In a few weeks’ time, the US Open will be played at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia. Does this mean the City of Brotherly Love is the Winning City when it comes to being America’s leading golf metropolis?

Sorry, but no.

The A Position has just named the “Best Golf City in the U.S.” And the winner is? New York—the Big Apple. Philadelphia finished ninth.

The writers at The A Position were polled for their choices of America’s top golf cities, with the final list a geographic spread from coast to coast, north to south. While New York took the top spot, it faced tough competition. Not only from expected warm-weather golf centers such as Orlando, Scottsdale, and San Diego, but also strong challenges from northern climes with shorter seasons—including Philadelphia, Boston, and Traverse City, Michigan.

Cities were ranked based on numerous factors, from the number of local courses to the local golf history and tradition. Here’s the entire list:

1) New York

Think there’s a better city for golf in America than New York? FUGGETABOUTIT! I’m not talking about the city’s 13 public courses, which I’ve taken ferries, subways, and buses to (and except for La Tourette on Staten Island aren’t much). I’m talking about the exceptional private clubs within an hour’s drive of midtown—Winged Foot, Quaker Ridge, Westchester CC, etc.—plus Bethpage State Park on Long Island, the nation’s greatest public golf complex. Don’t believe me? Just ask one of the regulars at Bethpage Black (right), a two-time U.S. Open venue. They’ll enlighten you in a New York minute. You want my advice? Spare yourself a thrashing and play the Red Course at Bethpage, like the Black an A.W. Tillinghast masterpiece. It’s a scaled-down version of the flagship course. Of course, when you’re done playing, do the right thing and head back to New York, an entertainment and dining capital without peer.

—Brian McCallen, brianmccallen.com

2) San Francisco

Most Americans’ second-favorite city (after their own) should be number one on any serious golfer’s list. Where can you find two better contiguous golf sites than San Francisco Golf Club and the Olympic Club—with the underrated Lake Merced Golf Club close at hand, as well? Head a little north within the city and you’ll find Harding Park, the restored public gem that has hosted a World Golf Championships event, two Charles Schwab Cups, and a Presidents Cup. Down the road a piece is Sharp Park, Alister Mackenzie’s only surviving public seaside links; wander a little farther and you come to his Pasatiempo (above)—and now you’re halfway to Pebble Beach and the other glories of the Monterey Peninsula. The San Francisco City Championship has been held every year since 1916; no other significant golf event can match that. Ken Venturi, Harvie Ward, and George Archer won it; Johnny Miller and Bob Rosburg and Tom Watson tried and failed. Juli Inkster won the women’s division twice. The City is indeed THE City when it comes to golf.

—Jeff Neuman, neumanprose.com

ChampionsGate GC

3) Orlando
Forget the put-downs about Orlando golf. While it’s true there aren’t any towering peaks with fairways that double as ski slopes nine months a year, and in the summer it rains every day at 4, the number and variety of golf experiences within easy driving distance can’t be beat. Want a high-end, member-for-the-day round or a place to take the family? No problem, there are more than 125 choices and even at the height of the winter tourist season wallet-friendly rounds may be found. There is even the opportunity to rub shoulders with The King, Arnold Palmer, at his Bay Hill Club with the famous 18th hole, or to play MetroWest Golf Club and see the plaque on the 9th tee commemorating John Daly driving the green on the 405-yard par-4, or maybe testing your prowess at Orange County National Golf Center used by the PGA Tour for Qualifying School and which also happens to have the best practice facility anywhere. With golf like this, who needs towering peaks?
—Ed Travis, edtravisgolf.com

4) Chicago

Youth is wasted on the young, as Oscar Wilde pointed out. And growing up in Chicago it was easy to assume that every city had architecture—buildings and golf—comparable to ours. As the locals would say, “What a jagoff.” It’s a cornucopia of classical design and designers, including C.B. Macdonald, a.k.a. the Father of Golf, and his Chicago Golf Club, said to be the continent’s oldest 18-hole layout (1894) and one of five clubs to found the USGA; numerous revamped Donald Ross contributions throughout the metropolitan area; Seth Raynor (Shoreacres), Willie Park (Olympia Fields), Tom Bendelow (Medinah), and others. There’s a full complement of work by the standard roster of modern masters, too, not to mention household names among public tracks like Cog Hill (above). But the main thing I took for granted is Chicago’s golfcentric, Scots-mimicking ethos: Every town, it seems, has somewhere to play the game and the people have the hospitality gene. Venues like nine-hole Sidney Marovitz GC—a park district operation known as Waveland when I lived within walking distance, with mesmerizing views of Lake Shore Drive and the skyline—function as pieces of the urban fabric, not just places to tee it up.

