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I’ve got opinions on what golf courses would most benefit from receiving a restoration from a qualified architect. As do you. We are both shocked when the rest of the world’s golf course architecture aficionados don’t prioritize the same projects that we do. The solution, obvious to anyone who has taken Statistics 201, is to create a larger sample size to determine what are truly* the most restoration-deserving courses in the United States. 

We sent invitations to participate to a range of course architects, superintendents, professionals, journalists, and otherwise well-traveled armchair enthusiasts in order to hear their ideas. The result is this, a countdown of the 25 courses that these experts most want to see renovated or restored. This list comes from 255 total courses, nominated by a group of 76 experts.

All nominators were instructed that they could nominate, in order of preference, up to 10 courses. If ranked, point values were assigned via a semi-academic reflection of preference emphasis, based on existing literature (i.e., I took a less amateur-hour process than “ten points for your first ranking and one point for your tenth ranking”). In the case of a tie between courses at the end of the process, the total number of nominators served as a tiebreaker. All nominees were required to be: 

1. In the United States (i.e., no Highland Links).  
2. Not undergoing another restoration or renovation project currently (many are unaware of the current plan in place for Kankakee Elks, but there is one). 
3. Exist in a location where reconstruction is possible (i.e. Flushing Meadows would be amazing, but it’s impossible. No Sand Valley Lido-style rebuilds allowed here).  
4. There was no prescribed method for what changes would take place at the course. They could be restorations, renovations, or Andrew Green-at-Congressional reorganizations. 

*Will you be angry about this list? Yes, inevitably. After all, both GOLF and Golf Digest create their course ranking lists, and we as a community hate them in spite of their efforts. This list will no doubt create similar reactions among ye. 

So here we go. The 25 courses that would benefit most from reno/restoration, according to the people:

Continue reading “America’s 25 Most In-Demand Golf Course Renovations/Restorations” »

An important preface from the author, an armchair architect at best and a golfer who enjoyed all the courses mentioned below quite a bit: Don’t get mad when reading this piece. Have fun, and comment liberally with your own hole edits. 

It was a relatively short golf year for me, so I briefly considered letting the third-annual rendition of this feature slide by the wayside. But last year’s edition also got a brief mention on GolfClubAtlas, which lends an air of legitimacy to my hobby (if not money), and so I decided I must go on. 

The gist: You’ve likely read a list, by someone much wealthier and/or better connected than you (power to them), listing the best golf courses that they played during the past year. These create intense levels of envy among the less wealthy / well-connected. I’m starting to get over that part, but I’m still bugged by how unwilling the average adventurer is to say something even vaguely critical about acclaimed clubs, unless that complaint has already been beaten into a clichéd pulp by the masses before them (trees at Augusta! You don’t say!).

I’m both realistic and, admittedly, cynical. I don’t believe the perfect golf course exists. In an attempt to project sincerely, and keep those GolfClubAtlas guys interested in my minimal adventures, I often don’t focus on the great stuff at the great courses I played. Hence my annual “best of” format: Rather than simply slobbering to you about about Ballyneal’s brilliance, I choose my least favorite hole and offer suggestions for improvement. 

That would be too easy, however, so there’s a twist:  I redesign each hole from the mindset of a different golf course architect…specifically a golf course architect who designed a different course on my year-end list, whose own hole will be dissected in the style of one of his cohorts later on. Confused? You’ll figure it out. Let’s start with a tough one, and hopefully learn something about these architects and some otherwise pretty great courses.

Let’s find out what might happen if LANGFORD AND MOREAU redesigned NO. 9 at BALLYNEAL GOLF CLUB.  (If you ended up enjoying it, you can also check out the 2021 and 2022 versions of this exercise) Continue reading “Tom Doak, Langford & Moreau, William Flynn and More Renovate The Best Courses BPBM Played in 2023” »

Mike Keiser and Dick Nugent (as well as Jim Urbina for more recent renovations) deserve credit for many things at Dunes Club. Swapping flag positions after players have completed nine holes goes a long way in diversifying two rounds, particularly on the par threes. Allowing the last hole’s winner to choose the tee on the next may have inspired the same admirable policy at Ballyneal, Ohoopee, and others. The Pine Valley aesthetic offends few, of course. 

