With so few new golf courses having opened in the U.S. in recent years — and none in Colorado since 2009 — the plethora of course ratings lists published by golf magazines seldom includes many surprises these days.
Still, it’s fun for devoted golfers to peruse the various lists, seeing and reviewing the best the game has to offer internationally, nationally, and statewide.
We at COgolf.org periodically compile and note such course ratings, particularly those put together by prominent national publications with experience in such matters.
With Golfweek magazine having recently published several “best of” lists, now seemed an opportune time to take a look at some of the various course ratings that have been unveiled in the last several months.
In each case, we include Colorado courses which made national/international lists, plus the top five courses in the category.
Golfweek Magazine Best Residential Courses
Colorado Courses on List — 6. Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock (pictured above); 7. Colorado Golf Club in Parker (pictured at left); 33. Golf Club at Ravenna in Littleton; 60. The Glacier Club in Durango; 79. Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction.
Top 5 Overall — 1. Wade Hampton Club in Cashiers, N.C.; 2. Rock Creek Cattle Company in Deer Lodge, Mont.; 3. Huntsman Springs in Driggs, Idaho; 4. Shooting Star in Teton Village, Wyo.; 5. Gozzer Ranch in Arrowpoint, Idaho.
Golfweek Magazine Best Resort Courses
Colorado Courses on List — 45. Red Sky Golf Club (Fazio Course) in Wolcott; 71. Broadmoor Golf Club (East Course) in Colorado Springs.
Top 5 Overall — 1. Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore.; 2. Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.; 3. Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, N.C.; 4. Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.; 5. Old Macdonald in Bandon, Ore.
Golfweek Magazine Best Campus Courses
Colorado Course on List — 23. Eisenhower Golf Club (Blue Course) at Air Force Academy.
Top 5 Overall — 1. The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn.; 2. Taconic GC in Williamstown, Mass.; 3. Rawls Course at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas; 4. Palouse Ridge GC in Pullman, Wash.; 5. University Ridge GC in Verona, Wis.
Golf.com (Golf Magazine) Top 100 Courses in the World
Colorado Course on List — 75. Ballyneal in Holyoke.
Top 5 Overall — 1. Pine Valley in Pine Valley, N.J.; 2. Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, Calif.; 3. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.; 4. St. Andrews (Old Course) in St. Andrews, Scotland; 5. Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.
Links Golf Magazine “100” World Rankings
Colorado Course on List — 32. Ballyneal in Holyoke.
Top 5 Overall — 1. Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, Calif.; 2. Pine Valley in Pine Valley, N.J.; 3. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.; 4. Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.; 5. St. Andrews (Old Course) in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Links Golf Magazine “100” U.S. Rankings
Colorado Courses on List — 19. Ballyneal in Holyoke; 81. Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village; 90. Colorado Golf Club in Parker.
Top 5 Overall — Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, Calif.; 2. Pine Valley in Pine Valley, N.J.; 3. Augusta National in Augusta, Ga.; 4. Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.; 5. National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.
And even though Golf Digest’s lists date back to the beginning of 2013 — and we’ve written about them previously — they’re worth including because they’re considered the course rating gold standard by many.
Golf Digest Magazine America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses
Colorado Courses on List — 33. Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock; 64. Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village; 78. Ballyneal in Holyoke.
Top 5 Overall — 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.
Golf Digest Magazine America’s Second 100 Greatest Golf Courses
Colorado Courses on List — 131. Colorado Golf Club in Parker; 135. Broadmoor Golf Club (East Course) in Colorado Springs; 139. Sanctuary in Sedalia; 194. Red Sky Golf Club (Norman Course) in Wolcott; 197. Country Club of the Rockies in Edwards.
Golf Digest Magazine America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses
Colorado Course on List — 29. Broadmoor Golf Club (East Course) in Colorado Springs; 70. Red Sky Golf Club (Norman Course) in Wolcott; 99. Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction.
Top 5 Overall — 1. Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.; 2. Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis.; 3. Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore.; 4. Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.; 5. Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas, Nev.
But it’s not just the quantity that’s impressive. It’s also the quality.
The list includes such standouts as Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock (1981), Ballyneal in Holyoke (2006) and Colorado Golf Club in Parker (also 2006).
In fact, it’s safe to say that over the last three-plus decades, the state has had more than its share of stellar new courses.
And while local residents might be biased in saying as much, another national ranking of courses confirms that Colorado has certainly added more highly-regarded layouts since 1980 than is the norm for a given state.
Last week, Golfweek published its list of the best modern courses in the U.S., with the magazine classifying “modern” as opening in 1960 or later.
Six Colorado courses are included in Golfweek’s best 200 modern layouts. With 176 of those courses having opened since 1980, the Colorado venues make up 3.4 percent of that total, almost twice the norm for the 50 states.
