A recent survey by GOLF WORLD magazine listed the PGA Tour players' top ten courses ... I was pleasently surprised. They picked the older, shorter, classic courses - the courses where you have to hit shots - not just bomb it and make some putts. Number one was Augusta National - maybe obvious, but still a great pick. Number two was Harbour Town - very surprising to me - I love Harbour Town, it's short for a Tour course and has little greens, and you have to work the ball - you can't just slug it. From there it's: Riviera, Pebble Beach, Colonial, Muirfield Village, Shaughnessy, Aronimink, Innisbrook, and Congressional.
That's great sign for the future of golf. Very often Tour players design courses because course owners want to use their famous names - so if these guys value the good courses, hopefully we'll see more quality courses in the future.
5 comments:
Tom, your article gave me pause to reflect on your comment about Tour Professionals designing courses for the future. So I went and did a little research on who designed those 10 classic golf courses. Interesting most were designed by individuals who either had an amateur or military background.
Augusta National
Alister Mackenzie/Amateur
Harbour Town
Pete Dye/Amateur
Riviera
Capt George Thomas/Military
Pebble Beach
Jack Neville/Amateur
Douglas Grant/Amateur
Colonial
Lester George/Military
Robert Wrenn/Professional
Murfield
Jack Nicklaus/Professional
Shaughnessy
A.V. Macan/Military
Aronimink
Donald Ross/Professional
Innisbrook
Larry Packard/Military
Congressional
Devereux Emmet/Amateur
Gordy/Island View
Gordus Arelius, Thanks for your insightful comment ... I wish I knew the meaning of it, though I suspect you're onto something ... how you be?
Well I was trying to make the point, that just because a pro has a big name, doesn't necessarily correlate to great course designs. Like in most sports, the great coaches typically were not stars players, in addition, I thought it was interesting that those with military backgrounds had a hand in designing some of these courses, as they are trained in deception, camouflage and strategic maneuvering. Have to get you out this year with the Gangsome
I'm glad you expounded on your point - sometimes I need things spelled out ... I agree ... but some architects are even worse than Pros - they want to put their stamp on every course even if it's out of charecter with the location ... I love Harbour Town, but usually I hate Pete Dye ... I think the military link is fascinating - good layouts emphasis risk/reward - you have to plan your strategy to play well ... I'm currently in SC ... let's beat it around this summer ...
There is no question that Augusta is the number one pick for most PGA players as their favorite golf course. I mean, it has short courses for a quick warm up practices, and long distance fairways for professional tournaments like the Masters. Those two would probably be the main reasons why players love to play in Augusta. By the way, those are some insightful information, Gangsome. Great research!
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