Tag: rating

Sky Mile: Four Mile Ranch

Sky Mile: Four Mile Ranch

Every golf course is designed for a different purpose, to fulfill a different function, for different people. They all, however, share one common obligation: be interesting. Jim Engh once said he was in the “image creation business,” and if there’s anything that can be said about his courses with 100 percent accuracy, it’s that none…

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Murphy Creek is Pure Prairie

Murphy Creek is Pure Prairie

Most people would say the state of Colorado’s best natural assets are the Rocky Mountains. When it comes to golf I’d argue the best thing going for it are the high prairies along the eastern Front Range. The mountain courses, visually dramatic and non-replicable anywhere else, are often difficult to build and unyielding to play…

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Great Waters!

Great Waters!

The developmental timeline of Reynolds Lake Oconee (formerly Reynolds Plantation) is a little like the biological evolution of the human species. As time passes, organisms (in this case, golf courses) multiply, establishing themselves in their surroundings while slowly developing complexity surpassing previous versions. Eventually they become highly specialized within the context of their ecosystem until, finally, they’re advanced to…

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Straight Doping the Straits at Whistling Straits

Straight Doping the Straits at Whistling Straits

I don’t know what billionaire owner and developer Herb Kohler asked for when he hired Pete Dye to design and build the Straits Course at Whistling Straits, but if he wanted a true homage to an Irish links he didn’t get it. Though it looks the part in a sweeping glance there’s scant opportunity for the creative or interpretive play that real links…

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Goin’ Back to The Farm

Goin’ Back to The Farm

Golf courses built on sloping terrain usually feature distinct sections or acts, as the land transitions from high to low ground and back. Depending on the topography and architecture, some holes may fit better on the ground and offer highlights other areas can’t match. But the key on such sites is to unify all of it and make…

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Masterpiece Theater–TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course

Masterpiece Theater–TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course

A favorite debate among golf architecture students and historians is about what courses constitute the most influential in the evolution of golf design. Most groupings would include St. Andrews, National Golf Links of America, Pine Valley, Augusta National, and Sand Hills. The PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is often cited as another construction and cultural landmark. For better or worse (depending to…

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A Rocky Ride at Tot Hill Farm

A Rocky Ride at Tot Hill Farm

Hopefully people playing Tot Hill Farm outside of Raleigh know what they’re getting into. If they do, the disguised and oddly shaped fairways won’t bother them, nor will all the rocks and boulders, nor will the curiously oblong putting surfaces that melt like American cheese over the hilly landscapes. If they don’t, then this stuff will drive them mad.…

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Southern Hills Plantation: Dye Steps Forward

Southern Hills Plantation: Dye Steps Forward

I thought Southern Hills Plantation Club had a chance to win national acclaim when I first heard, around 2001, that Pete Dye was building a course in this part of west-central Florida. Being familiar with World Woods and the sand ridges that run through the Brooksville area, it seemed like the soils, the region’s big and graceful elevations…

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A Solid Double for Fazio at Reynolds Lake Oconee

A Solid Double for Fazio at Reynolds Lake Oconee

With a lovely, forested site (though not one necessarily great for golf), recurring views of Lake Oconee and the surrounding development’s once deep pockets, you’d think The National’s 27 holes would comprise some of the most spectacular destination golf in the Southeast. In actuality, the National bats in the middle of Reynolds Lake Oconee’s (formerly Reynolds Plantation) lineup. That’s…

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