—Tom Harack, tomharack.com

5) San Diego

What puts San Diego in the top rank of U.S. golf cities? One word: beer. Not just any bellywash, mind you, but some of the best brews in the tsunami of the craft-brewing art are streaming forth here from Stone Brewing, Ballast Point, Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, AleSmith, and many others. The brewing passion is such that the annual San Diego Beer Week lasts 10 days. All this makes the local 19^th holes rich in possibilities, and the golf menu is tantalizing as is, beginning with the two Torrey Pines municipal courses. There’s a Tom Fazio track at the Grand Del Mar, an Arnold Palmer layout at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, a renovated William Bell design (he also did Torrey Pines) at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. And there’s the splendid Barona Creek Golf Course in nearby Lakeside, with an onsite casino. Great golf, delicious beer, and blackjack? What kind of dream is this?

—Tom Bedell, tombedell.com

6) Scottsdale

Scottsdale is to golf what Portland is to persistent rain, Orlando to large winged bugs, and New York to both classic and cutting-edge restaurants. Simply put, it has more courses, with a variety of sublime and dramatic designs, than any other city on this list. Some tracks weave through ancient canyons, are flanked by ginormous rocks—The Boulders (right), to be precise—or sprawl across vacant expanses of the Sonoran Desert, exemplified by the two great courses at We-Ko-Pa. Still others complement plush resorts throughout Greater Phoenix. That city’s—and the Fountain Hills and Scottsdale restaurants, hotels, and marketing associations—are veritable support teams for visiting golfers, offering crackerjack stay-and-play packages. Bathed each year by 330 days of sun, the region’s 200 courses are a Valley of Fun for serious golfers. Yes, Chicago is the place for deep-dish pizza, Boston for American history. But golf? It’s Scottsdale, baby.

—Jay Stuller, jaystuller.com

7) Traverse City, Michigan

From the MIR space-station orbiting 223 miles above earth, astronaut Jerry Linenger noted three unmistakable wonders: the Great Wall of China, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and mitten-esque Michigan, in particular, the spectacular emerald greens and azure blues of the northern Lower Peninsula. Here, within a 50-mile radius of Traverse City, lies the best-kept secret of destination golf.   Dozens of top-rated courses dominate the pastoral landscape, with its ripe terrain, vast hardwood forests, and perfect climate for course growing. From Crystal Downs, Arcadia Bluffs, and Bay Harbor (above) on Lake Michigan’s coastline to Grand Traverse Resort and Lochenheath nestling Grand Traverse Bay; from Sundance at A-Ga-Ming on ethereal Torch Lake to inland beauties like True North, Shanty Creek, Crystal Mountain, and Gaylord’s Treetops and Black Lake, captains of industry and golf enthusiasts alike covet this region for perfect summer hideaways. Above, literally, all places in the world, Linenger settled here after his days in zero-gravity ended. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.

— Janina Jacobs, janinajacobs.com

8) Portland

Create a triangle by connecting Washington State’s Chambers Bay (site of the 2015 US Open), Bandon Dunes (the best golf resort on the planet), and the world-class, high-desert golf destination of Bend, and the city of Portland, Oregon, would fall right in the middle, like the ice-cream atop the best wedge of golf pie you’ve ever eaten. But in addition to lying within striking distance of all these places, Portland is a formidable golf town in its own right. Start with Pumpkin Ridge, with two top-100 parkland layouts that have hosted events from the US Amateur Championship to the Women’s Open. Add in The Reserve Vineyard and Golf Club, site of Senior Tour and other events on its John Fought and Bob Cupp tracks. Pile on two fine Robert Trent Jones II Audubon Sanctuary courses at the public Heron Lakes Golf Club (left). And don’t forget H. Chandler Egan’s vintage Eastmoreland Golf Course built around natural springs, rhododendron gardens, and several hundred varieties of trees. Clubs such as Waverly, Portland Golf Club, and Oswego Lake satisfy the private golfer, and an embarrassment of additional choices greets the public golfer, all for rates far below what folks pay in many other cities to play crowded, hacked-up courses that will never be half as good as the Rose City’s fine portfolio of offerings.
—Jeff Wallach, jeffwallach.com

