Your architectural merits of the Top 100 for the Twitter generation

[Russ Arbuthnot]

I think it would be a valuable resource, especially for the newbies (sorry, "Jr. Members"), to have a concise list of the architectural merits of famous golf courses.

Please post the architectural merits of the World Top 100 (or more/different list, up to you) golf courses in 140 characters or less.

For easy reference, here is the World Top 100 according to Golf Magazine:

1. Pine Valley Pine Valley, N.J. U.S.
2. Cypress Point Pebble Beach, Calif. U.S.
3. Augusta National Augusta, Ga. U.S.
4. St. Andrews (Old Course) St. Andrews, Scotland
5. Shinnecock Hills Southampton, N.Y. U.S.
6. Royal County Down Newcastle, N. Ireland
7. Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, Calif. U.S.
8. Oakmont Oakmont, Pa. U.S.
9. Merion (East) Ardmore, Pa. U.S.
10. Muirfield Gullane, Scotland
11. National Golf Links of America Southampton, N.Y. U.S.
12. Sand Hills Mullen, Neb. U.S.
13. Royal Melbourne (West) Melbourne, Australia
14. Royal Dornoch (Championship) Dornoch, Scotland
15. Royal Portrush (Dunluce) Portrush, N. Ireland
16. Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, N.C. U.S.
17. Ballybunion (Old) Ballybunion, Ireland
18. Turnberry (Ailsa) Turnberry, Scotland
19. Crystal Downs Frankfort, Mich. U.S.
20. Pacific Dunes Bandon, Ore. U.S.
21. Winged Foot (West) Mamaroneck, N.Y. U.S.
22. Seminole Juno Beach, Fla. U.S.
23. Carnoustie (Championship) Carnoustie, Scotland
24. Fishers Island Fishers Island, N.Y. U.S.
25. Chicago Wheaton, Ill. U.S.
26. Prairie Dunes Hutchinson, Kan. U.S.
27. San Francisco San Francisco, Calif. U.S.
28. Kingston Heath Melbourne, Australia
29. Royal St. George's Sandwich, England
30. Los Angeles (North) Los Angeles, Calif. U.S.
31. Royal Birkdale Southport, England
32. Friar's Head Baiting Hollow, N.Y. U.S.
33. Riviera Pacific Palisades, Calif. U.S.
34. Barnbougle Dunes Bridport, Australia
35. Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Mich. U.S.
36. Bethpage (Black) Farmingdale, N.Y. U.S.
37. Hirono Kobe, Japan
38. Cape Kidnappers Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
39. Sunningdale (Old) Sunningdale, England
40. Lahinch (Old) Lahinch, Ireland
41. New South Wales La Perouse, Australia
42. The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel) Brookline, Mass. U.S.
43. Kiawah Island (Ocean) Kiawah Island, S.C. U.S.
44. Royal Troon (Old) Troon, Scotland
45. Nine Bridges Jeju Island, South Korea
46. Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) La Romana, Dominican Republic
47. Garden City Golf Club Garden City, N.Y. U.S.
48. Muirfield Village Dublin, Ohio U.S.
49. Whistling Straits (Straits) Haven, Wisc. U.S.
50. Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen, Scotland
51. Baltusrol (Lower) Springfield, N.J. U.S.
52. Diamante (Dunes) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
53. Morfontaine Senlis, France
54. Portmarnock (Old) Portmarnock, Ireland
55. Kingsbarns St. Andrews, Scotland
56. Castle Stuart Inverness, Scotland
57. Olympic (Lake) San Francisco, Calif. U.S.
58. TPC Sawgrass (Players) Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. U.S.
59. Royal Lytham & St. Annes Lytham St. Annes, England
60. Oak Hill (East) Rochester, N.Y. U.S.
61. Shoreacres Lake Bluff, Ill. U.S.
62. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin) Woodhall Spa, England
63. Bandon Dunes Bandon, Ore. U.S.
64. Southern Hills Tulsa, Okla. U.S.
65. Oitavos Dunes Cascais, Portugal
66. The Golf Club New Albany, Ohio U.S.
67. Maidstone East Hampton, N.Y. U.S.
68. North Berwick (West) North Berwick, Scotland
69. Royal Liverpool Hoylake, England
70. Camargo Indian Hill, Ohio U.S.
71. Kawana (Fuji) Kawana, Japan
72. Barnbougle Lost Farm Bridport, Australia
73. Quaker Ridge Scarsdale, N.Y. U.S.
74. Kauri Cliffs Kerikeri, New Zealand
75. Ballyneal Holyoke, Colo. U.S.
76. Waterville Waterville, Ireland
77. Somerset Hills Bernardsville, N.J. U.S.
78. Shanqin Bay Boao, Hainan Island, China
79. Cruden Bay Cruden Bay, Scotland
80. Walton Heath (Old) Tadworth, England
81. Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, S.C. U.S.
82. Cabot Links Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada
83. Inverness Toledo, Ohio U.S.
84. Ganton Ganton, England
85. Medinah (No. 3) Medinah, Ill. U.S.
86. European Club Brittas Bay, Ireland
87. St. George's Islington, Ontario, Canada
88. Old Macdonald Bandon, Ore. U.S.
89. Loch Lomond Luss, Scotland
90. Old Sandwich Plymouth, Mass. U.S.
91. Machrihanish Machrihanish, Scotland
92. Swinley Forest Ascot, England
93. Tokyo Tokyo, Japan
94. Royal Melbourne (East) Melbourne, Australia
95. Royal Porthcawl Porthcawl, Wales
96. Rye Camber, England
97. Cabo del Sol (Ocean) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
98. Valderrama Sotogrande, Spain
99. Royal Adelaide Adelaide, Australia
100. Durban Country Club Durban, South Africa

