The world is a big place and it has tens of thousands of golf courses. Nevertheless, when it comes to being home to some of the best golf courses on the planet, Colorado shows very well.
This week, Golf Digest introduced a new golf course ranking as it named its 200 Greatest International Golf Courses, a mixture of the publication’s America’s 100 Greatest and the World’s 100 Greatest.
Three Colorado courses were not only included in the 200 Greatest International list, but all made it into the top 150.
Castle Pines Golf Club (pictured), home to the PGA Tour’s International from 1986 through 2006, checked in at No. 82, according to Golf Digest. Ballyneal in Holyoke was ranked No. 101. And Cherry Hills Country Club, which has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and one U.S. Women’s Open, was placed at No. 148.
Pine Valley in New Jersey earned the coveted No. 1 spot, with Augusta National in Georgia closest on its heels.
Here are the blurbs Golf Digest published with each of the Colorado sites:
82. Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Pines (designed by Jack Nicklaus) — “When Golf Digest began its annual Best New Course awards in 1983, the review panel selected Castle Pines as the Private Course winner, but Bill Davis, co-founder of Golf Digest and founding father of all its course rankings, didn’t care for the course and vetoed its inclusion. So no private course was honored that year. Davis soon recognized his error, and in 1987 — its first year of eligibility — Castle Pines joined America’s 100 Greatest and has remained there ever since. Club founder Jack Vickers, a Midwest oilman, had urged architect Jack Nicklaus to produce a mountain-venue design worthy of a major championship. Jack did, but when a championship never resulted, Vickers established his own, The International, which for years was the only PGA Tour event played under a unique Stableford format. It’s a pity that The International is no longer on the Tour’s schedule.”
101. Ballyneal in Holyoke (designed by Tom Doak) — “If Sand Hills Golf Club stands for the notion that there’s nothing more glorious than a round of golf beyond the range of cell phone reception, then Ballyneal (Tom Doak’s answer to No. 9 Sand Hills) proves that isolated golf is even better when Spartan in nature. With no carts and with dry, tan fescue turf on fairways and greens, Ballyneal is even more austere than Sand Hills. It provides absolutely firm and fast conditions, and with many greens perched on hilltops, the effect of wind on putts must be considered.”
148. Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village (designed by William Flynn) — “When Cherry Hills opened in the early 1920s, it was a ground-breaking design, with the nation’s first par-5 island green and closing back-to-back par 5s, although in championship play the 18th is played as a par-4. In the 1960 U.S. Open, winner Arnold Palmer popularized the idea of a drivable par 4 by going for the first green in every round. Curiously, when Palmer and partner Ed Seay remodeled Cherry Hills in 1976, they lengthened the first hole so no player could duplicate Arnie’s feat. Nearly 40 years later, modern equipment has once again made the first hole reachable from the tee.”
Here are the top 10 courses on Golf Digest’s 200 Greatest International Golf Courses list:
1. Pine Valley GC in Pine Valley, N.J.
2. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.
3. Royal County Down GC (Championship) in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.
4. Royal Dornoch GC (Championship) in Scotland.
5. Royal Melbourne GC (West) in Black Rock, Australia.
6. Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, Calif.
7. Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland
8. Shinnecock Hills GC in Southampton, N.Y.
9. The Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland
10. Oakmont CC in Oakmont, Pa.
For the entire list, CLICK HERE.
