Battle OF THE Century

Here is another intense and ultimately consumer-costly golf industry war that became an open clash this year. Though it hasn’t reached the courtroom yet, this battle pits the two major golf publications--Golf Digest and Golf magazine--in a war of words over whose ranking of the top 100 American courses is more dependable.

The tension between the two magazines is another reminder that golf has become big business. What’s perplexing, however, is the credibility given to the rankings by golfers and industry professionals. At best, the top 100 lists have given golfers some engaging 19th-hole conversations and led to the restoration of several classic designs.

But at their frequent worst, the rankings are created on the basis of either too much or too little criteria. Courses are judged by panelists who rarely study a course more than once and who seemingly confuse ultra-exclusive, major-tournament-tested, lush courses with great designs that create genuine pleasure for golfers.

In the big scheme of things, do these lists really matter?

Of course not. Yet, the livelihood and reputations of those employed at golf courses can be affected if a course fails to win an award or crack the top 100. But a closer look at the two major lists reveals the manner in which they are compiled and why they create more questions than they answer.

GOLF DIGEST: AMERICA’S 100 GREATEST GOLF COURSES 1999-2000

Golf Digest came out punching this May, proclaiming its list was the original and oldest (true, it started in 1966). The Connecticut-based magazine proudly stated that it presents the most open and consistent ranking with regard to its voting procedures and criteria (also true).

“We’re the only publication that lays out its system in black and white, right down to the decimal point,” wrote Ron Whitten, Golf Digest architecture editor. “We don’t accept expense-paid junkets, nor do we use rankings to reward advertisers, nor ask architects to judge their own work--or that of others.”

Yet, the 660 Golf Digest panelists consistently seem to ignore the editors’ guidelines regarding what constitutes excellence in design. Instead, the Golf Digest panel seems infatuated with far less important aspects such as aesthetics, conditioning and how difficult a course is (as if orchestrating extreme difficulty requires immense design talent).

The 660 Golf Digest panelists are described as well traveled, “publicity-shy, low handicappers.” The magazine views its raters as purists who annually play as many courses as possible (there are no developers, architects or touring pros on the panel). Despite this seemingly logical philosophy for selecting raters, perceptions about the quality of the Golf Digest panel were not helped this year when the magazine revealed it had bequeathed a panel position as a 50th birthday present to the friend of another panelist.

The extensive Golf Digest ballot is filled out every time a panelist plays a course. It consists of seven categories that each require a 1-to-10 score: Shot values, conditioning, resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability, aesthetics and playability. The often misinterpreted “shot values” counts double in the final tally, while conditioning is wisely tinkered with to soften the blow of most panelists’ excessive maintenance expectations.

However, the final tally for Golf Digest’s top 100 does not include the panelists “playability” score. This is especially perplexing considering its definition: “How well does the course challenge the low-handicap golfers while still providing enjoyable options for high handicappers through the use of shorter lengths, alternative routes, placement of hazards and accessible pins?”

Sounds like the heart of any great design doesn’t it? Yet, Golf Digest considers “Playability” only on its biennial ranking of America’s best public courses. This peculiar philosophy sends a message that a course is good solely because it is challenging for low handicappers. That’s a message that has led many courses to undertake multimillion-dollar renovations to “toughen up” their designs, all in the hope of pleasing Golf Digest’s raters.

Once scores for all of the categories are tallied, two points are added for layouts that allow walking; no points are awarded if carts are mandatory. However, panelists are not required or even encouraged to walk a course they are evaluating, and they rarely do.

There is, however, the ever-so-important saving grace for the Golf Digest top 100. The tradition category. This is a score tacked on by an in-house committee once the panelists have submitted their ballots. Consider these modifications:

Before the in-house tradition score, North Carolina’s Wade Hampton Golf Club came in at No. 8 in America, but moved to No. 22 in the published ranking. Steve Wynn’s lavish Las Vegas course, Shadow Creek, arrived at No. 6 in the panelists’ eyes but moved to No. 20 on the official list. Colorado’s two-year-old Sanctuary Golf Club landed at a stunning 17th, before the in-house committee dropped it to No. 48.

Thanks to the tradition score, A.W. Tillinghast’s design at seven-time U.S. Open site Baltusrol (Lower Course) went from a paltry No. 62, to a more logical No. 34. And thanks to the in-house committee, Los Angeles’ Riviera Country Club wisely surged from No. 52 to No. 24.

So why does the Golf Digest panel produce results that force the editors to drastically rearrange the panel’s findings?

Some would say the overabundance of low handicappers on the panel is leading to the strange results. Like tour players, many good golfers focus on what they shot or how a course fits their game, instead of analyzing the design and how interesting it could be for all players.