9) Philadelphia

The City of Brotherly Love’s affair with golf began in 1890, when Philadelphia Country Club was founded, later to become an original member of the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP), along with Merion, Aronimink, and the (Philadelphia) Cricket Club. The USGA has contested 38 championships at 11 different courses within Philly’s five-county border with a list of participants that reads like a golfing Hall of Fame. No one is better versed in Philadelphia golfing eminence than its own historian, James W. Finegan, author of “A Centennial Tribute to Golf in Philadelphia.” (Recently honored with the GAP’s Distinguished Service Award, the octogenarian former advertising legend is no homer: Finegan’s gorgeous coffee-table books include “Where Golf Is Great: The Finest Courses of Scotland and Ireland.”) “Philadelphia boasts more quality golf courses than Scotland,” Finegan asserts gleefully in his gravelly northeastern pinch. “Not Edinburgh, not Glasgow, but the entire country.” Appropriately, the game’s spotlight returns to Philly in 2013, when Merion—site of a record 17 national championships—plays host to its fifth U.S. Open.

— Brad King, bradkingwrites.com

10) Columbus, Ohio

What most people don’t know is that Columbus, Ohio, was a great golf city before becoming a great golf city. Sure, once Jack Nicklaus became the champion of major championships and built Muirfield Village everyone knew Columbus as an important golf location. But history had already been made at Scioto CC, with Bobby Jones winning the 1926 U.S. Open, and hosting a PGA and Ryder Cup. Columbus CC hosted the 1964 PGA. Ohio State’s Scarlet Golf Course (left) hosted several NCAA Championships. I personally watched the 1975 NCAA Championship that featured Curtis Strange, Jay Haas, Scott Simpson, Jerry Pate, and Craig Stadler. I watched Strange drive it dead behind a tree on the third hole. As he looked at the shot a spectator audibly said, “He’ll chip out.” A startled Strange flatly stated out loud that he wasn’t chipping out and slice-cut a 3-iron 40 yards to about four feet from the hole. Genius!

—Casey Alexander, caseyalexandergolf.com

11) Boston

I don’t care what anybody says. America’s home of golf is Boston. Not resort golf. Not upscale-daily-fee golf. Not cartpath-only golf. Real golf. Within an hour of downtown Boston, more golf history has been written than in any other place in this country. The first U.S. Amateur. The first U.S. Open. The first Ryder Cup. Ouimet’s improbable win at The Country Club (right). The 1999 U.S. Ryder Cup team’s even more improbable win in the Battle of Brookline. Whether you’re a Boston Brahmin who belongs to one of the many storied Ross or Raynor or Stiles and Van Kleek-designed private clubs, or a public golfer who collects bag tags from Geoff Cornish courses, the Greater Boston area’s got you covered in spades. Granted, other tourist-choked places may boast better “dinner-tainment” venues to visit after you play. But if you can find a better city for real golfers than Boston, move to it.

—David DeSmith, daviddesmith.com

PGA West

12) Palm Springs

When an LA oilman named Tom O’Donnell arrived in Palm Springs in 1925 to design and build the nine-hole golf course still bearing his name, he could not have known that the Coachella Valley would one day feature more than 125 courses. Slung between mountain ranges as it arcs southeast from greater LA toward the Salton Sea, the Coachella Valley provides a matchless setting for desert golf. Because every leading modern design firm has left its mark, golfers not only can feast on an abundance of courses, they can compare the styles and strategies of the great architects. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, Nick Faldo, and Fred Couples also contributed to Palm Springs’ golfing legacy, both as players and course designers. The courses where the great pros of the PGA and LPGA Tours compete are available to resident golfers and visitors alike. The variety and abundance of its courses, and its fabulous winter climate, with temperatures averaging in the 70s from November to February, make Palm Springs a great golf city.

—John Strawn, johnstrawn.com

Turnberry

And in further good news, you can enter the contest every day until its conclusion on October 1, 2012. It’s as easy as pie to enter. Just visit www.perrygolf.com/win, add your email address, and you’re good to go.

The contest—along with a vast number of others–is also listed at Sweepstakes Advantage.

