Baker’s Dozen Best American Courses Anyone Can Play By Bob Fagan
You may be wondering what a “top golf course” discussion has to do with leveraging universal laws to enhance your golf? Well, the Law of Attraction doesn’t just apply to shooting lower scores, but to everything associated with enhancing and enjoying your golf experience. I am a prime living example.
Maybe you have dreamed of playing the Top One Hundred Public Courses in America or maybe even America’s or the World’s Top 100 Golf Courses. “Wow!” you say. So did I. In the late 80s, I decided two things. First, I wanted to return to the golf business, which is typically a challenging task for someone who has left it. I also set a goal of playing all of America’s Top 100 Golf Courses. Competitive golf no longer appealed to me, but I truly loved the game, and wanted to enjoy it everywhere with everyone. If you knew me then with the work I was doing, you would have thought I was crazy (some friends did), but I put the Law of Attraction to work. On the golf course front, I had only played a couple of the top-rated courses convenient to my Pennsylvania home. Within a few years, I became the Executive Director for the Northern California PGA and then continued on with some very exciting work within the golf industry.
In my quest to play great golf courses, not only did I play all the Top 100 Courses in America highlighted on all the lists, but also in January 2005 I became reportedly the first, and maybe still the only person to ever play the Top 200 Courses in America as defined by Golfweek Magazine. As I write this, I’ve played well over 1,000 “Ballot Courses” in the Golfweek listings and more than 2,300 in all, as well as at least five courses in all fifty states including the top ones.. Reportedly there are only a few people who have ever played more different courses than me, and perhaps no one who has played as many of the best considered American layouts.
What’s even more interesting, not only was I limited by what most people would consider a relatively modest income, I was raising two wonderful children, and busy accomplishing things in the business world that many would consider more remarkable than anything I’ve done in golf. When you add to that I did all of this with several physical disabilities (been told I should be in a wheelchair), my travels become more remarkable.
The real point, my secret, is if there was ever an example of someone leveraging the Law of Attraction to enhance one’s golf life, it’s me. And if I can do it, anyone can. I used the Law of Attraction to make this all happen. First, I was acting intuitively, but soon I was purposely and precisely using the very four steps to invoke the Law of Attraction that I share in “Golf’s Higher Plane.” What happened next was no accident. Incredibly, and I mean incredibly, I attracted the right people, friends, and circumstances into my life that allowed me to travel and be welcomed at places I could have only dreamed about. The important point is that you too can also achieve your dreams, whatever they may be!
I’ve also become a “golf course critic,” writing about golf and travel. I studied and wrote a thesis on golf course architecture and have several books ready for print. I have likewise been fortunate to serve as a “Best Course” Panelist for two of golf’s premier publications. Whether or not we agree on each rating, at least I have an extensive background by which to review golf courses and to provide insights. Playing the following list is something that you really might enjoy pursuing. Here is a start to your “Golf Bucket List.”
Rating the Top Public Courses in America or the Top 100 Public Courses is really tough – I believe even more difficult than ranking the Top 100 Golf Courses (overall). Do you rank by most famous, most popular, best known, lavish, resort, municipal, notable for hosting the PGA TOUR, or conversely by best value, history, friendliest, scenery, shot values, best service, conditioning, etc.? In the following list, rather than to attempt a “very best list,” I wanted to present an eclectic one to include a parkland, oceanside, wooded, desert, links, and a Florida-style (cut and fill with lakes) course from various parts of the country. Along with that, I wanted to mix the modern with the older style layouts, and the affordable with the most expensive.
The following are my ‘Bucket List’ Baker’s Dozen Top Public Courses in America. . No doubt, I will be faulted for whom I have left out, but I have purposely included some intriguing surprises to spice things up, along with the usual suspects. I have already received disagreement from some friends on this list, but that’s what makes golf and lists like this fun. The courses are listed in alphabetical order.
