January is Southland Golf’s annual Best Of issue, so I’ve put together a composite 18-hole course comprised of the best-of-the-best holes I’ve played all over the world.
Disclaimer: These are my personal favorites – my favorite first hole, favorite second hole, favorite third, and so on – a list of memorable holes that I consider either the most distinctive, picturesque, challenging and/or most fun to play since I began chasing the dimpled spheroid around the globe nearly 25 years ago.
Let’s tee it up:
No. 1 (tie): Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades (par-5, 503 yards) and Prestwick GC, Ayshire, Scotland (par-4, 346): Riviera’s opening hole is iconic, featuring 70-foot drop from tee box to fairway. At Prestwick, site of the first 12 British Opens beginning in 1860, the first hole is historic and quirky, the fairway on the right side running along an active railway. I missed the train but not the tracks.
Honorable mention: Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland (par-4, 376); Coto de Caza North (par-5, 601); Pelican Hill South, Newport Coast (par-4, 443); Mesa Verde CC, Costa Mesa (par-5, 465).
No. 2: Los Angeles CC (par-4, 484): Converted from a par-5 during the 2010 course restoration by Gil Hanse, this challenging par-4 requires a solid tee shot and long, accurate approach over a barranca. Perfect hole for the 2023 US Open.
Honorable mention: Martis Camp, Truckee (par-4, 478); The Grand GC, Del Mar (par-4, 462); Pelican Hill North (par-3, 197).
No. 3: Monarch Beach GL, Dana Point (par-4, 315): Compelling risk-reward par-4, especially from middle tees (278 yards), with crashing ocean waves awaiting you upon reaching the steeply sloped green.
Honorable mention: Edgewood-Tahoe GC, Stateline, Nev. (par-5, 599); The Wynn GC, Las Vegas (par-4, 447); Aviara GC, Carlsbad (par-3, 149)
No. 4: Barnbougle Dunes, Tasmania (par-4, 271 meters): On a breathtaking links course built along the northeastern coastline of this island state south of the Australian mainland, this par-4 dares you to take on the cavernous bunker guarding the shortest route to the green. It’s a long way away, but even better than Bandon Dunes.
Honorable mention: Olympic Club, San Francisco (par-4, 438); Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach (par-4, 370); Mission Viejo CC (par-4, 452); Bear Creek GC, Murrieta (par-4, 435); Arroyo Trabuco GC, Mission Viejo (par-3, 231).
No. 5: New South Wales GC, Sydney, Australia (par-5, 468 meters): Signature hole on this Alister MacKenzie course, the Pebble Beach of Australia, requiring uphill blind tee shot before heading downhill to green overlooking Botany Bay.
Honorable mention: Tijeras Creek GC, Rancho Santa Margarita (par-3, 162), site of my only ace; Bajamar Resort, Ensenada, Mexico (par-3, 185); Talega GC, San Clemente (par-3, 228).
No. 6: Sherwood CC, Thousand Oaks (par-3, 186): Signature hole at Jack Nicklaus design requires a forced-carry tee shot over water to a narrow green fronted by 14 waterfalls.
Honorable mention: Resort at Squaw Creek, Squaw Valley (par-3, 210); Old Greenwood, Truckee (par-5, 578); Mission Viejo CC (par-3, 196).
No. 7: Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wis. (par-3, 223): Nicknamed “Shipwreck,” its green sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, with a hill left and bunkers below right. Good luck.
Honorable mention: Torrey Pines South, La Jolla (par-4, 462), Incline Village (Nev.) Championship (par-4, 407); Coyote Hills, Fullerton (par-4, 403); Tijeras Creek (par-3, 225).
No. 8: Pebble Beach GL (par-4, 416): It’s not the course’s most famous hole; only its best. Nicklaus agrees. Can you hit a blind uphill tee shot no farther than 260 yards, then launch an iron over a wave-lapping cove to a small green below?
Honorable mention: Kingston Heath GC, Melbourne, Australia (par-4, 398 meters); Tahoe-Donner GC, Truckee (par-4, 469); Strawberry Farms, Irvine (par-4, 317).
No. 9: Turnberry Resort, Ailsa Course, Scotland (par-4, 454 yards): With the trademark lighthouse and Bruce castle ruins to your left, you must block out the distractions to hit your tee shot over the rugged shoreline to a blind fairway.
Honorable mention: Chateau des Vigiers, Le Lac Course, Monestier, France (par-4, 381); Shady Canyon GC, Irvine (par-4, 474); Schaffer’s Mill, Truckee (par-4, 480); Whitehawk Ranch, Clio, CA (par-4, 276); Moorpark CC, Canyon Crest (par-5, 547); Oak Creek GC, Irvine (par-4, 456).
No. 10: Arroyo Trabuco, Mission Viejo (par-4, 345): Yes, I know Riviera’s short par-4 10th is iconic, but, hey, I’ve had eight eagles on this dramatically downhill par-4 from the blue tees (315 yards). That makes it my favorite hole in the world.