Does any combination of new flags and new tees really make for a new course the second time around? No…this claim has been exaggerated on social media. Granted, the scorecard does offer an opportunity to turn your back nine into a Monster energy drink commercial…every par four can be played as a 3.5 from the forward tees. 

Should you? Probably not. Short par fours are fun, and the option to make par four drivable is fun. But five within one eighteen-hole routing waters down the concept, and ultimately weakening the course*. Should you get an invite, however, you’ll want to make at least two gettable. This ranking aims to help you choose wisely when that day comes. 

* = Bethpage Black Metal has been described as an “uptight prick” by several noted sources. 

Continue reading “Ranking The 5 Drivable Par 4s Hiding in Plain Sight at Mike Keiser’s Dunes Club” »

A simple question, really: Does the price of a round directly correlate to the quality of that round? This simple Statistics 201 exercise aims to figure out just how much a high price point equates to high quality of architecture in the eyes of major rating organizations. 

Continue reading “The Correlation — or Lack Thereof — Between Price and “Quality” in Top 100 Public Golf Course Rating Systems” »

If you’re on social media, you’ve likely read a list, by someone much wealthier and/or better connected than you (power to them), listing the best golf courses that they played during the past year. It’s obnoxious (again, power to them). What makes it worse is when their summaries are less insightful-look-into-the-minutiae-of-golf-course-identity, and more I-was-there photo dumps. 

I’m a cynic. I don’t believe the perfect golf course exists, in the same way that I don’t believe many truly terrible golf courses exist. I, a blogger and social media guy, provide very little value to you if I don’t emphasize fatty spots on what is otherwise a fine cut of meat. And that’s how I came up with my annual “best of” format: Rather than simply slobbering to you about how great a course like Bandon Dunes is, I choose my least favorite hole and offer suggestions for improvement. 

That would be too easy, however, so there’s a twist: 

Each hole is redesigned from the mindset of a different golf course architect. A golf course architect from elsewhere on my year-end list, whose own hole will be dissected in the style of one of his cohorts later on. Confused? You’ll figure it out. Let’s start with a tough one, and hopefully learn something about these architects and some otherwise pretty great courses. 

So…what would happen if HERBERT FOWLER renovated NO. 6 at BANDON DUNES?

Continue reading “Donald Ross, Seth Raynor, Bill Coore and More Renovate The Best Courses BPBM Played in 2022” »

I don’t advertise myself as a photographer for numerous reasons. The first, and secondary reason: It’s tough to be a consistent online photography presence when you travel as little as I do. The second, and more primary reason: I’m a writer by nature, and a guy who’s got a lot to learn in terms of photography. At least one web denizen caught on to how my black metal schtick works — low light, zero color and, on rare occasions for trve Norwegian effekt, high contrast — and he suggested I check out his club. Summer in Charleston he said…greens that were watered and not much else. Might suit my style. The club? 

Yeamans Hall. 

Even if he had been totally wrong about how the course presented in the black and whites…even if the photos did suck…I could have putted for days on these greens. As someone who tilts toward Tillinghast and Ross’s approach to golf course design, it pained me only a little to acknowledge that this set of Raynor’s was the finest group of greens I had ever putted upon. I’ve not traveled as far as many, but I reckon these will still be among the best when they lay me down. 

Oh but the photos…my host was totally correct on that front. They turned out. I don’t do course tours because, again, I’m humble enough to know my portfolio doesn’t justify it. But the conditions that day, coupled in part with oncoming thunderstorms, resulted in something really cool. Something that many more qualified photographers could easily recreate, grant you. But give me this one photo feature guys…I promised I won’t rag on you if you choose to write a blog post. 

And so, the greens of Yeamans Hall: 

Continue reading “Probably The Last Photo Tour You’ll See at This Site: Yeamans Hall’s Greens” »

The Sheep Ranch, Bandon’s fifth 18-hole golf course, has raised an argument among the muckrakers on golf social media: Is the resort better for having it, versus what was there previously?

In case you weren’t aware, the current route sits on a plot where 13 greens once lay, left by Tom Doak, connected by fairways expanding in every direction. No route existed. Merely 13 greens and your choice in how to get them. An idyllic experiment. Although many are thrilled with the fifth addition to the Bandon portfolio, there is a healthy number who argue that Sheep Ranch’s former purpose was the better.

