It’s one of golf’s many quirks that the titles for which professional golfers are most remembered are contested over some unremarkable courses. While that’s clearly an uncharitable view of many revered and historic sporting stages, it’s fair to say that if the list of the current Major venues was somehow mislaid, a few regular choices would find themselves missing from any new list that might be created.
Of course, familiarity breeds love as well as contempt, but who can honestly say that they’ve not grown a little weary of watching the pros make mincemeat of the Old Course at St Andrews every five years. Every decade, maybe, but not every time the year ends in a five as well as a zero. Similarly, Royal Troon, or dare I say it, Muirfield, wouldn’t make it into many people’s list of courses to play before they died. And a lot of pros would have happily redesigned Pinehurst No.2 before playing another U.S. Open there, had the owners not done such excellent restoration work themselves in preparation for staging this year’s renewal.
While watching the back nine at Augusta National on a Sunday afternoon is a little like putting on a comfortable pair of old slippers, it’s also a tad repetitive. Will someone ace the 16th with that easy Sunday pin? It’s always on the cards. Will someone spin the ball back into water twice on the 12th and rack up a triple-bogey? More than likely. Will Phil Mickelson perform a miracle recovery shot from the pine needles? Most definitely.
Although the Masters clearly wouldn’t be the Masters if it wasn’t held at Augusta, the remaining three Majors operate a “rota system,” with clubs getting a shot at a Major every decade or so. The [British] Open has nine host venues, with no courses outside this approved list eligible for consideration. The U.S. Open and PGA Championship have a “preferred list” to which, at least, they’ve added Whistling Straits and Bethpage Black in recent times. The USGA has opted for two new venues over the next few years—Chambers Bay in 2015 and Erin Hills in 2017—and reintroduced Merion last year to popular acclaim.
Whereas the Ryder Cup is always happy to break new ground—arguably, Celtic Manor, Paris National, The Belfry, The K Club and Valhalla were all purpose-built—the Majors are stuck in a routing rut that means some of golf’s finest layouts will never be played by the best players, at least when it comes to the four titles that mean more than any others. And let’s not forget that golf is a truly global game today, so to limit the Majors to a handful of courses in America, and nine in England and Scotland, seems a little narrow-minded.
Still, that’s an argument for the distant future. In the meantime, here follows a selection of courses that could stage a U.S. Open, PGA or [British] Open Championship. They’re not all new or, for that matter, open for public play, but they’re all worthy of hosting the best tournaments.
While the USGA has a love affair with Pebble Beach, and purists wax lyrical about Cypress Point, the true gem on this idyllic stretch of Californian coastline is Spyglass Hill. Mysteriously left off the TV coverage from the AT&T National Pro-Am, the raw beauty of this Robert Trent Jones masterpiece remains a surprisingly well-kept secret. Spyglass Hill has a unique feeling of unpredictability. While the front nine is wide open to the forces of nature, the inward half is tightly lined with trees and manicured to perfection.
Home of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill is one of the most searching tests on the PGA Tour. It brings the best out of the top competitors, notably Tiger Woods who has won there eight times. One of the oldest layouts in Orlando, it opened in 1961 to a Dick Wilson design. Palmer has tweaked every hole and resurfaced every green since the 1970s. The result is a fascinating parkland challenge where no two holes run in the same direction, the rough is thick, though not long, and full use is made of the water hazards.
Located just a short drive from Pinehurst, Tobacco Road is the most unorthodox championship-level course in America. Variously described as “Pine Valley on steroids,” and “golf’s rock and roll ride,” everywhere you look at Tobacco Road there’s trouble. With elements of heath, links and parkland, it’s an assault on the senses and, potentially, the scorecard. And if the USGA ever gets hold of this track and decides to trick it up with fast greens and tight fairways, 10-over par could be a winning score.
The Ben Crenshaw-designed Sand Hills is one of America’s best new courses, yet few golfers have even heard of it, let alone played it. Opened in 1994, at a cost of just $1.2 million, the site was so well-suited to golf that only a bucketful of earth had to be moved to create its 18 stunning holes. It has no lakes, no trees and no flora to speak of, just great golf holes. So what if it’s 350 miles from the nearest city, Denver? Fuel’s cheap—well, it was!
Very little is known about Seminole, consistently ranked as a top-five U.S. course, but using the term “private” to describe it is a massive understatement. Ben Hogan used to practice for the Masters by playing here every day for a month. Lined with tall palms, it occupies a beautiful location beside the ocean, and by all accounts it’s nothing short of a masterpiece. Millionaire members won’t want to turn their course over to the PGA for five years, but there would be no harm in asking.
Pine Valley needs to host a Major to validate its credibility as America’s top-ranked course. It’s hard to think of a more famous venue that has been seen, let alone been played, by so few people. Its exposure is limited to one of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf matches in the early 1960s—which isn’t a lot to go on. While the course, which is built in the middle of a thick forest, would barely be able to cope with 5,000 fans, let alone 50,000, it would be worth squeezing into just to admire the views of George Crump’s legendary layout.
Dornoch’s Open claims are simple: it’s an out-and-out classic links. Stretched over natural, wild terrain, Dornoch is a joy to behold and in the summer months the flashes of yellow gorse make it a truly beautiful place. But looks can be deceptive as Dornoch is a stern test, especially from the fairways where the golfer has to play into raised greens that place an emphasis on pinpoint accuracy. What’s more, it’s only an hour’s drive from the thriving international airport hub at Inverness.
Despite being designed by an American (Kyle Phillips) and only open for 13 years, Kingsbarns looks like it’s been sitting there for centuries. The mind-boggling undulations provide a truly stunning course from which golfers can enjoy breathtaking views of the North Sea from almost every hole. The par-5 12th and the par-3 15th are especially awe-inspiring. Situated just six miles south of St Andrews, it would be more than an adequate Open replacement venue should the Old Course ever be turned into a theme park.
There’s been a big push for Northern Ireland to host the [British] Open in recent years, following a spate of Major wins from its citizens, but its foremost contender, Portrush, which hosted the Open in 1951, is flat and rather featureless and just isn’t up to the job. On the other hand, Royal County Down is filled with character and spectator vantage points. Rolling hills, risk-reward opportunities, challenging fairways, strategically-placed bunkers and beautiful terrain are all here in abundance.
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