Article by Javier Reviriego on the world rankings of golf courses. The general manager of Valderrama is the only Spaniard included among the 100 panelists of the American magazine Golf Magazine and has played more than 700 courses, 60 of them included in the Top 100 in the world.
Every two years, the world’s leading golf publications publish their “famous” golf course rankings. None of them is free of controversy, it is clear that all of them are subjective and open to debate. It is a fun debate and one that every good golfer enjoys; we all feel that there are courses that are too many and courses that are too few, courses that are too high and courses that have a lower ranking than they deserve.
It is evident that they create interest, that they influence the decision of many golfers when planning their trips and that they generate publicity and media exposure for the courses that appear in them. It must also be said that they influence the style of architecture of future courses; all designers want to have their courses in the Top 100, therefore, these lists have a direct influence on the sector.
I have always been very interested in course design and I still have my doubts about how a course should be evaluated and the parameters that determine its level. The first thing we must be very clear about is the great difficulty involved in comparing and evaluating courses with different idiosyncrasies. Can you imagine comparing a links course like St. Andrews with a TPC Sawgrass type course (to give a diametrically opposed example)? Two great courses, in completely different environments but with a remarkable work of the designer in both cases.
In recent years, there is also a clear trend towards building more sustainable courses that are more integrated into the farm where they are built. Courses where much less soil is moved during the construction phase, where irrigated areas are reduced and where there are more low-maintenance wilderness areas are the order of the day. Designers such as Gil Hanse, Coore & Crenshaw and Tom Doak are leading this trend. Long gone are the fields built in the 1980s in which tons of earth were artificially moved to adapt the soil to the designer’s taste, Tom Fazio and Pete Dye are good examples.
What makes a golf course great? I think the first thing that jumps out at you when you visit a course for the first time is the quality of its location. The beauty of the sea that surrounds it, the lushness of the forest in which it is located or the dunes that form the fairways. All great designers dream of creating courses in spectacular locations such as Kingsbarns or Cypress Point. It is evident that the beauty of the place and the environment have a great emotional impact on the golfer.
We must not forget the “routing” of the architect, that is, the ability to link some holes with others and make them fit naturally into the landscape. This is one of the main talents of a good designer. Good courses seem to flow while the holes can be perfectly differentiated from one another.
Another very important factor, in my opinion, is the ability of the course to challenge the player and make him think strategically. Good courses demand creativity, the ability to play all types of shots and above all, the ability to overcome the challenges and obstacles that the designer has created. This is how golf has always been, in the classic designs of A.W. Tillinghast (Winged Foot, Bethpage), Alister Mackenzie (Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne) or Harry Colt (Royal County Down, Sunningdale) the strategic component always prevails, they are not long courses but they have survived the passage of time and still pose a great challenge for the great hitters.
Finally, we must not forget the maintenance and conditions of the course to evaluate it. The architect “delivers” his work to the Greenkeeper and the latter must make the greatest effort to keep it in the best possible conditions. There are courses known for their high level of maintenance (Augusta National, Valderrama) and there is no doubt that it is a very important variable when the panelists vote for the rankings. In many cases it can make the difference when the architecture and environment are of similar quality. Let’s not forget that most golfers are able to assess whether the maintenance of a course is of a high standard; the same is not true for the architecture of the course.
Criteria analysis
Let’s analyze the peculiarities of the main industry rankings and the criteria they use to draw up their lists.
Golf Digest USA – “World’s Greatest 100 Courses”.
Probably the best known and most prestigious golf publication in the world. It publishes several rankings: Top 100 in the World, Top 100 in the World without USA, Top 100 in the USA, Top 100 public courses in the USA.
It has more than 1,000 panelists worldwide and several delegations in different countries. It began publishing rankings in the 1960s.
The evaluation criteria are based on seven parameters:
1) “Design Variety” (ratio of 12.5% of the total score): variety in the length of the holes, location of hazards, shape of the greens, etc.
2) Resistance to scoring (12.5%): the difficulty of the field, even if fair, for a scratch player from the back rods.
3) “Shot value” (25%): ‘s ability to test the player’s power, accuracy and finesse.
4) “Memorability” (12.5%): continuity in the style of the 18 holes but with individual stamp of each hole. Easy to remember all of them.
5) “Aesthetics” (12.5%): the contribution of the views and surroundings of the course to the experience of playing the course.
6) “Ambiance” (12.5%): when the course and its ambiance have the capacity to transmit the traditional values of golf.
7) “Conditioning” (12.5%): firmness of the greens, quality of the roll, general condition of the fairways, bunkers, details, etc.
According to the Golf Digest ranking, the best courses in the world are Royal County Down (#1), Augusta National (#2) and Pine Valley (#3). The only Spanish course in the Top 100 is Valderrama in 71st place (#2 in Europe).
Golf Architecture Magazin – “Architects Choice World Top 100”.
This is a very interesting ranking and for me it has great value. Only field designers from all over the world vote. They launched this listing for the first time in 2015 and the whole industry was very curious to see the differences in criteria between architects and panelists.
For the elaboration of this ranking, it was decided to give full freedom to the designers to establish their own criteria based on the quality of the design, environment and history. The only condition was that they could not evaluate their own fields and that the architectural component should take precedence over maintenance.
In this ranking the number 1 in the world is Old Course of St. Andrews followed by Cypress Point and Pine Valley. The only Spanish course that appears is Valderrama in 41st place (No. 1 in Europe).
Golf Magazine USA: “World Top 100”.
The panel of experts consists of only 100 panelists from 18 countries. There are professional players, designers, top amateurs, journalists, photographers and several course directors. To be selected you have to be recommended by two other panelists and have played a number of courses around the world. Before being nominated for the panel you have to submit a full report of your top ten favorite courses in the world.
Golf Magazine uses a much less rigorous voting system than Golf Digest because it assumes that the panelists are very knowledgeable and can easily differentiate what constitutes a great course. A points-based voting system is used in which 500 courses are evaluated with the sine qua non that the panelist must have played it within the last 10 years.
In the latest ranking published last January, the number 1 in the world is Pine Valley, followed by Cypress Point and St. Andrews. Again, the only Spanish course that appears in the ranking is Valderrama in 95th place.
To see all these rankings, I recommend an excellent website that collects all of them: www.planetgolf.com.
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