10 Great Risk/Reward Holes
The label “risk/reward” is applied liberally to golf holes these days. Probably too liberally. Look at any course’s hole descriptions and you’re likely to see it appear at least a handful of times. In reality, there’s risk involved in every swing, and reward to be earned anytime a shot is successfully executed. Strategy comes into […]
Best Drivable Par Fours
It’s not often on the PGA Tour that you witness crowds roar merely because a caddie has handed his player a wood instead of an iron. Drivable par fours provide that experience. Par fours that are designed to be driven under the right circumstances, based on yardage, weather, or course conditions are among the most […]
10 Great 18-hole Courses on Fewer Than 100 Acres
In January 1930, just 14 weeks after the Wall Street crash and the catastrophic collapse of the U.S. stock market, course architect Alister MacKenzie set sail from Hoboken, N.J., bound for Buenos Aires. During a roughly eight-week stay in South America, the Scotsman designed, or suggested improvements to, at least six courses in Argentina (including […]
How to Play the Old Course: An 18-Hole Guide
She’s wily and demanding, but if you treat her right, she’ll reward you If you haven’t played the Old Course it’s surely on your bucket list; and when you get your chance, you’ll want to play well. If you’ve had a crack or two at it, you’ve likely walked off the 18th green thinking, “Yeesh, […]
What’s in a Name? The 18 Holes of the Old Course
Golf historians may quibble over where the game was invented, but when it comes to charting the origin of the game as we know it today, most will concede that St. Andrews is the acknowledged Home of Golf. Golf has been played there since the early 15th century over common land that today is held […]
How the Old Course Came to Be
While the “Old Lady” we know today is about 125 years old, her bones can be traced back six centuries The Old Course is a marvel. Not only has golf been played over it for close to 600 years, but generations of golf architects have used it as the template for courses everywhere. Like many […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Kingsbarns
Just six miles from St. Andrews sits a course that combines something old and something new to create something very special In early 1793, George Washington was planning a second term as President of the United States; George III still reigned in Great Britain and Ireland; Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine in France. […]
Ben Wright: Burning Desire
When the Walker Cup Match takes place at Royal County Down on September 8–9, Great Britain and Ireland will try to win the biennial competition for the fourth time in the last five attempts, which is truly unimaginable, given that our record for so long was one of utter futility, save for one glorious moment […]
The Complete Golf Buddies’ Trip Checklist
Playing golf by yourself can be sublime—like when you’re sneaking in a few holes at sunset after work. Going out as a single with strangers can be rewarding, too, especially if you’ve queued from 5 a.m. to get out on the Old Course and exit the 18th green with three new friends. But the best […]
The Hardest Round of Your Life
Of all of the rounds you’ve played in your golf lifetime, there are but a few that seem to be etched in your memory in permanent ink. There’s the story of your career-low round, that your friends and family could recite back to you word-for-word. Then there are probably one or two courses you checked […]