The Top 100 Courses I’ve Played – May
Oakland Hills CC (South Course) by Royce Brown
Every month, the internal debate of old versus new plays out, and gets a little more intense with each edition of the rankings. I anticipate as I play more and more new courses, eventually someone will eclipse Whistling Straits. Will it be a real course, such as National Golf Links of America? Or will someone take all of things that made Tye Dunes work so well and one up it? The competition continues to be fierce, and this list continues to not encompass all of the great courses available, so I sincerely thank all of the designers for continuing to push the envelope.
Promenade Golf Club by Adam Benjamin
| Rank | Name | Designer | Last Month | Real? |
| 1 | Whistling Straits, Sheboygan WI Overseeded | Craig Frey | 1 | Real |
| 2 | Tye Dunes | Patrick Yates | 2 | |
| 3 | Congressional CC | Rod Simpson | 3 | Real |
| 4 | Oceanic Athletic Club | Adam Benjamin | 4 | |
| 5 | Pebble Beach Golf Links (All versions) | Brandon Pugh | 6 | Real |
| 6 | Oakland Hills CC (South Course)- Bloomfield Hills, MI | Royce Brown | New | Real |
| 7 | Loa Pali Golf Resort | Dario Logan | 5 | |
| 8 | Kipahulu Reserve | Henrik Sundqvist | 7 | |
| 9 | TPC at Sawgrass (Tour A) | Brandon Pugh | 13 | Real |
| 10 | Royal Lytham & St Annes 2015 | Yeltzman | 10 | Real |
| 11 | Old Beaver Creek – Championship | Bill Rader & Brian Jeffords | 9 | |
| 12 | Bison Run | Brian Jeffords | 11 | |
| 13 | Muirfield 2013 Open | Yeltzman | 12 | Real |
| 14 | Pine Valley, New Jersey | Craig Frey | 8 | Real |
| 15 | Promenade Golf Club | Adam Benjamin | 14 | |
| 16 | The Breakers | Rich Banker | 15 | |
| 17 | The Timberwolf | Andre Quenneville | 16 | |
| 18 | The Belfry – The Brabazon | Martyn Shaw | New | Real |
| 19 | Halton Beach | Dan Hebert | 17 | |
| 20 | Idanha Ridge Golf Club | Henrik Sundqvist | 18 | |
| 21 | Purgatory Golf Club | Steve Pope | 19 | |
| 22 | Bailiwick Grand Golf Club | Job Fickett & Dan Hebert | 20 | |
| 23 | The Course at Hiwassee Hills | Todd Driver | 21 | |
| 24 | Royal Birkdale 2016 (Thursday Dry) | Yeltzman | 23 | Real |
| 25 | Fox Chapel Golf Club | Pete Kohelis | New | Real |
| 26 | Columbia National Golf Links | Brian Jeffords | 22 | |
| 27 | Bethpage State Park Black Course | Bryan Boomer | 24 | Real |
| 28 | Firestone CC South (Rustic) | Brandon Pugh | 25 | Real |
| 29 | Freshwater Golf Club | Adam Benjamin | 26 | |
| 30 | Dr. Yeti’s 9 Hole Haven at Crater Lake | Bryan Cowles | 27 | |
| 31 | Hoodoo Hills: Remastered | Bryan Cowles | 28 | |
| 32 | Harbor Island Platinum | Jeremy Blaylock | 29 | |
| 33 | Glen Abbey GC (Canadian Open) Saturday | Bryan Boomer | 30 | Real |
| 34 | Coyote Canyon 2016 | Nick Weisgerber | 31 | |
| 35 | Spyglass Hill 2015 | yeltzman | 32 | Real |
| 36 | Red Rock National | Nick Weisgerber | 33 | |
| 37 | Pittsburgh Field Club (thurs) | Pete Kohelis | 34 | Real |
| 38 | Skull Valley Golf Club – Outlaw | Steve Pope | 35 | |
| 39 | Golf Club of Houston | William Bradford | 36 | Real |
| 40 | Sunningdale (Old Course) | Kenny Canham | New | Real |
| 41 | Tobacco Dunes | Steve Pope | 38 | Real |
| 42 | Dovetail Park Golf Club | Simon Morris | 37 | |
| 43 | Vallentuna Golfklubb – Sweden | Mikael Thunberg | 39 | Real |
| 44 | McKee McGrodo Platinum (A) | Jeremy Blaylock | 40 | |
| 45 | Fossmill Golf Club | Mikael Thunberg | 41 | |
| 46 | Escalante Steps (Par 3) | Brian Jeffords | 42 | |
| 47 | Barefoot-Dye | Steve Pope | New | Real |
| 48 | Le Golf National | Dean Lowden | 43 | Real |
| 49 | Harrison Mills Golf Club | Andre Quenneville | 44 | |
| 50 | Killarney Golf and Country Club | Nick Weisgerber | 45 | |
| 51 | St. Lorin Golf Club, Baumgarten Is. Hawaii #1 | David Jensen | 46 | |
| 52 | Welican National @ Llandudno | Bobby Anderson | 47 | Real |
