Yo Mark
Thanks to your last post I just read the first one. Sorry for the delay--those magic mushrooms that Adam sent me were awesome, even though I just smelled them before throwing them in the bin..........
For me, at least the answer is clearly #5, although I'd modify it in terms of both the architects involved and making it their most instructive rather than best courses (i.e. maybe Pasatiempo rather than Cypress for Mackenzie, The Old Course rather than Dornoch for Morris, Winchester rather than Pinehurst #2 for Ross, or Rawls rather than Pacific Dunes for Doak). This would be a cool exercise. Could you begin?
Rich
To keep us going with getting some things down on paper, Rich, I'll put forward Doak's list with your changes if you respond with the rationale / justification for each.
EDIT: Doak rationale added (work in progress)
1. Addington (Abercromby) -- defines shot values starkly, illustrates the false distinction between "penal" and "strategic."
2. Ballybunion (Simpson) -- "one of the most brilliant routing plans ever conceived," as it "cuts back and forth between the coastline and the dunes so that not all the most spectacular holes on the course are all encountered in a line." (A modern architect would save the coast for a big finish.) Several all-world holes and the subtle but excellently conceived greens add a dimension to the test most GB&I links lack.
3. Casa de Campo (Dye) -- "the prototypical Pete Dye course: chock-full of outstanding holes with a spectacular bent to them, tremendous selection of tees to temper the difficulties of the course for any level of player, a routing with a near-mathematical symmetry to the angles of the doglegs and location of the principal hazards, and a picture-postcard set of par-3 holes"
4. Commonwealth (Lane and Morpeth) -- "the genius of Commonwealth is its adherence to one simple rule -- that each green should be oriented or tilted in such a way that it cradles an approach from one side of the fairway, but shoulders away shots from the incorrect line of attack." The other secret to success is they left construction to a professional, the value being the ability to construct "natural-looking" greens and bunkers.
5. The Creek (Macdonald and Raynor) -- "a bit short in length, but long on character"
6. Pasatiempo (Mackenzie) -- "true to Mackenzie form, it plays much longer than the 6,400 yards on the scorecard; I wish I knew how he managed that." (From the writeup; Pasa not in Gourmet's Choice.)
7. Rawls (Doak) -- "the strong prevailing winds had a lot to do with the final design. Fairway bunkers jut prominently into the line of play, forcing players to judge whether they can make the carry in the wind conditions of the moment. Wide fairways give the player a chance to drive to one side, and use a quartering wind to help stop an approach shot instead of sweeping it away. Downwind approach shots will likely run quite far after they land, so players must place their tee shot to play around any hazards at the front of the green, instead of having to carry them. The varying winds mean that the length of tee shots will vary from day-to-day, and ensure that the course plays differently from one day to the next." (Note: these are Doak's comments on the Rawls website.)
8. Desert Highlands (Nicklaus) -- the first desert course to carry the
concept of the "desert course" to completion: it is theoretically impossible to integrate a golf course into a desert environment. Nicklaus's "unique design" of double-wide fairways and transition bunkers are responsible for the success.
9. Durban Country Club (Waters and Waterman) -- "unlike any links course you've seen, Durban's best holes are set across the very tops of the dunes, as well as through the valleys between them." The first five holes, the 8th and 17-18 are "absolutely outstanding and, in some cases, unique holes which everyone should see in their lifetime."
10. Forest Highlands (Morrish and Weiskopf) -- "the fairway clearings are ample, giving the course a scale to complement the scenery around it...despite their their unusually small number, the two-shot holes are the class of the course...meanwhile the short and long holes complement each other well."
11. Garden City (Emmet & Travis)
12. Kawana (Alison)
13. Lancaster (Flynn)
14. Merion (Wilson)
15. The National (Macdonald)
16. North Berwick (Strath, revision)
17. Winchester (Ross)
18. Pine Valley (Crump & Colt)
19. Prairie Dunes (Maxwell & Maxwell)
20. Riviera (Thomas)
21. Royal Dornoch (Morris -- Rich, Doak, calls N Ber and TOC "natural links")
22. Rye, England (Campbell, revision)
23. St. Andrews ("nature" -- this seems bogus)
24. St. Enodoc (Braid)
25. St. George's (Thompson)
26. St. George's Hill (Colt)
27. Sand Hills Club (C&C)
28. San Francisco (Tillinghast)
29. Shadow Creek (Fazio & Wynn)
30. Westward Ho! (Fowler, revision)
31. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
One of the issues in using the Doak list -- and his rationale -- is that he really is giving us more a list of designers to study, so the excerpts above may take his comments out of context. The courses represent what the designers were after. That's different than what we're after.
Mark