18 of the Best Dogleg Holes
It would be a gross overgeneralization to say all straight golf holes are boring. The Old Course at St. Andrews has a lot of straight or straight-ish holes, but thanks to a combination of tantalizing fairway/green contours, bothersome bunkers that really are best-avoided, firm ground, and an ancient stone bridge, there’s not a single hole […]
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 […]
False Fronts: History, Evolution, and 10 of the Best
When a serious green jacket contender sees his ball land on the false front short of the flag at Augusta National’s 9th hole on Sunday afternoon and reverse 20, 30, even 40 yards back down the hill toward him, the patrons can barely stifle their groans. They’ve probably witnessed the same distressing sequence befall a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Notable Golf Courses with a Draw or Fade Bias
There is a sacred stretch of days each year when golf fans park themselves on the sofa and are seduced once again by the azaleas, cathedral pines, and lightning-fast greens of Augusta National. As he/she does annually, the committed fan will bone up on their Masters history and, perhaps, read something new about a course […]
Geoff Shackelford: The Tee Box Affair at Augusta National
A real-life, Grishamesque thriller is coming in April, full of high-stakes machinations, Southern charm, and unsuspecting protagonists How, you ask, could a closely mown rectangle become a non-coma-inducing potboiler? The intrigue centers around the forthcoming fuss over a tee at Augusta National debuting after years of speculation. Anyone with a golf pulse will opine on […]
In Their Prime: Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have already produced an incredible resume of courses. But could it be that we haven’t even seen their best yet? Bill Coore always said he and design partner Ben Crenshaw feel most comfortable working on one to three projects a year. Any more than that, he added, might prevent […]
5 Things to Know: Tiger Woods’s New Utah Course Design
Tiger Woods and his design firm recently announced plans for a new private golf course that’s tied into the Marcella Club in Park City, Utah. Given the location, it’s not a surprise that modern luxury living is the vision of the club, which is leaning on Tiger’s name in selling expensive real estate lots, including […]
Geoff Shackelford: Golf Architecture is Getting its Due
Golf architecture is having a moment. Finally! From the public-course world up to the elitest of the elite, golfers are bonding over a shared affinity for course design. To the small legion of geeks out there—guilty as charged—we’ve long wondered why the masses failed to share our passion even as architecture has long been golf’s […]
