28 Sand Hills Nebraska, USA Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, 1995 Sand Hills earns the title of the highest ranked modern course in our Top 100. Dan Allen Blankenship says: “My biggest influence as an architect has been Sand Hills. The natural use of the land is genius. Every time I play there I see something different that makes me wonder if Coore and Crenshaw were just lucky or had an amazing insight on how every little nuance in the golf course would challenge golfers differently on every day. I can’t imagine ever playing a better golf course!” Baxter Spann adds: “A fantastic setting, with the course melded perfectly into natural features.” Pinehurst (No. 2) North Carolina, USA Donald Ross, 1907 The 2010-11 restoration of Pinehurst’s No. 2 course, by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, has returned it to what Donald Ross originally intended. “Along with St. Andrews and Dornoch, Pinehurst No. 2 is probably the most mandatory course study in design in the world,” says Kyle Franz, who worked on the restoration. “Ross’s imaginative use of the native sand barrens and width create incredible strategy. But its greens complexes are the eighth wonder of the architectural world for a student of design.” Oakmont Pennsylvania, USA Henry Fownes, 1983 “Oakmont is easily the best course I have ever played,” says Joe Jemsek. “It requires exacting shotmaking every hole, every shot.” David Krause adds: “Oakmont was a jaw dropping experience, beauty and terror all rolled into one.” Architects’ Choice Top 100 Golf Courses Setting the standard Bill Coore acknowledges the role that Sand Hills has played in their ongoing design work Ben Crenshaw and I have been fortunate beyond imagination with regard to the sites we have been given to design our courses. In particular, we have had opportunities to create courses on spectacular, seaside dune sites from the shore of Long Island (Friar’s Head) to magnificent landscapes on the coasts of Oregon (Bandon Trails, Bandon Preserve), Tasmania (Lost Farm), China (Shanqin Bay) and currently, Nova Scotia (Cabot Cliffs). While any one of these opportunities would constitute a designer’s dream, none would likely have occurred if not for their predecessor, the Sand Hills Golf Club, set in one of golf’s most amazing dunescapes, albeit far from any sea. ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #16 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #15 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #16 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #14 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #15 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #14
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=