The Top 100 Courses I’ve Played – January 2016
Halton Beach by Dan Hebert
And just like that, we are already a month into 2016, which means it’s time for another Top 100 list update. At the end of 2015 we saw several golf publications release their course ratings for 2015, and one thing that struck me was the Golf Digest list, which featured a lot of shuffling in it’s top 4 courses alone.
I’ll admit, I have been a little hesitant to do re-ordering of my list, other than adding in new courses. The Golf Digest list made me reconsider, though. Why shouldn’t I re-evaluate my rankings and consider new information, new advancements in the GNCD, and any other contributing factors? I couldn’t come up with a good reason not to, so you will see more changes this month than in the past.
The Timberwolf by Andre Quenneville
In addition to re-ordering of the list, I’ve made strides in the last month to get through some courses by some of the top designers in the game who hadn’t yet been featured on the list. There are still a number of designers and courses that are sorely missing from the list, but they are most certainly on my courses to play list and will be featured in due time.
With that said, a reminder is in order. If you don’t see your name or course on the list and feel it is worthy, there is a strong likelihood that I have not played your course yet. Please check my courses to play list, and run a Ctrl+F search for your course. If you do not see it, drop me a line and request for me to play it.
Royal Lytham & St Annes 2015 by T. Yeltzman
Lastly, scroll all of the way down past the list to check out a new Other Notable Courses section, which is my attempt to highlight a few other courses not on the list, and maybe do a little self-promotion in the process.
Muirfield 2013 Open by T. Yeltzman
The Top 100 Courses i’ve Played – January
1 | Whistling Staits, Sheboygan WI Overseeded | Craig Frey | 1 |
2 | Oceanic Athletic Club | Adam Benjamin | 3 |
3 | Loa Pali Golf Resort | Dario Logan | 4 |
4 | Pine Valley, New Jersey | Craig Frey | 2 |
5 | Old Beaver Creek – Championship | Bill Rader & Brian Jeffords | 5 |
6 | Bison Run | Brian Jeffords | 6 |
7 | Pebble Beach Golf Links (blacks) | Brandon Pugh | 7 |
8 | Royal Lytham & St Annes 2015 | Yeltzman | New |
9 | The Timberwolf | Andre Quenneville | 8 |
10 | Muirfield | Yeltzman | 9 |
11 | Halton Beach | Dan Hebert | 11 |
12 | Bailiwick Grand Golf Club | Job Fickett & Dan Hebert | 10 |
13 | Columbia National Golf Links | Brian Jeffords | 12 |
14 | Freshwater Golf Club | Adam Benjamin | 13 |
15 | Firestone CC South | Brandon Pugh | 14 |
16 | Hoodoo Hills: Remastered | Bryan Cowles | 15 |
17 | Spyglass Hill 2015 | yeltzman | 17 |
18 | Skull Valley Golf Club – Outlaw | Steve Pope | 16 |
19 | Harbor Island Platinum | Jeremy Blaylock | New |
20 | Dovetail Park Golf Club | Simon Morris | 18 |
21 | Tobacco Dunes | Steve Pope | 21 |
22 | Vallentuna Golfklubb – Sweden | Mikael Thunberg | 20 |
23 | McKee McGrodo Platinum (A) | Jeremy Blaylock | New |
24 | Le Golf National | Dean Lowden | 19 |
25 | St. Lorin Golf Club, Baumgarten Is. Hawaii #1 | David Jensen | 22 |
26 | Escalante Steps (Par 3) | Brian Jeffords | 23 |
27 | Celtic Vineyard Golf Club | Adam Benjamin | 24 |
28 | Royal Birkdale 2015 | Yeltzman | 25 |
29 | TGC @ the Engish Rose (Thurs) | Wendy Airey | 26 |
30 | TPC @ Boston – thurs (new textures) | Kenny Canham | New |
31 | Eighteen at Strawberry Plains | Todd Driver | 27 |
32 | The Capilano Club | Andre Quenneville | 28 |
33 | Harvest Plantation | Todd Driver | 29 |
34 | Valgrind Golf Club | Joseph Bowling | 30 |
35 | The Canuck Club at Devils’ Escarpment | Andre Quenneville | New |
36 | TGC Players’ Club – Stadium Course | Dario Logan | 31 |
37 | The Homestead | Brian Jeffords / Andre Quenneville | 32 |
38 | Kahiko Beach Golf and Surf Club | Andre Quenneville | 33 |
39 | Royal Ballylough | Rod Simpson | 34 |
40 | Yeti National CC at Sasquatch Pointe | Bryan Cowles | New |
41 | Mistwood Golf Course | William Bradford | 35 |
42 | Grand Epson V1 | Wendy Airey | 36 |
43 | King Kyne Royal Tropicana | David Jensen | 37 |
44 | Hocking Hills Country Club (Thursday) | Tim Jaquith | 38 |
45 | The Canuck Club at Angels’ Plateau | Andre Quenneville | New |
46 | Falcon Bay Sunday Pin | Todd Driver | 39 |
47 | Sleepy Willow CC (Blacks) | Brandon Pugh | 40 |
48 | Rivington Hall | Martyn Shaw | 41 |
49 | Thousand Island Golf and CC | Bryan Boomer | 42 |
