Golfweek modern courses. Has anyone noticed

[jim_lewis]

Top 155 (approx)

[Jim Nugent]

I have spreadsheets of many of the Top 100 lists of GW, Digest, and Golf.  Fazio used to be way up on the lists with many courses, then some started to fall.  It appears there are "flavors of the month"...and he was one of them for awhile.  I would bet that our current "flavors of the month" will see some of their courses fall on the lists too.

I have this thought that the Doak and C&C courses rated so high will NOT fall in the future.  Mainly because they are not flavors of the month, but are based on many of the same principles as courses that have stood the test of time.  That, plus the fantastic sites they are built on, is why they will hold their high rankings IMO.     

[Joel_Stewart]

Fazio has the 9th, 15th, 26th, 31st, 35th, 37th, 41st, 44th, 46th, 49th, 51st, 55th, 57th, 63rd, 83rd, and 88th ranked courses for a total of 16.

I counted Quail Hollow because I'm told that was a complete rebuild but it is listed with George Cobb?   I did not count Jupiter Hills or Butler since those are George Fazio yet Tom seems to want to take credit for.  I also did not count Trump Bedminister since that was Tommy Fazio.

[Adam Clayman]

Brad,

I'm with Bob Crosby on this one too, not that it matters since its your line to draw, but here's my rationale.

Post World War Two ushered in the era of mechanization. Industrial development had gone through rapid expansion to gear up for the war effort. And then all that capacity had to find an outlet which impacted society.

The expanding access to machinery represented a fundamental change in how courses would be built. That impacted where courses were developed and how a design would be approached. This also impacted how they would be maintained which influenced design. We entered the machine age, where rules and standards became a larger player in what was developed.

It's such a strong line between two eras and two different approaches to golf development.

Don't forget the marketing of Architects and shift away from Amateurs. Or did that start earlier?

[Bill_McBride]

I have spreadsheets of many of the Top 100 lists of GW, Digest, and Golf.  Fazio used to be way up on the lists with many courses, then some started to fall.  It appears there are "flavors of the month"...and he was one of them for awhile.  I would bet that our current "flavors of the month" will see some of their courses fall on the lists too.

I have this thought that the Doak and C&C courses rated so high will NOT fall in the future.  Mainly because they are not flavors of the month, but are based on many of the same principles as courses that have stood the test of time.  That, plus the fantastic sites they are built on, is why they will hold their high rankings IMO.     

Similar to how Mackenzie, Thomas, Tillinghast, top Ross courses don't slide down the lists?    That's why I think of 2001-present as the "new Golden Age."

[Jim Nugent]

Which Mackenzie courses have fallen down the lists?  I'm more aware of the ones like Crystal Downs, that have risen, in its case like a meteor. 

Golf Digest changed from ranking 'hardest' to 'best.'  Some famous courses, by Tillie and Ross, fell for that reason.