Score Magazine -Canada's Top 100

[Wayne_Kozun]

Score Magazine today released the top 100 ranking in Canada for 2006.  Here is the top 10 vs. the 2004 ranking.  The list should be up on their web site in a few days.  The top 10 is once again dominated by courses by Stanley Thompson and Tom McBroom.  Returning to #1 after a brief absence is The National GC which was designed by GCA's favourite archies - the Fazios.

Big movers were Devil's Paintbrush which moved from 13 down to 4 and Shaughnessy which moved from 24 to 9.

Taboo, a relatively new course in the Muskoka area comes in the list at #11.  IMHO there is NO way that Taboo is better than Banff, Toronto Golf Club or Redtail.  I believe that Taboo will be the Lake Joseph of 2006 - Lake Joseph was #8 in 2002 and has dropped down to #86.  It's an okay courses but not in this calibre.

Once again newer resort courses are doing well - money talks!

1. The National Golf Club of Canada
2. St. George's Golf & Country Club
3. The Hamilton Golf and Country Club - West-South Course
4. Devil's Paintbrush
5. Beacon Hall Golf Club
7. Capilano Golf & Country Club
7. Highlands Links
8. Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course
9. Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club
10. The Links at Crowbush Cove

FYI - you can check out the online rankings for the entire 100 here : http://www.scoregolf.com/rankings/top100/top-100-golf-courses-in-canada-2006.cfm

[Tom_Doak]

That is such a strange list.  It looks like they invited ten people to nominate one course each, and then drew the numbers out of a hat.

Have any of our posters played Beacon Hall?  How highly would you rank it?  What's distinctive about it?

[Wayne_Kozun]

Have any of our posters played Beacon Hall?  How highly would you rank it?  What's distinctive about it?

At least two of our posters are on the rankings panel - Robert Thompson and Ben Cowan-Dewar.

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

I do not rank Beacon Hall in my top 25. It is challenging, but not more so than many others. There are some truly bad holes and a few very good ones.

Taboo at 11 is mind-boggling. Although, if Bigwin, Rocky Crest, Redtail and others are any indication it will fall again in two years.

[Dave Kemp]

Some initial thoughts :

- Cap ahead of Highlands Links?  Having played both not IMHO
- Crowbush Cove in top 10? I was underwhelmed when I played it.  Seeing some that follow (ex. Scaboro) makes me wonder.
- Carrick and Weston in 1920?
- does Dakota Dunes not make it because of the year it opened?

[Wayne_Kozun]

- does Dakota Dunes not make it because of the year it opened?

I believe that new courses are not part of the top 100 but are part of the Best New Course.  That would also be why Eagle's Nest is not in the top 100, but likely will be - probably even in the top 20, in 2008.

p.s. I believe Eagle's Nest was best new and Dakota Dunes was #2 new course.

[Tom_Doak]

Why start discussing this?  It's obviously a flawed system.  You might as well just list your own version of the top 25 in Canada, instead of starting from this ranking.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Why start discussing this?  It's obviously a flawed system.  You might as well just list your own version of the top 25 in Canada, instead of starting from this ranking.

The flaws in this system are why Ian, Rob, Jeff and Ben posted this article on GCA.

But all of the rankings are rather flawed.  The GB&I discussion recently also had some very weird results - Dornoch wasn't even in the top 10.  The good thing is that these rankings do promote discussion of Golf Course Architecture, even if just to expose the absurdities of the system.

Plus, us Canadians have an inferiority complex as our courses tend to get the short end of the stick around here  As was mentioned in the best 1-2 punch thread you can't do much better than Banff and Jasper yet that idea hasn't gained much traction in that thread.

[Tom_Doak]

Wayne:

I had forgotten about THAT article.

It always seems to me that the "local" rankings are particularly flawed, because the "Bear's Best" in an old-school area can look different and intriguing, even though by definition there is nothing original about it.

[Willie_Dow]

So where are Beaconsfield and Bruno ?

[Wayne_Kozun]

So where are Beaconsfield and Bruno ?

76 and 72 respectively.  The top ranked Willie Park Jr. course is Weston which moved up to 36, although the artice erroneously credits the course to Doug Carrick.

[Willie_Dow]

Wayne - I'd spend all my dollars to play those two, B/B.  Especially, with the great guys who have given their all to keep them as the were !

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Tom,
I am not sure it is that flawed a system. GOLF once had Bali Handara in the world top 100 and we did not dismiss that system.

I played National today and while it may not be my number 1, it certainly has the hearts of the majority of the panel. Highlands Links is the best course in the country, in my opinion, but I spoke with a great player who hated Highlands recently.

Score's weaknesses are a panel that changes each year, to few panelists for a huge country and perhaps ranking 50 courses to many. However, I think it is a pretty reasonable list overall, even if I have 10 disagreements. I have about the same number with the GOLF list and I stay tuned to it every two years.

Willie,
Mount Bruno is in my top 20 in the country (it might actually be just in my top 10) and it does not surprise me to know that you are aware of its greatness.

