Golf Magazine - Best Since 1959

[Jason Mandel]

mike,

i agree with your assessment on harbourtown, it might not evev  be the best Pete Dye course on Hilton Head Island built after 1959.  

jason

[Evan_Green]

I find it interesting the Harbour Town was so highly rated at #2.

To some, it was a breakthrough course in some aspects of golf course architectual design but I don't believe it deserves the #2 spot ... it might be #2 on the Best Known or Viewed on TV list ...

I also find it very interesting that Harbour Town is #2 on the list- among Dye courses only I personally liked Long Cove, Kiawah and Sawgrass more. Still a really great track though - its a testament to how many good courses Dye has produced.

[David Wigler]

This list is a perfect example of what happens when you have Rosie O'Donnel as a rater.  I heard they were trying to get Michael Moore next.  Harbor Town number 2 is a joke.  I like Harbor Town but IMO it is 4th best course in its state built after 1959.  How can they steal GolfWeeks idea.  Have all of Golfweek's data for the last x years and still screw it up this bad.

[ForkaB]

Of the 3 "top 10" courses I have played from that list (Harbour Town, Spyglass and Pacific Dunes), the former more than holds its own.  It gets no respect these days on this site, but if you are really into GCA rather than eye candy or hype, you cannot not but love that place.  It is all that architecture is about or should ever be about.  Within that context it IS short and confined, but let he who is without sin (or fault) cast the first stone..........

OOPS!  Time to modify....

I have played (many times) TPC Sawgrass too.

The comments above still hold.

[Chris Pike]

40. Robert Trent Jones Golf Club
Gainesville, Va.
R.T. Jones/Roger Rulewich, 1991
Beautifully sited and a .masterpiece of strategic bunkering.

I didn't think I would ever see "Rulewich", "masterpiece", and "bunkering" mentioned together on this board  

[Scott_Burroughs]

The stupid thing about this list is that is doesn't coincide with their own Top 100 U.S. list, based on the order of the modern courses on the list.  Here's the order of modern courses from the GM Top 100 in U.S.:

1 SH
2 Pacific
3 MV
4 TGC
5 Whistling S
6 TPC
7 Harbourtown
8 Bandon
9 Ocean Course
10 Spyglass
11 WW(PB)
12 Ocean Forest
13 Wade H
14 Shadow C
15 Honors
16 Briar's
17 Pete Dye
18 Double Eagle
19 Hazeltine
20 Long Cove
21 F. Highlands
22 Hidden Creek
23 BDR (Quarry)
24 Dunes (MI)
25 Desert Forest
26 BWR (River)
27 Nantucket
28 Shoal C
29 Crooked S
30 Mauna Kea
31 Firestone
32 Laurel Valley
33 Bellerive
34 Atlantic
35 Galloway N

[Alex_Wyatt]

Wow is this annoying. These are Galyean's own choices. This six week old list is not by their panel, just Galyean, who clearly is quite fond of Rees Jones.