Mount Rushmore of Greens
Here are four greens (and honorable mentions) whose design, originality, and place in the game justify their place on a Mount Rushmore list.
5 Mystery Architects of The LINKS 100
Here are five mystery golf architects of The LINKS 100, men whose contributions don’t show up in the official credits.
Tom Fazio: Dean of Design
Tom Fazio just turned 80, yet remains as ubiquitous as anyone in the design business, dominiating the last six decades of golf architecture.
Backstory: Herbert Fowler’s Stellar Solution at Pebble Beach
The backstory of how Herbert Fowler transformed the dull par-four finishing hole at Pebble Beach into a brilliant par five.
Why Every Golf Course Needs a Silly Hole
Wacky, weird, crazy, dumb—call them what you will, silly holes help make good golf courses better, writes Geoff Shackelford.
10 Top Dual Greens in the U.S.
There are double greens and then there are dual greens. Double greens are essentially one large green that’s shared by two different holes, with separate hole placements and flags. Think St. Andrews, one of the world’s most famous courses, which has seven double greens. In contrast, dual greens are when a single hole has two […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Where Bunkers Lie
The placement of bunkers on a course is one of the key elements in creating strategy Having started our examination of golf course architecture with greens—and appropriately ascribing sovereignty to them over all other features—we turn to the most visible feature on any course, the sand bunker. Bunkers have always had two distinct characteristics as […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Greens and Their Complexes
On a visit to The Los Angeles Country Club in preparation for the 2023 U.S. Open, I did something that I rarely do. While walking the course with the superintendent, we putted on every green. And I must say, it was a lot of fun, free from trying to “make” a putt and instead watching […]
Template Holes: Golf’s Most Mimicked Designs
“But don’t let famed holes…such as the ‘Alps’ of Prestwick and ‘Redan’ of North Berwick, lead you into attempting to reproduce them. In trying to make your course fit certain famous hole treatments, you are certain to be doomed to disappointment.” —DONALD ROSS, Golf Has Never Failed Me Sorry, Don. They didn’t listen. The idea […]
Tom Doak is Building His First Course in Ireland
By Tony Dear In 1993, Tom Doak made a handshake agreement with the owner of Old Head in County Cork, Ireland, to design 18 holes but, for one reason or another, the plan fell apart. A decade or so later, another opportunity arose at Castlegregory, 10 miles west of Tralee on the beautiful […]
