Top 10 Jack Nicklaus Designs You Can Play
If there’s one thing that may eclipse Jack Nicklaus’s legacy as a player, it will be his legacy as a course designer. As Pete Dye once said, “It’s astonishing to me that the same guy who was gifted with the greatest golf skill of the 20th century should also be blessed with such deft creativity.” […]
12 Surprising PGA Championship Courses You Can Play
Valhalla, venue for the 2024 PGA Championship, has a storied history by any measure. Unfortunately, you have to know a member to get aboard. However, if you’re looking to bask in PGA Championship lore, there are plenty of public-access layouts that will accommodate, including some that will surprise you. We’ll omit the obvious trophy tracks […]
The Greening of Oak Hill: A Master Restoration by Andrew Green
Meet Andrew Green, architecture’s low-profile master of restoring vintage golf courses, including the venue for the 2023 PGA Championship WHEN THE NEWS BROKE IN 2016 that Oak Hill Country Club had retained an architect to restore its Donald Ross-designed East course, a collective cheer erupted. When the club revealed that the architect chosen was Andrew […]
8 Courses on the Byron Nelson Trail You Can Play
Mid-May on the PGA Tour ushers in the AT&T Byron Nelson in suburban Dallas. The event is an homage not only to one of the greatest players ever, but also one of the classiest. Nelson captured 52 titles on the PGA Tour, including five major championships, before retiring in his prime at age 34 to […]
Top 10 Co-Designed Public Courses in the U.S.
With each memorable Masters Tournament, we are treated to one of architecture’s greatest design collaborations, with Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones responsible for the creation of Augusta National. Sixty-five years later, Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus teamed up to craft Harbour Town, a beloved PGA Tour venue since 1969. What those courses proved is that […]
Golf’s Most Exhaustive Tests
Bethpage Black is golf’s ultimate taxing test Some golf courses challenge with gargantuan length, others with a parade of hazards. Add slick, undulating greens, fairways squeezed by long grass, and targets shrunk by stiff breezes and you have some of earth’s toughest courses. A select few among those brutes will flat out exhaust you by […]
The 12 Best Metal-Winning Courses
When Xander Schauffele won gold at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, you could say he was a both a medal winner and a metal winner. Chemical elements such as gold, silver, copper, and iron are among the most well-known metals; they’re also extremely popular commodities in the world of golf course names. Of the golf […]
10 Courses that Resemble Augusta National
Dreaming of dogwoods and azaleas, but find that a tee time at Augusta National is out of reach? There’s a fistful of courses in the U.S. that embody many, though certainly not all, of the virtues of Augusta National. Some layouts approach the ambience, others the conditioning and design, and still others the floral displays. […]
12 of the Best Texas Courses You Can Play
In the 2024 season, Texas was home to four PGA Tour stops: the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March, the Valero Texas Open in April, and two events in May in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson and the Charles Schwab Challenge. While some of the host venues for these events are private, others offer the […]
The 10 Best Trios of Closing Holes
Frequently, the 18th hole is a course’s grand statement, the big finish that settles all bets and creates lasting memories. On occasion, however, it’s the 17th hole that steals the show. Rarer still is when a great 16th hole kicks off an outstanding homestretch, making for a truly unforgettable conclusion to the round. To find […]
