Golf’s Most Beautiful Courses
Incomparable eye candy: Cypress Point reigns as golf’s ultimate beauty queen In 1920, architect Alister MacKenzie articulated 13 essential features that define an ideal golf course. Number seven stated: “The course should have beautiful surroundings, and all the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from […]
7 Exceptional Holes that Bring the Ocean into Play
In his fictional work The Old Man and the Sea, author Ernest Hemingway described the ocean as “something that gave or withheld great favors.” He also opined that the sea could do “wild or wicked things,” but that such things could not be avoided. While the novella chronicled the heroic and sometimes futile attempts of […]
My Courses: Peter Jacobsen
Professional golfer and commentator Peter Jacobsen shares his favorite and most challenging courses to play in this edition of “My Courses.” MY FAVORITE COURSE: Pebble Beach. It was a favorite of our family growing up in Portland, Ore. I so much enjoy the feel of golf in the air on the Monterey Peninsula. FIRST COURSE […]
10 of Golf’s Polarizing Par Fours
When my parents lived in the golf mecca that is California’s Monterey Peninsula, they were never further than a flip wedge off some fairway, even while moving several times. One of their stops was the secluded Quail Lodge in the Carmel Valley, where I always seemed to head to the back nine with conflicting feelings. […]
One Course to Play for the Rest of Your Life
While many of us are stuck at home, we’ve had plenty of time to daydream about the places we’d like to travel and the golf courses we’d like to play once again, or for the first time. I’ve spent a lot of time refreshing social media, too, and have seen an interesting topic being floated […]
My Courses: Gary Player
Very few golfers have played such a global variety of golf courses as Gary Player—the nine-time major champion shares his answers here in “My Courses” MY FAVORITE COURSE: If you were asked to choose your favorite rugby player and your child happened to be a star, you would have to pick him, right? So, I’ll […]
Golf’s Greatest Trees
No part of the golf course has come in for as much stick in recent years as its trees. Until around 2010, trees enjoyed a healthy-enough reputation, but over the last decade golfers have gotten wise to their shortcomings—impeding views, blocking sunlight, restricting air movement, sucking soil nutrients the turf needs, and hindering strategy. Actually, […]
Dream Nine: Par Threes
The par three. Whether it’s the shorter distance, the allure of a possible hole-in-one, or a breathtaking scenic backdrop, the par three is often the illustration of the most fond and lasting memories from a particular golf course. With that in mind the premise is simple: If you could create a nine-hole golf course comprised […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Building the Natural
With a routing in place and the best of the natural characteristics maximized, it’s time to start thinking seriously about the placement and character of the golf features. On our projects, my partner Jim Wagner and I always emphasize to our team that we want to “build the natural,” that is, create aspects that appear […]
Classic Courses: California Golf Club of San Francisco
Coming up the entryway into California Golf Club of San Francisco—or, as it’s more commonly called, Cal Club—is a drive back in time. The road winds past the first fairway and up to a grand white clubhouse. There’s a main entrance, but the members know better and walk around to the side and through a […]