http://www.golf.com/courses-and-travel/top-100-courses-world

Feel free to use a different list if you want.

[Terry Lavin]

Jr. members giving assignments?  Oh my, it's a slippery slope upon which you attempt to tread! 

[Tim Martin]

You will find a wealth of information by using the "Search" function.

[Terry Lavin]

You will find a wealth of information by using the "Search" function.

Far too many characters for the Twitterites.

[Russ Arbuthnot]

You will find a wealth of information by using the "Search" function.

Duly noted, Mr. Martin. How is your post architecturally relevant? Mine is. Congrats on wasting your one-post-per-day on a suggestion to use the "search" function. I've probably used the search function on this site, and one you don't even know about on Google, more times than you can imagine. Don't forget that even "Jr. Members" may have lurked for years on this site before they were given access via the same method as everyone else.

Let me reference someone you might have heard of:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

[Tim Martin]

You will find a wealth of information by using the "Search" function.

Duly noted, Mr. Martin. How is your post architecturally relevant? Mine is. Congrats on wasting your one-post-per-day on a suggestion to use the "search" function. I've probably used the search function on this site, and one you don't even know about on Google, more times than you can imagine. Don't forget that even "Jr. Members" may have lurked for years on this site before they were given access via the same method as everyone else.

Let me reference someone you might have heard of:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

Russ-Why the big chip on your shoulder after such a short time on the site? Go to Google(did I spell that right?) and reference Dale Carnegie. Then put some time aside and study up pal. 

[Russ Arbuthnot]

Trying to bring this back on-topic...I still feel this is a valuable exercise, not that different than jeffwarne's thread on the "no list top 10", or when I see many members have their twitter handle under their usernames.

For what it's worth, I'll take a stab at a few, but others would be much better at this than me.

2. Cypress Point Pebble Beach, Calif. - Alister MacKenzie. Famous 16th half-par par-3 risk/reward over the Pacific.
3. Augusta National Augusta, Ga. - Alister MacKenzie & Bobby Jones' ode to The Old Course. Maxwell, RTJ, Fazio all altered for better/worse.
4. St. Andrews (Old Course) St. Andrews, Scotland - The Home of Golf. The ultimate strategic course. The Road Hole, Eden, Long.
11. National Golf Links of America Southampton, N.Y. - C.B. MacDonald & Seth Raynor's statement for what makes good golf and golf good.
25. Chicago Wheaton, Ill. - C.B. MacDonald introduces templates from the U.K. to the U.S. starting a shift from penal to strategic design.

[Josh Tarble]

I think this is a fun idea/thread...but I also love Twitter (in fact, I'll be your first follow if you make this an account).  Here's my stab at a couple I've played:

19. Crystal Downs
Built by Dr. Mac and Perry Maxwell.  Shows brilliance of Mac's routing and Maxwell/Mac's green construction.  Visual deception throughout

38. Cape Kidnappers
Brilliant cliffside setting, masterful use of tough landforms by Doak.  Great greens and strategic throughout.  Unmatched views.

