Golf Digest's 2016 Rankings of the Top 100 Courses in the World

[David Wuthrich]

I am a GD panelist and I don't understand the list either.  Not sure where some of those numbers came from!!   Certainly not representative of my World 100!!

[Rob Marshall]

Huge jump by Oak Hill East

[Joel_Stewart]

I am a GD panelist and I don't understand the list either.  Not sure where some of those numbers came from!!   Certainly not representative of my World 100!!

Ditto. It's rather embarrassing.


I searched and found that it's some type of cumulative scoring from the 1000 panelists in the US plus the 600 or 700 international panelists.  Whatever the case I don't recall voting for an international ranking?

[Nick_Christopher]

Cape Wickham looks extraordinary!   Some long overdue notoriety for Mike DeVries.  Let's hope it leads to more great opportunities for him and his team...

[Kevin Pallier]

Joke


I love RCD but in no lifetime can I put it ahead of either Pine Valley or CPC.


Pacific Dunes at 39 ? Oh dear....

[Mark_F]

Saw that re National Old as well. Some nice holes and views sure but it's not even the best course on the property.

Where would it be 10-20 range in Victoria?

30.

[Don Jordan]

I can only comment on the Australian courses. RM West, Kingston Heath and the 2 Barnbougle courses are obvious and rightfully ranked highly. Even at 30 I think NSW is underrated, it is an amazing place with the 6th being as good a par 3 as there is in the worlds and the 14th a great par 4.

I haven't played Ellerston as it is one of only 2 courses in Australia that mere mortals cannot get access to, I do wonder of the exclusivity bumps it a bit higher?

I have played the National (Old) 5 or 6 times and it is a fun course to play but the Moonah course in the same complex is far superior. A better RTJ course is Joondalup in Western Australia. It might be a bit of an unpopular view but I am not that enamoured with RM East. There are some great holes but I think that Victoria Golf Club and Lake Karrinyup are better. Courses that are not in Victoria struggle to get acknowledged as much as they should.

[Jim Franklin]

I am a GD panelist and I don't understand the list either.  Not sure where some of those numbers came from!!   Certainly not representative of my World 100!!

Ditto. It's rather embarrassing.


I searched and found that it's some type of cumulative scoring from the 1000 panelists in the US plus the 600 or 700 international panelists.  Whatever the case I don't recall voting for an international ranking?

Joel -

Every panelist was sent an email asking to rate whatever international courses you had played from 1-10. It was not detailed like the regular rankings, just a number.

[Niall C]

Unfortunately I can't get the link to work so can someone tell me what number Forfar is ?


Thanks


Niall

[Niall C]

Not only the amount of new courses is strange. The tumble some of the courses take seem fishy as well. Barnbougle Dunes losing 22 places, Cabot Links going down 51, Bandon Dunes down 28, San Francisco G.C. down 62(!). It feels like they wanted to shake up the rankings just to generate headlines

On one level, it may be at least explained.

BD and LF - Very remote,
Cabot Links - Pretty remote
Bandon Dunes - Remote
SFGC - very exclusive.

Perhaps they just didn't get the data points and others blew by them.

Kalen


How much more remote/expensive to get to is RCD than Bandon and Cabot ? Is it possible that once the wow factor of the new wore off that panelists made a more sober assessment ?


Niall

[Ryan Coles]

How the hell has Remedy Oak been overlooked again.......

Seriously, this is one of the worst lists I've seen in respect of the British Courses.

[jeffwarne]

Not only the amount of new courses is strange. The tumble some of the courses take seem fishy as well. Barnbougle Dunes losing 22 places, Cabot Links going down 51, Bandon Dunes down 28, San Francisco G.C. down 62(!). It feels like they wanted to shake up the rankings just to generate headlines

On one level, it may be at least explained.

BD and LF - Very remote,
Cabot Links - Pretty remote
Bandon Dunes - Remote
SFGC - very exclusive.

Perhaps they just didn't get the data points and others blew by them.

Kalen


How much more remote/expensive to get to is RCD than Bandon and Cabot ? Is it possible that once the wow factor of the new wore off that panelists made a more sober assessment ?


Niall

Niall,
That could of course be true.
I'm a bit biased because RCD has always been my #1, and I'd probably give even more spots to UK and Ireland courses. (even though they are well represented numberswise-just many odd/poor choices)
One thing's for sure, there were WAAAAY more modern monstrosities on this list that I have zero interest in playing than any list I've ever seen.


But I'd also say given the crazy variance from year to year that something odd is in play.
Their credibility fades away with such inconsistent variance and simply makes one wonder who will play where next, be wowed by opulence,service, 500 extra seldom used yards. and green grass, and change the list wildly again


The list looks like something cobbled together by Executive Golfer, not a list from once the most respected golf publication.
The only reason such lists matter to me (negatively) is that in the zero sum game of golf tourism, it sucks that so many asshole traps are perpetuated and therefore patronized while many good/great courses are ignored at a time when every incremental dollar counts.
Otherwise I really wouldn't care as it's nice to leave the great gems affordable and uncrowded, but not if their survival is threatened-and even more importantly it sucks to see the monstrosity model celebrated and therefore copied by more developers.

[Carl Nichols]

No one has mentioned the most bizarre inclusion.

The Old course at The National (Australia) at 87.

I had no idea it was even in contention for world top 100.

Wasn't there a recent GD raters trip to Australia that got some peoples' knickers in a bunch?  Or was that another magazine?

[Adam Lawrence]

No one has mentioned the most bizarre inclusion.

The Old course at The National (Australia) at 87.

I had no idea it was even in contention for world top 100.

Wasn't there a recent GD raters trip to Australia that got some peoples' knickers in a bunch?  Or was that another magazine?

