Your architectural merits of the Top 100 for the Twitter generation

[Aaron McMaster]

To quote the famous philosopher Chad Ochocinco.............

Now that's funny!

[Mark Bourgeois]

58. TPC Sawgrass
... First ... island green.

Nope -- not even the first one in the county!

[Aaron McMaster]

58. TPC Sawgrass
... First ... island green.

Nope -- not even the first one in the county!

Mark, nice find and where is this??  Although, it looks more like an island with a green on it and not an island green lol

[PCCraig]

1. Pine Valley Pine Valley, N.J. U.S. - 2d4
2. Cypress Point Pebble Beach, Calif. U.S. - 2BZ4UQT
3. Augusta National Augusta, Ga. U.S. - AYCE
4. St. Andrews (Old Course) St. Andrews, Scotland - BFD
5. Shinnecock Hills Southampton, N.Y. U.S. - VIP
6. Royal County Down Newcastle, N. Ireland - TMTOWTDI
7. Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, Calif. U.S. - B2B
8. Oakmont Oakmont, Pa. U.S. - BITFOB
9. Merion (East) Ardmore, Pa. U.S. - BITD
10. Muirfield Gullane, Scotland - M4M
11. National Golf Links of America Southampton, N.Y. U.S. - TTTKA
12. Sand Hills Mullen, Neb. U.S. - MEGO
13. Royal Melbourne (West) Melbourne, Australia - CSA
14. Royal Dornoch (Championship) Dornoch, Scotland - BHOF
15. Royal Portrush (Dunluce) Portrush, N. Ireland - KMRIA
16. Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, N.C. U.S. - FASB
17. Ballybunion (Old) Ballybunion, Ireland - chln
18. Turnberry (Ailsa) Turnberry, Scotland - LSHITIPAL
19. Crystal Downs Frankfort, Mich. U.S. - DUST
20. Pacific Dunes Bandon, Ore. U.S. - NBS
21. Winged Foot (West) Mamaroneck, N.Y. U.S. - HAMF
22. Seminole Juno Beach, Fla. U.S. - CAAC
23. Carnoustie (Championship) Carnoustie, Scotland - WP
24. Fishers Island Fishers Island, N.Y. U.S. - WOG
25. Chicago Wheaton, Ill. U.S. - WTG4a\\%/
26. Prairie Dunes Hutchinson, Kan. U.S. - G1
27. San Francisco San Francisco, Calif. U.S. - ICWUM
28. Kingston Heath Melbourne, Australia - ILA
29. Royal St. George's Sandwich, England - LGMAS
30. Los Angeles (North) Los Angeles, Calif. U.S. - FASB
31. Royal Birkdale Southport, England - TSNF
32. Friar's Head Baiting Hollow, N.Y. U.S. - GC
33. Riviera Pacific Palisades, Calif. U.S. - IANADBIPOOTV
34. Barnbougle Dunes Bridport, Australia - TTA
35. Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Mich. U.S. - TSOB
36. Bethpage (Black) Farmingdale, N.Y. U.S. - VFM
37. Hirono Kobe, Japan - IWBAPTAKYAIYSTA
38. Cape Kidnappers Hawke's Bay, New Zealand - KB
39. Sunningdale (Old) Sunningdale, England - BHIMBGO
40. Lahinch (Old) Lahinch, Ireland - MTLA
41. New South Wales La Perouse, Australia - MTMMFBWY
42. The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel) Brookline, Mass. U.S. - PAS
43. Kiawah Island (Ocean) Kiawah Island, S.C. U.S. - PTH
44. Royal Troon (Old) Troon, Scotland - RMB
45. Nine Bridges Jeju Island, South Korea - POMS
46. Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) La Romana, Dominican Republic - phat
47. Garden City Golf Club Garden City, N.Y. U.S. - SFETE
48. Muirfield Village Dublin, Ohio U.S. - RAF
49. Whistling Straits (Straits) Haven, Wisc. U.S. - ANFAWFOS
50. Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen, Scotland - SH
51. Baltusrol (Lower) Springfield, N.J. U.S. - SUYF
52. Diamante (Dunes) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - TT
53. Morfontaine Senlis, France - UNOIT
54. Portmarnock (Old) Portmarnock, Ireland - UPOD
55. Kingsbarns St. Andrews, Scotland - TMSGO
56. Castle Stuart Inverness, Scotland - TYVM
57. Olympic (Lake) San Francisco, Calif. U.S. - TAH
58. TPC Sawgrass (Players) Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. U.S. - SSA
59. Royal Lytham & St. Annes Lytham St. Annes, England - TWHAB
60. Oak Hill (East) Rochester, N.Y. U.S. - IIT
61. Shoreacres Lake Bluff, Ill. U.S. - AWHFY
62. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin) Woodhall Spa, England - NBLFY
63. Bandon Dunes Bandon, Ore. U.S. - MUSM
64. Southern Hills Tulsa, Okla. U.S. - NTA
65. Oitavos Dunes Cascais, Portugal - NIDL
66. The Golf Club New Albany, Ohio U.S. - MSTA
67. Maidstone East Hampton, N.Y. U.S. - MFIC
68. North Berwick (West) North Berwick, Scotland - MTLA
69. Royal Liverpool Hoylake, England - KCCO
70. Camargo Indian Hill, Ohio U.S. - IWIWU
71. Kawana (Fuji) Kawana, Japan - LTTIC
72. Barnbougle Lost Farm Bridport, Australia - KISS
73. Quaker Ridge Scarsdale, N.Y. U.S. - LJBF
74. Kauri Cliffs Kerikeri, New Zealand - IKYABWAI
75. Ballyneal Holyoke, Colo. U.S. - IDGI
76. Waterville Waterville, Ireland - INBD
77. Somerset Hills Bernardsville, N.J. U.S. - IDC
78. Shanqin Bay Boao, Hainan Island, China - PITMEMBOAM
79. Cruden Bay Cruden Bay, Scotland - IITLYTO
80. Walton Heath (Old) Tadworth, England - EZ
81. Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, S.C. U.S. - GGY
82. Cabot Links Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada - GR8
83. Inverness Toledo, Ohio U.S. - GOYHH
84. Ganton Ganton, England - DURS
85. Medinah (No. 3) Medinah, Ill. U.S. - HBIB
86. European Club Brittas Bay, Ireland - DRCOWOTO
87. St. George's Islington, Ontario, Canada - DDG
88. Old Macdonald Bandon, Ore. U.S. - LL
89. Loch Lomond Luss, Scotland - CRS
90. Old Sandwich Plymouth, Mass. U.S. - DDSOS
91. Machrihanish Machrihanish, Scotland - CUATSC
92. Swinley Forest Ascot, England - GOB
93. Tokyo Tokyo, Japan - GQMF
94. Royal Melbourne (East) Melbourne, Australia - ITSFWI
95. Royal Porthcawl Porthcawl, Wales - LBH
96. Rye Camber, England - J4F
97. Cabo del Sol (Ocean) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - AMF
98. Valderrama Sotogrande, Spain - CRAFT
99. Royal Adelaide Adelaide, Australia - CSL
100. Durban Country Club Durban, South Africa- CUWTA

