Our countdown of the most sacrosanct golf pilgrimmages tees off with more mythical courses familiar by name to competitive and neophyte duffers. These golf courses are more than just fairways, bunkers and greens. They represent history.
Perhaps no other sport reveres and respects the past as golf. Consider that in no other sport can virtual novices walk the ground and participate in the game where the very best have made their mark. The second half of our list is all about being able to capture that experience in the most significant Cathedrals in golf.
5. Royal County Down, Northern Ireland
Serious golfers will acknowledge the fact that the more a course frustrates, the more addictive it becomes to play. Especially when the courses are as scenic and beautifully maintained as the Championship and Annesley Links courses at Royal County Down. One of the most historic and exclusive clubs in Ireland, if not the entire United Kingdom, Royal County extends membership by invitation only. As a result, the cream of Belfast play here but outsiders can secure a tee time if they present early and in the proper attire. The play is hard of course but the most common adjective for the style of golf that Royal County plys is “fun”. The holes are particularly exquisite on the Championship Course. The fourth and ninth consistently rank among the best in the world.
4. Shinnecock Hills, United States
Another fine course from the great state of New York makes the cut on our countdown. Built in 1891 in Southampton, Long Island, Shinnecock Hills was the first golf club in the United States. Tidbit of interest: the course was built with the assistance of officials at Royal Montreal in Canada (the first golf club in North America) and the Shinnecock Indian nation. As the first, Shinnecock has been subject to widespread admiration and imitation. The course design is heavy on tee and fairway challenges, but fair enough for amateurs with views of major traps and hazards. The course has been host to some memorable U.S. Open and Amateur tournaments, namely Raymond Floyd’s win at the Open in 1986 at age 43 and Retief Goosen’s victory in 2004, when players had to brave perhaps the most rigorous conditions possible at a major tournament.
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3. Pinehurst (No. 2), United States
Posh Pinehurst in North Carolina boasts eight distinct courses but No. 2 is the one that rises above the rest when it comes to championship golf and historical merit. Since 1894, golfers have been at the mercy of No. 2, which perhaps more than any course in the world, demands perfection near the greens. With fairways wide and hospitable, the course can play some powerful tricks on the mind. To experts of the game, Pinehurst No. 2 is one of the litmus tests of championship golf. A course that is without design compromise, whether on a regular or U.S. Open final Sunday. With a course layout by the legendary Donald Ross, a pioneer of golf design and architecture, how can you go wrong?
2. Augusta National, United States
Deep in Augusta, Georgia is Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters. Has more hyperbole been heaped on a single golf course? Probably not. So while television coverage of the major tournament may border on cultish religious zealotry, the course is what it is. Magnificent. The azaleas, Amen Corner, Butler Cabin, the legend of Bobby Jones, Magnolia Lane, why, one could write a tome on the symbology of Augusta alone. The course is as pretty and exquisite as they come and for those who follow The Masters every year, shot by shot, achingly familiar. Yet extremely out of reach to most. Even Bill Gates had to wait an eternity for a membership invitation. So unless you have a business plan for the next Microsoft on your hands, you will either have to employ craftiness or rely on dumb luck to score a round.
1. St. Andrews (Old Course), Scotland
The heart of the game, the virtual pulsepoint of golf is without debate, St. Andrews. It began here and it will endure here. No course in the world can match St. Andrews for lore, legend or history. This is where the very best in the world long to play and where those new to the game know of by osmosis. If only one golf pilgrimage were permissable on your bucket list, a trip to the Old Course would be it. While others on our countdown require vast sums or connections to play, St. Andrews needs only a reservation. The Old Course is public and while the queue is long, the charm is undeniable. Golf here is about more than the mythical course but the spirit of the town of St. Andrews and the grand tradition of the game, a tradition that began as early as 1552. Part of the surreal pleasure of the place is the freedom one has to walk in the shadows of the greats of the game, those Open champions whose names resonate golf: Jones, Snead, Nicklaus, Woods. Conversely, the fact that the Old Course remains very much in the hands of the people is what marks St. Andrews as uniquely special in the world of golf.
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