Top 100 Courses

[cwo2lt]

I stumbled across a Golf Mag with the top 100 courses in the US listed. I noticed of the top 10 two were built after WWII, six in the top 30, and overall 38 of the courses were post WWII.

I found it very interesting that courses built that long ago, in some cases over 100 years, still held the top spots. Why do you think that is?

[Dave Ireland]

Well my personal opinion is that the courses built 100 years ago were from a time when golf was more cerebral i.e chess for the outdoors. You didn't need to boom it, but rather plot your way around, where cunning and not strength was the game to bring there. If you were polling golfers of a wide age span and of varying abilities, the courses that test your shot variety and course management will to my mind always remain a favourite of all golfers

[cwo2lt]

Excellent points, although never having played those old great courses I'll have to take your word for it. For now.

I find I like the chess part of the game myself. I don't feel a need to bomb every drive, I look at where I need to place the shot. During moments of brilliance I can actually put it there too! I try to play within myself as they say and I've been getting a couple of pars a round because of that. Not bad for someone who has yet to break 100, eh!

[Dave Ireland]

Excellent points, although never having played those old great courses I'll have to take your word for it. For now.

I find I like the chess part of the game myself. I don't feel a need to bomb every drive, I look at where I need to place the shot. During moments of brilliance I can actually put it there too! I try to play within myself as they say and I've been getting a couple of pars a round because of that. Not bad for someone who has yet to break 100, eh!

Yep agreed you're well on your way to breaking 100 with that mentality.

Taken from ESPN Site

"We can all learn from Tiger's on-course decision making at this week's British Open. Although the overall yardage was 7,258, the course was playing much shorter due to the dry conditions. Tiger took advantage, utilizing 3-woods and 2-irons off the tee. The result was greater accuracy, as he hit almost 86 percent of all fairways, leading to three eagles, 19 birdies, 43 pars, and only seven bogeys for the week.

When playing with the recreational golfer, I am often amazed at how many times driver is used when the situation begs for accuracy over length. Whether you're an amateur or a pro, the driver is the hardest club to hit straight. Controlling your ball flight with a fairway wood or hybrid club will equal more fairways hit, allowing you to be more aggressive into the green.

Many golf courses provide yardage books with distances measured to fairway bunkers and hazards. Select the club that will give you the best chance to either stay short of the trouble or carry it. Think your way around the golf course more and I guarantee you will shoot lower scores."

-- John Stahlschmidt
Teaching Professional, ESPN Golf Schools presented by Lexus

[warbirdlover]

Bomb and gougers still can have a rough time on a well designed, shorter course that has some doglegs, trees and sand and water in the right places.

[Fourputt]

A course doesn't need to measure over 7000 yards to be a serious test. There are some wonderful courses that were built in the 1920's and 1930's that will test every facet of your game... even the games of todays' pros.

[warbirdlover]

I still hate what they did to Augusta. Frickin ruined it.

[Clugnut]

To the original question, I think that there are a few reasons. One, I think that some of the prime real estate to build a beautiful, challenging, scenic course have already been used. Take away the scenery, and Alistar MacKenzie, and Pebble Beach doesn't make the top 100, IMO. There are only 3-4 really great holes there.

Another thing is that a golf course definitely "matures" and grows over the years. If you haven't taken the opportunity to play a course that is older, 60 or more years, than you need to stick this on your to-do list. They play awesome.

Nostalgia and history come into play with those ratings, too.

[SiberianDVM]

Clugnut is absolutely correct. My favorite courses in the Augusta area, the ones they will allow me to play anyway, are the OLD Donald Ross courses: Aiken Golf Club and Forest Hills. And Forest Hills was better before they "improved" it a few years ago.

If it wasn't so far to drive to Aiken, I'd play there every week.

[MCDavis]

Sib, you'd like our local muni course...old Donald Ross design that recently had 4 holes changed, short par 71, tree lined fairways, small greens.

Sanford Municipal Golf Course, City of Sanford

Come north this summer and beat me a few rounds!

[SiberianDVM]

I've been to Sanford. My old Army National Guard unit used to have it's annual training at Ft. Bragg, and Sanford was where we used to (bleep, bleep, and bleep). Ahh, the good old days.

[Eracer]

Take away the scenery, and Alistar MacKenzie, and Pebble Beach doesn't make the top 100, IMO. There are only 3-4 really great holes there.

Gotta' disagree with you here.

The first starts out a bit simple, but teeing off right next to the clubhouse adds an element not found in a lot of modern courses.

Number two plays like any other three-shotter for the amateur.

Three is a devilish little par 4, and forces you to either hit a draw, or go over the trees to avoid having a bad angle into the green. A great hole, IMO.

Four is a decent par 4.

Five is a great hole, with pin placement and wind to mess things up.

How can you not love the sixth? Uphill all the way, to a green perched at the edge of the cliff.

Seven plays like an island green. It's short, yes, but there's a lot of trouble.

Eight is one of the greatest golf holes I've ever played. Simply magnificent view from the fairway, looking down on the green for your 2nd shot.

Nine is equally stunning, with the Pacific thundering away to the right, and the fairway funneling everything towards it. This hole is a beast.

Ten is straightforward, but again, the scenery is magnificent.

Eleven through fifteen wind you inland, and are nice holes, but are nothing special.

Sixteen is a tricky hole. It's long, but a driver (even a well-struck driver) can leave you in all sorts of trouble. I think it's a great hole.

Seventeeth at Pebble Beach? Not much else need be said.

Eighteen - clearly one of the greatest finishing holes (if not one of the greatest holes) in golf.

So we have 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18 being really, really good golf holes. Five of them (6, 8, 9, 17, 18) being among the most memorable holes I've ever played. Combine that with the scenery and the history, and Pebble deserves it's spot in the rankings. No question.

And you can't forget about the fox squirrels the size of raccoons that descend on your cart, stripping it of all food products in a manner of seconds...

[cwo2lt]

To the original question, I think that there are a few reasons. One, I think that some of the prime real estate to build a beautiful, challenging, scenic course have already been used. Take away the scenery, and Alistar MacKenzie, and Pebble Beach doesn't make the top 100, IMO. There are only 3-4 really great holes there.

Another thing is that a golf course definitely "matures" and grows over the years. If you haven't taken the opportunity to play a course that is older, 60 or more years, than you need to stick this on your to-do list. They play awesome.

Nostalgia and history come into play with those ratings, too.

I was wondering about the real estate too! lol Get a nice piece of land and they put 2000 houses on it instead of a golf course.

I would like to play an old course and I will one of these days.

[MCDavis]

I've been to Sanford. My old Army National Guard unit used to have it's annual training at Ft. Bragg, and Sanford was where we used to (bleep, bleep, and bleep). Ahh, the good old days.

When was this, and where'd you go? Wasn't Studebaker's, was it? Used to be a great place...a lot of military came in on the weekends.

[SiberianDVM]

When was this, and where'd you go? Wasn't Studebaker's, was it? Used to be a great place...a lot of military came in on the weekends.

This was back in the 1970s, so long ago that I honestly don't remember. I remember meeting a girl in a bar and ending up at her trailer in Sanford. And somehow finding my way back to Bragg.

I do remember is being in a bar in Fayetteville and being warned by some of my friends not to mess with some guys who looked kind of grubby, in a muscular way. The word was that they were Delta, but who knows, because the guys who really are Delta, are the last ones who will go around broadcasting it.