With the arrival of each new Top 100 ranking, the world’s leading course architects look back at where their work stands – even though they’re skeptical of the business of calling something “the best”. But push them a little (or a lot) and they’ll offer their own riffs on what makes a golf course list worthy, memorable and great. For a lengthy roundtable discussion filmed for GOLF.com’s InsideGOLF, senior writer Josh Sens sat down with four course design virtuosos — Tom Doak (Pacific Dune, No. 19; Ballyneal, No. 35) ; Bill Coore (Sand Hills, No. 7; Friar’s Head, No. 15); Andrew Green (Oak Hill, No.36; Inverness, No.41) and Rob Collins (Landmand, Sweetens Cove) – to chat all things Top 100. Here are excerpts from that conversation. On this page you can also watch the full video interview.
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Illustrations by Joe McKendry
GOLF: We recently released our latest iteration of our Top 100 Courses in the U.S. list, so we wanted to have a chat with some of the experts who have created a variety of courses that we love to play and to discuss. I know there is some ambivalence among designers about course rankings. Bill, over time you have expressed doubts, perhaps viewing these lists as a necessary evil. What are some of your hesitations when thinking about ranking?
Bill Coore: I fully understand their intent, and certainly Ben (Crenshaw, Coore’s design partner) and I have been beneficiaries of them. From a business perspective, the ranking has been a very positive aspect of our business. I just struggle a little. How do you choose the best golf courses? It’s so subjective. To me, it’s like looking at any art form: a person looking at that piece of work might think it’s absolutely wonderful; a person with a different perspective might think it’s far less than fabulous. I really struggle when they try to put them in a numerical order and say:it it’s the best golf course in the United States.” I just don’t know how you can do that.
Andrew, I see you shaking your head.
Andrew Green: Yes, I think how much goes into (experience): the weather on the day the panelist is playing; how they play on the golf course; how is the terrain that day? There are so many different things that can affect it that they probably aren’t even at the root of how the golf course presents itself year-round. But at the same time, it’s definitely a fun thing to talk about.
Rob, you are one of the younger guys on this panel. When you were starting out in business, did you give ranking much thought? Did they influence the way you thought about design or the work you decided to do?
Rob Collins: I was an art history major in college, so I think of architecture and golf courses as a work of art—good or bad or indifferent or somewhere in between. (laugh) And I think golf architecture criticism is similar to art criticism, and Bill alluded to this: It all depends on how well the critic’s taste profile matches the art they’re looking at. But back to your question: I don’t think you really set out necessarily to design something that will rank. You do the best you can for any given page.
Rankings, I think, are a reflection of architectural tastes and trends. But do they too INFLUENCE those things?
Tom Doak: Well, I guess it’s a full circle. The more you put certain styles of golf courses and certain designer courses in the rankings, the more people respect them — and then they’re excited about the (will) (will) next project. So it rotates back and forth. That’s why if you look at the rankings from 30 years ago and you look at them today, there are a bunch of different names. It’s not that this current generation of architects is blowing up what those guys did 30 years ago, but tastes have changed. To me, this is all subjective. But when I’m trying to decide what I think are the best courses, one of the things about them is… there’s something really different about them than anything else. You couldn’t name three golf courses that were more different than Pine Valley, Augusta and the Old Course in St. Louis. Andrews. They are all places of one kind.
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Andrew, I’ll put you on the spot. Pine Valley has had a stranglehold on the top spot in the GOLF rankings for some time now. Is it the best course in the country? And if not, what is it?
Green: Oh god. Yes, I like to say it’s probably the best use of a piece of land ever. Of course, there’s also the experience part of ranking. It is the ambience, history, lore and atmosphere of a place that plays into it. When you enter those very humble gates at Pisha Valley, there is a certain presence that is extremely unique.
Rob, what about you? Is it number one?
Collins: (laugh) Well, I think, if I put myself in the critic’s chair. But for me – and I’m not saying this because Bill is here – I prefer Sand Hills to Pine Valley. Not that Pine Valley isn’t an amazing course, but if I could hypothetically divide the number of rounds by 10, I’d pick more rounds at Sand Hills than Pine Valley.
Inquiring minds will want to know: What is course no. 1 of Tom Doak in the country?
Doak: Well, I wrote a book (Confidential Course Guide) a few years ago and I stuck my neck out and gave my thoughts on all these golf courses, and I rated about a dozen of them out of 10. And, to me, it’s kind of silly to try to choose between them. Splitting hairs between Pinehurst and Shinnecock and National and Cypress Point – I don’t really get the point.
Bill, I’ve heard celebrity chefs say that if they’re going to listen to all the great things critics say about their work, then they should also listen to all the negative reviews. So they choose to ignore it all. Does it come into play in designing golf courses?
Coor: We can all sit here and say we choose to ignore it or (that) we don’t care. We are people. Yeah, if someone says, “You really nailed it,” it’s not like you’re going to want to get every comment. But you can’t ignore them. I would just say, try to maintain some balance. It’s like everyone here today said, “How do you pick number 1?” It’s the Valley of the Pines really better than Cypress Point or Royal County Down? Any person can say, “Well, that’s my preference.” My preference might be one of the others. That said, (rankings), it’s kind of fun.
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