Pedigree, popularity, and richness, in terms of the layout and shot values possible, are the three defining criteria for this very subjective ranking.
This is certainly not an exact science, but an interesting exercise nonetheless!
The Amazing Augusta National Golf Club
Located in Georgia, in the USA, this golf club was designed by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones back in 1933. It is 7 435 yards, and has a PAR of 72.
The Masters is held here in April of every year, and although the existing track doesn’t bear much resemblance to the original design, it is a perfectly prepared, painstakingly improved upon haven for players to enjoy.
The Masters Tournament brings both the history and story of the Augusta National to life, and this is, essentially, what makes a golf course great.
The Perfection of the Pine Valley Golf Club
If there is a course guaranteed to outstrip even the most lucrative gambling online casino experience it is this one! H.S. Colt and George Crump were the original architects in 1918, and it is a 6 999 yard PAR 70 course located in New Jersey, USA.
The only important tournament Pine Valley hosts is the Crump Cup, an amateur competition that the public may view. George Crump was the founder of this course, and tapped some of the greatest minds of the early 20th century in terms of architecture in order to fashion the distinctive island-to-island layout that this course boasts.
According to Golf Digest’s Top 100 Course Ranking, Pine Valley merges all three golf design schools, combining penal, strategic, and heroic elements all throughout the course, and often on a single hole.
The Superb St Andrews Old Course
Situated in St. Andrews, in Scotland, the St Andrews Old Course was established in the 1400s, and has 6 721 yards and PAR 72. The Open Championship has been held here a record 29 times, and golf has been enjoyed on this historical location for 600 years!
One of the biggest selling points of this golf course is the fact that no single hand carved this decorated masterpiece. It is the birthplace of golf, and its pedigree simply cannot be surpassed. Its gigantic rolling greens, cavernous bunkers, blinds shots and strange Road Hole all combine to create a radiant layout.
Uniquely variable and dependent on the whims of the weather, all of the golf course design in the world either copies the Old Course or confutes it, and so it the touchstone of courses everywhere, and will be for ever more.
The St Andrews Old Course is the bona fide womb in which the essence of the game we know and love today was originally conceived so many years ago.
Even if it had never gone on to host a major golf championship, this venue would still rank this highly on any list detailing this kind of information.
However, thanks to the course’s eminent history as a host of the Open Championship, it sits quite comfortably in the top position.