Top 3-5 Nicklaus courses

[redanman]

Last one.  Now get posting little leibchens, as Dr. Katz might say.

Is it

MVGC
Bear's Club
Desert Highlands-Why is this on the "Overlooked" category these days?
Mayacama
Bear's Best?

I know there's a lot of Jack's fans here, step up please.

[DTaylor18]

Manele Bay
Kauai Lagoons-Kiele
Hualalai
Grand Cypress-New

[Craig Van Egmond]

The Best I've seen:


TPC at Snoqualmie
Reflection Bay
Kauai Lagoons - Kiele

[Raymond]

Of the ones I've played...

Cabo Del Sol
Manele Bay
Eldorado
Kauai Lagoons - Kiele

[McCloskey]

I don't think you can limit it to 5, but here are some I especially liked:
Cabo del Sol
Montreaux
Great Waters
Hokulia
Spring Creek Ranch
Las Campanas
Diablo Grande
Mayacama
Snoqualmie Ridge
Muirfield Village
Carlton Woods
Desert Mountain Chiricahua and Outlaw
Ocean Hammock
Pinehurst National
Bear's Club
ElDorado
Punta Mita

[Robert Emmons]

One's I've played:

Muirfield Village
TPC at Snoqualmie
Loxahatchie
Ibis-Legend
PGA National-Champion
Bears Club

[Brad Swanson]

I know I haven't played any of Jack's "best" designs, but I will chime in and say that the Breckenridge Muni is a damn fun round of golf in a beautiful setting.  Might be one of his quirkier designs due to the 9000 foot altitude.


Cheers,
Brad Swanson

[danielfaleman]

Two:

Muirfield Village
Cabo del Sol

That's it.

[Pete Buczkowski]

I nominate Old Works in Montana as his best that most haven't heard of.  

[jim_lewis]

Muirfield Village
Shoal Creek
Castle Pines GC
Ocean Hammock
Valhalla
Kauai Lagoons-Kiele
Colleton River
Great Waters
CC of Castle Pines
Elk River

[Sr Fortson]

I would think that Muirfield Village and Desert Highlands would be up there, but I haven't seen Bear Creek in Murrietta, California mentioned.  I have played there a number of times and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Craig Van Egmond]

I second that nomination for Old Works!  

[cary lichtenstein]

Muirfield
The Ritz
The Summit

[johnk]

Does Harbour Town not count since it was a "collaboration", or is it being left out because no one thinks it's good?  I've never been there, just wondering...

[Steve Pozaric]

I have not played many of Jack's courses, but I would rate Valhalla highly.  Conversely, Stonewolf, a course in Illinois across the river from St. Louis, I would not.

Steve

[Tom_Doak]

My top 3:

Cabo del Sol (Ocean)
Muirfield Village
Desert Highlands

Is the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge really that good?  I have to drive past it on the way to our new project in Washington this summer.  I guess I should stop in and see.

[Dan Grossman]

I have really liked of JN's work:
PGA West - Resort
Grand Cypress (New)
Grand Cypress (East / North / South)
Harbour Town
Muirfield Village

Really didn't like:
Coyote Creek
CC of Muirfield
Pawley's Plantation

[Matt_Ward]

A number of Jack's more recent courses have a better sense of elasticity in providing for more options than a number of his earliest efforts.

If I had to name some of my more recent favorites I would go with ...

Desert Mountain (Chirichua) AZ
Desert Mountain (Outlaw) AZ
Hokuli'a on the Big Island
TPC at Snoqualmie
Cimarron Hills

I have not been to the Cabo area but clearly Jack has made an impact there.

I'm also a fan of his earliest efforts with:

Muirfield Village at the top
I also like Great Bear in Marshalls Creek, PA which gets so little exposure because much of what is claimed as golf in the Pocono region on PA is simply dreadful stuff. Great Bear is well done.

Tom Doak: You mention Desert Highlands -- I would strongly suggest you need to see the more updated Jack designs in the AZ desert. As good as Desert Highlands is I believe his two most recent works at Desert Mountain surpass it.

[jim_lewis]

I don't know how I managed to overlook Ocean Hammock which I would rand third behind only Muirfield Village and Shoal Creek.

[Michael Whitaker]

I played a great Nicklaus design today... The Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset, SC.

It is a terriffic layout, somewhat mountainous... and, not a bad hole on the course. Wonderful mix of holes, short and long 3's, 4's, 5's. I highly recommend that you rater types put it on your to do list.

Also, the staff and service was about the best I have ever experienced. Everyone went out their way to enquire if we needed anything and to make us feel at home.

Fantastic experience!

[Wayne Freeman]

 Many of big Jack's courses just don't seem very inspired- and a lot of them are just set up for his game-  lots of fades, and it seems that to score well you need to hit that high faded 1 iron into the greens. That aside, the best ones I've played are Valhalla which I think is terrific ( I believe it was his 100th course). Front side is alot like Shinnecock, and the back like Pinehurst 2.  Bear Creek is also a first rate course and a very good test from the back.  I played Desert Highlands several years ago and thought it was very dramatic with all those elevated tees and long carries to the fairway.

[rjsimper]

How bout Dove Canyon in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.

I've only played 4 Nicklaus courses, but this one takes the cake from the 4, I feel.

[Matt_Ward]

Jim L:

You're so right -- Ocean Hammock needs to be included in
that mix of his top ten. Those senior moments are coming faster and faster for me.

[JWL]

matt ward

Colleton River was listed by some.   You might be interested to know that is is undergoing a pretty major facelift as we speak, and should be better than ever by end of the summer.
The greens which will remain rather tame by comparison to what most like of this board, will have a little more spice to them.  

[Micah Woods]

Two excellent Nicklaus courses are the Mountain Course at Spring City in Kunming, China, and Shanghai Links in Shanghai, where I was formerly the superintendent. The Spring City course offers plenty of width and variety on a property with a lot of elevation change. The par fives there are especially memorable, in particular the 9th, if I recall correctly. An uphill tee shot to a blind landing area is followed by a precipitously dropping fairway to a skyline green, with the large Dianchi Lake as a backdrop perhaps 600 feet below.

Shanghai Links is in the eastern district of Pudong, and the course is right next to the East China Sea, in all its muddy glory (the mouth of the Yangtze River is just north of Pudong). This course has generous fairways (52 acres), well positioned central bunkers that force decisions to be made off the tee, and a few greens with front to back slope. The wind is a constant factor here, and the green contours, particularly on the front nine, make for a memorable experience.

A stretch that typifies the course begins at the slightly downhill fourth, a redan-type hole. This is followed with the par 5 fifth at which 3 small bunkers in the middle of the fairway diagonally streth away from the player to the left. One must squeeze a ball through or fly the bunkers up the right side, which is the direct route to the green, but rather narrow. Or one can take the safer play to the left of the bunkers, resulting in a longer second shot. The green on this hole is a punchbowl, blind from farther than 75 yards out, and the running approach often works here better than the aerial one. The sixth is a shortish par four with a straightforward drive, but the short iron approach to this bunkerless green that angles away to the players left must be precise. The green is elevated from the fariway which surrounds the green on all sides, and internal contours of the green demand an approach shot close to the hole.

I rank the Nicklaus courses I have played:

1. Shanghai Links
2. Spring City Mountain
3. Desert Mountain Geronimo
4. Suzhou Sunrise (China)
5. Hangzhou West Lake (China)

-Micah Woods