The exhaustive Golf Digest ballot is another possible source of confusion, even though it is a well-intentioned attempt to make panelists analyze all course elements. Perhaps the ballot emphasizes so many factors that panelists are losing any sense of judging the overall design and flow of a course. Confused, they merely fall back on what they shot out of sheer bewilderment.

However, Frank Hannigan, former USGA executive director and current Golf Digest contributing editor, once said, “Golf architecture is a bastard art form, and you don’t judge art by the numbers.”

GOLF MAGAZINE: TOP 100 COURSES IN THE UNITED STATES

This September, Golf magazine’s biennial list of the top 100 U.S. layouts responded to Golf Digest’s stance by touting its intentionally vague “I know it when I see it” criterion.

“The committee is charged to apply whatever criteria it feels come together to produce the world’s most replete golf course designs,” wrote Golf contributing editor Gary Galyean in this September’s issue. “The discernment and delineation of such a ranking is more art than science. One committee member likened the exercise to Justice Potter Stewart’s celebrated opinion in which he said that although he couldn’t define pornography, ‘I know it when I see it.’ ”

In a reminder that Golf Digest’s rather vocal stance was read by the Golf editors, Galyean also wrote, “Our panel’s vast knowledge of the world’s greatest courses reflects an astounding depth of experience. They have not been shackled with prescriptive categories. No editorial points were added following the tabulation of their ballots.”

Many perceive this as a questionable way for Golf’s 100 panelists to evaluate the greatest designs because it makes the judging completely subjective and allows panelists to be unaccountable for extreme scores.

There are no criteria when voting for Golf’s list, just an A-to-F grading system. The idea is that the panel of golf heavyweights is the most knowledgeable group on the planet, and it simply knows a great design when it sees it. Most of the magazine’s experts do. But with a panel that is stocked with egotistic architects, big-name developers, two network morning talk-show hosts and a public relations front man for several architects, there should be some form of accountability.

Like any good critics, the Golf magazine panelists tell us which courses are best, based on their knowledge. But any respected critic is also expected to back up praise or criticism. Golf magazine does not ask its panel to analyze any specific features of a design, nor does the panel have to remark in any way on the ballot. Simply give the course a grade.

Wouldn’t some criteria or accountability help reduce questions raised with Golf magazine’s list? Golfers would like to know what things the panel is looking at to better understand the ranking and also to evaluate courses they play with similar criteria in mind.

Even with more prudent course-rating standards and accountability, rankings will always include several curious choices and be at the whim of the raters’ flavor of the month.

Questions about why some courses are included and others not might also be better answered with better standards. For instance, why is Fishers Island ranked No. 23 on Golf’s list and not included in Golf Digest’s? Same with another Seth Raynor gem, Camargo, which Golf says is No. 25 in the U.S., while Golf Digest doesn’t rank it. And why does Golf Digest rank Mauna Kea resort and Connecticut’s Stanwich Club, while neither has ever registered a blip on Golf’s radar screen?

The top 100 lists have benefited the golf business by bringing recognition to excellent designs and improving the stature of architects, superintendents and golf professionals who have done excellent work. But too many panelists are involved because they get free golf or access to exclusive courses rather than because they want to study design work and make shrewd, rational evaluations.

In the meantime, architects and superintendents will continue to be pressured to create something perceived as “great” in order to be ranked by a few too many people who seem unsure what great is. Even panelists who do know what a good hole plays like are playing a course once and often seeing much of it from a golf cart.

As Alister MacKenzie wrote more than 60 years ago, “It by no means follows that what appears to be attractive at first sight will be so permanently. A good golf course grows on one like a good painting, good music, or any other artistic creation.”

The bad news for paying customers is that developers are spending millions more than they should, all in an attempt to try to top the competing course down the street. Buying additional acreage to stretch a course to the marketing-friendly 7,000 yards is usually the worst culprit. Costly waterfalls, wall-to-wall sodding, massive tree plantings and garish clubhouses are also needlessly running up construction costs, all in the hope of improving a course’s chance of landing on a “Best New” list, or should things go very well, the “Top 100.” This distant hope translates to more new courses that are too long, too difficult and too costly to maintain.

And it means an outbreak of even more new golf industry wars that fail to genuinely benefit the customers.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

GOLF DIGEST’S TOP 100

1. Pine Valley Pine Valley, N.J.

2. Augusta National Augusta, Ga.

3. Cypress Point Club Pebble Beach, Calif.

4. Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, Calif.

5. Shinnecock Hills Southampton, N.Y.

6. Merion G.C. (East) Ardmore, Pa.

7. Oakmont Oakmont, Pa.

8. Winged Foot (West) Mamaroneck, N.Y.

9. Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, N.C.

10. Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

11. The Olympic Club (Lake) San Francisco

12. The Country Club Brookline, Mass.

13. Prairie Dunes Hutchinson, Kan.

14. Seminole North Palm Beach, Fla.

15. Muirfield Village Dublin, Ohio

16. Crystal Downs Frankfort, Mich.

17. National Golf Links Southampton, N.Y.

18. San Francisco San Francisco

19. Medinah (No. 3) Medinah, Ill.

20. Shadow Creek North Las Vegas, Nev.

21. Quaker Ridge Scarsdale, N.Y.

22. Wade Hampton Cashiers, N.C.

23. The Golf Club New Albany, Ohio

24. Riviera Pacific Palisades, Calif.

25. Southern Hills Tulsa, Okla.

26. Oak Hill (East) Rochester, N.Y.

27. Los Angeles (North) Los Angeles

28. Garden City Garden City, N.Y.

29. Inverness Club Toledo, Ohio

30. Spyglass Hill Pebble Beach, Calif.

31. Sand Hills Mullen, Neb.

32. Peachtree Atlanta

33. Cherry Hills Englewood, Colo.

34. Baltusrol (Lower) Springfield, N.J.

35. Chicago Wheaton, Ill.

36. Winged Foot (East) Mamaroneck, N.Y.

37. Scioto Columbus, Ohio

38. Maidstone Club East Hampton, N.Y.

39. Kittansett Club Marion, Mass.

40. Cog Hill (No. 4) Lemont, Ill.

41. Olympia Fields (North) Olympia Fields, Ill.

42. Honors Course Chattanooga

43. Prince Course Princeville Resort, Kauai, Hawaii

44. Plainfield Plainfield, N.J.

45. Somerset Hills Bernardsville, N.J.

46. Castle Pines Castle Rock, Colo.

47. Colonial Fort Worth

48. Sanctuary Sedalia, Colo.

49. Wannamoisett Rumford, R.I.

50. Baltimore (East) Timonium, Md.

51. Laurel Valley Ligonier, Pa.

52. TPC at Sawgrass Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

53. Cascades Hot Springs, Va.

54. Interlachen Edina, Minn.

55. Blackwolf Run (River) Kohler, Wis.

56. Long Cove Club Hilton Head Island, S.C.

57. Forest Highlands (Canyon) Flagstaff, Ariz.

58. Black Diamond Ranch (Quarry) Lecanto, Fla.

59. Congressional C.C. Bethesda, Md.

60. Double Eagle Club Galena, Ohio

61. Shoal Creek Shoal Creek, Ala.

62. The Ocean Course Kiawah Island, S.C.

63. Desert Forest Carefree, Ariz.

64. Canterbury Beachwood, Ohio

65. The Estancia Club Scottsdale, Ariz.

66. East Lake Atlanta

67. Butler National Oak Brook, Ill.

68. Valhalla Louisville, Ky.

69. Mauna Kea Kamuela, Hawaii

70. Stanwich Club Greenwich, Conn.

71. Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, S.C.

72. Milwaukee Milwaukee

73. The Quarry La Quinta, Calif.

74. Hazeltine National Chaska, Minn.

75. World Woods Brooksville, Fla.

76. Haig Point Club Daufuskie Island, S.C.

77. Bellerive Creve Coeur, Mo.

78. Salem Peabody, Mass.

79. Atlantic Bridgehampton, N.Y.

80. Crosswater Sunriver, Ore.

81. Point O’Woods Benton Harbor, Mich.

82. Camargo Club Indian Hill, Ohio

83. Sycamore Hills Fort Wayne, Ind.

84. Royal New Kent Providence Forge, Va.

85. NCR (South) Kettering, Ohio

86. Pumpkin Ridge (Witch Hollow) Cornelius, Ore.

87. Eugene C.C. Eugene, Ore.

88. Valley Club Monetcito, Calif.

89. Wilmington (South) Greenville, Del.

90. Crooked Stick Carmel, Ind.

91. Ocean Forest Sea Island, Ga.

92. Oak Tree Edmond, Okla.

93. Greenville (Chanticleer) Greenville, S.C.

94. Pasatiempo Santa Cruz, Calif.

95. Jupiter Hills Club (Hills) Tequesta, Fla.

96. Saucon valley (Grace) Bethlehem, Pa.

97. Pete Dye Bridgeport, W.Va.

98. Sahalee (South/North) Redmond, Wash.

99. Edgewood Tahoe Stateline, Nev.

100. Naples National Naples, Fla.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

GOLF MAGAZINE’S TOP 100

1. Pine Valley Pine Valley, N.J.

2. Cypress Point Club Pebble Beach, Calif.

3. Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, Calif.

4. Augusta National Augusta, Ga.

5. Shinnecock Hills Southampton, N.Y.

6. Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, N.C.

