Opinion & Analysis
Move over, Augusta National: Pine Valley tops Golf Digest’s Top 100
Golf Digest’s Ron Whitten writes that, since its inception, the biennial ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses has illustrated the fact that polarized opinions are “a reminder that variety is the essence of the game.”
The poles of opinion regarding course design may best be illustrated by widely different attributes of the No. 1 and No. 2 courses in the ranking.
The aesthetic at Pine Valley.
George Crump-founded Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey reassumes the top spot in GD’s rundown this year, with Augusta National falling to No. 2. Whitten notes that Pine Valley was a mainstay in the top spot for decades, but has been tops only once in the past five surveys. ANGC was No. 1 in 2009, 2011, and 2015.
“The tussle between these two titans will undoubtedly continue, not because of indecision on the part of our panelists, but because golf architecture in America will never become homogenized,” Whitten writes presciently.
Newcomers to the biennial ranking include, Spring Hill, No. 91 Essex County Club in Massachusetts, No. 98 Sahalee Country Club near Seattle, and No. 99 Mayacama in Northern California. Whitten notes this is the fewest number of new inclusions since 1985.
Another interesting note, for what it’s worth, Digest names Tiger Woods’ Bluejack National in Montgomery, Texas, as the top new private course of 2016.
The bottom line: Few would argue that Pine Valley and Augusta National are the best of their relative breeds, that is “penal” and “heroic” courses, to use Golf Digest’s terminology, respectively. But when it comes to deciding which of the two deserves the top spot (and don’t forget Cypress Point!), there’s plenty of room for debate.
What say you, WRXers?
*Featured photo: 11th hole at Pine Valley. Credit to Golf Digest.
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
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“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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Jamie
Jan 26, 2017 at 12:00 pm
a lot of these courses that have tour events get these events because of infrastructure, not so much because they’re superior to others. I have a place in Hilton Head and I’ve always liked heron point better than harbor town, it could easily host a tour event, just doesn’t have the same infrastructure to hold crowds as harbor town.
Jay
Jan 9, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Just like how Bushwood CC opened it’s pool from 1-1:15 for the caddies in Caddyshack, all of these top exclusive clubs should open up their courses to the public to play a few days every year. Make it a lottery, charge to enter the lottery, charge to play the course, and all the proceeds go to the currently farcical “growing the game” initiatives that the governing bodies claim to take seriously. How easy would it be to get 100k golfers to pony up $20 for the lottery at Augusta, Pine Valley, Cypress Point or Shinnecock? Multiply that by 10 for the top 10 private courses, and that’s an easy $20 million – and that’s probably an underestimate. You could probably fund every initiative that the governing bodies ever wanted. In addition to providing FREE USGA memberships for everyone. That’s how you “grow the game”.
ButchT
Jan 7, 2017 at 8:09 am
Hesitant to bring this course up while discussing these great exclusive clubs, but that comment abt island fairway to target green reminds me of Tobacco Road – usually a really fun course to play. I have played a few times when the greens were terrible.
Dave R
Jan 6, 2017 at 9:18 pm
Gee what a condurmen what course I will play today . Oh I think I will play on my muni.
WarrenPeacae
Jan 6, 2017 at 10:31 am
I have played Pebble, Spyglass, Del Monte, and Spanish Bay and I will always recommend Spyglass above the rest. It’s fairer yet tougher. It is a far better test of golf skills and much less than $$ than PB. I think you need to play PB once just to say you did, but then go play the others. Del Monte is a great course for the $$ also.
Tom
Jan 6, 2017 at 2:16 pm
agreed.
Bob P
Jan 6, 2017 at 9:54 am
Here’s every hole with description and pictures.
Pictures do not do it justice.
The course is heaven on earth
Have had the incredible good fortune to have played it 8 times.
Scott
Jan 10, 2017 at 10:52 am
What course are you talking about?
Bob P
Jan 13, 2017 at 8:46 am
For some reason, the url failed to attach:
http://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/usa/pine-valley-golf-club/
John
Jan 6, 2017 at 12:23 am
Have played PB, Cypress and Spyglass. PB is a fine course, but isn’t in the class of the other two. I got a lucky break and got to play Cypress and most won’t get that opportunity, so if you go to Monterey and can play one course, make it Spyglass, a superior golf experience and cheaper than PB to boot.
ThatGuy
Jan 5, 2017 at 6:21 pm
Played PV, both the 18 and the short course, and it lives up to the hype. The whole experience is incredible.
The Dude
Jan 5, 2017 at 2:39 pm
Given a choice….which would you play?
…discussion over…
Bob P
Jan 13, 2017 at 8:47 am
I have played Pine Valley, and not Augusta, so I would choose Augusta once.
After playing Augusta, my answer would always be Pine Valley
Justwellsy
Jan 5, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Cypress Point is the most beautiful piece of property in golf. It “cheats” because it’s on the ocean, but I still think it’s the best. But, that’s the great thing about golf, it’s all opinion and what you personally like. These 3 courses are so dissimilar and that is what makes the decision tough. Pebble and Cypress are both on the ocean and in the same area of the world. Pebble is longer but Cypress is better, there’s no doubt there. If Augusta and PV were on the coast, there’d be an easier comparison.
