Golf courses from around the world - The Best Places to Play
Turnberry - Ailsa #9 - Venue of the 2009 Open Championship
I've played more than 750 golf courses in 48 U.S. States, and 13 countries including Canada, Scotland England and Ireland. I love visiting new places and playing new courses. The beauty, variety, challenges and, most importantly, fun, that golf courses provide is never ending. I am frequently asked by others, "Where should I play" when I'm visiting this place or that. Rather than coming up with a new list each time, I've decided to store my favorites here. I know that tastes differ and everyone has their own criteria on what makes a good course. Some focus on the architectural merits, others want great scenery, ambiance and conditions (although what makes for great conditioning and be debated...Some like Augusta Green, others prefer fast and firm, brown and a little rough around the edges like many of the most respected UK courses.) For others its pace of play or cost. Finding the best places to play in any particular locale FOR YOU can be a challenge. In planning my golf trips I've used many sources of information. There are many excellent books and websites and I'll include some of those references and links here.
Best golf course lists are inherently flawed. It's like ranking art, music or actors. Tastes and styles just vary too much. All I can tell you is that the courses here are ones I've enjoyed playing the most in each geographic area. Scenery, variety of holes, interesting layouts that didn't bore me, yet left me feeling like I didn't get beaten up are some of the things that influence my choices. Conditioning, green speed and pace of play are not given much weight as those can change from day to day or season to season.
This site is intended to give you an unbiased list of the best places to play in each area and to give you an opportunity to add your two cents about the places you've played. If you think I've missed the boat on a course, leave a post on the comments page saying which course(s) are better than those listed and should be added (and why) or which courses on my lists you would not recommend.
A few years ago I began photographing the courses that I play. This site will inlcude photos of many of the courses mentioned here as well as links to my photo galleries. As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words", and with regard to getting an idea as to whether or not a golf course is to your liking that is absolutely true. All of the photos on this site were taken by me unless I'm in them or expressly otherwise credited.
This site is a work in progress and I'll start with baby steps, hopefully adding new pages from time to time.