7. Merion (East) Ardmore, Pa.

8. Sand Hills Mullen, Neb.

9. Oakmont Oakmont, Pa.

10. Seminole North Palm Beach, Fla.

11. Crystal Downs Frankfort, Mich.

12. Winged Foot (West) Mamaroneck, N.Y.

13. National Golf Links Southampton, N.Y.

14. San Francisco San Francisco.

15. Prairie DunesHutchinson, Kan.

16. Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

17. Olympic Club (Lake) San Francisco.

18. Muirfield Village Dublin, Ohio.

19. The Country Club Brookline, Mass.

20. Chicago Wheaton, Ill.

21. Oak Hill (East) Rochester, N.Y.

22. Baltusrol (Lower) Springfield, N.J.

23. Fishers Island Fishers Island, N.Y.

24. Southern Hills Tulsa, Okla.

25. Camargo Cincinnati.

26. Riviera Pacific Palisades.

27. The Golf Club New Albany, Ohio.

28. Bethpage State Park Farmingdale, N.Y.

29. Garden City Garden City, N.Y.

30. Medinah (No. 3) Medinah, Ill.

31. Shadow Creek North Las Vegas.

32. Maidstone East Hampton, N.Y.

33. TPC at Sawgrass Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

34. Quaker Ridge Scarsdale, N.Y.

35. Los Angeles (North) Los Angeles.

36. Winged Foot (East) Mamaroneck, N.Y.

37. Whistling Straits Haven, Wis.

38. World Woods (Pine Barrens) Brooksville, Fla.

39. Inverness Toledo, Ohio.

40. Honors Course Ooltewah, Tenn.

41. Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, S.C.

42. Cascades (Upper) Hot Springs, Va.

43. Scioto Columbus, Ohio.

44. Bandon Dunes Bandon, Ore.

45. Ocean Forest Sea Island, Ga.

46. Shoreacres Lake Bluff, Ill.

47. Cherry Hills Englewood, Colo.

48. Wade Hampton Cashiers, N.C.

49. Spyglass Hill Pebble Beach, Calif.

50. Peachtree Atlanta.

51. Somerset Hills Bernardsville, N.J.

52. Colonial Fort Worth.

53. Congressional (Blue) Bethesda, Md.

54. East Lake Atlanta.

55. Valley Club Montecito, Calif.

56. Shoal Creek Birmingham, Ala.

57. Nantucket Siaconset, Mass.

58. Canterbury Cleveland.

59. Double Eagle Galena, Ohio.

60. Black Diamond Ranch Lecanto, Fla.

61. Baltimore (Five Farms East) Timonium, Md.

62. Pablo Creek Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

63. Interlachen Edina, Minn.

64. Yeamans Hall Hanahan, S.C.

65. Pasatiempo Santa Cruz, Calif.

66. Long Cove Hilton Head Island, S.C.

67. Blackwolf Run (River) Kohler, Wis.

68. Old Memorial Tampa, Fla.

69. Kittansett Marion, Mass.

70. Wannamoisett Rumford, R.I.

71. Stonewall Elverson, Pa.

72. Kiawah Island (Ocean) Kiawah Island, S.C.

73. Pete Dye Bridgeport, W.Va.

74. Baltusrol (Upper) Springfield, N.J.

75. Oak Tree Edmond, Okla.

76. Yale University New Haven, Conn.

77. Plainfield Edison, N.J.

78. Estancia Scottsdale, Ariz.

79. Forest Highlands Flagstaff, Ariz.

80. Myopia Hunt Club So. Hamilton, Mass.

81. Pumpkin Ridge (Witch Hollow) Cornelius, Ore.

82. The Creek Locust Valley, N.Y.

83. Crooked Stick Carmel, Ind.

84. Jupiter Hills (Hills) Tequesta, Fla.

85. St. Louis Ladue, Mo.

86. Olympia Fields (North) Olympia Fields, Ill.

87. Salem Peabody, Mass.

88. Laurel Valley Ligonier, Pa.

89. Troon Scottsdale, Ariz.

90. Pumpkin Ridge (Ghost Creek) Cornelius, Ore.

91. Firestone (South) Akron, Ohio.

92. Desert Forest Carefree, Ariz.

93. Piping Rock Locust Valley, N.Y.

94. Butler National Oak Brook, Ill.

95. Colleton River Plantation Hilton Head, S.C.

96. Hazeltine National Chaska, Minn.

97. Atlantic Bridgehampton, N.Y.

98. Indianwood (Old) Lake Orion, Mich.

99. Colleton River Bluffton, S.C.

100. The Dunes Myrtle Beach, S.C.

*

Geoff Shackelford’s new book on classic golf architecture is called “The Golden Age of Golf Design” (Sleeping Bear Press). His e-mail address is geoffshackelford@aol.com.