it’s maybe the best utilization of a piece of ground ever. Obviously, there’s also the experience part to the rankings. It’s the ambience, the history, the lore and the aura of a place that plays into it. When you pull into those very humble gates at Pine Valley, there’s a certain presence that’s supremely unique.
Rob, what about you? Is it number one?
Collins: [Laughs] Well, I guess, if I put myself in the critic’s chair. But for me — and I’m not saying this because Bill is here — I prefer Sand Hills over Pine Valley. Not that Pine Valley’s not an amazing course, but, if I could split hypothetically the number of rounds out of 10, I would choose more rounds at Sand Hills than Pine Valley.
Inquiring minds are going to want to know: What’s Tom Doak’s No. 1 course in the country?
Doak: Well, I wrote a book [The Confidential Guide to Courses] a few years ago and stuck my neck way out and gave my opinions of all these golf courses, and I rated about a dozen of them as 10s. And, to me, it’s kinda silly to try to pick between those. Splitting hairs between Pinehurst and Shinnecock and National and Cypress Point — I don’t really see the point.
Bill, I’ve heard famous chefs say that if they’re going to listen to all the great things that critics say about their work, then they have to listen to all the negative criticism too. So they choose to ignore all of it. Does that come into play in golf course design?
Coore: We could all sit here and say that we choose to ignore it or [that] we don’t care. We’re human. Yeah, if somebody says, “You really screwed this up,” it’s not like you’re going to want to pick up every review. But you can’t ignore them. I would just say, try to maintain some sense of balance. It’s like everybody here today has said: “How do you pick a No. 1?” Is Pine Valley really better than Cypress Point or Royal County Down? Any individual person might say, “Well, that’s my preference.” My preference may be one of those others. That said, [the rankings], it’s kind of a fun thing.
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