Golf Course Ranking, Golf World Reader's Choice. Top 100

[Tom Nolan]

I've been reading the posts on the Golf Digest Top 100 ranking.  Many agree with it, and many don't.   

Golf World, the nation's oldest golf publication started in 1947, last year started a golf facility ranking, where the public can vote on golf facilities and make it their own. 

The site to cast your vote/s is:  http://www.golfworldreaderschoice.com/   

Last year's results can be seen at:  http://www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/2008/10/gw20081017rc_intro

Whether you agree with Golf Digest or Golf Week's rankings is one thing, this is your chance in the oldest magazine in golf to cast your own, subjective opinion on the best facilities you think should be rated. 

If there is a course on the list from last year you don't agree with, or a course you think is missing, its up to you to change it, and you can actually have an impact. 

Plus, you can enter for a chance to win a trip to one of several top golf resorts.

In full disclosure, I am the Publisher of Golf World, and this is by no means an "endorsement" of our rankings by Golf Club Atlas, but everyone on this site is a golf course expert, and I want to make sure that the best, most knowledgeable resources and people are contributing to our Reader's Choice Awards. 

Its simple, and thorough.  Let me know your thoughts, on how to make it better, what we're missing, etc. 

thanks for the time.

tom

[Anthony Gray]

  Tom,

  Welcome......Can you put Garland on your cover?

  Anthony

[John Blain]

Tom,
One of the many great things about Golf World is that they didn't get themselves involved in the ridiculous "list business". They covered amateur and professional golf better than anyone else.

You don't need this foolishness. Cut you losses and get out.

-John (a 35 year subscriber to GW)

[Tom Nolan]

John,

Thanks, not ideal for me, its the sort of feedback we like to receive.  I've heard this, albeit not often, but understand your position. 

Our position is that we've got the best readers out there (yourself included for 35yrs), and we want to hear what you think about golf courses and where you rank them, or don't. 

We'll never ever lose sight our our core, and that's relevant timely information on the Professional and Amateur circuits, this fills the only void we had in my opinion. 

Thanks again, and thanks for your support and insight.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom:

No offense to you, because every magazine says it, but I just love when a magazine says "We think we've got the best readers out there."

Because you'll take a subscription from anybody who pays, right?

So what that means, really, is that you admire the people who pay for YOUR magazine.

[Greg Tallman]

Mr. Nolan,

One suggestion... Mexico as a single category is a mistake. Perhaps splitting the various regions would be a better setup.

I am not comfortable with our facility being lumped in with the rest of the country. Apples and oranges.

Perhpas splitting it into 3 regions would be best.

Los Cabos
Vallarta
Cancun/Mayan Riviera

Just my 2 pesos.

[JMEvensky]

Tom,
One of the many great things about Golf World is that they didn't get themselves involved in the ridiculous "list business". They covered amateur and professional golf better than anyone else.

You don't need this foolishness. Cut you losses and get out.

-John (a 35 year subscriber to GW)

I couldn't agree more.

The best difference between GW and the others is that GW doesn't fill the magazine with "tips" for lowering one's score from 108 to 101.The next best is the lack of arbitrary,meaningless rankings.

Just keep appealing to those who actually have a passion for playing golf.(And please work on those occasionally late deliveries ).

-Jeff ( a 30 year subscriber)

[Bill Shamleffer]

delete

[Phil_the_Author]

Tom,

There is a world of difference between the Golf World Reader's Choice rankings and those done by the other magazines. There is simply no comparison as they are truly apples and orangs. The reason is a simple one; Golf world is a ranking of the FACILITIES and the others are rankings of INDIVIDUAL COURSES.

"Pace of Play" can NOT be held against a course, yet it is one of the rating categories used. Bethpage Black with 6+ hour rounds may offend some, but that is due to the time it takes to play and NOT the course.

In addition, multi-course facilities such as Bethpage, actually suffer in the rankings as the course qualities are not rated by course but as an accumulation of all the courses at the facilities. Regardless of how high one might rank the Black the Yellow course is so far down on the scale that it pulls the facilities overall ranking considerably down. That too is wrong.

That is the answer to the question the casual reader of the rankings will ask as they sit there shaking their heads in disbelief seeing Bethpage BARELY cracking the TOP 20 and the word "Bandon" barely to be seen.

Consider... Bethpage has close to 350,000 rounds of golf played at the facility each year. There are barely that many people in the state of Alabama (other than at football games and Talledega Nascar events), yet the RTJ Golf Trail courses there dominate the rankings.

This is a problem if your magazine wants its rankings to have true credibility.