Golf Digest: Best New Courses

[Howard Riefs]

Golf Digest
Best New Golf Courses

High praise for Cabot Cliffs...
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/best-new-course-2015-cabot-cliffs

http://www.golfdigest.com/gallery/2015-best-new-courses


New Courses

1) Cabot Cliffs, Inverness, Nova Scotia

2) Trump Golf Links Ferry Point, Bronx, New York

3) The Links at Brunello, Timberlea, Nova Scotia

4) Adena Golf & Country Club, Ocala, Florida

5) Full Cry at Keswick Golf Club, Keswick, Virginia

6) Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club, Wickenburg, Arizona

7) Rockwind Community Links, Hobbs, New Mexico

8  Magnolia Green Golf Club, Moseley, Virginia

9) Potomac Shores Golf Club, Potomac Shores, Virginia

10) The Country Club of The Golden Nugget, Lake Charles, Louisiana


Remodels

1) The Vintage Club (Mountain), Indian Wells, California

2) TPC Scottsdale (Stadium), Scottsdale, Arizona

3) Royal Oaks CC, Dallas, Texas

4) The Oaks Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma

5) Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania

6) The Ford Plantation Club, Richmond Hills, Georgia

7) Rockaway Hunting Club, Lawrence, New York

8  Menlo Country Club, Woodside, California

9) Sawgrass Country Club (East/West Course), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

10) Independence Golf Club, Midlothian, Virginia

[John Kavanaugh]

Trump Golf Links wins the Walter Mondale award for distant second.

[Phil Young]

John,

Actually Trump National will be proclaimed by the Donald as being proclaimed by Golf Digest as the best new course in the United States, the world capital of the game golf...

Why settle for Mondale when one can be both Barnum and Bailey... 

[David Davis]

So this is Best New Courses in the US? (Canada has clearly been annexed)

[John McCarthy]

So this is Best New Courses in the US? (Canada has clearly been annexed)

Canada has long been considered the US's largest national park.

[Tommy Williamsen]

So this is Best New Courses in the US? (Canada has clearly been annexed)

Canada has long been considered the US's largest national park.

The article never said it was the best new course in the USA.

[Jason Thurman]

Whitten's article on Cabot Cliffs specifies that it's the best new in America, and specifically North America.


Regardless of quibbles we might have with Golf Digest's arbitrary geography, I think the obvious story here is that I need to plan a trip next year to play the #1 and #3 courses on the "best new" list, along with Cabot Links and Highland.

[Don Hyslop]

The photo of the 16th green at Cabot Cliffs that leads the article is simply breathtaking. Can't wait to play there next year.

[Sam Morrow]

Does anyone know what they did at Royal Oaks?

[Rees Milikin]

Adena should be #1 since it is a Platinum Class Facility.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

The fact that neither of the Hanse redo's at Doral - the Red Tiger and Golden Palm - made it into the top 10, has to be a disappointment for the Donald.

[K Rafkin]

Interesting, I didn't think Cabot Cliffs would be eligible until it was officially open.  I guess preview counts, which makes sense, so no big deal.

This is great news for all the other courses opening in 2016, as they don't need to compete with the much anticipated Cabot Cliffs.

[Wayne_Kozun]

John,

Actually Trump National will be proclaimed by the Donald as being proclaimed by Golf Digest as the best new course in the United States, the world capital of the game golf...

And he'll say that the ocean at Cabot Cliffs is a toy puddle compared to the ocean at Ferry Point which is 10X the size of the ocean at Cabot Cliffs.

[Don Mahaffey]

Rockwind

[Peter Pallotta]

The fact that neither of the Hanse redo's at Doral - the Red Tiger and Golden Palm - made it into the top 10, has to be a disappointment for the Donald.

And for Hanse too, no? Presumably he was equally invested in/a driver of the design decisions.

[astavrides]

Rockwind

Congratulations! I played it about 6 weeks ago. Very fun course on a dead flat site. Visually attractive too.

[Daniel Jones]

Adena should be #1 since it is a Platinum Class Facility.

Reason #3728 why we need a like button!

[David Wuthrich]

I played the Vintage in May after the redo.  Must have been a really bad year for redo's since I didn't think that Vintage was all that wonderful.

[Tim Leahy]

Anybody have pictures of Menlo redo?

[Gary Sato]

I played the Vintage in May after the redo.  Must have been a really bad year for redo's since I didn't think that Vintage was all that wonderful.

Vintage is perfect for GD panelists.  It's ultra exclusive, over the top Fazio.  Is there any doubt that Digest panelists loves Fazio over the top plush designs?

[Steve Lapper]

What is most interesting IMO is the glaring omission of the extensive remodeling of the Vineyard GC, Martha's Vineyard, MA.


Gil Hanse essentially blew up, rerouted, and/or replaced the super majority of Donald Steel holes and produced an aesthetically wonderfully, and fun new 18 holes. It may well be one of the most pleasurable new golf courses south of Inverness for a few years to come. Nice going GD.....you really did your homework!

[Tom_Doak]

What is most interesting IMO is the glaring omission of the extensive remodeling of the Vineyard GC, Martha's Vineyard, MA.


 Nice going GD.....you really did your homework!

Just a guess, but I'd guess that The Vineyard Club isn't that accommodating to Golf Digest panelists, especially in the summer months when they would have had to see the changes.


Lots of courses are overlooked in these "remodeling" awards because they don't hire a contractor and an architect and do the work all at once, or they "don't change the course enough."  The industry exists to justify architects messing around with courses.  The work at Shoreacres is one example of transforming a course without redesigning it.

[Wade Whitehead]

I recall a couple of years ago that the "Best New" lists combined the US and Canada because only 13 new courses had opened in both countries combined.

Anyone know how many total courses opened this year?

WW

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

The fact that neither of the Hanse redo's at Doral - the Red Tiger and Golden Palm - made it into the top 10, has to be a disappointment for the Donald.

And for Hanse too, no? Presumably he was equally invested in/a driver of the design decisions.

I played them both and thought the Red Tiger was a good course by Florida standards. 6 3s, 6 4s, and 6 5s. Nothing extremely different like say, a Calusa Pines or Streamsong, but there was artistry there. The Golden Palm was another story. And for some reason they had a collar of thick rough around every bunker that hung over the lip and I nearly broke an ankle walking in.

These were my first two experiences with a Hanse design so my expectations were high.

[Steve Lapper]

What is most interesting IMO is the glaring omission of the extensive remodeling of the Vineyard GC, Martha's Vineyard, MA.


 Nice going GD.....you really did your homework!

Just a guess, but I'd guess that The Vineyard Club isn't that accommodating to Golf Digest panelists, especially in the summer months when they would have had to see the changes.


Lots of courses are overlooked in these "remodeling" awards because they don't hire a contractor and an architect and do the work all at once, or they "don't change the course enough."  The industry exists to justify architects messing around with courses.  The work at Shoreacres is one example of transforming a course without redesigning it.

Tom,


  I'm familiar with the folks making the policies at VGC and while they remain very private, there is no explicit nor implicit discrimination against GD raters. Unlike a Pikewood, an Alotian, or Canyata, there is no pro-one rating group and anti-others.


   In so far as VGC goes, I don't believe Gil's Hanse's name is exactly foreign to Ron Whitten. If an LACC North, a Cal Club, or elsewhere represents among the very best "remodels" to date, neither made wholesale changes to their original routings. Gil did so here, producing a much improved course that is amongst the most drastic and successful "remodels" I've yet to ever see. It is very worthy of earning an entry in your next CG volume.




PS...Still have yet to see Vol 2???