I played golf today with my son and the topic of "favorite golf courses" came up. His comment was "gee, you should blog about which courses are your favorite." So, taking him up on that suggestion, here are my favorite courses which I have had the good fortune to play.
1. Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach, CA. This may be a surprise pick but Spyglass is a very, very hard course, yet offers both ocean/links-style holes and vistas combined with holes which meander inland. It is just a superb layout.
2. Ocean Course, Kiawah, SC. Site of the PGA Championship in 2012, the Ocean Course is considered by many to be the hardest course in the U.S.--it is a magnificent track.
3. Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, CA. It's Pebble Beach--is there a prettier place on the planet?
4. Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock, CO. Mountain golf does not appeal to some people but this Jack Nicklaus-designed layout is a hard, yet fair, test. The former site of The INTERNATIONAL, a PGA Tour event, it offered the longest par 5 on the tour--hole #1.
5. TPC at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. I have played this course twice. What did I get on 17, you ask? A birdie once and an 8 the other time.
6. Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, SC. This Pete Dye course can be brutal, particularly if the wind is up. The finishing 18th is one of the better finishing holes in golf.
7. Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA. A classic, Los Angeles country club with homes of stars dotting the fairways. This is considered by many as the best course in southern California.
8. Barton Creek, Austin, TX. There is more than one course here so I'm cheating a bit by listing the entire trio of courses.
9. TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ. Site of the FBR Open, the rowdiest golf tournamet on the PGA Tour, this is a classic desert golf layout.
10. Crooked Stick, Carmel, IN. I have played this course once and it kicked my behind. But, what a great course--site of this summer's U.S. Senior Open.
Honorable mention: Torrey Pines-South Course, La Jolla, CA; Westchester Country Club-West Course, Rye, NY; Branson Creek, Hollister, MO; Copperhead course, Innisbrook Resort, Palm Harbor, FL.
What are your favorites? Post a reply and let me know...
Great domestic choices. Pebble is the St. Andrews of American Golf. But, I agree that Spyglass is the shining light of the Monterey Penninsula (though I haven't and probably won't play Cypess Point). Pebble has the history, Spyglass has the course.
ReplyDeletePrairie Dunes, right here in Kansas is awesome. The Plantation Course at Kapalua is amazing, hough I suspect being in Hawaii has something to do with that...however, the 18th hole is the best finishing hole I have played.
All that said, I have enjoyed every course I have played, even those where if not for dandelions, we'd be hitting off of dirt. Tomahawk with its mirror and bell; sand greens and courses littered with wife beater shirts and beer at 8 AM.
Jan