This week, Golf Digest introduced a new golf course ranking as it named its 200 Greatest International Golf Courses, a mixture of the publication’s America’s 100 Greatest and the World’s 100 Greatest.

Three Colorado courses were not only included in the 200 Greatest International list, but all made it into the top 150.

Castle Pines Golf Club (pictured), home to the PGA Tour’s International from 1986 through 2006, checked in at No. 82, according to Golf Digest. Ballyneal in Holyoke was ranked No. 101. And Cherry Hills Country Club, which has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and one U.S. Women’s Open, was placed at No. 148.

Pine Valley in New Jersey earned the coveted No. 1 spot, with Augusta National in Georgia closest on its heels.

Here are the blurbs Golf Digest published with each of the Colorado sites:

82. Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Pines (designed by Jack Nicklaus) — “When Golf Digest began its annual Best New Course awards in 1983, the review panel selected Castle Pines as the Private Course winner, but Bill Davis, co-founder of Golf Digest and founding father of all its course rankings, didn’t care for the course and vetoed its inclusion. So no private course was honored that year. Davis soon recognized his error, and in 1987 — its first year of eligibility — Castle Pines joined America’s 100 Greatest and has remained there ever since. Club founder Jack Vickers, a Midwest oilman, had urged architect Jack Nicklaus to produce a mountain-venue design worthy of a major championship. Jack did, but when a championship never resulted, Vickers established his own, The International, which for years was the only PGA Tour event played under a unique Stableford format. It’s a pity that The International is no longer on the Tour’s schedule.”

101. Ballyneal in Holyoke (designed by Tom Doak) — “If Sand Hills Golf Club stands for the notion that there’s nothing more glorious than a round of golf beyond the range of cell phone reception, then Ballyneal (Tom Doak’s answer to No. 9 Sand Hills) proves that isolated golf is even better when Spartan in nature. With no carts and with dry, tan fescue turf on fairways and greens, Ballyneal is even more austere than Sand Hills. It provides absolutely firm and fast conditions, and with many greens perched on hilltops, the effect of wind on putts must be considered.”

148. Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village (designed by William Flynn) — “When Cherry Hills opened in the early 1920s, it was a ground-breaking design, with the nation’s first par-5 island green and closing back-to-back par 5s, although in championship play the 18th is played as a par-4. In the 1960 U.S. Open, winner Arnold Palmer popularized the idea of a drivable par 4 by going for the first green in every round. Curiously, when Palmer and partner Ed Seay remodeled Cherry Hills in 1976, they lengthened the first hole so no player could duplicate Arnie’s feat. Nearly 40 years later, modern equipment has once again made the first hole reachable from the tee.”

Here are the top 10 courses on Golf Digest’s 200 Greatest International Golf Courses list:

1. Pine Valley GC in Pine Valley, N.J.
2. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.
3. Royal County Down GC (Championship) in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.
4. Royal Dornoch GC (Championship) in Scotland.
5. Royal Melbourne GC (West) in Black Rock, Australia.
6. Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, Calif.
7. Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland
8. Shinnecock Hills GC in Southampton, N.Y.
9. The Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland
10. Oakmont CC in Oakmont, Pa.

For the entire list, CLICK HERE.

The golf course ranking business is ever-expanding — and apparently ever-popular — but every two years it returns to its roots. And that time is now.

The grandaddy of all the rankings — both the first and the most respected — was published this week as Golf Digest unveiled its biennial “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses”. America’s 100 Greatest has been a fixture since 1966.

As usual, Colorado figures prominently in the rankings. While no local course is in Golf Digest’s very top rung — Pine Valley in New Jersey, Augusta National in Georgia and Cypress Point in California are 1-2-3, respectively — the Centennial State has more than its share of the nation’s greatest courses.

Specifically, Colorado is home to three layouts in the top 100 — and in the top 75, for that matter. The only states with more than three courses in the top 75 are New York (11), California (8), Illinois (5), Ohio (4), New Jersey (4) and Oregon (4, all in Bandon). Three states besides Colorado put three courses in the top 75: Michigan, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

The three Colorado courses that made the cut should come as no surprise to the followers of national/international golf rankings. Castle Pines Golf Club (pictured above), home of the PGA Tour’s International from 1986-2006, checks in at No. 42, according to Golf Digest. Ballyneal (left) — the minimalist Tom Doak design in a remote area of northeastern Colorado, in Holyoke — was placed No. 50, its highest mark ever. And Cherry Hills Country Club, host to three U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships, was ranked No. 73.

Castle Pines, the Jack Nicklaus design that opened in 1981, has been an America’s 100 Greatest fixture since ’87, and has reached as high as No. 28. Cherry Hills, nearing its 95th birthday, was ranked from 1966-70 and ever since ’73, reaching No. 21 at one point. Ballyneal has risen in Golf Digest’s list since making its debut in 2011.

Here are the top 10 courses on America’s Greatest 100 list this time around:

1. Pine Valley in Pine Valley, N.J.
2. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.
3. Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, Calif.
4. Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.
5. Oakmont in Oakmont, Pa.
6. Merion in Ardmore, Pa.
7. Pebble Beach in Pebble Beach, Calif.
8. National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.
9. Sand Hills in Mullen, Neb.
10. Winged Foot (West) in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

For the entire Golf Digest list, CLICK HERE.

While America’s Greatest 100 is the most famous golf course ranking, there are many others done on a national and international basis by respected publications and raters. Here’s a sampling of how Colorado courses have fared in such rankings in recent months, along with the top-rated course in each case:

Golf Channel travel insider Matt Ginella’s
Top 50 Courses You Can Play in the U.S. (Dec. 8, 2016)

Ranked No. 1
Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Colorado Course
50. The Broadmoor GC’s East Course in Colorado Springs

Golfweek Best Resort Courses (Nov. 1, 2016)

Ranked No. 1
Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Colorado Courses
48. The Broadmoor East Course in Colorado Springs
66. Red Sky Fazio Course in Wolcott
123. The Broadmoor West Course in Colorado Springs
152. Telluride GC
153. Red Sky Norman Course in Wolcott
174. Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs

Golfweek Best Residential Courses (Nov. 1, 2016)

Ranked No. 1
Wade Hampton Club in Cashiers, N.C.

Colorado Courses
5. Colorado Golf Club in Parker
9. Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Pines
32. The Glacier Club at Tamarron in Durango
60. Golf Club at Ravenna in Littleton
66. Redlands Mesa Golf Club in Grand Junction
154. Cherry Creek Country Club in Denver
177. Aspen Glen in Carbondale

Golf.com’s Top 100 Courses You Can Play (2016/17)

Ranked No. 1
Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Colorado Courses
51. Red Sky Norman Course in Wolcott
67. The Broadmoor East Course in Colorado Springs
93. Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction

Golfweek’s Best Campus Courses (Aug. 30, 2016)

Ranked No. 1
The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn.

Colorado Course
24. Eisenhower Blue Course at Air Force Academy