Top 100 Courses I’ve Played – June 2016

What do you get when one of the top designers in The Golf Club takes a crack at recreating one of the top golf courses in the world? Why, a new #1, of course! It’s been a long time coming, but Whistling Straits has finally been knocked from the top spot on the Top 100 list. I admit this could be a personal preference, because I am reading a book by the course’s architect, C.B. MacDonald, at the moment, but NGLA (the National Golf Links of America) has fascinated me for some time, and is among the highest of my bucket list courses. Henrik certainly knows how to design a course, and he has made this course look beautiful while successfully capturing MacDonald’s “template” holes, and his more successful non-template holes.

 

NGLA – The National by Henrik Sundqvist

 

The rest of the newcomers on the Top 100 list are heavily RCR, as well. If you are a fan of fictional courses, the good news is that I’ve caught up and played most of the new real courses by now, so I only have fictional courses left to play. Scroll down below the Top 100 list for more details on some of the new courses added, and an emotional farewell to the courses departing the list.

 

Rank	Name	Designer	Last Month	Real?
1	NGLA – The National	Henrik Sundqvist	New	Real
2	Whistling Straits, Sheboygan WI Overseeded	Craig Frey	1	Real
3	Tye Dunes	Patrick Yates	2
4	Congressional CC	Rod Simpson	3	Real
5	Royal Brumby	Patrick Yates	New
6	Oceanic Athletic Club	Adam Benjamin	4
7	Pebble Beach Golf Links (All versions)	Brandon Pugh	5	Real
8	Oakland Hills CC (South Course)- Bloomfield Hills, MI	Royce Brown	6	Real
9	Loa Pali Golf Resort	Dario Logan	7
10	Kipahulu Reserve	Henrik Sundqvist	8
11	TPC at Sawgrass (Tour A)	Brandon Pugh	9	Real
12	Royal Lytham & St Annes 2015	Yeltzman	10	Real
13	Old Beaver Creek – Championship	Bill Rader & Brian Jeffords	11
14	Bison Run	Brian Jeffords	12
15	Muirfield 2016	Yeltzman	13	Real
16	Pine Valley, New Jersey	Craig Frey	14	Real
17	Promenade Golf Club	Adam Benjamin	15
18	The Breakers	Rich Banker	16
19	The Timberwolf	Andre Quenneville	17
20	The Belfry – The Brabazon	Martyn Shaw	18	Real
21	Halton Beach	Dan Hebert	19
22	Idanha Ridge Golf Club	Henrik Sundqvist	20
23	Purgatory Golf Club	Steve Pope	21
24	Bailiwick Grand Golf Club	Job Fickett & Dan Hebert	22
25	The Course at Hiwassee Hills	Todd Driver	23
26	Royal Birkdale 2016 (Thursday Dry)	Yeltzman	24	Real
27	Fox Chapel Golf Club	Pete Kohelis	25	Real
28	Columbia National Golf Links	Brian Jeffords	26
29	Bethpage State Park Black Course	Bryan Boomer	27	Real
30	Firestone CC South (Rustic)	Brandon Pugh	28	Real
31	Freshwater Golf Club	Adam Benjamin	29
32	Dr. Yeti’s 9 Hole Haven at Crater Lake	Bryan Cowles	30
33	Hoodoo Hills: Remastered	Bryan Cowles	31
34	Harbor Island Platinum	Jeremy Blaylock	32
35	Glen Abbey GC (Canadian Open) Saturday	Bryan Boomer	33	Real
36	Coyote Canyon 2016	Nick Weisgerber	34
37	Spyglass Hill 2015	yeltzman	35	Real
38	Red Rock National	Nick Weisgerber	36
39	Pittsburgh Field Club (thurs)	Pete Kohelis	37	Real
40	Skull Valley Golf Club – Outlaw	Steve Pope	38
41	Golf Club of Houston	William Bradford	39	Real
42	Sunningdale (Old Course)	Kenny Canham	40	Real
43	Tobacco Dunes	Steve Pope	41	Real
44	Dovetail Park Golf Club	Simon Morris	42
45	Vallentuna Golfklubb – Sweden	Mikael Thunberg	43	Real
46	McKee McGrodo Platinum (A)	Jeremy Blaylock	44
47	Fossmill Golf Club	Mikael Thunberg	45
48	Peconic Bay Golf Course	Steve Pope	New	Real
49	Escalante Steps (Par 3)	Brian Jeffords	46
50	Barefoot-Dye	Steve Pope	47	Real
51	Harrison Mills Golf Club	Andre Quenneville	49
52	Killarney Golf and Country Club	Nick Weisgerber	50
53	Crooked Stick	Dean Lowden	New	Real
54	St. Lorin Golf Club, Baumgarten Is. Hawaii #1	David Jensen	51
55	Le Golf National	Dean Lowden	48	Real
56	Welican National @ Llandudno	Bobby Anderson	52	Real
57	Celtic Vineyard Golf Club	Adam Benjamin	53
58	TPC @ Boston – thurs (new textures)	Kenny Canham	54	Real
59	Southern Hills Country Club	Trey Coursey	55	Real
60	Eighteen at Strawberry Plains	Todd Driver	56
61	Mai Phu Kyn Golf Club, Mekong Delta, Vietnam	David Jensen	57
62	PGA West (Palmer) [Sunday] ’16	Rod Simpson	58	Real
63	Riviera Country Club – Thursday	Bryan Boomer	59	Real
64	The Capilano Club	Andre Quenneville	60
65	Loch Lorne Golf Club, Perthshire, Scotland	Chris Biggins	61
66	Rio Vista Golf Club	Bryan Boomer	62
67	Scarpacci Island	Antonio Scarpacci	63
68	Apache Creek	Todd Driver	64
69	Humboldt Bay Golf Club – Eureka, California	Andre Quenneville	65
70	Harvest Plantation	Todd Driver	66
71	Daggerfen Manor 2016	Dale Burger	67
72	Valgrind Golf Club	Joseph Bowling	68
73	Torrey Pines – South 2016	Kevin Gilmore	New	Real
74	The Canuck Club at Devils’ Escarpment	Andre Quenneville	70
75	TGC @ the Engish Rose (Thurs)	Wendy Airey	69	Real
76	Demon Host G.C. (Thursday)	Ola Ericsson	71
77	Spectacle Island Links (Tour)	Antonio Scarpacci	72
78	Westmorland Manor CC	Wayne Adams	73
79	TGC Players’ Club – Stadium Course	Dario Logan	74
80	The Homestead	Brian Jeffords / Andre Quenneville	75
81	Kahiko Beach Golf and Surf Club	Andre Quenneville	76
82	Royal Ballylough	Rod Simpson	77
83	The Copse @ Malkie Coast	Ola Ericsson	78
84	Olde Scarpacci	Antonio Scarpacci	79
85	The Columbia Valley Preserve	Chris Nelson	80
86	Whonnock Lake Golf Club (Black Diamond)	Andre Quenneville	81
87	Stonebridge GC – Ottawa	Brent Gravelle	New	Real
88	Yeti National CC at Sasquatch Pointe	Bryan Cowles	82
89	Mistwood Golf Course	William Bradford	83	Real
90	Grand Epson V1	Wendy Airey	84
91	King Kyne Royal Tropicana	David Jensen	85
92	Hocking Hills Country Club (Thursday)	Tim Jaquith	86
93	The Canuck Club at Angels’ Plateau	Andre Quenneville	87
94	TPC at Castaway Bay	Chris Saunders	88
95	Falcon Bay Sunday Pin	Todd Driver	89
96	Caldera Basin Golf Club	Jeremy Holme	90
97	Horned Viper G.C.	Bryan Boomer	91
98	Montreux G&CC – Reno, Nevada	Jimmy Sheridan	New	Real
99	Sleepy Willow CC (Blacks)	Brandon Pugh	92
100	TGC @ Scottsdale Silverado	Dean Lowden	93

