The Legacy of Sand Greens
Donald Ross’s original greens for Pinehurst No. 2 lacked one critical component—grass Only a dozen years old yet already a burgeoning golf mecca, the Pinehurst Resort saw its reputation soar soon after Donald Ross expanded and redesigned Pinehurst No. 2 in 1907. Dozens of golf ’s most influential figures praised the layout in reverential terms. […]
Donut Greens: 5 Holes with Bunkers on the Putting Surface
When George Thomas designed Riviera Country Club’s championship layout during the late 1920s, he introduced a unique element that gave the course instant notoriety: a pot bunker set smack dab in the middle of the par-three 6th hole’s putting surface. Since then, the design feature has been replicated in other parts of the country (and […]
The 10 Most Extraordinary Greens in the U.S.
“Putting greens are to golf courses what faces are to portraits,” said pioneering American architect Charles Blair Macdonald. Indeed, it is the infinite variety of golf’s ultimate targets that makes for endless fascination. “Nothing is more enjoyable than to play to a beautifully designed green,” said Robert Trent Jones, who recognized that shaping, contour, and […]
The 10 Toughest Greens at Augusta National
A better title for this article might be “The 18 Toughest Greens at Augusta National,” because the reality is that every putting surface on this storied course can give players fits. It all depends on where the hole is located and where a player is putting from. Long putts, short putts—it doesn’t matter. Twenty-footers can […]
10 Unsung Island Greens
When you hear “island green,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Chances are it’s Pete (or Alice) Dye’s design at TPC Sawgrass, the iconic par-three 17th hole seen every year at The Players Championship. If not, maybe it’s the floating green golfers need a boat to get to at Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene or […]
Golf’s Meanest Greens
Destination Yipsville: The meanest greens in golf belong to Oakmont Country Club Gene Sarazen once described Oakmont as possessing “all the charm of a sock to the head.” The smackdown begins at the first green and never lets up, due mostly to the ferocity of the putting surfaces, a lethal combination of speed, contour, and […]
