Tom Doak’s Pacific Dunes Again Edges out Pebble Beach Golf Links for the top ranking – List Debuts August 5
(New York, Aug. 4, 2010) – Golf Magazine (www.GOLF.com) celebrates public golf courses in its September issue with the release of the 2010 Top-100 Courses You Can Play – a highly anticipated biennial ranking of the top courses across the country where membership is not a requirement to play. Pacific Dunes, Tom Doak’s Links-style masterpiece in Bandon, Ore., again edged out Pebble Beach Golf Links for the top spot on the list, which hits newsstands Aug. 5.
“The second course to open at Oregon’s Bandon Dunes Resort, this 2001 Tom Doak design has run neck and neck for the past six years with the course it replaced, Pebble Beach,” said Joe Passov, Golf Magazine’s Course Rankings and Architecture Editor about No. 1 Pacific Dunes. “But even after Pebble took center stage this year by hosting the U.S. Open, it couldn’t knock Pacific from the top.”
The 2010 edition of Top 100 Courses You Can Play has hosted 14 PGA TOUR major championships, including the last two U.S. Opens and the PGA Championship next week; 16 courses were designed by the Joneses – Robert Trent Jones Sr., Jr./II and Rees – 13 by Tom Fazio and 10 by Pete Dye; 67 of the courses you can play for greens fees of $100 or less; and if you’re a traveling golfer, California has to be on your list as 10 courses land on the list from The Golden State.
Seven courses were first-time selections to the list, including Old Macdonald, the newest Doak/Jim Urbina design at the ethereal plot of land known as Bandon, Ore., which was the highest debut of the bunch at No. 10. “The fourth championship course at Bandon Dunes Resort pays tribute to the design style of pioneering American architect Charles Blair Macdonald,” Passov said of Old Macdonald. “Many already consider Old Macdonald to be the most fun Bandon course to play, thanks to its massive fairways and to its emphasis on strategy.” Thanks to Rees Jones redesigns, two old favorites return to the list – Cog Hill Golf Club (No. 4) at No. 16 and Mauna Kea Golf Course at No. 19.
The Top 100 Courses You Can Play was compiled through input from Golf Magazine’s World Course Ranking Panel (which can be found at Golf.com), the Golf Magazine editorial staff, industry insiders and the magazine’s network of “course spies” in the field.
Notes on Top 100 Courses You Can Play:
• Seven courses make their debut! The following courses have earned first-time recognition on the Golf Magazine list:
#10 Old Macdonald, Bandon, Ore., a new Tom Doak/Jim Urbina design that joins its neighbors Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails inside the top-15.
#16 The highest “new” course on this year’s list, Cog Hill Golf Club (No. 4) in Lemont, Ill. is an old favorite that earned its spot after a recent redesign by architect Rees Jones.
#19 Mauna Kea Golf Course, Kamuela, Big Island, Hi. Like Cog Hill, Mauna Kea also benefited from Jones’ hand in a redesign. Clearly, Jones’ efforts paid off, as both courses claim top-20 status.
#45 Forest Dunes Golf Club, Roscommon, Mich.
#80 French Lick Resort, French Lick, Ind.
#87 Southern Dunes Golf Club, Maricopa, Ariz.
#97 Tobacco Road Golf Club, Sanford., N.C.
• By championship:
• Has hosted 14 Total PGA TOUR Major Championships,
• 10 U.S. Opens,
• 4 PGA Championships,
• 11 U.S. Women’s Opens,
• 13 U.S. Amateurs,
• 3 U.S. Senior Opens,
• 3 Ryder Cups
The events span well more than 100 years, from the 1901 U.S. Amateur to next week’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
• Affordable: 67 of the top 100 courses can be played for $100 or less, 15 for $50 or less.
• Totals by state:
• 10, California
• 7, Arizona
• 6, South Carolina, Florida and Oregon, including Nos. 1, 5, 10 and 15
• By designer:
• Keeping up with the Joneses: In total, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., Jr./II and Rees have their stamp on 16 of the top-100: Sr. and Rees with six apiece (sharing one redesign), and Jr./II with five.
• Hendersonville, N.C.-based architect Tom Fazio has 13 designs on the list.
• Carmel, Indiana’s Pete Dye, has 10, five of which are inside the top 15 (Nos. 3, 4, 9, 12 and 14).
• Rees Jones was the biggest upward mover. With the two redesigns at Cog Hill and Mauna Kea, he jumped from four designs on the list, to six.
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