I'm not as well-traveled as some, especially in terms of the U.S. private clubs, but I enjoyed going through my memories and doing a list. In no particular order:

The Old Course, St. Andrews
Shinnecock Hills
Pacific Dunes
Walton Heath Old
Bethpage Black
Carnoustie
Kingsbarns
Haagsche
The Island
and my sentimental favorite: Royal Ashdown Forest

I always like lists.  I am sure that some of the mentions, Forest Akers - West, Pilgrim's Run, Tullymore is just because the lack of overall courses played.  However, I am a big fan of Forest Akers-West.  Anyways, my top 30....in order:

#1     Bandon Dunes
#2     Crystal Downs
#3     Prairie Dunes
#4     Bandon Trails
#5     Pacific Dunes
#6     Arcadia Bluffs
#7     Lakewood Shores - Gailes
#8     Harvester Golf Club
#9     Olympia Fields (North)
#10   Oakland Hills
#11   Greywalls
#12   Tanglewood Park (Championship)
#13   Hazeltine National Golf Club
#14   Kingsley Club
#15   Victoria National Golf Club
#16   Golf Club at Redlands Mesa
#17   Lakota Canyon Ranch and Golf Club
#18   Wild Horse
#19   Eagle Eye
#20   World Woods (Pine Barrons)
#21   Hammock Bay
#22   Forest Dunes
#23   Hawktree
#24   Tullymore
#25   Circling Raven
#26   Quarry at Giants Ridge
#27   Old Works
#28   Links of North Dakota
#29   Bucks Run            
#30   Thistle Club   

Well, I guess I should chime in.  I haven't played all that many "great" course but my list would be:

Crystal Downs (Can I put this one down a couple times?)  
Bandon Dunes
Pinehurst #2
Bay Harbor
Pacific Dunes
The Cascades
Shaker Run

I bet I don't even have 10 I could include, here are the best I've played,

1. Sand Hills
2. Blackwolf Run (River)
3. Wild Horse
4. Harvester
5. Whistling Straits (Whistling Straits)
6. Torrey Pines (South)
7. Cog Hill
8. Pine Meadow

There's my limited list of very, very good to great courses that I've played.  I hope this list gets substantially bigger sometime soon.

Not in any true order.....

Shinnecock
Kinloch
The Honors
Maidstone
The Black
Kingsley Club
NGLA
TPC
Sage Valley
Long Cove (maybe a bit bias, but the more I play it, the better it gets-just a really solid course)

Tony Nysse
Asst. Supt.
Long Cove Club
HHI, SC

Tony N--

Including Long Cove on any list of top courses is not a stretch at all.  It has one of the best sets of greens that I have seen.  

As far as a top ten list goes, in order

Shinnecock Hills
Pinehurst No. 2
Pine Valley
Oakmont
Cypress Point
National Golf Links
Muirfield (Scotland)
The Old Course at St. Andrews
Merion East
San Francisco Golf Club

Wayne

Pocantico is in my top ten.  Were I only allowed to play one course, it would not be as I would rotate any number of courses here.  Played it recently  with Chuck R. who wants a little touch up work done, of course he is a member at NGLA, Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock and Seminole.  He wants more manicured.  Have also played with Chuck C. who takes the kids out with one set of clubs.  No course is better for that than Pocantico.

Frankly, I like the look as it is.  Any greens would be better expanded to the original dimensions. the bunkers are fine and I am a believer in just one fairway cut.  I really do not care how high the fairway  is but it is preferable that it is one  universal height with no defined angle of attack. It works better this way.  I am not a big fan of the art work but. ;)I have had some memorable rounds there.  Once, in the snow, with a flask and numerous kids sleigh riding on the course while we played with orange top-flights.

Thomas Jefferson designed the most revered architectural complex in the U.S. with his "academical village" in Charlottesville.  It is perfection in both aesthetics, recognition of history, and in function.  In short a masterpiece.

Flynn designed a masterpiece of golf architecture at SHGC.

Jefferson also designed perhaps the most recognized private home in the world in Charlottesville at Monticello.  It is not perfect architecture nor is it a top ten home.  But it is a wonderful whimisical effort at satisfying one person.  Pocantico is a wonderful whimsical effort by Flynn in satisfying one family.  In this he succeeded.

5) Camargo

Steve,

If you have any suggestions on how to get on that track let me know.  It's only about 15 minutes from my house and all I can ever do is drive past it.  :-(  

Sean,

Does England actually have any really, truly, great courses?

Royal St George's maybe - but isn't it a bit strange/quirky for most?

I think Sunningdale Old is beautiful, but not that great, and Woodhall is almost great.

Maybe England just has more really, really good, and really neat, courses than anywhere else, but is the Arsenal to Ireland/Scotland's Chelsea?

I have to say that I find it peculiarly interesting that a number of folks who've railed against "raters" in the past seem all too willing to list their own "ratings", by disseminating their own "Top 10", etc..  

It makes me wonder if these folks actually object to the whole process of "rating" as an impossible exercise due to the subjective biases of individuals or whether they simply object to the process due to issues of access.

Mark

If Swinley Forest planted a few thousand mature trees (including a judiciously chosen few in their bunkers) they could challenge Pine Valley for #1 in a New Jersey minute!

Rich,

The problem is simply that even with the deficiencies in the present day maintenance of Pine Valley, there are no other classic courses that are being maintained so much better as to overcome it's huge lead in world-class holes.

The closest is probably Shinnecock, but it's tough to make a serious argument that it stands up hole for hole against PV.

NGLA may be the best case for us purists, but it's a long stretch to convince the scratch or pencil-carrying player.

Others like Merion and Cypress have their own issues, not the least of which is some questionable bunker work in recent years.

ANGC has plantings of trees galore, and at about 7500 yards, is starting to become a Frankensteinian monster bearing little relationship to what it could and should be.

Pinehurst #2 is a bit too one-dimensional in terms of the challenge provided.

I need to study Oakmont more, admittedly, since it's been since 1983 that I've been there.  

But, for me...

I think Sand Hills is the best course in the country.  

I'm also beginnning to think that some of our other modern favorites should rank higher in the pantheon of overall courses than they presently do, largely due to historical reputation.

For instance, I played Boston Golf Club recently and I'd be very hard pressed to name ten courses, past or present, that I've enjoyed more.

Wayne,

I'm not a big fan of the "Match play" method, since I think a hole like #11 at Shinnecock would get two points in a win (like a boxer who scores a knockdown for instance), and I also think it's very difficult to compare par threes against fives, etc.

That being said, I'll give it a shot, scoring two points where appropriate.

1 - PV 1up
2 - PV 2up
3 - PV 3up
4 - Push
5 - PV 5up
6 - PV 4up
7 - Push
8 - PV 5up
9 - PV 4up

10 - PV 3up
11 - PV 1up
12 - Even
13 - PV 2up
14 - Even
15 - PV 1up
16 - Even
17 - PV 1up
18 - Even.

Hmm...the only one I'd rethink on re-examination is #10.  Some people hate Shinnie's 10th, I happen to love it, but it's tough not to give props to the Devil's A-hole.  

So, we're pretty close, but tree clearing on the left of #12 as we discussed last week would cinch it for PV in a tight decision.