Moreover, three Colorado courses are in the nation’s top 40.
Without further ado, here’s Golfweek’s rundown of the Colorado courses in the top 200, with the top pick in the category also included: 1. Sand Hills in Mullen, Neb.; 6. Ballyneal (pictured); 35. Colorado Golf Club, home of this year’s Solheim Cup; 38. Castle Pines Golf Club, where the PGA Tour’s International was held from 1986 through 2006; 124. Ravenna in Littleton; 131. Sanctuary in Sedalia; 188. Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction.
In last week’s top course breakdown, Golfweek also ranked the top 200 classic courses in the country, those opened before 1960. Colorado wasn’t nearly as well represented in that category, which included just two courses from the state.
Here are the Colorado courses in Golfweek’s “classic” list, plus the No. 1 layout: 1. Pine Valley in New Jersey; 86. Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, which will host the PGA Tour’s 2014 BMW Championship after the 2012 U.S. Amateur was played there; 190. East Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, home of the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open and 2008 U.S. Senior Open.
Golfweek also picked the “best courses you can play” in each state, and these were the Colorado layouts included, in order: 1. Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction; 2. Cougar Canyon in Trinidad; 3. Fazio Course at Red Sky in Wolcott; 4. Lakota Canyon in New Castle; 5. CommonGround in Aurora; 6. East Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs; 7. Devil’s Thumb in Delta; 8. Norman Course at Red Sky in Wolcott; 9. Haymaker in Steamboat Springs; 10. Bear Dance in Larkspur.
Golf is certainly no exception, especially when it comes to ranking courses.
The irony is that as the number of regularly-published lists of “greatest” or “top” or “best” courses continues to grow by leaps and bounds, the number of courses in the U.S. is actually decreasing. The National Golf Foundation predicts that we’ll see a net decline of 500-1,000 courses this decade.
Colorado golfers tend to sift through lists of courses that stand out nationally and internationally to see where the best this state has to offer fits in the lineup. Among the most prominent national publications that regularly print such course rankings are Golf Digest, Golfweek and Golf Magazine.
Golf Digest got the ball rolling with its “America’s 100 Greatest” rankings, which debuted in 1966. And now, not only have many other publications — locally and on a larger scale — jumped on the bandwagon, but there are all sorts of categories and sub-categories for course lists nowadays.
With all that in mind, here is our periodic compilation of how Colorado courses have fared in national and international rankings, along with a notation of the No. 1-ranked course in each category. All of the following have been published in 2011:
Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses (published in May) — Augusta (Ga.) National GC is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 29. Castle Pines GC in Castle Rock; 67. Cherry Hills CC in Cherry Hills Village; 95. Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke (pictured).
Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses (published in May) — Pebble Beach (Calif.) GL is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 31. Broadmoor GC (East Course) in Colorado Springs; 88. GC at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction.
Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the U.S. (published in November) — Pine Valley (N.J.) GC is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 46. Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke; 62. Cherry Hills CC in Cherry Hills Village.
Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the World (published in November) — Pine Valley (N.J.) GC is No. 1. Colorado course included: 79. Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke.
Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses (published in March) — Sand Hills GC in Mullen, Neb. is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 6. Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke; 37. Colorado GC in Parker; 38. Castle Pines GC in Castle Rock; 86. Santuary in Sedalia; 89. GC at Ravenna in Littleton.
Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses (published in March) — Pine Valley (N.J.) GC is No. 1. Colorado Course included: 68. Cherry Hills CC in Cherry Hills Village.
Golfweek’s Best Residential Courses (published in November) — Rock Creek Cattle Co. in Deer Lodge, Mont., is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 7. Colorado GC in Parker; 8. Castle Pines GC in Castle Rock; 31. GC at Ravenna in Littleton; 66. The Glacier Club in Durango; 75. GC at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction; 92. Lakota Canyon Ranch GC in New Castle.
Golfweek’s Best Resort Courses (published in November) — Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore., is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 30. Cougar Canyon GL in Trinidad; 69. Red Sky GC (Fazio Course) in Wolcott; 80. Broadmoor GC (East Course) in Colorado Springs.
Golfweek’s Best Municipal Courses (published in May) — Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., is No. 1. Colorado courses included: 33. Aspen GC; 35. Breckenridge GC; 49. Fossil Trace GC in Golden.
Golfweek’s Best Tour Courses You Can Play (published in April) — Pebble Beach (Calif.) GL is No. 1. Colorado course included: 36. Broadmoor GC (East Course) in Colorado Springs, host of the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open.
Golfweek’s Best Campus Courses (published in September) — The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn., is No. 1. Colorado course included: 21. Eisenhower GC (Blue Course) at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
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