Chocolate Drops: Dissecting Golf Digest’s New Top 100 Courses

Happy Memorial Day, Fried Egg Golf Club. Here are a few stories from the world of golf architecture that I’m tracking this week:

→ Last week, Golf Digest released the latest iteration of its list of “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses.” My position remains that these rankings are silly, fundamentally flawed, and probably harmful to the game. But as usual, I can’t restrain myself from firing off a few observations and takes:

1. The top eight is exactly the same as it was in 2023: 1) Pine Valley; 2) Augusta National; 3) Cypress Point; 4) Shinnecock Hills; 5) Oakmont; 6) Merion; 7) National Golf Links of America; and 8) Sand Hills. The top six has been the same since 2013, with one exception: Oakmont and Merion switched places in 2015.

2. First-timers: The Lido in Nekoosa, Wisconsin (No. 69); CapRock Ranch in Valentine, Nebraska (72); and Ladera Golf Club in Thermal, California (83).

Old Barnwell and Pinehurst No. 10, which made their debuts in Golf Magazine’s ranking in 2024, did not appear in the Golf Digest top 100 this year. Old Barnwell currently sits at No. 131 and Pinehurst No. 10 at 173. The Tree Farm, incidentally, outranks both, at No. 130. I wouldn’t read too much into these placements, though. Golf Digest’s panel is much larger than Golf Magazine’s and slower to form a consensus on new courses. I would expect the rankings of The Lido, CapRock, Ladera, Old Barnwell, No. 10, and The Tree Farm to be volatile over the next few editions of the list.

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3. In recent years, Golf Magazine’s U.S. top 100 has been a better barometer for the tastes of the golf intelligentsia than Golf Digest’s. The reason for this is simple: Golf Magazine’s panel consists almost entirely of card-carrying members of said intelligentsia, whereas Golf Digest’s panel has a much broader base. Also, while Golf Magazine refreshes its ratings with every list, Golf Digest bases its top 100 on a 10-year scoring cycle. The result is that Golf Digest’s ranking can feel outdated. For instance, it continues to venerate unfashionable modern courses like the Alotian Club (No. 37), Castle Pines (No. 50), Whispering Pines (No. 66), Kinloch (No. 79), Canyata (No. 86), and Valhalla (No. 94), none of which appeared on Golf Magazine’s latest list.

4. That said, I believe the Golf Digest ranking is slowly evolving in Golf Magazine’s direction. One indicator of this shift is the declining status of Tom Fazio, an architect who has fallen out of favor among the game’s cognoscenti. While Fazio remains a favorite of Golf Digest panelists, notching more designs in the top 100 (12) than any other architect, his metrics are flagging. Several of his courses are in the midst of long-term slides: the Alotian Club has fallen from No. 14 in 2011 to No. 37 this year; Butler National (a collaboration with his uncle George Fazio) from No. 21 in 2007 to No. 87; Victoria National from No. 21 in 2005 to No. 60; and the Quarry at La Quinta from No. 44 in 2009 to No. 85. Other formerly vaunted Fazio designs — Flint Hills National, Mayfield Sand Ridge, and Black Diamond — have dropped out of the top 100 entirely. I would expect this trend to continue. As a point of reference, the 2024 Golf Magazine ranking features only three Tom Fazio courses: Wade Hampton (No. 63), Gozzer Ranch (No. 76), and Shadow Creek (No. 80).

5. Meanwhile, sporty Golden Age courses like Old Town Club (No. 39), Shoreacres (No. 47), Sleepy Hollow (No. 52), Myopia Hunt Club (No. 54), and Piping Rock (No. 98) are on the rise. Golf Digest has long underrated this genre of golf architecture compared to Golf Magazine, but that gap seems to be closing.

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6. Why is the Golf Digest top 100 starting to resemble its main competition? Let’s talk about it in the comment section below. I have some thoughts of my own.

→ Major championship golf returns to Erin Hills Golf Course this week with the U.S. Women’s Open. Here’s my colleague Meg Adkins with a couple of things to watch for:

“It has been eight years since Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, and there are a couple of course changes to keep an eye out for once play begins. USGA Senior Director of Championships Shannon Rouillard — whom Matthew Galloway and I hosted on the latest episode of The Mixed Bag — noted that the course has converted its fine fescue fairways to bentgrass. The change took place in 2020 because, as Rouillard put it, ‘Leadership felt it was in the best interest of the golf course moving forward to make that conversion.’ It will be interesting to see how firm the bentgrass fairways play, given that the tournament is taking place in a season of mild temperatures and frequent rain. Fescue can thrive in Wisconsin, as the courses at Sand Valley have proven, it tends to play firmer than bent. 

“The other big change at Erin Hills is that all bunkers have been redone over the past couple of years. During my round at media day a few weeks ago, Rouillard mentioned that a number of centerline bunkers could be in play, depending upon setup and wind direction. Shaggy fescue edges line most of these bunkers and could derail a number of rounds.”

→ Last week, OCM Golf — the Australian firm headed up by Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking, and Ashley Mead — announced that it had been hired to create a master plan for The Country Club in Salt Lake City, Utah. Fried Egg Golf’s Will Knights is familiar with the course and has this to say:

“Originally designed by William Watson, The Country Club has undergone little change in the 105 years since its inception. The front nine sits on a relatively flat paddock but does feature a great reverse camber hole in No. 4, boundary holes in Nos. 7 and 8, and a dramatic cliffside par 5 in No. 9. The back nine moves through a low-lying valley with great topography, but it is bound by the freeway to the south and a neighborhood to the north.

“While I don’t expect OCM to make big changes to The Country Club’s routing, I do think a few alterations would help maximize the course’s use of the land. Unnecessary trees and bunkers clutter the front nine, and the green slopes don’t quite match the strategy suggested by the tee shots. OCM could make a big difference by reimagining a few holes here. The other aspect of the master plan I’ll be following relates to water usage. As Aussies, Ogilvy, Cocking, and Mead have a strong understanding of how to design for long periods of heat and little rain. As Utah fights climate change, The Country Club would be smart to decrease its water dependency. 

“OCM’s work won’t begin anytime soon, but this should be a fun project to follow.”

→ The Pines at The International in Bolton, Massachusetts, will reopen for member play on June 6 after a soup-to-nuts redesign by Coore & Crenshaw. Here’s my initial story on the project, from way back in 2021.