[Tom_Doak]

Ben:  There is certainly no such thing as a perfect list, at the end of the day it's all a matter of opinion.  However, when there are wild disagreements about the top ten or twenty, then maybe the system needs looking at.

[Ian Andrew]

Tom,

I think the panel is better than it was two years ago, but the rankings reflect golf experience not golf architecture.

[Wayne_Kozun]

I think the panel is better than it was two years ago, but the rankings reflect golf experience not golf architecture.

Sometimes not even that - two of the rankers are under 25 years of age - James Lepp and Richard Scott.

[Philippe Binette]

To think that Mount Bruno is 72 or so is absolutely crazy...

it's just a proof that not a lot of people is able to go there, should be inside the top 25 at least. I considered it better than Royal Montreal Blue...

by the way Royal Montreal Red is good enough to be in the top 100 (if not top 50)

[Wayne_Kozun]

To think that Mount Bruno is 72 or so is absolutely crazy...

it's just a proof that not a lot of people is able to go there, should be inside the top 25 at least. I considered it better than Royal Montreal Blue...

by the way Royal Montreal Red is good enough to be in the top 100 (if not top 50)

For some reason the courses in Quebec, other than those at Mont Tremblant, seem to get little respect.  This is likely due to the panel not being very familiar with them.

[Ian Andrew]

Wayne,

I've gone to see quite a few and I even work with a couple as well. The language issue has an imapct on people getting out to see the work. With Jeff, Ben, Rob and myself - I'm the only one who knows most of the Montreal courses. Funny enough, all three have seen Mt. Bruno.

I will say they should dominate the middle of the list, there are lots of real good ones, but none are top 10. For what it's worth I like Beaconsfield and Laval above all others; and Royal Red is more interesting than Royal Blue.

[Ian Andrew]

Tom D,

"Have any of our posters played Beacon Hall?  How highly would you rank it?  What's distinctive about it?"

Yes I have an agree with Ben, it does not make my top 25. It is well liked because it has the smallest membership in the city and is the best place to get a quiet round with few other people there to slow you down. It's fairly new so the turf is excellent and thye conditioning is always first rate.

The land is good, the architecture is generally good, but nothing jumps out at you. I never can understand why this one hangs in at the top.

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Aside from my beloved Highlands Links not getting a fair shake and Mad River falling off the list entirely; Mt. Bruno's position is one of the greatness misses. I have it in my top 20 and had not played it when we did our Canada top 25 here on the GCA.

I also have RM Red just in my top fifty. I would prefer it to the former Blue course and from what I hear, the "new" version is not much more special.

Funny that you can see some of the fellow raters comments and I think that it is negative votes that offset positive votes in the case of Bruno.

BCD

To think that Mount Bruno is 72 or so is absolutely crazy...

it's just a proof that not a lot of people is able to go there, should be inside the top 25 at least. I considered it better than Royal Montreal Blue...

by the way Royal Montreal Red is good enough to be in the top 100 (if not top 50)

[Ian Andrew]

Ben,

Are these rater's comments available to the public?

[Dave Kemp]

Ian,

There is a link to a pdf file version of the 100 listing on Score's web page. In it are rater's comments although I am not sure if that is what Ben is referring to or not.

Dave

Here is link http://www.scoregolf.com/rankings/top100/Explore-Top-100-2006.pdf

[Robert Thompson]

Most of the comments that go with the article are mine. I guess I'm the controversial one. In fact, a full nine of the comments that go with the article are mine. I guess I'm the architecture columnist for Score, but none of the comments are attributed. I bet a careful reader who knows me can spot them all.

So what to make of the Score list? The National ain't the top course in Canada and I didn't rate it there, though I generally like the new changes. It is St. G, Highlands and Hamilton for this boy....

Interesting that not enough raters saw Oviinbyrd, Tom McBroom's new and quite good ultra private Muskoka retreat, and that Rod Whitman gets his due by having Blackhawk and Wolf Creek at #21 and #22.

[Gerry B]

i have played beacon hall many times - some very good holes but some duds as well. Is it top 5 -absolutely not imho -but then again Devils Paintbrush, Shaughnessy hardly belong in the top 10 as well.

really a tale of 2 nines- the front is  pseudo parkland and the back more of a links style until the last hole. the par 3  -16th is one of the great one shotters in the world -223 yd severely uphill.

is it top 5 or 10  ? -imho absolutely not but a pretty good course nonetheless.

yes the list is flawed - however hard to argue with the top 3 and highland from what i have heard should be in the top 5 as well.

i had major problems with st thomas and scarboro in the bottom 50 -i would put St. Thomas in the top 10-12 and Scarboro in the top 20. St Thomas is located a few miles from Redtail and imho blows it away - probably 6 and 5.

Aside from the Score raters that are on this board, I am convinced that many on the panel are clueless when it comes to architecture and in particular the "golden age."

I have problems with all of the various rankings - ie. have played most the the top 50 in the us / worldwide and in many cases walked off a course thinking - "what fight were they watching?

it is all subjective -that is why discussion boards such as gca exist.

 a line from woody allen's radio days sums it up for me:

"The Atlantic is a much better ocean than the Pacific

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