50 | PGA West (Palmer) [Sunday] | Rod Simpson | 43 |
51 | Sugar Hills: TGC Edition | John Rubenkoenig | 44 |
52 | Swindler’s Bluff (Thursday) | Brent Gravelle | New |
53 | El Caiman CG | Enrique De Guzman | 45 |
54 | The Red October G&CC | Mick Pitcher | 46 |
55 | Royal Troon Old Course 2015 | Yeltzman | 47 |
56 | Elmview – Open Day 1 | Brian Jeffords | 48 |
57 | Chicago Golf Club | JELindholm | 49 |
58 | Cohutta Country Club | Todd Driver | 50 |
59 | The Par 3 Course at Flora Park | Elliot Caw | 51 |
60 | The Walker Course Clemson, SC | William Bradford | 52 |
61 | Turnberry Kintyre Course | Alan McSpadyen | 53 |
62 | Songbird Country GC | Roger Ramjet | 54 |
63 | Burberry Black | superace33 | 55 |
64 | Blue Oak Country Club | Brett Carr | 56 |
65 | Valefor 2015 | Elliot Caw | 57 |
66 | TGC @ Murky Hollow | John Rubenkoenig | 58 |
67 | Cairn Orchard | Dale Burger | 59 |
68 | New South Flower | Ola Ericsson | 60 |
69 | Briarbanks Country Club | Brandon Pugh | 61 |
70 | Tropic of Capricorn | Stephen McIntyre | 62 |
71 | Longdale Pikes | Jeremy Holme | 63 |
72 | Celebration Cove | Jeff Reese | 64 |
73 | Royal Blackburn | Chris Lane | 65 |
74 | Hau’oli Mino’aka | Stephen Templar | 66 |
75 | Zewina Golf Club | Mikael Thunberg | 67 |
76 | Fraxinus Country Club | Andrew Sikorski | 68 |
77 | TGC @ Gull Island (Tour) | David Jensen | 69 |
78 | Lac De Verde Golf Club | Dean Lowden | 70 |
79 | Waltzing Matilda Golf Club | Stephen Templer | 71 |
80 | The Club at Ridenour – Thursday | Tyler Duke | 72 |
81 | Galveston Country Club | Trey Coursey | New |
82 | New Bronze Leaf Resort Goldclub | Roger Ramjet | 73 |
83 | Potomac Country Club | Brandon Pugh | 74 |
84 | The Reversible Course – A + B | Keith Callahan | New |
85 | Tri-Lakes Golf and Fishing Resort | Kelly Rayburn | 75 |
86 | The Traditional | Wayne Adams | 76 |
87 | Hunter Forest (US Open) | Keith Callahan | 77 |
88 | Evergreen Trails | Steve Sloan | 78 |
89 | Blackhawk Forest CC | Roger Ramjet | 79 |
90 | Harvest Hills | Gene Callahan | 80 |
91 | Barrhaven Black | Brent Gravelle | New |
92 | Abaddon Golf Club USO Edition | Bobby Anderson | 81 |
93 | Loon Lake State Park | Gene Callahan | 82 |
94 | Cuyahoga Golf Club | Dario Logan | 83 |
95 | Angel Downs | Jeremy Holme | 84 |
96 | Pinehill Country Club | Joe Greenhalgh | 85 |
97 | Lighthouse Hills (Dusk) | musicman2655 | New |
98 | Kapalua Bay Golf Club | Bryan Boomer | 86 |
99 | Fishers GC – Fishers Island, NY | Matthew Essig | 87 |
100 | Baron Hills Complex (matured) | Mick Pitcher | 88 |
Other Notable Courses
Just Eliminated: Old York Golf Cub by Steve Sloan
A Rural-themed course with massive firm and fast greens. It’s a bit of an oddity, but interesting hole designs make this one worth a look.
Near Miss: Miglianico Golf e Country Club by Fabrizio Cardelli
This real course rendition from Italy is nicely sculpted and has a very realistic look. It narrowly misses a Top 100 debut, though, due to some fast and firm greens that turn holes into a chipping contest from the back of the green.
New Release: Magnolia National 2016 (Sunday)
An update to the classic Magnolia National release featuring added pine straw and new textures, bringing it just a little bit closer to the real thing.
New Release: Chambers Bay 2016
This is another texture update, and features accurate pins from the 2015 U.S. Open.
New Release: Ross Society Country Club
This fictional, Donald Ross-style country club caps off a busy month of releases for me.
Have you tried MMXVI
Not yet, but added to the list!
eventually i’ll see a couple more on this list…I just know it! WOOT! Rooting for you to get to them soon. 🙂
Great to see I have 2 on the list, however I have 3 others that are better, far better IMHO. I love my recently released Riviera. Glen Abbey is my 2nd best. Horned Viper is pretty and plays well as well and is my 3rd best. I wish I could delete Kapalua. I think it needs a re-do, I guess that is exactly what I need to do, I was going to do the Plantation course but if Kapalua is going to generate this many plays, least I could do is give a better version.
I just played stop #7 in Real Course Tour v3 this morning, and Glen Abbey is stop #8, so it will be on the February list guaranteed. Riviera will be on Real Course Tour v4, and likely to be on the Feb list, as well. Horned Viper is a little farther down the list, so tbd on that one.
I am so honored to have two courses on your list.