New Top 10 Course Rankings
I just returned from the Dominican and was able to play three times in five days. I will dedicate a post or two (with pictures) to golf in D.R., but for now, I want to post an updated personal top 10 list of my favorite golf courses.
The list has changed a lot in the past year (five of the courses are new in 2007 and 2008), so I thought this would be a good time to unveil the revision. I'm still not sure if these are all in the right place, especially Casa de Campo and Punta Espada. I'm going to continue thinking about both of these courses over the next few weeks and let you know if I change my mind.
1) Mid Ocean Club
2) Turnberry Resort - Ailsa Championship
3) Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog)
4) Merion Country Club (East)
5) Cap Cana - Punta Espada
6) Princeville Resort (Prince)
7) The Cascades Course
8) The Course at Yale
9) TPC at Sawgrass (Stadium)
10) Highlands Links
Knocking on the Door:
11) Lundin Golf Club
12) Golden Horseshoe (Gold)
13) Bayonne Golf Club
14) Bethpage State Park (Black)
15) Galloway National Golf Club
Thoughts? Disagreements?
The list has changed a lot in the past year (five of the courses are new in 2007 and 2008), so I thought this would be a good time to unveil the revision. I'm still not sure if these are all in the right place, especially Casa de Campo and Punta Espada. I'm going to continue thinking about both of these courses over the next few weeks and let you know if I change my mind.
1) Mid Ocean Club
2) Turnberry Resort - Ailsa Championship
3) Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog)
4) Merion Country Club (East)
5) Cap Cana - Punta Espada
6) Princeville Resort (Prince)
7) The Cascades Course
8) The Course at Yale
9) TPC at Sawgrass (Stadium)
10) Highlands Links
Knocking on the Door:
11) Lundin Golf Club
12) Golden Horseshoe (Gold)
13) Bayonne Golf Club
14) Bethpage State Park (Black)
15) Galloway National Golf Club
Thoughts? Disagreements?
posted by John Gorman at 10:04 PM
4 Comments:
By "knocking on the door", do you imply these courses may make it to the top ten if something were improved, or you're going to play them soon and you expect them to crack the top ten?
It could be a bad use of the term. What I really mean is that they are very close to being in my top 10. It's pretty hard to differentiate between numbers 6 through 13. They're all very good.
Also, my list is about my "favorite" courses, not necessarily the "best" courses I've played. So, it would be easy to argue that Merion is better than Mid Ocean from a pure design standpoint, but I enjoyed Mid Ocean more.
Fair enough, John. Was just curious. The Black was one of my favorite golf experiences, but I definitely understand how lousy weather, chirpy randoms in your foursome, an unprofessional caddy, or just how you hit your 4-iron could have an impact on your opinions of one round on one course versus another.
Would love to see Merion (shock) and Mid Ocean myself, and hope to make it up to Yale this year, too, so hopefully we can trade notes...
I actually played Bethpage on a beautiful day with people I knew, so I can't fault the ambiance. I did play like a dufus, but I don't let that factor into my enjoyment of a golf course. I didn't play well at Merion or Punta Espada either, but they rate very high.
If you have the chance to play Merion, you should jump at it. I haven't played since Fazio "restored" it, but I'd like to get out there again this year. You should like Yale. It has some of the wildest greens you'll ever see. Hopefully it'll be in good shape when you play. It's a little tough to get tee times, but just call the shop, and eventually you'll speak to someone who won't give you a hassle.
The one on my list that surprised me was Sawgrass. It was way better than I expected it to be.
Where do you live? Maybe I can recommend some other courses near you.
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