It’s a question golfers argue over all the time. But no more. The A Position, the world’s leading golf-travel website, has settled the argument once and for all by naming the top 10 golf resorts in the United States.

With the PGA Championship about to tee off at Kiawah Island—long regarded as one of the country’s finest resorts—the well-traveled and extremely experienced writers at The A Position were polled for their lists of favorites, from which a master list was compiled.

While there was little question about the top choice—Oregon’s Bandon Dunes (above) won handily—it was a close battle for places 2 through 10. The remainder of the list comes from across the country, north to south, east to Midwest, and out to Hawaii.

In voting for and then writing up their personal preferences, the members of The A Position were careful to note that a top golf resort must have more than just great golf. So along with world-class layouts, the list features outstanding restaurants, elegantly comfortable accommodations, and a long list of amenities from spas and skeet shooting to water sports and nature preserves.

The debate is sure to rage on, and readers are invited to submit their own selections. But this is a tough list to argue with…but we’re sure you’ll try.

1) Bandon Dunes

Once there was great debate among golf aficionados as to the best golf resort in North America. But let’s call this one settled: I can’t think of anyone who’s been to Bandon Dunes that could make a case for another property. Bandon begins and ends with golf—four courses ranked among the best in the world, plus the new 12-hole, par-three Bandon Preserve (peerless among non-traditional layouts), plus the Sheep Ranch, a secret golf enclave just down the road. All that remains to argue is which of Bandon’s courses is best: the open, traditional links of David Kidd’s Bandon Dunes; the dramatic sand blowouts and quirky, pulse-quickening routing of Tom Doak’s Pacific Dunes; or Jim Urbina and friends’ Old MacDonald (the most fun to play, especially for folks who recognize features interpreted from famous golf holes worldwide). Regardless, what makes Bandon best is that moment when you drive through the gate (the back gate, if you’re in the know) and absolutely everything else in the world falls away, except dreams of ocean breezes sweeping over firm, fast, rumpled terrain; a burger and creamy-topped Guinness in McKee’s pub; and a cigar puffed in the company of good friends at the poker table in the Bunker Bar.
—Jeff Wallach, jeffwallach.com

2) Pinehurst

No matter how busy or built out it becomes, Pinehurst retains a vivid sense of the bygone. Its historic buildings, the quaint village, and concentric shady roads recall a slower time even as modernizations flourish beneath the surface. The eight golf courses (with a ninth rumored), from the Donald Ross originals to those by later luminaries like Rees Jones and Tom Fazio, pull off the difficult trick of being classic while contemporary. And now that the famed No. 2 course has “de”-volved back to its Rossian fundamentals thanks to the curative work of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, the sandy, scruffy, visual punch it packs is equal to its celebrated championship mettle. In an age when golf resorts all strive to be unique destinations with multiple courses, luxury amenities, and powerfully singular identities, its useful to remember that Pinehurst got there first, and still does it the best.

—Derek Duncan, theduncanlist.com

3) Pebble Beach

In the Lodge at Pebble Beach, each guest room has a wood-burning fireplace stocked with aromatic cedar and plush beds that put you to sleep faster than Lunesta. Its Tap Room is legendary for its hamburger and as a hangout for the likes of Clint Eastwood and Phil Mickelson. Nearby Stillwater Cove is the most gracious meeting of ocean and coastline on the continent. Then there’s the eponymous golf course that Johnny Miller called “a piece of sacred ground,” and where Jack Nicklaus would play if he had only one round remaining. Without connections you can play Pebble, Spyglass Hill, and several other highly rated tracks. With them, golf the Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s superb Shore Course or the ultimate bucket list round at Cypress Point. Simply put, Pebble Beach is not only the best resort in the U.S., but the most sublime golf and travel destination in the world.

—Jay Stuller, jaystuller.com

4) The American Club

Golf resort is not the same as golf course. Resort means food, lodging, golf, and other activities, and Kohler has these in spades. It’s all in the numbers: 5-star hotel, 5-star spa, 4-star fine dining, 72 holes, 3 major venues, a top 10 course, the best bathrooms in golf, plus hunting, fishing, cooking classes, world-class yoga, anything you could possibly want to do. And a great caddie program!

