Golf Mag Joe Passov's Best 18 Holes Around the World

[Richard Choi]

http://www.golf.com/photos/best-18-golf-holes/st-andrews

Some interesting choices... discuss.

[Garland Bayley]

Better title, most hyped 18.
Another title, You got no chance of playing most of these.

[Carl Nichols]

That picture of #9 at RCD is amazing -- hadn't seen it before.

[Andy Hodson]

Agree or disagree....the photography is stunning for most of those holes.

[Sean Leary]

Garland,

YOU have no chance of playing them.

[Ian Andrew]

Garland,

I've played all but 4, more than half are very easy to access.
The only complications I saw were the very private American clubs and even a couple of those are approachable if you work with their schedule and write them a letter of introduction.

[David_Elvins]

A very very conservative list taken from well known tournament venues and a few high profile clubs.  Understandable given the publication and audience.

[Michael Goldstein]

Having been to all but a couple of these, I don't think this is Joe's best work.

Few objective men would describe a number of these holes as among the best 18 in the world.  The hole at Stone Forrest is not only strategically clumsy but it reflects poorly on the relationship between golf and nature.



 

[Pete Blaisdell]

I agree with Carl on RCD and the shot of CPC is also impressive.

Having spent 8 days at Riviera for the NCAA's , it might not be a stretch to think of the 10th as the greatest hole in the world for all skill levels.

[Jud_T]

Apparently Travelin' Joe needs to cash in some of those frequent flyer miles he's been racking up on the company dime.  Not only is Pebble #18 not one of the best 18 holes in the world, it's not even the best of it's home 18.

[Terry Lavin]

A very very conservative list taken from well known tournament venues and a few high profile clubs.  Understandable given the publication and audience.

Well said.

[David Cronheim]

I'm quite certain that none of us has played enough golf on our own to come up with a list of the 18 best holes in the world. In my personal best 18 holes, I'm quite hopeful that I've only discovered 2 or 3 of them with the next 15 or 16 still to come. It has also been my experience that the "best holes" are often something this board often pans - signature holes. If you're looking for great individual holes, they're often not on the world's greatest courses I've found. That's where I disagree most with Joe's list. They're the best holes from very well known/highly regarded golf courses.

[Josh Tarble]

I wish lists like these would take just a small step out of the box and include some lesser-known holes and courses.

[Jeff_Mingay]

The photography is great. I, too, particularly liked the shot of Royal Co. Down. Great photo.

Joe's list is pretty solid, too. I imagine some would ask how the 17th at TPC Sawgrass could make such a list. But, I've always contended that hole would still be a very good par 3 without the water - the green is very interesting, with varied hole locations, in my opinion.  

Those holes at Ventana Canyon and Stoneforest International look like they were taken from one of those phoney 'extreme golf' calendars

[Sam Morrow]

I think that Joe guy is a crock of crap. He looks kind of like Stump the Schwab but I think to get most of his recommendations he goes and googles. I don't think he knows any out of the way under the radar type of places. Everything he puts in Golf Magazine looks like something from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of wherever he's writing about.

[Jason Topp]

Solid list.  I have played nine.  I like it that he chose 15 at Sand Hills and 3 at Ventana Canyon - neither of which are obvious choices. The only problem with the Ventana Canyon choice is that it might encourage someone else to build a similar hole some day.

[Bill_McBride]

"Most famous" would be more appropriate.

[Greg Tallman]

I think that Joe guy is a crock of crap. He looks kind of like Stump the Schwab but I think to get most of his recommendations he goes and googles. I don't think he knows any out of the way under the radar type of places. Everything he puts in Golf Magazine looks like something from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of wherever he's writing about.

Sam, Jump to conclusions much? Joe is very well traveled and has been design junkie dating back to high school/college... and he's no spring chicken either.

[Sam Morrow]

I think that Joe guy is a crock of crap. He looks kind of like Stump the Schwab but I think to get most of his recommendations he goes and googles. I don't think he knows any out of the way under the radar type of places. Everything he puts in Golf Magazine looks like something from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of wherever he's writing about.

Sam, Jump to conclusions much? Joe is very well traveled and has been design junkie dating back to high school/college... and he's no spring chicken either.

Read a lot of his stuff, it sounds like he's going with the company line. Give us places that are different and off beat.

[Jason Topp]

I think that Joe guy is a crock of crap. He looks kind of like Stump the Schwab but I think to get most of his recommendations he goes and googles. I don't think he knows any out of the way under the radar type of places. Everything he puts in Golf Magazine looks like something from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of wherever he's writing about.

Sam, Jump to conclusions much? Joe is very well traveled and has been design junkie dating back to high school/college... and he's no spring chicken either.

Read a lot of his stuff, it sounds like he's going with the company line. Give us places that are different and off beat.

Here you go Sam:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/joe-passov-august-2011/

[Sam Morrow]

I think that Joe guy is a crock of crap. He looks kind of like Stump the Schwab but I think to get most of his recommendations he goes and googles. I don't think he knows any out of the way under the radar type of places. Everything he puts in Golf Magazine looks like something from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of wherever he's writing about.

Sam, Jump to conclusions much? Joe is very well traveled and has been design junkie dating back to high school/college... and he's no spring chicken either.

Read a lot of his stuff, it sounds like he's going with the company line. Give us places that are different and off beat.

Here you go Sam:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/joe-passov-august-2011/

I just scanned it and didn't see anything to lead me to believe that he sees courses that nobody has ever heard of.  They should this guys job to Sean Arble.

[George Pazin]

I just assumed Joe was linking to the 1-18 summary for Oakmont....

It is a little hard to believe he overlooked 1, 10 or 12, at least in terms of presenting a different take on a downhill hole than damn near any other course in the world presents.

Can't argue with numero uno...

[Bart Bradley]

This is ridiculous.

Joe Passov sees around 120 new courses per year.  Are you reading that?  Can you comprehend doing that?

The only thing crazier than this unfortunate list is the stuff you are spouting about Joe Passov.

Bart

[David Cronheim]

This is ridiculous.

Joe Passov sees around 120 new courses per year.  Are you reading that?  Can you comprehend doing that?

The only thing crazier than this unfortunate list is the stuff you are spouting about Joe Passov.

Bart

I agree, but I think the critique is that he sees the course, but his "top" lists always seem to draw disproportionately from old line, Golf Magazine Top 100 clubs. With that comment, I tend to agree.

[Sam Morrow]

This is ridiculous.

Joe Passov sees around 120 new courses per year.  Are you reading that?  Can you comprehend doing that?

The only thing crazier than this unfortunate list is the stuff you are spouting about Joe Passov.

Bart

Bart it is impressive that he see 120 new courses per year. I can't comprehend it but I could if I did it for a living. Of course seeing lots of golf courses doesn't make someone an expert, I watch lots of football but it doesn't make me an expert. It just seems like he always talks about the same courses that are talked about at nausea. I have no doubt that there are plenty of people on this site who would be much more interesting than him.