Best New

[Jim Haley]

2010 Golfweek’s Best: New Courses

1. Old Macdonald 8.90
Bandon, Ore. 2010
Tom Doak, Jim Urbina

2. Huntsman Springs 7.77
Driggs, Idaho
2009, David McLay Kidd

3. Shooting Star 7.75
Teton Village, Wyo.
2009, Tom Fazio

4. The Patriot 7.65
Owasso, Okla.
2010, Robert Trent Jones Jr.

5. Clear Creek 7.33
Tahoe, Nev.
2009, Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw

6. The Wilderness Club of Montana 7.13
Eureka, Mont.
2009, Nick Faldo

7. Red Ledges 6.90
Heber City, Utah
2009, Jack Nicklaus

8. Wine Valley GC 6.87
Walla Walla, Wash.
2009, Dan Hixson

9. Victory Ranch 6.75
Park City, Utah
2009, Rees Jones

10. Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort 6.71
French Lick, Ind.
2009, Pete Dye

11. Chicago Highlands 6.68
Westchester, Ill.
2010, Arthur Hills

12. The Prairie Club (Dunes) 6.67
Valentine, Neb.
2010, Tom Lehman

13. Payne Stewart GC 6.50
Branson, Mo.
2009, Chuck Smith, Bobby Clampett

14. TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks) 6.50
San Antonio, Texas
2010, Greg Norman

15. Ballyhack 6.33
Roanoke, Va.
2009, Lester George

16. Ritz-Carlton GC at Dove Mountain (Saguaro and Tortolita) 6.19
Marana, Ariz.
2009, Jack Nicklaus

17. TPC Potomac 6.14
Potomac, Md.
2009, Jim Hardy, Steve Wenzloff

18. Commonground 6.04
Aurora, Colo.
2009, Tom Doak

19. Old American 6.00
The Colony, Texas
2009, Tripp Davis, Justin Leonard

20. Lodestone 5.90
McHenry, Md.
2010, Hale Irwin

21. The Prairie Club (Pines) 5.87
Valentine, Neb.
2010, Graham Marsh

22. Cape Fear National 5.87
Wilmington, N.C.
2009, Tim Cate

23. Waldorf Astoria GC 5.82
Orlando, Fla.
2009, Rees Jones

24. TPC San Antonio (AT&T Canyons) 5.75
San Antonio, Texas
2010, Pete Dye

25. Murder Rock 5.60
Branson, Mo.
2010, Jeff Potts

26. Highlands of Elgin 5.57
Elgin, Ill.
2010, Keith Foster, Art Schaupeter

27. Bowes Creek 5.57
Elgin, Ill.
2009, Rick Jacobson

28. Conestoga 5.50
Mesquite, Nev.
2010, Gary Panks

29. Meadow Brook 5.33
Richmond, R.I.
2010, Roger Rulewich

30. Stone Canyon 5.31
Blue Springs, Mo.
2009, Greg Norman

31. Jack Frost National 5.17
Blakeslee, Pa.
2009, Terry LaGree

32. Golf Club at Harbor Shores 5.13
Benton Harbor, Mich.
2010, Jack Nicklaus

33. Lonnie Poole GC 5.08
Raleigh, N.C.
2009, Arnold Palmer

34. Westhaven 5.08
Franklin, Tenn.
2009, Steve Forrest, Arthur Hills

35. Badlands (Desperado and Diablo) 5.03
Las Vegas, Nev.
2009, Johnny Miller

36. National GC of Louisiana 5.00
Westlake, La.
2010, Dave Bennet

37. Manitou Passage 4.92
Cedar, Mich.
2010, Arnold Palmer

38. Doral Resort (Jim McLean Signature) 4.83
Miami, Fla.
2009, Robert von Hagge, Jim McLean

39. Sequoyah National 4.60
Whittier, N.C.
2010, Robert Trent Jones Jr.

40. Shining Rock 4.50
Northbridge, Mass.
2010, Patrick Sullivan

 

[Anthony_Nysse]

Surprised to see Ballyhack and Harbor Shores so low

[Kyle Henderson]

Jim,

I assume you were involved at Huntsman Springs? Is so, nicely done!


I'm not surprised to see Old Mac on top, but I find it hard to believe Clear Creek Tahoe was only the 5th best... If so, some very good courses are opening these days, despite the recession.

[Peter Pratt]

I thought Palmer's Manitou Passage was a rename, not a new course!

[PCCraig]

Very interesting... high praise indeed for Old Macdonald and Huntsman Springs. Nice to see the two new muni courses in Elgin get some attention. I'm surprised they gave a list 40 deep.

All the courses from #15 up are theoretically in, or very close, to the top 100 Modern. Congrats to all!

[Craig Van Egmond]

What's up with Johnny Miller's aptly named Badlands?   Did they redo it?  It was easily one of my least favorite courses of all time.

Nice to see the Patriot Course here in Okieland getting some respect.

[Rob Rigg]

Everyone involved in the project at Huntsman should be very proud of their spot behind Old Mac.

Congrats to DMK, Jim and the crew.

HS was a VERY challenging site to work on and the team did an amazing job of figuring out how to move tons of water through the property without ending up with something that looked like it belonged in Florida. I think HS will only get better over time as the course melds more and more naturally with the environment - they had to move a ton of dirt. Definitely check it out if you are in the area.

