5 remarkable golf experience. One such intangible is the weather, perhaps the most variable element in golf. Many of the courses I hold in the highest esteem are near a coast, where the wind has the ability to change playing conditions in the blink of an eye. My first round at Royal Dornoch started under cold, grey skies, followed by several holes with brilliant sunshine, then a brief hail storm, followed again by glorious sunshine. The perfect day!” And location dictates the playing surface, or what lies beneath. David McLay Kidd explains: “You could give me a site devoid of meaningful contour, too small by convention, remote from a golfing public, a near penniless developer but make it sand and I promise I can make you something very special! Every course in my list shares that key ingredient!” Regardless of the site though, the golf course must stand up. For Steve Smyers, who himself has a successful amateur golf record, the golf course must provide a good test. Smyers says: “The tipping point for me is if a course occupies a landscape in a very harmonious manner while providing the ultimate examination of one’s golfing talents and abilities. A truly great course should test the most talented in the game. It should identify one’s ability to execute an infinite variety of shots with every club in the bag. A great course must require the best to be precise off the tee and to have a balance of long and short approaches into the putting surfaces. A superior course puts a great emphasis on decision making, that is, it will not only ask a player to hit a good shot but hit the right shot for the occasion.” And the putting surfaces themselves are crucial to many. Tom Mackenzie says: “My selections are generally highly influenced by the quality of the green designs providing a thorough examination of the short game. That is the lifeblood of the game and the only cure for the power game. Give me any course with eighteen creatively shaped, challenging and fair green complexes and I would be happy.” The fact that over 75 per cent of the courses in our Top 100 were built over 50 years ago suggests age might be important. Tripp Davis says: “I am one who likes the history of a course and the club, but more than that I think great golf courses are in part a product of ageing, much like wine. That ageing results in tweaking to correct flaws and make strong points stronger.” But perhaps the most frequently cited factor in a great golf course was fun. “Unparalleled fun factor,” says Todd Eckenrode, of Cypress Point. “Fun to play,” says Mike Hurdzan, about TPC Sawgrass. North Berwick is “easily the most fun golf course I have experienced,” says Mary Armstrong. “Incredibly fun to play,” says Brandon Johnson, of Tobacco Road. It’s a reminder that for the vast majority of golfers, the sport is a recreation, a pleasure, a pastime. It’s what we do in our free time and for many, it’s what we would do all the time if we could. If golf architects keep designing courses that golfers enjoy, the sport has a strong future. “ One of the great joys of golf is that each setting for the game is completely unique. When the golf course fully integrates and incorporates the setting right into the architecture we are left breathless” Ian Andrew Architects’ Choice Top 100 Golf Courses
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