A view of Sedge Valley at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Wisconsin.
Kevin Murray
Final week, GOLF launched its newest rating of the Prime 100 Programs You Can Play, a sturdy checklist of spots accessible to Common Joe golfers throughout the globe. Everybody has their favorites, and so can we. In an effort to tell, educate and inspire you on your subsequent golf getaway, right here’s our staffers’ picks for favourite Prime 100 public programs performed.
Prime 100 Programs You Can Play: Our employees’s 9 favorites
Sand Valley (Sedge Valley), Nekoosa, Wis.
Pacific Dunes nonetheless stays my favourite public course I’ve ever performed, however you already know all about Pacific Dunes, so as a substitute I’m going to spotlight a brand new choice, Sedge Valley at Sand Valley Golf Resort, which not too long ago opened and was one of many most memorable rounds I’ve performed in years. The course is enjoyable, strategic and playable and boasts one of the crucial thrilling 18th holes I can keep in mind. — Josh Berhow
Kiawah Island, Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, S.C.
Kiawah Island is a surprising mixture of magnificence and treachery at each flip. In contrast to many marsh areas across the Lowcountry, the marshes at Kiawah Island are just about unplayable. That mentioned, there may be plenty of room to play with in case you miss on the correct aspect, which was shocking to me. When a significant is there, the tough is allowed to develop and introduced in tighter to the green, however for normal resort play, it’s very playable in case you begin from the proper tees. The views of the Atlantic Ocean simply steps away have been unimaginable and the ocean breeze made shot-making a blast. The double-dogleg ending gap is among the extra enjoyable par-4s I’ve performed shortly (and never simply because I made birdie). — Jack Hirsh
Kapalua (Plantation), Lahaina, Hawaii
When it comes to setting, Kapalua’s Plantation course is tough to prime. I’ve performed it twice, each occasions to commemorate particular events: my high-school commencement, and my honeymoon. The course’s attract is apparent: You’re in Maui; that’s euphoria-inducing proper off the bat. It could be a resort course, however Plantation is hard — particularly when the wind blows. And people elevation modifications are not any joke! However these views, man. What can examine? From the very first tee shot to the well-known 18th, it’s merely a pleasure to expertise. — Jessica Marksbury
Channing Benjamin
Tot Hill Farm, Asheboro, N.C.
Nestled within the Uwharrie Mountains of Asheboro is Tot Hill Farm, considered one of North Carolina’s greatest stored secrets and techniques. Famously designed by Mike Stranz, this course challenges every part you realize about course technique with its dramatic slopes, arduous fairways, thrilling threat/reward alternatives and demanding greens. Every gap requires a unique strategy but in addition brings a brand new journey. Certainly one of my favourite issues about this course is that Stranz managed to avoid wasting and incorporate items of the previous cattle farm it was constructed on into his design. That features the farmhouse that he lived in whereas designing this unimaginable course, which you’ll stroll by way of earlier than or after your spherical. — Maddi MacClurg
Taconic Golf Membership, Williamstown, Mass.
It’s onerous to think about a extra biased entry than this one; I performed my school golf at Williams, which owns Taconic. However that doesn’t imply I’m mistaken. It simply means I do know the precise pleasure of getting out of sophistication at 2:25, jogging the couple of minutes down Spring Road and attending to the primary tee for a 2:40 time. It means I do know the view again into city from the eighth tee, the tops of the centuries-old red-brick dorms peeking over the timber, the domed hockey rink beside them, the lights from the soccer discipline within the foreground, the white church steeple within the distance. It means I do know the race in opposition to daylight on an October night, gray within the sky however orange within the timber. It means I do know the quirky maneuvering of the entrance 9 and the brutish take a look at that awaits when you hit No. 10. And it means I do know the enjoyment of standing on the 14th tee, the place a younger Jack Nicklaus as soon as made an ace, and staring out at a 270-degree view of rural New England perfection. What a spot. — Dylan Dethier
Courtesy Photograph
Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst, N.C.
No. 4 is among the most beloved programs at Pinehurst Resort for a motive. It’s enjoyable and forgiving — nice for mid-handicappers like myself searching for a rewarding spherical. — Connor Federico
Pasatiempo, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Most of us won’t ever get to play Augusta Nationwide, however that doesn’t imply we are able to’t get pleasure from a few of Alister MacKenzie’s work. The truth is, in case you head to Santa Cruz, Calif., anybody can play on considered one of his greatest programs in Pasatiempo. The likes of Pebble Seaside and Cypress Level may get many of the pub within the space, however simply 50 miles north you possibly can play a course that holds its personal in opposition to them each. Better of all? It’s open to the general public. Not solely does the course boast a few of the greatest bunkering you’ll ever see, it additionally has one of many coolest logos in golf. Play it as soon as and also you’ll be dying to come back again for extra. — Zephyr Melton
Patrick Koenig
George Wright, Boston, Mass.
My fondness for George Wright is unattainable to separate from my first recollections of it. In my late teenagers, after I took up golf, this was one of many munis the place I discovered to play. Its pedigree again then was misplaced on me, after all. In case you’d requested me in these days what I knew of Donald Ross, I may need guessed that he was Diana Ross’s dad. Some 40 years have handed, although, and whereas my sport has not improved a lot, my appreciation for structure has. Like plenty of nice layouts of its classic, George Wright doesn’t beat you up with size. Nevertheless it wins you over with its many quirks and charms. It has nifty doglegs, cool granite outcrops flanking its fairways and blind photographs that tumble towards compelling inexperienced complexes. Its closing stretch is pretty much as good as any in municipal golf, and the height price for 18 holes is $62. Does our Prime 100 checklist characteristic “higher” designs? Completely. However George Wright is the place I fell in love with a sport that has given me a livelihood, served up a lifetime of indelible moments and provided me with a caddie yard-worth of mates. To measure a course on structure deserves solely is to lose sight of what golf is all about. — Josh Sens
