I know not everyone here likes to rank golf courses, but....

[David Stamm]

I think Merion is a very definite contender. From what I've been told, Baltusrol, while good, doesn't quite contend with the others mentioned as an overall 36 hole club. What do I know, I haven't played any of them except LACC North....

[Ryan Farrow]

From what I have played & seen:

1.Riviera
2.Rustic Canyon
3.Valley Club


  thats a short list.

[Matthew Hunt]

If you do a 'ranking' and omitt ones you have not played its gonna get complicated..... One thing that could be done is a GCA ranking, wherby everyone ranked courses they have played on using the 'Doak scale' To get an official ranking you need 10 different ranks... the ranking is maintained by always taking the middle 10 votes, so a course with say 20 votes has its best 5 and worst 5 ommitted.... it would take a lot of time but it might end up being very accurate eventually.

I ran a wee (not very statistically correct) thing to see how a rating from this site would look like at:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,27002.0.html

the top 20 look intresting at:

1.St Andrews Old 400pts
2. Royal Dor ch 286
3. Sand Hills 260
4. Royal County Down 240
5. Cypess Point 237
7. Pacific Dunes 225
6. Pine Valley 224
7. NGLA 201
9. Merion 176
10. Pebble Beach 142
11. Ballybunion 140
12. Shinnecock Hills 129
13. Royal Melbourne(West) 127
14. Muirfield 106.
15.Cystal Downs 105
16. Pinehurst #2 95
17. North Berwick 75
18. Royal Portrush 65
19. Prairie Dunes 65
20. BalLYNEAL 67

[David Stamm]

From what I have played & seen:

1.Riviera
2.Rustic Canyon
3.Valley Club


  thats a short list.

But a darn good one!

[Wade Whitehead]

For you California guys, how about ranking the following in order of preference. I will include my ranking, but will leave out Spyglass since I haven't played it yet (but will be playing it soon, Woohoo!!).

Here goes:

Spyglass???

1. MPCC - Shore
2. Pebble Beach
3. MPCC - Dunes   
4. Pasatiempo
5. Lakeside
6. Riviera
7. Barona
8. Oak Valley
9. Rancho Santa Fe (played it three times, but about 10 years ago -- should probably be ranked higher)
10. Rustic Canyon
11. Hillcrest
12. Stevinson Ranch
13. Pauma Valley
14. Morgan Creek
15. Torrey Pines South
16. Oakmont
17. North Ranch
18. Oak Quarry
19. Mission Hills Tournament Course
20. The Golf Club of California

I'm guessing many of you will think I have Lakeside listed way too high, but I just love that course. Tight, fun, bizarre, challenging -- and great history. Particularly love the 75 yard par 3 and the 250 yard par 3 9th.

Let's discuss....

I may have missed an old thread or two, but...

Any love for the Sky Course at Lost Canyons?  I thought it was spectacular.

WW

[R_Paulis]

Sporadic threads on Lost Canyon are generally unfavorable, due in part to its proximity near much favored Rustic Canyon. Given the choice most GCAers would play RC over LC, and assuming the price of LC is still 2x - 3x RC's price, and since carts are needed at LC...

I found LC to be a welcome addition to the area particularly due to the lack of tracks "north" of LA when it first opened. Early on the conditions were great, especially the greens, and the course does have spectacular vistas. Layout very challenging... too penal for most and when you add some wind it can get downright silly. Recent threads indicate Sky #17 a good par 3. I concur, but it can be quickly forgotten with the odd finishing hole that follows.

[James Bennett]

Tom,

           The Dunes course was one of the few courses that really exceeded my expectations, so the Shore course would have to be as spectacular as it looks. Either way, I'd say the members of MPCC are pretty well off with two stellar courses that seem to be in nice contrast to one another. If there is a better 36 hole complex on the left coast I am not aware of it.

Craig - right on, my friend.  The new Shore is pretty darn spectacular, so it's not crazy at all to say it's better than the Dunes.  I just do think in the honeymoon over the new Shore some do forget how great the Dunes is.  In any case, oh yes, MPCC rules the west coast in terms of 36 hole clubs... and I'd dare say it holds up it's head pretty darn high nation-wide?  What is better?  Winged Foot?  Probably... but by not that much of a margin... any others?

TH

Tom

put me down for 6 games at The Dunes, and 4 games at The Shore.  Theoretically of course.  The routing of the Dunes is very good in a traditional sense (noting that the routing and alignment of so many holes at The Shore has also been well done to incorporate the local features).

James B