The best 3 or more regulation course golf complexes?

[Eric Smith]

Palmetto Dunes Resort (Hilton Head Island, SC)
-Robert Trent Jones Course
-George Fazio Course
-Arthur Hills Course

[Brian Finn]

Sea Island, GA - seaside, plantation, retreat

[Paul Rudovsky]

One last addition for now...Boyne in Northern Michigan.  Has three "campuses":


1.  Boyne Highlands---4 full courses (Arthur Hills, Donald Ross Memorial, Heather, and Moor) and an exec 9 hole par 3
2.  Boyne Mountain---two full courses (Alpine and Monument)
3.  Bay Harbor--27 holes (Links, Quarry, and Preserve 9's)


their ads claim this adds to 10 courses (4 +1 at Highlands, 2 at Mountain, and 3 sets of 18's at Bay Harbor...but certainly Boyne Highlands qualifies

[Tom_Doak]

their ads claim this adds to 10 courses (4 +1 at Highlands, 2 at Mountain, and 3 sets of 18's at Bay Harbor...but certainly Boyne Highlands qualifies

Boyne's advertising has always been a little bit optimistic.


The first year Bay Harbor was open they advertised that "it might someday be compared to Pebble Beach".  The next year they advertised that "some are already comparing it to Pebble Beach".  After that, they used "the Pebble Beach of the Midwest".

[Edward Glidewell]

Reynolds Plantation at Lake Oconee in Georgia. 5 resort courses and a 6th private course.

[Phil Burr]

Not the best but we seem to be identifying all, so I’ll ask if we missed Disney World.  Once had five 18s plus a 9 holer.  One of the 18s is now the Four Seasons course and a Dye 18 was plowed under.

[Matt_Cohn]

You got the Chinese Mission Hillses already, but Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, CA has 3 good courses, one of which hosts an LPGA major every year (Dinah Shore, Palmer, Dye).

[Phil Burr]

Did I miss Eagle Ridge in Galena, Illinois?

[Phil Burr]

Minnesota also offers Breezy Point Resort and Madden’s on Gull Lake.

[Phil Burr]

According to their website, the Karuizawa 72 Resort in Japan offers 108 holes, all designed by RTJ Sr.

[Edward Glidewell]

By the way, I don't think I'd call the Legends a 5 course complex. They have 5 courses as part of their group, but only three are on-site; Oyster Bay is a roughly 45 minute drive north of the the actual Legends complex and Heritage Club is about 45 minutes south.


For private complexes, The Landings Club in Savannah has 6 courses and St. James Plantation in Southport, NC has 4 courses.

[Paul Rudovsky]

Thru reply #32, I count a total of 57 facilities (and probably about 200 courses) excluding Huddle Park and Sand Valley.  Interestingly, a large number of these facilities include one or more courses that have been included in a World 100 listing (World 100 listings started with GOLF Mag's World 50 in 1979 and then 1981).


I count 28 facilities (almost half) with at least one World 100 EVER course (by my count...a total of 367 courses have been included on one or more lists published by GOLF mag, Top100golfcourses.com, Golf Digest, Planet Golf, Links Magazine (final list only), Rolex, Golf World (UK), 147 Custodians, Outpost Club, MacWood Spoof list on GCA, and Architects survey (2013) in Adam Lawrence's Golf Course Architecture (11 publications and 52 lists)


Those 28 are:


Bethpage-Black
Whistling Straights
Bandon (Dunes, Pac Dunes, Trails, Old Mac, and Sheep Ranch)
Streamsong-Blue
Pinehurst #2
Cog Hill #4
PGA West Public-Stadium
Pebble--Pebble and Spyglass
Innisbrook-Copperhead
Doral--Blue Monster
Kiawah--Ocean
Sea Pines-Harbor Town
St. Andrews--TOC, New
Mission Hills Haikou--Lava Fields and Blackstone
Gullane--#1
Gleneagles--Kings
Wentworth-West
Casa De Campo--Teeth of the Dog
Carnoustie
National (AUS)-Old
Singapore Island-Bukit
Fancourt-Links
Medinah-#3
PGA West Private-Nicklaus Private
Saucon Valley-Grace
Firestone-South
Hong Kong GC-Composite
Sea Island-Seaside

[Phil Burr]

Jonathan's Landing also claims 54 holes.