58. TPC Sawgrass
One of Pete Dye's seminal works.  Built out of swampland, great use of angles and hazards.  First and best island green.

85.  Medinah #3
Originally designed by Bendelow.  Redone by Rees Jones for major championship play.  Big, brawny, surprising amount of character.

[BCowan]

48.  Muirfield Village-  Desmond Muirhead design, never gets much credit.  Nice par 5's, that is about it.  Great piece of land, unfortunate.  Golf course doesn't reward a low ball hitter, very one dimensional.

83. Inverness-  Great Ross track.  Only two par 5's, nice small contours around the greens.  The green complex's contours are incredible.  Many short par 4's that are great and don't get enough credit.  Many long par 4's that will bring you to your knees.  Great course, one which makes the best out of a small parcel of land.  Standing on the first tee still gives me goosebumps looking at the bowl. 

[Phil McDade]

91. Machrihanish Machrihanish, Scotland

OTMorris design w/ heroic 1st tee shot, great front 9 th/ dunes, underated back 9. Best greens on WCoast?

[Dan Moore]

I’ve been walking forty miles of bad road
If the Bible is right, the world will explode
I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can’t win with a losing hand

Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
Putting her in a wheelbarrow and wheeling her down the street

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed



Read more: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/things-have-changed#ixzz3OjRgEtSy

[jim_lewis]

Russ:

You lost me with your second post.

[Dan Kelly]

Let me reference someone you might have heard of:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

Don't think twice.

It's all right.

http://www.ni9e.com/typo/typo_dylan.html

[Sven Nilsen]

No offense Russ, but one of the charms of this site is that it is a break from the sound byte world we live in.  I'd rather read one of Ran's course reviews than 140 characters on 100 different courses. 

[Bruce Wellmon]

I'm with Tim.
 And personally I think you owe him an apology.

[Tim_Weiman]

No offense Russ, but one of the charms of this site is that it is a break from the sound byte world we live in.  I'd rather read one of Ran's course reviews than 140 characters on 100 different courses. 

Sven,

I agree with you. Ran sets a very high standard, IMO, so I'm not sure that the sound bite thing makes sense. But, to those who disagree, have fun!

[BCowan]

I'm with Tim.
 And personally I think you owe him an apology.

Bruce,

   What does Russ owe Timmie an apology for?

[BCowan]

No offense Russ, but one of the charms of this site is that it is a break from the sound byte world we live in.  I'd rather read one of Ran's course reviews than 140 characters on 100 different courses. 

Sven,

I agree with you. Ran sets a very high standard, IMO, so I'm not sure that the sound bite thing makes sense. But, to those who disagree, have fun!

Tim Weiman,

So it is okay to discuss Streamsong and Bandon.  Is this a travel site?  http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,60320.0.html
What standard did Russ disrupt, this thread involves Architecture?  You and Sven don't have to comment on this thread if you loathe twitter.  This thread involves architecture and Russ always brings up threads on Architecture.  Do you feel the need to act in a wolf like mentality?  Do you go along to get along? 

[John Kirk]

OK, I tried a couple for fun:

Crystal Downs

"Difficult course on sand bar between big lake and huge lake. One awkward routing transition. Divine front nine. One boomerang green."

Ballyneal

"Hilly course on young parabolic dunes in cornfield country.  A place where bouncing balls disappear and reappear.  Knobbiest greens in golf." 

[Scott Warren]

83. Inverness-  Great Ross track.  Only two par 5's, nice small contours around the greens.  The green complex's contours are incredible.  Many short par 4's that are great and don't get enough credit.  Many long par 4's that will bring you to your knees.  Great course, one which makes the best out of a small parcel of land.  Standing on the first tee still gives me goosebumps looking at the bowl. 

385 characters. Fail.

[Tim Gavrich]

Ross--

I can see you're trying to bring about a little bit of a Changing of the Guard with this topic. It's actually a nice Winterlude. But You Ain't Goin' Nowhere if you keep putting Too Much of Nothing out there. As of now, some esteemed posters seem to have you pegged as a Jokerman. The way it works around here, you've Gotta Serve Somebody 'before people start Pledging [Their] Time (to you, hopin' you'll come through, too) to help you out while you're just Standin' in the Doorway and Watching the River Flow.