And these people, let’s be clear, are likely overly idealistic. Calculate the logistics: To play at the former concept course, one required permission. A choose-your-own-adventure golf course is a major liability, potentially even for just two foursomes on the property at one time. The current setup opened the gates, so to speak. We appreciate the original concept, but it’s totally unattainable if open to the general public.

The property’s former purpose opens up a massive opportunity, however, if Mike Keiser decided that he wanted to raise an intense amount of money for some charitable purpose. Many are willing to cough up thousands at charity auctions for foursomes at a private course. Think what you could do (and the money the item would earn) to have free rein at the modern Sheep Ranch for a day?

The Coore and Crenshaw retooling resulted in greens that play more to the purpose of a set route, sure. But the Sheep Ranch’s relatively cramped plot also means there are far fewer “wild” areas…the dense dunes and fescue that separate holes at the resort’s other courses. This opens the door to bold ideas and alternate routes.

Continue reading “Make-Your-Own Sheep Ranch: 7 Hypotheticals in The Spirit of Bandon’s Newest Course” »

A long time ago, I intended this site to include more music writing. And then I acknowledged that the vast majority of my audience was here to read about golf. Not metal. This will be the rare exception.

The obvious question: Why release rankings for the Top 100 Metal Albums of the 2010s more than two years late? The short answer is because my buddy JT, whom I’ve always hated, didn’t suggest I do so until Summer of 2021. So it’s his fault.

Here are some essential stats: Eighteen of the album covers feature some level of skulls. Four were painted by John Dyer Baizley.

The rest is for you to find. I hope that if you’re new to metal, you find one album you can appreciate. If you’re old to metal, I hope you find something new. Or something to yell at me about.

Also, as a side note, all of the descriptions below were written as drafts, intended to be worked over later. But then WordPress broke, so I can’t edit it now. Apologies.

Continue reading “The Top 100 Metal Albums of the ’10s: Black, Death, Doom, and even One Metalcore for The Kids” »

You know what’s great about being a middle-class dude blogging about golf course architecture? I rarely play the World Top 100 clubs that are so over-discussed on social media that it’s positively impossible for me to find a new angle on them. Everything I say about Rhode Island Country Club is going to be new to somebody!

Anyway, that’s how I justify to myself why you would have interest in reading my own “Best of 2021” list, despite its lack of World Top 100s. To be honest, any “best courses I played” blog post is inherently cliché. And so I created a fun activity (for myself, if not any of my readers): 

The six best courses I played during 2021 each came from a different architect’s pen. I considered what another architect on the list might do if they had the opportunity to renovate my least-favorite hole at a different course on the list that they didn’t create. 

For example, what would happen if Pete Dye renovated No. 9 at Davenport Country Club? Let’s find out! 

Continue reading “Donald Ross, Tillinghast, Pete Dye and More Renovate The Best Courses BPBM Played in 2021” »

At some point in your life as a golf course architecture aficionado, you’ll stumble across a photograph of the No. 12 green at Sitwell Park Golf Club, a Sheffield-area course that doesn’t attract as much international attention these days, despite the name “Alister MacKenzie” on the marquee. You, if anything like me at that point in my understanding of golf course design and construction, will squint your eyes and grin in the “you gotta be kidding me” method.

What is now known on message boards simply as the “Sitwell Park green” was created to combat a routing problem struck by MacKenzie during 1913. The routing required two greens, nos. 12 and 18, sit next to each other while requiring an uphill approach. If he had performed a common “cut and fill” to build the greens atop the hill, the putting surfaces would be both blind and punished but the newly-steepened slope. MacKenzie chose to create a large green that poured down from the top of the hill, full of roll almost unimaginable to the modern player (which you can see below).

Even at the time, local players were scandalized and the green disappeared, replaced with a far more pedestrian model.

The Sitwell Green remains celebrated online. Tom Doak, a proponent, built No. 13 at Barnbougle Dunes as a tribute to the lost putting surface. But even that, one of the funkiest greens on the planet, seems a bit watered down compared to the inspiration.

I began to wonder…with minimalist golf being all the rage, what’s preventing the creation of Sitwell-level green slopes?

Continue reading “The New Sitwell: Are the Alister MacKenzie and Willie Park Greens of Yore Possible in 2021?” »