Of the 3, I would say I’ve got the best chance to play Cypress Point and that’s only because a buddy of mine has actually played there before as a guest. Still a long shot, but a chance. Augusta is tops on the want to play list simply because of the mystique of the Masters. I don’t understand why they won’t bring a US Open to Pine Valley… other than the membership might be a bunch of pompous jerks. I’d love to see Cypress Point back in the rotation as well, but it’s a course that can’t really be lengthened at all. Maybe they could play a senior major there!
Jack
Jan 6, 2017 at 10:09 am
Cypress Point doesn’t allow stroke play events because they don’t want anyone breaking Ben Hogan’s course record. Match play is a possibility though.
Fran
Jan 6, 2017 at 12:44 pm
I would love to see a US Open at Pine Valley. Pine Valley opens to the public once a year on the last Sunday in September for “The Crump Cup, a national Amateur championship tournament. The public is allowed in on Sunday to watch the competition and walk the course. You can walk anywhere but on the greens. The problem is that like a lot of eastern US courses the properties are hemmed in by other property owners. There’s just nowhere to put the fans, the corporate tents and all that comes with a major championship. That said, seeing this course up close and walking it is a privilege, I live in Philly a half hour ride from the course and have been to two of the tournaments . You have to be aware of New Jersey topography to appreciate what a special piece of ground PV occupies. Most of NJ is as flat as billiard table but PV has lot’s of elevation and even at only 7000 yards it offers plenty of bite. Like others have said if you like the sheer beauty of courses then you probably lean toward Cypress Point, and Augusta and if you like brawn and sheer terror, Pine Valley is your pick. I would give my eye teeth to play any one of them thank my lucky stars to have done so.
Ron
Jan 5, 2017 at 1:20 pm
Pebble, Spyglass, Bethpage, Pinehurst, Whistling Straits.
Best courses any of us will ever play in the US. Naming Augusta or PV as tops is just GD mocking you – “we get to play these courses, and you don’t, and that’s why they’re awesome.”
Scott
Jan 10, 2017 at 11:05 am
Unfortunately Ron, I think that you are right. Like a lot of people, I have played a number of the top 100 courses. Lots of great and comparable courses to the “top” tracks, that never get mentioned, but how could they be great if I can call and make a tee time. The top courses are great because they are “supposed” to be.
Ever been disappointed or feel like you have over paid at a “top ranked” restaurant? Yep, me too. That being said, I would like to play either of the courses, but I could say that about a lot of things.
Blake
Jan 5, 2017 at 11:58 am
No mention of why PV is good??
Ron
Jan 5, 2017 at 1:14 pm
Because 99.9999% of the country can’t get in. Exclusivity makes everything better. That’s why people play golf.
Wever
Jan 6, 2017 at 9:22 am
You play golf for the wrong reasons… You are missing so much with this attitude, but if that makes you happy.. Oh well!
Ron
Jan 9, 2017 at 11:18 am
Your sarcasm detector is miscalibrated.
Fran
Jan 6, 2017 at 12:52 pm
It’s horrifically hard, having to play from island of fairway to island of fairway to an island of green all separated by sand with grasses and shrubbery growing in it. There is every kind of bunker there. There’s acres of waste areas and the normal every day bunker except they are left un-raked. One bunker is about eight feet deep and shaped like a cone, straight down. It’s called “The Devils Asshole” and I bet it really stinks to be in it. There also bunkers so small that you want to laugh unless your in one and realize you have no back swing. The fairways are big but the punishment for missing it is unforgiving.
Johnny
Jan 5, 2017 at 9:52 am
Have obviously never played Pine Valley so my opinion might change if I did. But from the pictures I’ve seen and from what I’ve read about it, I’ve never understood what it is that makes it so great.
Bob P
Jan 6, 2017 at 9:42 am
I have had the incredible good fortune to play Pine Valley 8 times.
I have played Pebble, St Andrew’s Old, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Congressional.
Pine Valley remains the greatest golf course I have ever played, my favorite of all.
Every hole is wonderful, you rarely see another group on the course because the way the holes are designed.
I have been to Augusta, walked the entire course, hope to play it one day.
When I do, I sincerely doubt it will replace Pine Valley as my favorite.
SV
Jan 5, 2017 at 8:57 am
I have not played either and there is no chance that I will. From what I have seen in pictures and videos, Pine Valley might appeal to some because of the name, but it does not appear to be very playable for most people. It looks like it would be about as much fun as going out to garage and hitting yourself in the head and hands with a hammer. Tee to green, Augusta at least looks playable. The greens might be another case, but again I have nothing to be concerned about.
Jim T
Jan 5, 2017 at 7:40 am
******That is #2 not #11
Steve
Jan 5, 2017 at 7:25 am
If I recall, Pebble Beach is the only course in the top 20 that is public.
C
Jan 5, 2017 at 7:36 am
I have played there. Worth the money once and only once. Spyglass is better.
Jeff
Jan 4, 2017 at 4:27 pm
I second C’s statement but obviously include Cypress as well. I’d love to really photograph any of those three courses though. All three have a great artistry to them.
C
Jan 4, 2017 at 3:28 pm
Since I’ll never be able to play either, I abstain from a review.