[mic drop]

But seriously...

Surely you can understand how your original post might have come across as somewhat bossy. And, just as surely, you can understand that if one of a score members on this site with a much longer history of posting than yours made the request you made, the reception might've been less prickly.

I agree with you that an index of very brief summations of the world's greatest courses could be a useful resource, if put together with care. Examining courses' essences, stripped of the potentially distracting trappings, relative to one another might help us understand them a wee bit better.

But if you're going to just assign it to us and then get testy when members who have contributed literally dozens of times as many posts as you have so far ask you to do some due diligence before going all authoritarian on them, then your position will quickly be well described by these 1960s lyrics:

"I am a rock, I am an island."

Ya dig?

[Russ Arbuthnot]

Hey guys. I asked nicely (i.e. "Please...") Just trying to learn a thing or two, as I'm sure all of you were at some point.

To clarify my request, I'm sure that a lot of you who have been around for a while have a short list of things that pop into your head whenever someone mentions a course in conversation. That's what I'm looking for. It's unlikely that many of us (including the lurkers) will ever play most of these courses which make up the foundations of GCA, so we aren't going to have first-hand experience to go on.

I enjoy reading the course profiles, the photo tours, Patric Dickinson, and my new Confidential Guide just as much as the rest of you. This is just one more angle that is meant to compliment, not replace.

Thanks to everyone who has PM'ed, and everyone who has contributed so far. Especially those of you who have taken a stab at a few courses. I'm guessing that you found it isn't as easy as it looks.

Also, thanks to Josh Tarble for suggesting that I start a Twitter account to post these wonderful descriptions. Anyone who is interested is welcome to follow along @ConciseGCA, where I'll be posting the (sometimes edited, due to length) contributions made to this thread, including my own as I do research on all the great (and maybe some not-so-great) courses throughout the world.

[BCowan]

Tim,

 please explain to us how the first post was bossy?

 ''But if you're going to just assign it to us and then get testy when members who have contributed literally dozens of times as many posts as you have so far ask you to do some due diligence before going all authoritarian on them, then your position will quickly be well described by these 1960s lyrics:

"I am a rock, I am an island."''

-  Sorry but S&G aren't anywhere near Dylan.  When these so called esteemed posters (are you serious?) stop thread jacking Russ's post with rude comments,  "Use the search button'' and ''Jr members giving assignments'' Russ has every right to sound off.  Don't worry Tim, Russ has plenty of friends and doesn't need to worry about offending people.  Good to see you need to ''Serve somebody''

[Bruce Wellmon]

To quote the famous philosopher Chad Ochocinco.............

[Aaron McMaster]

Ross--

I can see you're trying to bring about a little bit of a Changing of the Guard with this topic. It's actually a nice Winterlude. But You Ain't Goin' Nowhere if you keep putting Too Much of Nothing out there. As of now, some esteemed posters seem to have you pegged as a Jokerman. The way it works around here, you've Gotta Serve Somebody 'before people start Pledging [Their] Time (to you, hopin' you'll come through, too) to help you out while you're just Standin' in the Doorway and Watching the River Flow.

[mic drop]

But seriously...

Surely you can understand how your original post might have come across as somewhat bossy. And, just as surely, you can understand that if one of a score members on this site with a much longer history of posting than yours made the request you made, the reception might've been less prickly.

I agree with you that an index of very brief summations of the world's greatest courses could be a useful resource, if put together with care. Examining courses' essences, stripped of the potentially distracting trappings, relative to one another might help us understand them a wee bit better.

But if you're going to just assign it to us and then get testy when members who have contributed literally dozens of times as many posts as you have so far ask you to do some due diligence before going all authoritarian on them, then your position will quickly be well described by these 1960s lyrics:

"I am a rock, I am an island."

Ya dig?

Who cares how many posts someone has.  The post either has merit or it doesn't, whether it's his first or 2000th.   A sizable quantity of the crap posted on here is just drivel anyway by people who love seeing themselves talk, judging from afar, have limited knowledge of golf and that's how they reach 2000 posts!

It's a free country nobody is holding a gun to your head to do a homework assignment so if you don't like it then just move on instead of being a condescending jerk.