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
Thank you so much for your “top 100” and your “What to play”.
Just bought the game (forced some friends to buy it, too), and your site is a great help.