 

Newcomers

Royal Brumby by Patrick Yates

I had heard great things about this one going in, and wondered if it could top Patrick’s Tye Dunes. The detail work here is simply outstanding, but I still give Tye Dunes the slight edge for playability. Royal Brumby will have to settle for a disappointing 5th place on the list.

 

Peconic Bay Golf Club by Steve Pope

A fitting month for this Sebonack replica to enter the list, along with its next door neighbor NGLA. They may not be 100% accurate, but the wild greens feel just like something Tom Doak and Jack Nicklaus would cook up together.

 

Crooked Stick by Dean Lowden

Host of this fall’s BMW Championship, we should get a good look at this one on TV. The abundant heavy rough makes for a nice looking Harvest course, and the angled Pete Dye greens are always interesting to play to.

 

Torrey Pines – South 2016 by Kevin Gilmore

An RCR from a designer I don’t know and a release I didn’t see previews for? Surely this one was going bad when I fired it up. Out of nowhere, though, this course delivers the same spectacular coastline found in La Jolla, and everything about the course is surprisingly well done.

 

Stonebridge GC – Ottawa

A realistic creation of a course that I’m sure I would otherwise never hear about. Angled and steeply tiered greens create a good moderate to difficult challenge.

 

Montreux G&CC – Reno, Nevada by Jimmy Sheridan

Perfect timing. Get your Stableford geek on along with the Barricuda Championship on TV this week. This is a rare RCR with dramatic elevation changes normally reserved for fictional courses in TGC.

 

Exiting the Top 100

Brynhildr Golf Club by Elliott Caw

 

Windsong Shores Golf Sanitarium by David Jensen

 

Arctic Curse Golf and CC by Bryan Boomer

 

Rivington Hall by Martyn Shaw

 

The Tarantula Golf Club by Keith Callahan

 

Swindler’s Bluff by Brent Gravelle

 

Rio Morros by Clay Schelgel