Mount Rushmore of Golf Course Architects
On our Mount Rushmore of golf course architects, we’re not talking about our four favorites, necessarily, or even the first four.
Every Presidents Cup Course—Ranked
With the Presidents Cup celebrating 30 years, we wondered how each host course compares. Here are the nine host venues, ranked top to bottom.
Golf Courses with the Highest Tree Appeal
When deployed properly, trees adds definition, character, beauty, and strategic interest. These golf courses have the highest tree appeal.
11 Architects Who Directly Influenced Augusta National
Even the most casual golf fan is aware that Augusta National Golf Club was designed by Alister MacKenzie, in tandem with amateur legend and Grand Slam winner Bobby Jones. However, not even serious Masters students realize that nearly 20 prominent figures in the game have effected changes to the course design over the past 90 […]
The Leeds Triangle: England’s Underrated Golf Destination
With the world of golf shifting its attention to the northwest of England as the Open Championship returned to Royal Liverpool for the 13th time in the club’s 154-year history, many visitors from the U.S. likely secured tee times at Open venues Royal Birkdale (30 miles north) and Royal Lytham and St. Annes (65 miles […]
The Value of Variety in Golf Course Design
As the spice of both life and golf (many readers will consider them one and the same thing), the importance of variety cannot be overstated. Imagine a course without any; where every nondescript hole looks and plays much the same as the others—how uninspiring and utterly forgettable. Alister MacKenzie spelled out how fundamental variety was to […]
What We Know About the New 13th Tee at Augusta National
Here’s what we know about Augusta National’s ambitious 13th tee: pretty much everything—minus one elusive detail Not long ago, players would turn up Masters week and get asked about course changes. Some reported phantom revisions, insisting the club had tweaked and tugged away at the design when no such thing occurred. The Lords of Augusta […]
The 7 Best Alister MacKenzie Courses You Can Play
Whether it’s early April when the Masters rolls around at Augusta National or any time of year when somebody posts a jealousy-inducing tweet about their round at Cypress Point, the topic of Alister MacKenzie’s genius is front and center. Having said that, only the fortunate few can swing a tee time at Augusta or Cypress. […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Now On the Tee
The lowly teeing ground is only lowly if you overlook its strategic—and pleasure-producing—impact In hindsight, our discussion of a golf course’s features should logically have started with tees, since they are the starting point for each hole. However, tees are not the first feature that comes to mind when thinking about a golf course. In […]
Top 10 Courses: Australia
From the Melbourne Sandbelt to the islands of Tasmania, the Land Down Under has an overabundance of stunning golf settings to choose from 1. ROYAL MELBOURNE (WEST), Black Rock Alister MacKenzie’s masterpiece of strategic design, set on rugged natural terrain, marries bold fairway contours with spectacular bunkering and ingeniously contoured, silky smooth greens. 2. KINGSTON […]