16 Architects’ Choice Top 100 Golf Courses Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin) Lincolnshire, England Harry Vardon, Harry Colt, SV Hotchkin, 1905 While Vardon created the original design and Colt’s subsequent routing of 1915 stays largely intact, the design of Woodhall Spa surely belongs to Colonel Hotchkin, who was instrumental in its formation and worked on the course from the 1920s to his death in 1953. Nothing compares to its bunkering, with hugely deep pits, both in fairways and alongside greens, staying long in the memory. Barnbougle Dunes Tasmania, Australia Tom Doak, Michael Clayton, 2005 Despite its remoteness on the northern coast of Tasmania, golfers from Australia and beyond travel to Barnbougle Dunes to experience a seaside links formed by a combination of nature and skilled designers. Allure of the ocean With three courses in our Top 100, we asked Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf Design for his thoughts on those that had made the list I’ve been blessed to work on many beautiful sites over the years, but it seems that the courses along the ocean are always the most highly regarded. Certainly, that’s not because of the views alone; oceanfront properties tend to have breezy conditions that make the golf more interesting, and those same winds are responsible for creating the perfect undulations of links courses over time. Still, it’s too much of a coincidence to think that all of my best work has been done when I’m closest to the ocean, so I’m sorry that more of my fellow architects have yet to see Ballyneal or Rock Creek. Working on true links sites at Pacific Dunes and Barnbougle was a dream come true, but any links must be compared against the best of the UK and Ireland, and it’s hard to feel worthy in such company. By contrast, Cape Kidnappers did not have that perfect links terrain; the land tilts gently toward the water, and instead of carving it into more windswept shapes, we used that subtle tilt as the main feature of the design. When you stand on the fifth tee or twelfth green and look out toward Hawkes Bay 150 meters below, you know that there is no other place in golf like it. And the more great courses you see, the more you appreciate one that is different than the rest. ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #62 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #61 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #62 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #61 Photo: Gary Lisbon
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