| 53 | Celtic Vineyard Golf Club | Adam Benjamin | 48 | |
| 54 | TPC @ Boston – thurs (new textures) | Kenny Canham | 49 | Real |
| 55 | Southern Hills Country Club | Trey Coursey | 50 | Real |
| 56 | Eighteen at Strawberry Plains | Todd Driver | 51 | |
| 57 | Mai Phu Kyn Golf Club, Mekong Delta, Vietnam | David Jensen | 52 | |
| 58 | PGA West (Palmer) [Sunday] ’16 | Rod Simpson | 53 | Real |
| 59 | Riviera Country Club – Thursday | Bryan Boomer | 55 | Real |
| 60 | The Capilano Club | Andre Quenneville | 54 | |
| 61 | Loch Lorne Golf Club, Perthshire, Scotland | Chris Biggins | 56 | |
| 62 | Rio Vista Golf Club | Bryan Boomer | New | |
| 63 | Scarpacci Island | Antonio Scarpacci | 57 | |
| 64 | Apache Creek | Todd Driver | 58 | |
| 65 | Humboldt Bay Golf Club – Eureka, California | Andre Quenneville | 59 | |
| 66 | Harvest Plantation | Todd Driver | 60 | |
| 67 | Daggerfen Manor 2016 | Dale Burger | 61 | |
| 68 | Valgrind Golf Club | Joseph Bowling | 62 | |
| 69 | TGC @ the Engish Rose (Thurs) | Wendy Airey | 63 | Real |
| 70 | The Canuck Club at Devils’ Escarpment | Andre Quenneville | 64 | |
| 71 | Demon Host G.C. (Thursday) | Ola Ericsson | 65 | |
| 72 | Spectacle Island Links (Tour) | Antonio Scarpacci | 66 | |
| 73 | Westmorland Manor CC | Wayne Adams | 67 | |
| 74 | TGC Players’ Club – Stadium Course | Dario Logan | 68 | |
| 75 | The Homestead | Brian Jeffords / Andre Quenneville | 69 | |
| 76 | Kahiko Beach Golf and Surf Club | Andre Quenneville | 70 | |
| 77 | Royal Ballylough | Rod Simpson | 71 | |
| 78 | The Copse @ Malkie Coast | Ola Ericsson | 72 | |
| 79 | Olde Scarpacci | Antonio Scarpacci | 73 | |
| 80 | The Columbia Valley Preserve | Chris Nelson | 74 | |
| 81 | Whonnock Lake Golf Club (Black Diamond) | Andre Quenneville | 75 | |
| 82 | Yeti National CC at Sasquatch Pointe | Bryan Cowles | 76 | |
| 83 | Mistwood Golf Course | William Bradford | 77 | Real |
| 84 | Grand Epson V1 | Wendy Airey | 78 | |
| 85 | King Kyne Royal Tropicana | David Jensen | 79 | |
| 86 | Hocking Hills Country Club (Thursday) | Tim Jaquith | 80 | |
| 87 | The Canuck Club at Angels’ Plateau | Andre Quenneville | 81 | |
| 88 | TPC at Castaway Bay | Chris Saunders | 82 | |
| 89 | Falcon Bay Sunday Pin | Todd Driver | 83 | |
| 90 | Caldera Basin Golf Club | Jeremy Holme | 84 | |
| 91 | Horned Viper G.C. | Bryan Boomer | 85 | |
| 92 | Sleepy Willow CC (Blacks) | Brandon Pugh | 86 | |
| 93 | TGC @ Scottsdale Silverado | Dean Lowden | New | |
| 94 | Brynhildr Golf Club | Elliot Caw | New | |
| 95 | Windsong Shores Golf Sanitarium | David Jensen | New | |
| 96 | Arctic Curse Golf and CC | Bryan Boomer | 88 | |
| 97 | Rivington Hall | Martyn Shaw | 87 | |
| 98 | The Tarantula Golf Club | Keith Callahan | 89 | |
| 99 | Swindler’s Bluff (Thursday) | Brent Gravelle | 91 | |
| 100 | Rio Morros | Clay Schlegel | New |
Top Debut
Oakland Hills CC (South Course) by Royce Brown
A testament to dedication and perseverance in real course recreation, this course is a complete labor of love, and it’s evident in every detail. Like in real life, this one tests every club in the bag with narrow fairways and huge undulating greens.
Back for the First Time
TGC @ Scottsdale Silverado by Dean Lowden
After exiting the top 100 last month, Scottsdale Silverado re-enters the list in its new incarnation, TGC @ Scottsdale Silverado. This is a great update to an already very nice course.
Narrow Miss
Wild Goose Run Country Club by Roger Ramjet
A narrow miss for a course that felt a little too narrow with trees closing in all around, but the greens are fantastic and worth checking out.
Exiting the Top 100
Some of these courses have existed on the Top 100 list for many months, and seeing several RCR’s make an exit really demonstrates how tough the competition has become.