It takes nine rounds of golf across seven days to win the U.S. Amateur, a gauntlet Nick Dunlap completed on Sunday at Cherry Hills. Dunlap defeated fan favorite Neal Shipley in the 36-hole final, making 11 birdies on his way to victory. The win adds to Dunlap’s impressive summer, which already includes titles at the Northeast Amateur and North & South Amateur and comes just days before he returns to campus for his sophomore season at Alabama.

Dunlap joins the historic list of Cherry Hills Country Club winners, which includes names like Arnold Palmer (1960 U.S. Open) and Phil Mickelson (1990 U.S. Amateur). In the last five years, we’ve seen the USGA further emphasize venue quality for its premiere championships — the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur, etc. — holding those events across a list of historic venues. Cherry Hills certainly fits that bill and deserved the main host slot this week, even with the tricked-up rough added in order to protect the holy grail of par. Across town, Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw’s Colorado Golf Club served as the sister course during the stroke play portion of the tournament. CGC relied on nothing more than firm and fast conditions to separate the best from the rest. Its short par-3 2nd, driveable par-4 14th, and tremendous downhill par-5 16th all served as examples of the shots the course demands. For a championship like this in the modern era, CGC was the superior test of golf.

The reason many of us love this sport so much is because of the ability to see the game played in different arenas and variable environments. The issue with that freedom, at least as far as modern men’s championships are concerned, is the space required to accommodate both distance advancements and large crowds. Colorado Golf Club largely keeps up with distance gains and has plenty of acreage, but its vast areas of native grasses would be difficult for galleries to navigate. The golf course’s wide fairways effectively extend all the way to the native areas, which makes for excellent play but leaves little room for fans, who would be battling for viewing position with snakes and grasshoppers.

While we all enjoy seeing historic tournaments held at prestigious places like Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, or Cherry Hills, the golf world would almost certainly love watching the world’s best tackle a place like Colorado Golf Club, too. Logistical concerns will never allow an event like the U.S. Open or Ryder Cup at CGC, but hosting the U.S. Women’s Open or serving as the main site for a U.S. Amateur is absolutely feasible. Course pedigree certainly matters when it comes to the quality of a venue, but new courses will never get the chance to build their own history if they’re shut out of the rotation or relegated to serving as co-host.

This piece originally appeared in The Fried Egg newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.