America’s Baker’s Dozen Top Course Anyone Can Play
Bay Hill Club, Florida - The Florida home of “Arnold Palmer” – that pretty much says it all. He has tweaked this Dick Wilson design over the years to really become one of golf’s special places, handsomely groomed and pleasing to the eye. Everything here spells quality, and this layout features lots of sand and water, and all the challenge you can handle.
Bethpage State Park – Black Course, New York – Speaking of challenge, is there any tougher inland public course than this? Always a legend among the locals, this course is not only immensely fair and tough, but with the enhancements made for the two U.S. Opens, it is now immaculate and gorgeous.
Black Mesa Golf Club, New Mexico – My desert entry, this Baxter Spann design is visually spectacular, fun, a wonderful test, and affordable. It has lots of character and is very memorable.
Harbour Town Golf Links, South Carolina - If you prefer the TPC at Sawgrass - Stadium, I wouldn’t argue for a second, but I chose Harbour Town as it is more natural and less manufactured on a flat site. Besides, Hilton Head is one of my favorite spots on the Eastern Seaboard. What Pete Dye accomplished here is a magnificent flow and routing, and it really catapulted him, as well as contributor Jack Nicklaus, into the forefront as architects.
Cog Hill Golf & Country Club #4 (also known as Dub’s Dread), Illinois – The Joe Jemsek Family has written the book on how public golf complexes can and should be run. This championship parkland course just keeps improving, and now it compares favorably in every category to any parkland layout in America.
Lawsonia Links – Old Course, Wisconsin. I picked the Old Course at Lawsonia Links because, together with Pebble Beach and Pine Needles, it typifies some of the best features from the Golden Age of Architecture (Bethpage Black looks and plays like a modern course now). Most of those great older courses are private, but here you can experience the classic interesting, sometimes quirky lines, shaping, and architecture usually reserved for an older prestige private club experience.
Pacific Dunes, Oregon - Part of the second-to-none Bandon Dunes complex with its rugged, classic, linksy lines and conditions, and terrific atmosphere, this Tom Doak inspiration is, in my opinion, the best American golf course to open in the last seventy years! Enough said. With yet another course opening soon called Old MacDonald, don’t be surprised to see Bandon Dunes with four Top 100 Courses.
Pebble Beach Golf Links, California – There is only one Pebble Beach! Though not really a links, this Oceanside beauty features unsurpassed ambiance, scenery, history, and so many great and spectacular holes. Everyone should be fortunate enough to play here at least once.
Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, North Carolina – Owned and operated by the Warren and Peggy Kirk Bell-Family, this is the model for how all resorts should be run. I picked Pine Needles over nearby Pinehurst #2 because, while it as not as famous and busy, it is friendlier, more family-like, a far better value, and the layout features more interesting topography and scenery, and still includes much of the interesting Donald Ross architecture.
Spyglass Hill Golf Links, California - The masterpiece of the prolific Robert Trent Jones, Sr. collection, the Monterey Peninsula layout features the best opening five holes in American golf (looks like Pine Valley by the Pacific) and then journeys into the Monterey forest reminiscent of Augusta National or Peachtree. And it plays very difficult, and much longer than the yardage would suggest.
Tullymore Golf Club, Michigan – Actually, there are easily a dozen or more courses in Michigan that could be on this list (i.e. Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, Tree Tops), the golf there is that good and affordable! Jim Engh’s design on the wooded Tullymore property will stun you – one beautiful, solid hole after another.
Whistling Straits – Straits Course, Wisconsin – Looking down the first fairway, you would swear you’re in the British Isles playing one of their Open courses. You might feel like you are picking your way around land mines with all the bunkers, but this is a genuine championship venue with many spectacular holes. Actually, any of the four Kohler courses, and especially the River Course, could qualify for this list.
Wild Horse Golf Club, Nebraska – This is my “Plain Jane” pick, as there are many more lavish and spectacular courses. However, if you want to play a simple, but outstanding links layout, hosted by friendly, unpretentious folks in the middle of North America, this is your call – and one of the country’s best values.
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