Honorable mention: Riviera CC (par-4, 315); Strawberry Farms, Irvine (par-4, 369; Dove Canyon CC, Trabuco Canyon (par-3, 210).
No. 11: Links at Crowbush Cove, Prince Edward Island, Canada (par-5, 565): On a seaside-links course overlooking sand dunes and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the 52 steps you climb to the 11th tee box lead you to wonderful views and a great three-shot hole. Time for photos.
Honorable mention: Tustin Ranch GC, Tustin (par-3, 170); LA North (par-3, 244); Shady Canyon GC (par-5, 595).
No. 12: Torrey Pines South, La Jolla (par-4, 504): Yes, a 504-yard par-4 – uphill and usually into the wind, too. Hate it, love it, hate it, love it.
Honorable mention: Nicklaus North, Whistler, BC, Canada (par-3, 225); Kingsbarns GL, St. Andrews, Scotland (par-5, 606); Grizzly Ranch, Portola, CA (649, par-5); Arroyo Trabuco (par-4, 495); The Dragon at Nakoma Resort, Clio, CA (par-4, 390).
No. 13 (tie): Coyote Moon, Truckee (par-3, 227) and Pacific Dunes, Bandon, Ore. (par-4, 444): The signature par-3 features a breathtaking, 200-foot drop from tee to green; the par-4 in Bandon features natural dunes, huge bunkers and jaw-dropping ocean views.
Honorable mention: Pelican Hill South (par-3, 131); Torrey Pines South (par-5, 541).
No. 14: Bear Mountain Resort, Valley Course, Victoria, B.C. (par-5, 523): You play uphill all the way to the green, to the course’s highest point, where you are rewarded with panoramic views of Vancouver Island and Juan de Fuca Strait linking nearby Washington state.
Honorable mention: Carson Valley GC, Carson City, Nev. (par-4, 325); Desert Falls CC, Palm Desert (par-3, 227).
No. 15 (tie): Valley Club of Montecito, Santa Barbara (par-5, 506) and LakeRidge GC, Reno (par-3, 237): A postcard setting, with the stately clubhouse and Santa Ynez Mountains providing the scenic backdrop at this MacKenzie masterpiece; the downhill par-3 features a 140-yard drop from mountain-ridge tee to island green and stunning views of the casino hotels in the Reno skyline.
Honorable mention: Bighorn GC, Mountain Course, Palm Desert (par-4, 505); Big Canyon CC, Newport Beach (par-3, 233).
No. 16: Carnoustie GL, Carnoustie, Scotland (par-3, 245): Move over, Tom Watson. I hit a driver into the wind to 5 feet on what the five-time British Open champ calls the hardest par-3 in the world. OK, I missed the putt. Details, details.
Honorable mention: Pelican Hill South (par-3, 220); Half Moon Bay Links, Ocean Course (par-4, 387); La Quinta Resort, Mountain Course (par-3, 167); Talega GC (par-5, 461); La Costa Resort, Champions Course, Carlsbad (par-3, 170).
No. 17 (tie): Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland (par-4, 455) and Cabo del Sol, Ocean Course, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (par-3, 175): The famed Road Hole at the birthplace of golf is a dogleg-right that starts with a tee shot over a sign that says Old Course Hotel and concludes with a green guarded by a diabolical bunker on the left and the stone road on the right; Jack Nicklaus’ breathtaking signature hole at Cabo del Sol must carry a sandy cove to reach a green guarded by the Sea of Cortes on the right.
Honorable mention: Coyote Moon GC, Truckee (par-4, 472); Stadium Course, PGA West, La Quinta (par-3, 168, island green); Tijeras Creek GC, Rancho Santa Margarita (par-4, 404); Olympic View GC, Victoria, B.C. (par-4, 455); Coto de Caza GC, South Course (par-4, 341).
No. 18: Too many great finishing holes to list them all, but most notably Half Moon Bay GL, Old Course (par-4, 405); Pebble Beach (par-5, 543); Pelican Hill South, Newport Coast (par-4, 442); Cascata GC, Boulder City, Nev. (par-5, 559); Genoa Lakes, Genoa, Nev. (par-4, 449); Turnberry Resort, Ailsa Course (par-4, 434); Carnoustie GL (par-4, 444); Whistling Straits (par-4, 520 yards); Riviera CC (par-4, 475); Cabo del Sol, Ocean Course (par-4, 430); Sherwood CC (par-4, 446); Edgewood Tahoe (par-5, 572); The Golf Club at Gray’s Crossing, Truckee (par-5, 613); Sandpiper GC, Santa Barbara (par-3, 181); Aviara GC (par-5, 443); La Costa Resort, Legends Course (par-4, 457).
Reach Randy Youngman at SouthlandGolfRY@aol.com
