Friar’s Head
Among the American courses I’ve played in 50-plus years, those approaching perfection fit on a short list led by Cypress Point, where my stepfather was a member and where I first got pathologically serious about golf. Alongside it is the National Golf Links of America, my home course since college days. Pine Valley and […]
Old Town Club, North Carolina
Unless you happen to live in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina or follow Wake Forest University’s golf program, you’ve probably not heard of the Old Town Club. Quietly traditional down to its very name, this Perry Maxwell design is anonymous to most but revered by all who know it. Among those in the […]
Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club
The idea for Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club originated 25 years ago as brothers Rupert and Jim O’Neal watched British Open telecasts and realized their family’s rolling property resembled some of golf’s most hallowed ground. Buoyed by the success of remote clubs like Nebraska’s Sand Hills, the O’Neals enlisted Tom Doak to create a classic links design on their […]
Pacific Dunes Course, Bandon Dunes
When it comes to golf course architecture, opinions run rampant and absolutes are few. That said, there is no debating the single Most Important Decision in the annals of American course design. It happened in 1917, when Samuel F.B. Morse tore up a subdivision plan for the waterfront acreage where Pebble Beach Golf Links […]
TPC Sugarloaf Golf Course, Georgia
Because it sometimes seems as though TPC golf courses are popping up on a monthly basis, it would be understandable to pass off TPC Sugarloaf course as just another link in the PGA Tour’s fast-growing network of courses. Yet the Duluth, Georgia, development has become one of the jewels of the TPC family, and its Greg Norman design […]
Engineers Country Club, Long Island
Herbert Strong’s name today brings scant recognition. Renowned in his day as a player, teacher and course architect, the Englishman has all but been forgotten. For decades, so too was his masterpiece—Engineers Country Club, located on the north shore of Long Island, considered when it opened one of the best courses in the United […]
Pine Lakes Country Club, Myrtle Beach
The very first golf resort in Myrtle Beach, Ocean Forest Hotel & Country Club, opened in 1927 right before the Great Depression. On March 12, amidst the greatest economic downturn since then, the club (renamed Pine Lakes in 1944) held its grand reopening following a 20-month, $15 million renovation of its Robert White course and […]
