The results of Golf
World's second annual "Readers' Choice Awards" are in, and it appears
that the people who voted and the so-called experts have differing opinions
when it comes to who deserves to be on top.
Perhaps the biggest surprise comes in the Public Golf Course category where Forest Dunes Golf Club, located in the tiny village of Roscommon, Michigan (Pop. 1,133), earned top honors. Forest Dunes doesn't even appear in Golf Magazine's well-respected rankings of the "Top 100 You Can Play," and Golf Digest has the course tied for 37th in its list of "100 Greatest Public Courses."
But Forest Dunes has received high praise before. Architectural Editor of Golf Digest, Ron Whitten, explains how the layout is a tale of two nines.
"Half the holes at Forest Dunes are Augusta National style rolling down majestic corridors of red and jack pines, with elaborate bunkering of gleaming white sand," Whitten wrote. "The remaining holes bring to mind Pine Valley, with dark exposed native sand littered with scruffy underbrush. The mix is artfully blended on both nines."
Forest Dunes was followed in the Public Golf Course rankings by (2) Orange County National (Winter Garden, FL); (3) Independence Golf Club (Midlothian, VA); (4) Tobacco Road Golf Club (Sanford, NC); (5) Stevinson Ranch Golf Club (Stevinson, CA).
Michigan (seven) has the most facilities on the public list of any state, followed by Nevada (five) and California/Florida (each with four).
The 2010 list features 30 public facilities that were not ranked in 2009, including (14) Cascata Golf Club (Boulder City, NV); (28) Bolingbrook Golf Club (Bolingbrook, IL); (30) Bucks Run Golf Club (Mt. Pleasant, MI) ; (39) Edgewood Tahoe (Stateline, NV); (43) The Ranch Golf Club (Southwick, MA) and (45) Harmony Golf Preserve (Harmony, FL).
Previously mentioned Augusta National Golf Club and Pine Valley Golf Club were upended in the Private Facility category by Oak Hill Country Club, host of three U.S. Open Championships and the upcoming 2013 PGA Championship.
Located in Rochester, New York, Oak Hill was witness to Cary Middlecoff's victory over Ben Hogan in the 1956 U.S. Open and Lee Trevino's triumph at the 1968 U.S. Open; the win just so happened to be Trevino's very first on the PGA Tour.
Oak Hill has hosted six premier men's championships including the U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship, the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Senior Open.
Close behind Oak Hill in the Private Course category were (T2) Augusta National Golf Club (Augusta, GA); (T2) Pine Valley Golf Club (Pine Valley, NJ); (4) Kinloch Country Club (Manakin-Sabot, VA); (5) Oakmont Country Club (Oakmont, PA).
New Jersey (seven) has the most private facilities of any state represented on the list, followed by New York (five) and Georgia/Pennsylvania (four each).
The 2010 list features 18 private facilities that were not
ranked in 2009 including (4) Kinloch GC; (7) Inverness Club (Toledo, OH); (23)
Trump National Golf Club (Briarcliff, NY) and (42) Quail Hollow (Charlotte,
NC).
An exception to the rule in the reader rankings was Kiawah Island Resort, which was named the No. 1 Golf Resort for the second year in a row. The South Carolina resort is home to the world-famous Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which has hosted a Ryder Cup and will welcome the PGA Championship in 2012.
Immediately behind Kiawah Island were (2) Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon, OR); (3) Turning Stone Resort (Verona, NY); (4) Coeur d'Alene (Coeur d'Alene, ID); (5) Whistling Straits Golf Club (Haven, WI).
Hawaii (eight) had the most resorts on the list of any state represented, followed by Florida (seven) and California (five). There were 16 resorts not ranked in 2009 that appeared on this year's list, including (T17) ChampionsGate Golf Resort (ChampionsGate, FL); (32) Treetops Resort (Gaylord, MI); (36) The Resort at Pelican Hill (Newport Coast, CA); (45) Grand Traverse Resort and Spa (Acme, MI).
According to Golf World, more than 46,000 votes and 600,000 criteria evaluations led to the magazine's Readers' Choice selections.
The criteria evaluated by the readers were: Quality of course, Condition of course, Reputation/prestige, Golf practice facilities, Speed of play, Clubhouse/locker room, Hotel accommodations, Caddie program, Golf pro shop, Food/Dining, Off-course activities/amenities, Service and Overall value.