I didn't play Shooting Star but a couple people mentioned that it is very similar to Huntsman - so the small difference in score makes sense.

From the photos and reviews of Clear Creek I am a bit surprised to see it down at 5th - hoping to get there and WV next year. Of course CCT, WV and CommonGround are courses that the treehouse will likely love more than the magazines.

[Tim Bert]

I would guess that this would be viewed as a very disappointing debut for the Prairie Club to have both courses fall outside of top ten new???  I haven't played the courses but given all the hype and conversation about them, I would have expected them to come in a bit higher.

[Adam Russell]

CommonGround is 18 

[Ben Sims]

No surprise on Old Mac.  8.90 is higher than I expected though.  That would put it at #3 on the modern list.  Wow!

Some rather interesting numbers do present themselves.  Patriot is probably the biggest surprise I see there at #4, well above some courses I would've guessed to be higher.  That puts it in the same area as Kingsley and Chambers bay on the modern list.

TPC San Antonio is dreadfully overrated at #14 in my opinion.

I would think that Prairie Club was looking for a much higher placing as well.  If that resort is to be financially viable, I think they'll need to crack the top 100 modern with at least two of the three (thinking about Hanse's Old School) courses.  6.67 for The Dunes course puts it just outside the top 100 modern.  Resorts in the middle of nowhere need the rankings to build interest.  Bandon will have 3 of the top 5 in one place if the math holds true on the 2011 modern list.  Hard to compete with that.

[Jud_T]

Ballyhack 15th?  Has anyone played Shooting Star or The Patriot?

[PCCraig]

I would guess that this would be viewed as a very disappointing debut for the Prairie Club to have both courses fall outside of top ten new???  I haven't played the courses but given all the hype and conversation about them, I would have expected them to come in a bit higher.

I agree...I am surprised by the lower than expected numbers for them. A rater retreat visited there this past summer so they have more than enough votes by now. I would still like to visit though in the near future...   

[Craig Van Egmond]

Ballyhack 15th?  Has anyone played Shooting Star or The Patriot?

The Patriot is in Oklahoma of all places... who goes there to play golf?  It is  the same crew that did Chambers Bay so maybe its all right.

http://www.patriotgolfclub.com/patriot/the-course

http://www.golfweek.com/news/2010/jun/15/raters-notebook-patriot-golf-club/

[PCCraig]

CommonGround is 18 

Their average would put them right outside the top 100 Modern List, pretty high on the state-by-state list I'm assuming, and if it's considered a "municipal" course that would put it at #7 in the country behind Torrey Pines and TPC Scottsdale and ahead of Harding Park...nice company to be in.

[Jim Sweeney]

I thought there were no new courses being opened these days! Does anyone know how many new courses opened in 2009/10? Since there are so many under threat of closing, I was just wondering from where the justification for building new ones comes....

[Phil_the_Author]

Considering how much grief he is given for his work when discussed by some on this site, I think it is more than a bit ironical how once again we have a "BEST New" list and once again Rees Jones has two courses on it...

[Jim Nugent]

I'm guessing the scores are based on all modern courses.  If so, then GW ranks Old Mac as #3 among moderns, after Sand Hills and Pac Dunes. 

[Adam Russell]

CommonGround is 18 

Their average would put them right outside the top 100 Modern List, pretty high on the state-by-state list I'm assuming, and if it's considered a "municipal" course that would put it at #7 in the country behind Torrey Pines and TPC Scottsdale and ahead of Harding Park...nice company to be in.

Pretty good for a five, eh???

[Yannick Pilon]

38 courses in the list?  Wow!!

I never thought there would have been so many new courses opening in 2010.

I am personally surprised at how low the two courses at the Prairie Club came out.  I did not play them, but they both looked great and fun to play....

This being said, I always wonder about the need to publish such long lists.  Isn't this detrimental to clubs who finish way down the list?  Kind of like counter productive, marketing wise?  Aren't those lists aimed at promoting (good) courses, in the first place?

YP

[SL_Solow]

Haven't seen the list yet but when was the cut off date?  There is at least one I played in 2009.

[Matt_Ward]

Hats off to Old Macdonald -- glad to see a few others crack GW's top ten -- Clear Creek is a better than where it finished. Kudos to Wine Valley and Red Ledges as well. Great to see states with little attention getting a good bit of it -- ditto for Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

[Cliff Hamm]

Must be one of the weakest years ever.  Meadow Brook in RI is architecturally absent.

[Dan Herrmann]

Will there be more than a dozen "new" courses next year?

[Jim Colton]

Very interesting... high praise indeed for Old Macdonald and Huntsman Springs. Nice to see the two new muni courses in Elgin get some attention. I'm surprised they gave a list 40 deep.

All the courses from #15 up are theoretically in, or very close, to the top 100 Modern. Congrats to all!

Pat,

  Looks like #8 Wine Valley would be the last one to make the top 100.  I bet the scores are real tight between 100-150, to the point that AT&T Oaks' 6.5 probably ranks it around 175th or so.

  Ballyhack and Clear Creek are real surprises.

[Matthew Sander]

For those surprised at the number of courses, check out the dates. The list is comprised of 2009 and 2010 candidates...still the list is longer than I would have guessed based on the last two years.