Golfweek is the
most recent national golf publication to release a list of the nation's best
courses. Last week's issue included Golfweek's
best modern course, best classic courses as well state-by-state rankings of the
country's best public-access courses.
In the classic course category, top billing went to California's Cypress Point Golf Club designed by Alister MacKenzie. The course was once used for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, but ceased doing so in 1981. Cypress Point was also received high marks by Golf Magazine in that publication's last rankings, being named No. 2 on a list of Top 100 Golf Course in the World.
Following Cypress Point in the Classic Course category was Pine Valley Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Merion Golf Club and Oakmont Country Club.
Other notables from the list include Pebble Beach Golf Links (7), Pinehurst No. 2 (14), Bethpage Black (18), Riviera (24), Peachtree Golf Club (33) and Dunes Golf & Beach Club (94).
Golfweek's rankings are unique in that they employ an exclusive system that acknowledges that before 1960, most course designers relied on native contours for course features.
Ironically enough, the No. 1 ranked course on the Modern Course list is Nebraska's Sand Hills Golf Club, located in Mullen, Neb., which has a population of less than 600 residents.
The Sand Hills, which opened in 1995, has been called the most natural course built in the United States since World War I. The design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw had 8,000 acres to choose from when building the 18-hole course. The two men reportedly walked the property for more than 24 months before settling on a routing that yielded the best 18-hole sequence. Design costs were kept to a minimum and little land was moved in building the holes.
The private club is virtually in the middle of nowhere, with Denver, Colo., being the closest large city. The Sand Hills is a five and a half hour drive northeast to Denver. This course defies the assumption that as the game became more popular designers began to utilize high-tech engineering and advanced mechanical means to transform landscapes to suit their design. In reality, the Sand Hills was found rather than created.
The rest of the best includes Pacific Dunes, Whistling Straits, the Pete Dye Golf Club and Bandon Dunes. Other notables in the top 100 are Muirfield Village (11), TPC Sawgrass - Stadium Course (16), Ocean Course at Kiawah Island (18), Chambers Bay Golf Club (19), Harbour Town Golf Links (28), Crooked Stick Golf Club (69), Valhalla Golf Club (84), Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (98).
Legendary golf course designer Pete Dye had three courses ranked among the top 10.
"The depth of Golfweek's rating criteria and the breadth of its process are what distinguish its ranking structure from other publications," said Terry Olson, vice president and publisher of Golfweek. "Golfweek's Best Courses lists set the industry standard and are widely recognized for their integrity, credibility and unbiased evaluation of golf's finest courses."
To view the complete list of Golfweek's Best Courses, visit top100.golfweek.com/golfweeksbest.