I think that was Golfweek

[John Kavanaugh]

It wasn't the trip it was the use of the word "rater" 75 times in the following blog that was amusing.


http://golfweek.com/news/2015/apr/05/golf-courses-golfweek-raters-australia-jim-hansen/


MWP made a trip on the heels of these guys and is responsible for most of what we read today.

[Kalen Braley]

Not only the amount of new courses is strange. The tumble some of the courses take seem fishy as well. Barnbougle Dunes losing 22 places, Cabot Links going down 51, Bandon Dunes down 28, San Francisco G.C. down 62(!). It feels like they wanted to shake up the rankings just to generate headlines

On one level, it may be at least explained.

BD and LF - Very remote,
Cabot Links - Pretty remote
Bandon Dunes - Remote
SFGC - very exclusive.

Perhaps they just didn't get the data points and others blew by them.

Kalen


How much more remote/expensive to get to is RCD than Bandon and Cabot ? Is it possible that once the wow factor of the new wore off that panelists made a more sober assessment ?


Niall

Niall,

To be honest I don't know  exactly where RCD is in Ireland, so I don't have a concept of how remote it is.

But I think you certainly could be right when it comes to  the wow factor of the latest and greatest thing.  And who knows, perhaps even a place like Bandon would get old if you played it day in and day out...but its hard to imagine from where I sit! 

[John Kavanaugh]

46 of these courses sit on the ocean. If we would all stop taking pics and posting on Facebook we just might return to rational evaluation.

[K Rafkin]

Not only the amount of new courses is strange. The tumble some of the courses take seem fishy as well. Barnbougle Dunes losing 22 places, Cabot Links going down 51, Bandon Dunes down 28, San Francisco G.C. down 62(!). It feels like they wanted to shake up the rankings just to generate headlines

On one level, it may be at least explained.

BD and LF - Very remote,
Cabot Links - Pretty remote
Bandon Dunes - Remote
SFGC - very exclusive.

Perhaps they just didn't get the data points and others blew by them.

Kalen


How much more remote/expensive to get to is RCD than Bandon and Cabot ? Is it possible that once the wow factor of the new wore off that panelists made a more sober assessment ?


Niall

Niall,

To be honest I don't know  exactly where RCD is in Ireland, so I don't have a concept of how remote it is.

But I think you certainly could be right when it comes to  the wow factor of the latest and greatest thing.  And who knows, perhaps even a place like Bandon would get old if you played it day in and day out...but its hard to imagine from where I sit! 

RCD is 1 hour south from irelands second largest city, and 2 hours north from its largest.  I hardly consider this remote.

[Kalen Braley]

KR,

Thanks for the clarification, I too would not consider that remote..


In general terms this thread is a bit funny.  All of these courses are undisputable .1%ers....a very good place to be indeed, especially in these current market conditions. And just like in real life, all the squabbling goes on about who has the nicest car or biggest vacation home in the Caribbean with all the ensuing comparisons.

Meanwhile the other 99.9% on the outside looking in can clearly see all of these courses have indeed already grasped the brass ring!!

[Peter Pallotta]

46 of these courses sit on the ocean. If we would all stop taking pics and posting on Facebook we just might return to rational evaluation.

Such meta-level insights are why this thread is of more interest than the list itself. It appears 'over stated' but I don't think it is. Live by the sword, die by the sword I guess -- but sad to see the herdlike consensus/trend to downgrade the great inland courses.

[Tom_Doak]

46 of these courses sit on the ocean. If we would all stop taking pics and posting on Facebook we just might return to rational evaluation.

Such meta-level insights are why this thread is of more interest than the list itself. It appears 'over stated' but I don't think it is. Live by the sword, die by the sword I guess -- but sad to see the herdlike consensus/trend to downgrade the great inland courses.

This is one principal reason I've come to doubt the panels myself.  I've benefitted from their favoritism for oceanfront golf as much as any architect, but their inability to appreciate the same sort of architecture on wonderful inland sites was baffling at first.  After a few years of watching, though, I'd replace "baffling" with "telling".


Still, there is something else going on with this list.  Some sampling error on the Asian courses, for starters ... a bunch of high grades from Asian panelists, and hardly any American votes on those courses to temper their enthusiasm.


The enthusiasm for Royal County Down is unsurprising, though.  The first time I did the GOLF Magazine list it was #3, behind Muirfield and Pebble Beach.  It was only AFTER we published a list with the courses in order, that the forces of conventional wisdom started to work their influence.

[Thomas Dai]

Is No 54 even the best course in that city?
Atb

[Terry Lavin]

Lists like this exist to foment controversy, but this is really out-of-whack.  San Francisco's drop (as noted by Mr. Hurricane, above) is simply astounding.  There are many other tumbles that are jarring, as well.  It seems that they dropped a lot of stalwarts to include a passel of tracks in China, Japan, Vietnam and the UAE.  Let me guess right now that the top 100 chasers might hit the pause button before going to some of these newbies.

[Pete_Pittock]

No one has mentioned the most bizarre inclusion.

The Old course at The National (Australia) at 87.

I had no idea it was even in contention for world top 100.

It might not make my top 100.   After my trip in 1997 it was near the bottom of my 'meets expectation' list

[Ruediger Meyer]

I am a GD panelist and I don't understand the list either.  Not sure where some of those numbers came from!!   Certainly not representative of my World 100!!

Ditto. It's rather embarrassing.


I searched and found that it's some type of cumulative scoring from the 1000 panelists in the US plus the 600 or 700 international panelists.  Whatever the case I don't recall voting for an international ranking?

Joel -

Every panelist was sent an email asking to rate whatever international courses you had played from 1-10. It was not detailed like the regular rankings, just a number.

Wow, this gets better and better. They made up the rankings from different sets of criterias?