Golf Digest magazine world rankings

[Jeff_Lewis]

I just finished playing a club in Brazil called Gaeva, which was proudly displaying the 1979 Golf Digest top 50 outside the US List, as it was ensconsed at number 27. It was really an incredible list, though I only remember a few things like Caesarea from Isreal at 40 or so, right next to TOC. The editors felt that the technology of the 1970s (!) had left St. Andrews behind.

Does anybody know during what period Golf published this list and if the archive is available somewhere?

As an aside, Gaeva was built in the '20s, I think, and has some remarkable holes. I was unable to ascertain the architect.  On this same trip, I made it over to the A.M.'s Jockey Club in Argentina and will post a few photos when we return. Great green complexes.  

[Tom MacWood (Guest)]

Jeff
Gavea was designed by Stanley Thompson.

[Tom Doak]

Jeff,

The list you remember was a one-off "ranking" written entirely by Peter Dobereiner.

Peter was a very interesting man and had a taste for golf architecture, so it was an interesting list, but hardly meant to be definitive.  He went out of his way to include courses from as many different parts of the world as possible ... Durban Country Club in South Africa, Gavea in Rio, and Caesarea in Israel were three of the most memorable "unusual" picks.

(Of the three, only Durban has received any support in the GOLF Magazine rankings.  Gavea and Caesarea wouldn't make the top 300 according to the consensus view.  But what did you think of Gavea?  I've never been there.)

P.S.  Robert Trent Jones told me he quit working for Stanley Thompson when Thompson wanted to send him to Gavea.  He said he was afraid that the way Thompson spent money, he'd never have the funds to get back.

[Jonathan Cummings]

That Jones line is funny!

I hope Bruce H. doesn't read it though.  With his whole family in SE Asia he may start sweating bullets and being on the phone regularly with your accountant!

See you at Bandon in March.

JC

[Jeff_Lewis]

Tom and Tom,

Thanks for the info. Stanley Thompson...very interesting, indeed. There are 13 holes that are in mountainous jungle and 5 holes on a flat plain by the water. The five by the water are entirely forgettable, but the other 13 are a remarkable feat of routing. Some of the tee and greensites are amazing. The terrain was probably very difficult to work with.  

If I were using the Doak scale, I would probably give it a 7.

As for that Dobereiner list, would you have a copy of it? There were definitely some off-the-run tracks worth investigating on that list.

[ForkaB]

We discussed this list a year or two ago and somebody posted the entire group.  Good luck in searching for it.  I remember Nchanga as being in the top 15.........

[Jeff_Lewis]

Rich, I was as interested in the comments that accompanied the list ( like the one on TOC in my earlier post ) as I was in the list. I made a few vain attempts at searching for it. I guess I can always ask Gavea to take a photo of the plaque and send it to me. Thanks for the tip, though.

[Steve Wilson]

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the copyright police here is the list sans Dobereiner's comments.  The article is entitled "World's Best Fifty Courses Outside of America."

1.  Royal County Down
2.  Royal Melbourne
3.  Durban Country Club
4.  Cajuiles, La Romana, Domican Republic
5.  El Saler, Valencia, Spain
6.  Muirfield
7.  Hirono
8.  Lagunita, Venzuela
9.  Royal Birkdale
10.  Dorado Beach
11.  Royal Montreal
12.  Kasumigaseki
13.  Ballybunnion
14.  Nchanga, Chingola, Zambia
15.  Walton Heath
16.  Club zur Vahr
17.  New South Wales Golf Club
18.  Penina, Algarve, Portugal
19.  Club de Golf Mexico
20.  Den Haag, Netherlands
21.  Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas
22.  Pevero, Sardinia, Italy
23.  Wack Wack, Manila
24.  Banff Springs
25.  Royal Johannesburg
26.  Portmarnock
27.  La Gavas
28.  Sotogrande (Old) Spain
29.  Falkenstein, Hamburg
30.  Quinto do Lago, Algarve
31.  Laka Karrinyup, Western Australia
32.  Carnoustie
33.  Mount Irvine Bay, Tobago
34.  Royal Salisbury, Rhodesia
35.  Falsterbo, Sweden
36.  Royal Dar es Salam, Rabat, Morocco
37.  Noordwijk, Netherlands
38.  Royal Selangor, Malaysia
39.  Wairakei, New Zealand
40.  Ravenstein, Belgium
41.  St. Andrews
42.  Mid-Ocean
43.  Caesarea, Israel
44.  Le Touquet, France
45.  Singapore Island
46.  Capilano
47.  Gleneagles (Braid Course)
48.  Fujioka
49.  Morfontaine, France
50.  Killarney Island

This article is in a collection of Dobereiner's work given the title  "The World of Golf."   Published in 1981 I suspect it belongs to the hard to find category.

[Mark_Huxford]

Michael Wolveridge touched on this list in an article for the SAGCA journal.

http://www.sagca.org.au/journal2000/ratings.html

[Jeff_Lewis]

Awesome.

What a thing GCA is. That a person could see a plaque in a club in Brazil from 1979 and within one day get a copy of that list. Amazing. Thanks to all for your info.

Some list. Lagunita at 8? Pevero? Falkenstein? Mount Irvine Bay?  Wack Wack? Royal Selangor?   Do the GOLF magazine raters need to get further afield?