[Jason Thurman]

Someone just wrecked the curve for this homework assignment.

[Matt Bielawa]

58. TPC Sawgrass
... First ... island green.

Nope -- not even the first one in the county!

Mark, nice find and where is this??  Although, it looks more like an island with a green on it and not an island green lol

Not to thread-jack, but I can answer your question.  It's the 9th at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club's Ocean Course.  And yes, Alice Dye allegedly got the idea for the TPC's island green from this hole.  As you mentioned, it's a much larger island with more room to miss and stay dry.  If I remember correctly, the yardage is pretty similar to #17....130-140ish.  Having played them both, Sawgrass gets your heart beating much faster than the PV version.  But, it's definitely an island, and being closer to the Atlantic probably presents more wind issues.

[Tom Allen]

Because I have ADHD, I lose interest after 140 characters.  So here is how I would do it.   Sure, I take a few liberties (architeturic license? ), and my comments are not meant to add anything substantively, but it is a fun exercise!

1. Pine Valley Pine Valley, N.J. U.S. - Simply the best.  Good luck getting on.

2. Cypress Point Pebble Beach, Calif. U.S. -  Pure MacKenzie.  And the Pacific to boot!

3. Augusta National Augusta, Ga. U.S. - See No. 1.

4. St. Andrews (Old Course) St. Andrews, Scotland - The birthplace of golf.  'nuff said.

7. Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, Calif. U.S. - Every golfer HAS to play this course.  Just because.

8. Oakmont Oakmont, Pa. U.S. - Arnold Palmer!

16. Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, N.C. U.S. - Now with the changes, it is even more of a must play.

19. Crystal Downs Frankfort, Mich. U.S. - Tom Doak's home course.  Need any other reason?

20. Pacific Dunes Bandon, Ore. U.S. - The best links golf for Americans.  Easily worth the 12+ hour flights and four airport changes.

23. Carnoustie (Championship) Carnoustie, Scotland - Hard as he**.  Plus, you have to try to beat Van De Velde's score on 18.

24. Fishers Island Fishers Island, N.Y. U.S. - Seth Raynor.  His classic, template holes with wonderful views.  Worth a boat ride.

33. Riviera Pacific Palisades, Calif. U.S. - Has the best par four in the world.  Plus, the grass is really weird.

35. Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Mich. U.S. - U.S. Opens galore.

36. Bethpage (Black) Farmingdale, N.Y. U.S. - It is as hard as the sign says.  And yes, you have to sleep in your car to get on.

48. Muirfield Village Dublin, Ohio U.S. - Jack's best design, and immaculate.

63. Bandon Dunes Bandon, Ore. U.S. - You can't go to Bandon and skip this one, can you?  See No. 20.

66. The Golf Club New Albany, Ohio U.S. - Quintessential Dye.

70. Camargo Indian Hill, Ohio U.S. -  Quintessential Raynor. 

81. Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, S.C. U.S. - Go just to see the Lighthouse.  Tight and fun.

83. Inverness Toledo, Ohio U.S. - Ross, a clock, and history.  Stands the test of time.

88. Old Macdonald Bandon, Ore. U.S. - Yes.  A little different, but still great.

[Russ Arbuthnot]

Thanks Tom! Your post and the little education about the island green is exactly why I started this thread.

Tom, I'll have some questions for you tonight. I think you strayed from the 'architectural merits' on some of the courses, which, frankly, I expected ansd was another reason I started the thread—to expose those courses that are ranked highly not necessarily because of their architecture, but because of their history or their association with famous golfers.

PCraig, if I could get a copy of your decryption key, I'd appreciate it.

[PCCraig]

PCraig, if I could get a copy of your decryption key, I'd appreciate it.

Russ,

I'm surprised you don't know them already? They are all fairly common among us in the Twitter generation. 

[Russ Arbuthnot]

Hey! You're right! I think I got stumped by 'WTG4a\\%/', which was the first one I tried. Most of them fit pretty well, too! Must've taken you quite a while to come up with this. That or you're a chat-slang, acronym master.

[Matthew Mollica]

Royal Melbourne West

Insipred MacKenzie routing, wide strategic course. Classic doglegs, great short fours, artistic strategic bunkering & brilliant greens

Kingston Heath

Australian sandbelt classic which maximises modest site movement. Great bunkering & several iconic Australian holes. Always well presented.

New South Wales

Dramatic coastal site. Some quirk; Interesting routing. 5th & 6th an all world combo. Damn hard when windy. Modern works have detracted.

Victoria

RM's neighbour. Many solid holes & course is greater than the sum of it's parts. Possesses a certain grandeur & also subtle design elements.

Barnbougle Dunes

Possibly Doak's best. Awesome beachside course in the dunes with so many amazing holes. Almost as good as Royal Melbourne?

MM

[PCCraig]

Hey! You're right! I think I got stumped by 'WTG4a\\%/', which was the first one I tried. Most of them fit pretty well, too! Must've taken you quite a while to come up with this. That or you're a chat-slang, acronym master.

I spent over ten hours compiling and pouring over my list.