Unless we are talking about NGLA, Bandon or someplace of that ilk, I do not give compliments very often; the best anybody is likely to get out of me is the phrase: "Well, it is not COMPLETE puke."
However, even though the restoration has not been completed, Meadow Club in Marin County is my suggestion for Barnyf's list.
I'm the president of the Mike DeVries fan club, but it is not necessary to take this with a grain of salt.
Last week I had sad occasion to venture up the mountain to Meadow Club for a memorial service. The Godfather of my children lost his parents in the Tsunami. A hideous end to two people who defined class and charm.
It has been more than a year since my last look with Mike and the bunkering is so beautifully done that in my mind - it is indistinguishable from the work of Mackenzie and Hunter.
If length is a measuring stick, Meadow has no chance. But in terms of intimacy, texture, strategy and visual balance, despite its remote location, Meadow is going to appear on a few lists once everyone catches on.
The golf course always struck me as an enormous waste - a cautionary tale about rudderless tinkering, brainless committees and a membership too insular and arrogant to grasp what they once had.
However, the stunning contrast between the putrid remodeling mistakes in the past and the new green complexes make it obvious to even the most aesthetically challenged dimwit they are on their way to something wonderful.
"World class?" I do not know. The term implies a quality of grandiose gravitas, eh? County Down, Pebble, Shinnecock . . . etc.
Meadow is going on my "World Class Hidden Gem" list for golfers with finely honed sensibilities . . . . .