This ran in today's Orlando Sentinel
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GOLF CONFIDENTIAL
Online course rankings set stage for great golf debate
Jeremy Fowler | Golf Confidential
July 9, 2008
WINTER GARDEN
The list of nationally adored and universally known golf courses is short.
Augusta National.
Bethpage.
Pebble Beach.
And, of course, Stoneybrook West.
If one of these seems out of place, you're right. Augusta National is waaaay out of its league here
In reality, Stoneybrook West is a quaint, respectable little golf course in Winter Garden off State Road 429. It's a place where Central Florida residents can pay as low as $32 for a weekday round.
It's also the 27th-best golf course in the country, according to Golflink.com.
Welcome to the world of unpredictable online rankings of golf courses, where the underdog can outdistance TPC at Sawgrass. That's what Stoneybrook West did in Golflink's 2008 rankings. Sawgrass was No. 42. Even Pebble Beach somehow landed on No. 81 through a ranking system that might seem less predictable than a 5-year-old playing darts.
The only Central Florida course to top Stoneybrook was the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, fueled by Arnold Palmer's star power and Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
You've got to love that through the power of user-driven golf sites, golfers can generate a voice in an otherwise smug world of golf course design. No offense to Stoneybrook, but it probably wouldn't sniff the top 100 on a Golf Digest ranking.
Even General Manager Jeff Andrews knows that. But thanks to online voters who gave Stoneybrook a "5 out of 5" overall rating, here we are.
Sawgrass, which hosts the PGA Tour's Players Championship -- you know, stadium course, that water-logged 17th hole, maybe you've heard of it? -- posted a 3.5 in the value category compared to Stoneybrook's 5.
"In reality, we're not in the same category as some of those courses," Andrews said. "But at the end of the day, we'll embrace a ranking like this because it only helps the marketing of your golf club. Plus we feel we provide a great experience for our visitors, so we can give legitimacy to awards."
Andrews even received a certificate of authenticity from Golflink, which calculates the list based partly on "the preferences of up to a million or more visitors to our site every month." The Sentinel left messages at Golflink's main offices.
Regular customers have taken notice and mentioned the ranking to employees, Andrews said. Business has been booming at Stoneybrook.
No. 77 Torrey Pines might have had a historic 19-hole playoff and a hobbled Woods at last month's U.S. Open, but Stoneybrook has star power, too. " Bart Bryant comes out here in the evenings," said Jon Andal, an assistant pro at Stoneybrook. "He loves our Tif Eagle greens."
You heard it here first, folks. Stoneybrook West is PGA Tour approved. Maybe more golfing stars will visit the storied fairways of Stoneybrook West now that it has graced Golflink's list.
Take that, Stoneybrook East.
"We might have to bring that [certificate] to our next meeting to show it off," Andrews said.
West and East, which is closer to UCF, are owned by Kitson & Partners.
Bill Shiles, the director of golf for Stoneybrook East, said his course is more happy for its counterpart than jealous. But is West better? Shiles must disagree with Golflink, saying the two at least share a tie. "From a competition standpoint, if they are 27th, we might be 26th," Shiles said.
Soon enough, the rest of Florida will feel the wrath of Stoneybrook West. Watch out, Arnie. The pride of Winter Garden golf is coming after your course and its No. 12 ranking.
Where these two will be ranked in 2009 is anybody's guess.
Read Jeremy Fowler's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/roughingit or e-mail him at jfowler@orlandosentinel.com.