Golf course rankings have become commonplace these days. Just about every major golf publication carries some variation on the theme, and the rankings often provide good fodder for discussions around the water cooler.
But few of the rankings take on the entire world, and far fewer still are as extensive as those in a 1,300-plus-page book that first came out two years ago, and which recently published its second edition.
The title of the book pretty much tells the story: “The Rolex World’s Top 1000 Golf Courses”. It’s the work of a French family (Morgue d’Algue) which specializes in golf publishing, and the book is the brainchild of Gaetan Morgue d’Algue, a three-time French amateur champion. Also playing a major role in putting together the publication was Kristel Morgue d’Algue, the 1995 NCAA women’s champion from Arizona State.
How much credence to put in this book’s rankings — as opposed to those of any other publication — is obviously a matter of personal opinion. But the Morgue d’Algue family did publish the popular Peugeot guide of Europe’s top 1,000 golf courses. For the world book, more than 200 anonymous course “inspectors” were used, all knowledgeable in golf architecture.
Colorado is well-represented in the second edition of the World’s Top 1000 Golf Courses, which is a feather in the state’s cap considering there are more than 32,000 registered golf courses on the planet. About a third of the top 1,000 are in the U.S., but there are 66 countries represented, including Egypt, Cambodia and Vietnam.
All told, 10 Colorado courses made the list: Ballyneal Golf Club, the East Course at the Broadmoor (pictured at left), Castle Pines Golf Club, Cherry Hills Country Club (pictured at top), Colorado Golf Club, CommonGround Golf Course, Denver Country Club, Sanctuary, and both the Fazio and Norman Courses at Red Sky Golf Club.
That’s a pretty good mixture of courses for the Centennial State.
We have one public facility (CommonGround, which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA), one resort (Broadmoor), two resort/private (the courses at Red Sky) and six private clubs.
We have one course from the eastern plains (Ballyneal), one from southern Colorado (Broadmoor), two from the Western Slope (the courses at Red Sky) and six from the extended Denver metro area.
And we have three courses completed before 1925 (Denver, Broadmoor and Cherry Hills), six finished in the last 15 years (Sanctuary, the two at Red Sky, Colorado Golf Club, Ballyneal and CommonGround, the most recent addition, debuting in 2009), and one in the 70-some years in between (Castle Pines).
The 10 Colorado courses have hosted a combined 16 USGA championships, with the latest being the 2012 U.S. Amateur as Cherry Hills took on the primary role and CommonGround (pictured at left) was the supporting course. Those 10 courses also have been the sites of more than 30 tour events between the PGA, LPGA and Champions circuits.
The Rolex book doesn’t rank the courses in 1-1,000 order. Rather, the facilities that make the list are rated in five-point increments from 75 to 100, with 100 being the best. Here’s how the Colorado courses fared in that regard: Cherry Hills 95; Castle Pines, the Broadmoor East and Ballyneal 90; Denver Country Club, Colorado Golf Club, Sanctuary and the Fazio Course at Red Sky 85; CommonGround and the Norman Course at Red Sky 80.
Only 15 courses received ratings of 100, including seven in the U.S.: Augusta National (Ga.) , Bethpage Black (N.Y.), Cypress Point (Calif.), Maidstone West (N.Y.), National Golf Links of America (N.Y.), Oakmont (Pa.) and Pine Valley (N.J.).
