Wednesday, October 05, 2011

America's Top 10 Golf Courses in 2011

Golf Digest has revealed America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses listings for 2011. Their biennial listings were first established back in 1966, and so it is one of the oldest golf course rankings. These are the top 10 golf courses in Digest's 2011 rankings:

1. (1) AUGUSTA NATIONAL G.C.
Augusta, Ga. / Alister Mackenzie & Bobby Jones (1933)

2. (2) PINE VALLEY G.C.
Pine Valley, N.J. / George Crump & H.S. Colt (1918)

3. (3) SHINNECOCK HILLS G.C.
Southampton, N.Y. / William Flynn (1931)

4. (5) OAKMONT C.C.
Oakmont, Pa. / Henry Fownes (1903)

5. (4) CYPRESS POINT CLUB
Pebble Beach / Alister Mackenzie & Robert Hunter (1928)

6. (6) PEBBLE BEACH G. LINKS
Pebble Beach / Jack Neville & Douglas Grant (1919)

7. (7) MERION G.C. (East)
Ardmore, Pa. / Hugh Wilson (1912)

8. (8) WINGED FOOT G.C. (West)
Mamaroneck, N.Y. / A.W. Tillinghast (1923)

9. (13) SAND HILLS G.C.
Mullen, Neb. / Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (1994)

10. (15) NATIONAL G. LINKS OF AMERICA

As such, once again the Augusta National golf course is ranked as the best golf course in America. As the annual venue of the Masters it is undoubtedly the most famous championship golf course on the PGA Tour. At approximately 7,400 yards it is also one of the longer golf courses on the rankings.

The top 10 has not changed that much from the last 2009 rankings. Sand Hills and the National G. Links of America are two new entries into the top 10. However, aside from that the top five includes exactly the same golf courses.

The interesting thing about this top 10 is that it is dominated by older golf courses. With the exception of Sand Hills all the golf courses in the top 10 were constructed before 1950. As such, modern golf course design and architecture has not been able to eclipse these golf courses which have remained as the best in America for decades.

Another interesting point worth noting is that the list is also dominated by private golf courses. The only public golf course that makes the top 10 is that of Pebble Beach which ranks 6th. As such, Pebble Beach tops Golf Digest's America's Top 100 Public Golf Courses list. Along with St Andrews Old Course this is one of the few great PGA Tour venues that is a public course.



For further details on these rankings visit the Golf Digest website. This blog post on Amateur Golfer also covers some of the great America golf courses.

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