8 Noteworthy Municipal Golf Rebirths in 2023
As I walked off the 18th green at twilight at the conclusion of a recent weekday round, the action was just getting started for many other visitors to the new The Park West Palm. The clubhouse’s back patio bar bustled with a young crowd while families mixed with groups of 20- and 30-somethings on the […]
America’s Top 10 Munis
The chief requirement for making this list is that the golf course must be owned by a municipality. We’re judging here on the quality of the design, test of golf, scenic appeal, and tournament lore. For best-value munis? We’ll leave that for another time. Here then are the 10 best municipal courses in the U.S. […]
America’s First Muni: Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx
Municipal golf in America got its start in and around big cities. So, it’s only fitting that the oldest muni in the game—Van Cortlandt Park in New York—today has not one, but two highways cutting through an everyman course that has holes named after Babe Ruth and each of the Three Stooges. “Vanny,” as it’s […]
The U.S. Open Returns to Torrey Pines South
It’s Torrey time again for the U.S. Open. Torrey Pines’s South course, the most celebrated municipal layout west of the Mississippi, takes center stage in mid-June for the second time. Thirteen years ago, Tiger Woods cemented forever Torrey’s reputation for tournament drama. His clutch 12-foot birdie putt at the par-five 72nd hole and subsequent 18- […]
TPC Harding Park’s Road to Glory
The venue for this week’s PGA Championship has enjoyed something of a wild ride since opening in July 1925. Designed by Sam Whiting and William Watson whose famed Lake Course at the Olympic Club had opened the year before, TPC Harding Park was originally named Lake Merced Municipal Links but soon was dedicated to President […]
What’s Next for America’s Munis?
By Tony Dear What’s going on with municipal golf? One minute you read there are now more city-owned courses in the U.S. than ever—2,497, according to the National Golf Foundation (as of 2017–2018)—and that many are being given multi-million-dollar renovations. But then you see a story lamenting the terrible drain municipals are on […]
The Future of Municipal Golf Courses
The future of municipal courses in America is a subject of great concern with course closures on pace to exceed openings for yet another year. Many of the approximately 2,500 municipal golf facilities in the U.S. face an uncertain future despite making positive impacts with an often-conflicting responsibility—providing an affordable community recreation option while still […]
The Battle to Save Lions Muny in Austin, Texas
By Adam Schupak Ben Crenshaw is taking a break from renovating Kapalua’s Plantation Course on the island of Maui to talk about a project near and dear to his heart—the effort to Save Muny. He grew up a few blocks from Lions Municipal Golf Course, a historic gem that sits on golf’s endangered species list, […]
Winter Park: A Look at Golf’s Future?
By Graylyn Loomis Recent issues of LINKS have explored golf’s future, asking, in particular, what form course architecture will take if the game is to thrive. Over and over, the answer has included short courses, nine-hole layouts, and community golf, all of which can go a long way in welcoming new players into the game […]
