[Jason Topp]

Jason - welcome to the Sand Hills is best brotherhood.  The fraternity is small but growing.  I've said many times I am convinced it is the best course on the planet.

Tom - I'll definitely want to do more "research" before concluding it is the best on the planet, but it might be.

Other contenders:

Played:

The Old Course – I would need to get to know it better, but from the tees the public plays, I think the 14th, 15th and 16th have lost some teeth and for the occasional player you spend most of your time either just listening to your caddie or guessing as to the lines of play.

Royal Melbourne West – Pretty close, but I think the putting is more interesting at Sand Hills.  I played Royal Melbourne on a day the greens were damaged.

Ballybunion – Opening stretch is good but not nearly as good as the opening stretch at Sand Hills.

Have not played and have no idea where they would rank:

Royal Dornoch
NGLA
Cypress Point
Pacific Dunes


Have not played but suspect they are not as good:

Merion – Quarry is probably too tough for high handicapper

Pine Valley – too tough for high handicapper

Pinehurst No. 2 – tee to green, it does not seem as interesting as Sand Hills

Muirfield – It just looked like torture to me the way they had it set up for the last Open there.  Probably not a fair impression of the course.

[Gene Greco]

Glenn:

   You'll have to ask Tom Doak why not - he gives it a 9 which is darn near perfection.

As for me, I haven't played it yet but this is the year I will make it there. I know Brad Swanson has been waiting patiently for me to get off my butt and get to Ohio!!

[Glenn Spencer]

Gene,

It is awesome. I understand 9 though. I guess it is not top 5 in the world, but it is a top 5 experience. I wish I remembered more about the course, it was a long time ago. Enjoy!!

P.S.- Anyone know what Camargo, Canterbury, Garden City or Moraine received?

[redanman]

I am a huge fan of The Golf Club. (So is Ran, BTW)  I say it is not 10 calibre, but it sure is a nine. One really has to be selective and draw some lines if 10, 9 and 8 are to really mean something. To Joe Blow and Jane Doe, everything seven and above is a 10 (and a Doak six or better is almost guaranteed to be Golf Digest Places to Play *****.)

Back to TGC:  

Right around the turn on both sides it drops off a little bit.  Perhaps if it hadn't had returning nines?

#7 the par 5, because of technology I'm not quite so sure, but and 8 and 9 and 10 aren't as superlative as the rest, not to say that they aren't very good holes, just not outstanding.

However the sequence of the shortish (#7) par five after the somehow simultaneously deceptive yet monstrously difficult par 4.5 6th, (which is absolutely nothing if not world class), is sheer brilliance, so maybe in that context #7 is a great hole - showing genius of routing.

[Doug Wright]

.... I know Brad Swanson has been waiting patiently for me to get off my butt and get to Ohio!!

Gene,

I think Brad may have lost patience--last I heard he was moving to Wisconsin...

Best,

[ed_getka]

Tom,
   Sand Hills: I find #13 and 17 to be the same hole just different lengths.
   Cypress: #10 is a pretty average par 5
    NGLA: #13? The Eden is quite average IMO, and #9 is pretty non-descript after the drive. In spite of that it is still one of my favorite courses, and I would drop everything and fly 3000 miles tomorrow to play it.
     Dornoch: #7 up on the plateau is very average.
All this being said these courses are in my top 5, with Sand Hills my favorite when I factor in all aspects that are important to me.
   

[Tim Gavrich]

Where do the following Dye courses rank (most likely):

- Whistling Straits, Straits
- The Ocean Course, Kiawah
- Oak Tree
- Crooked Stick
- Blackwolf Run (the one that held the Womens Open)
- Teeth of the Dog
and for fun...
- Wintonbury Hills

some more...
- Tobacco Road
- Caledonia
- MPCC Shore
- is Cypress a 10?
- Yale
- Fishers Island
- Bethpage Black
- Baltusrol Lower
- Winged Foot
- Medinah No. 3
- The Orchards
- Pinehurst No. 2

just curious...

[Gene Greco]

Tim:

   According to the Guide Cypress is a 10. So is #2.

[Gene Greco]

Where do the following Dye courses rank (most likely):

- Whistling Straits, Straits (Did not exist - 1994 Publish date)
- The Ocean Course, Kiawah - 7
- Oak Tree - 6
- Crooked Stick - 7
- Blackwolf Run (the one that held the Womens Open) - 7
- Teeth of the Dog - 9
and for fun...
- Wintonbury Hills

some more...
- Tobacco Road
- Caledonia
- MPCC Shore - 4 (Pre strantz), Dunes - 6 (pre Rees)
- is Cypress a 10? yes
- Yale - 8
- Fishers Island - 7
- Bethpage Black - 7 (pre facelift)
- Baltusrol Lower - 8
- Winged Foot - 9
- Medinah No. 3 - 7
- The Orchards
- Pinehurst No. 2 - 10

just curious...

[Doug Siebert]

Ballybunion – Opening stretch is good but not nearly as good as the opening stretch at Sand Hills.

I agree that the opening stretch could be improved upon a bit (mainly the two par 5s) but IMHO the final 13 holes have got to be the best 13 consectutive holes anywhere on the planet.

Muirfield – It just looked like torture to me the way they had it set up for the last Open there.  Probably not a fair impression of the course.

They actually cut the rough down a bit for the Open, probably the only course around where they shorten rough for a major championship!  I'm not sure if the fairways were narrowed from when I played it in August 2001, it is hard to tell.  But I can say for sure that the rough was shorter because it was up to my thighs in most places, but for the pros it was closer to knee length.

They also don't set up pussy tees like TOC and Carnoustie do nowadays, at least on the day I played it the tees of the day were the Open tees on all the par 4s, but the par 5s were played one set up.

So I think you probably do get a pretty fair impression of it from the Open.  Its definitely a stern test, and I don't quite understand why some people berate Carnoustie for its toughness but have no problem with Muirfield (not saying Carnoustie should rank quite as high as Muirfield, but Carnoustie's difficulty shouldn't be the excuse people use for ranking it lower)  Maybe it was tougher than normal when I played it because they had already started whipping it into Open shape.....can any who are more regular visitors there comment?

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