[Paul Rudovsky]

These last replies bring the total facilities to 61 (thru reply #37) with no change in World 100's (see my reply #36)

[Tom_Doak]

National (AUS)-Old

In whose esteemed opinion was the Old course at The National voted one of the top 100 in the world 


Out of the 28 you counted, there are only about ten of them that are still in the top 100 [depending on which list you use].

[Tom_Doak]

So, to go back to the question posed in the title of the thread, how does one define the best?


Obviously several of these places have at least one course that rates a 9 or 10 on the Doak Scale.  Several of them have three courses that rate a 7 or an 8 . . . so, do we rank them based on their third-best course, or the total of the first three?  And once you get beyond that, what's the added value of other, lesser courses?


I'm just asking.  It's Jeff's thread, so if he has an answer, I'm happy to go with that.

[Brock Lynch]

Mission Hills CC in the So Cal Desert. Dinah Shore, Palmer, & Pete Dye Challenger courses.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

This thread would not be complete without a mention of DuPont CC in Wilmington, Delaware. Until recently,  there were 54 holes with the DuPont Course which hosted the LPGA Championship event from 1994 to 2004, the Nemours course and the Montchanin course. Now the club has 45 holes as the Montchanin course was reduced to 9 holes in order to expand the range and provide more parking.


The  LPGA winners at the DuPont course(Ross)  included Annika Sorenstam, Julie Inkster, Laura Davies, Karie Webb & Se Ri Pak.

[David Ober]

Mission Hills CC in the So Cal Desert. Dinah Shore, Palmer, & Pete Dye Challenger courses.

Always fun to pay those. :-)

[SL_Solow]

If we are counting all, Gull Lake View in Augusta Michigan (near Kalamazoo) has 6 courses wuth the latest and best being Stoatin Brae by Renaissance Golf.

[Paul Rudovsky]

National (AUS)-Old

In whose esteemed opinion was the Old course at The National voted one of the top 100 in the world 


Out of the 28 you counted, there are only about ten of them that are still in the top 100 [depending on which list you use].

AUS National-Old was #87 on Golf Digest's 2016 list (the mountain goats must have voted it in)...which may rank as the worst world list ever.  but there were wordse selections on that list.  Such as Leopard Creek #88, Kauri Cliffs #49,  Emirates #96, Jurim Earth #46, Els Malaysia #83, Alotian #62, OLigata #100...

Of the 28...here are the ones not on any "current" list:

National Old AUS
Cog Hill
PGA WEst Stadium
Innisbrook Copperhd
Doral Blue
Sing Island Bukit
PGA private Nicklaus
Saucon Valley-Grace
Firestone-South
HKGC-Composite

But rememeber...there are a bunch that are "current" because of inclusion on one shot list from 5-`10 years ago (eg Golf Arch Survey...which I think is one of the best lists ever, Rolex, GW-UK, Links, and Macwood spoof.

The ones that are "current" on say GM and Top100 are:

Bethpage
Whist St
Bandon's first 4
Pinehurst
Pebble
Kiawah
TOC
Teeth of the Dog
Carnoustie


total of 12

fyi---Streamsong Blue only current on Ran's Custodians...so you better be nice to him

[Pete_Pittock]

I don't know is Forest Dunes in MI would count with Forest Dunes, Loop-Red, Loop-Black.


Dove Mountain near Tucson has 3. Can't remember the names though

[Matt_Cohn]

Dove Mountain near Tucson has 3. Can't remember the names though

I don't think so Pete. Gallery has two 18's, the resort has three 9's, and there's a couple of 18's nearby. But no place with 54+ holes.

[Chuck Glowacki]

Nassau County, NY, Eisenhower Park, red, white and blue.  I believe a champions tour event used to be played on the Red.

[jim_lewis]

The Landings at Skidaway Island Georgia.  Private. Six courses