—Larry Olmsted, larrygolfstheworld.com

5) Kiawah Island

The things that make a golf resort great are all present and accounted for at Kiawah Island. Great golf in the form of five strong courses (seven if you count the private ones). Natural beauty in the form of the Carolina lowcountry, with its sandy shorelines, salt marshes, gators, migratory birds, and Spanish moss. Five-star accommodations: The Sanctuary Hotel earns a spot on anyone’s list of fave places to chill. And history: Remember the 1991 “War by the Shore?” This year, the resort will host the PGA Championship and the world will fall in love with Kiawah all over again. The resort’s Ocean Course is world-class, a Pete Dye-designed gem that will test the mettle of any player, especially when the wind kicks up. And you simply haven’t lived until you’ve sampled their take on classic shrimp and grits at The Jasmine Porch restaurant.

—David DeSmith, daviddesmith.com

6) The Boulders

Arizona’s High Sonoran Desert would seem an unlikely place to build a golf resort. But The Boulders in North Scottsdale, which opened in 1985 as a Rockresort, demonstrated that “understated perfection in an unspoiled, beautiful place” could be achieved on an inhospitable landscape. Dotting the site are enormous tawny boulders that spewed from a crack in the earth eons ago. They inspired the design of the main lodge and casitas, which blend seamlessly into the granitic setting; and the resort’s two target-style courses, each designed by Jay Morrish to immerse players in one of the world’s richest deserts. The Hohokam, the ancient Indians who built a sophisticated network of canals to irrigate their crops in southern Arizona, did no better at camouflaging their desert dwellings than did the developers of The Boulders. Now a Waldorf Astoria resort, the creature comforts at The Boulders are a match for its otherworldly setting.

—Brian McCallen, brianmccallen.com

7) Princeville

No doubt there are as many tests for resort superiority as there are great resorts. One that comes to mind in recalling Princeville at Hanalei, on Kauai’s North Shore, is indoor-outdoor duality: Are the accommodations entrancing enough to make you regret not being able to spend more time there, or are they more like a foil for the golf and other natural splendor of the destination? You’d think in a setting proximate to the resort’s two great golf courses, as well as geological wonders like Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast, the answer would be obvious. But the single most memorable snapshot from our stay at Princeville is the mesmerizing view of Hanalei Bay from the window in our suite next to a mammoth whirlpool bath. Sure, it’s easy to lose yourself playing the visually stunning but very difficult Prince Course, the more user-friendly Makai Course, or the nine-hole Woods Course, but first you have to get out of that tub. It’s an image that’s stuck with me for the many years since my last visit, during which the entire property’s been extensively renovated.

—Tom Harack, tomharack.com

8) Doral Golf Resort & Spa
Doral isn’t just the Blue Monster. It is a lot more, making it one of America’s best resorts, not just golf resorts. Golf fans have 50 years of memories from the PGA Tour, challenging designer Dick Wilson’s south Florida gem that now hosts the WGC-Cadillac Championship. And even though three years ago the course was rebranded the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, it’s still The Blue Monster. The Donald purchased Doral this year for $150 million. He plans to put in $200 million more to rework the entire facility and has tapped Olympic architect Gil Hanse specifically for the Blue Monster. In addition, Doral’s ambiance and amenities, including the spa, are world class. The restaurants are superb with something for every taste including a sports bar, the Bossa Nova eatery, and, well, you get the idea. Just thinking about them makes my mouth water. The old saying may be, “Man cannot live by golf alone.” Doral fulfils all those other needs very well.

—Ed Travis, edtravisgolf.com

9) Reynolds Plantation

The true test of any golf resort is how much you hate to leave. Reynolds Plantation, nestled deep in historical significance and Georgia pines near bustling Atlanta, compels you to stay and play….and play. With six designer courses crafted by Nicklaus, Fazio, Engh, and others, 108 holes in pristine condition meander throughout 16,000 acres of elevations, wetlands, woodlands, and water. Factor in Lake Oconee with unparalleled fishing and water sports and you may stay forever, which is preferable because rentable homesite developments and the Five-Diamond Ritz-Carlton rarely infringe on the pastoral serenity of course routings. Should you need game improvement, Reynolds Golf Academy practically guarantees handicap drops. Become a “professional-for-a-day” through the TaylorMade Tour Experience and receive high-tech personal analysis and custom-fitted equipment, delivered the next day; grab those unspoiled clubs for an early-morning boat ride to Nicklaus’ Great Waters, attempt top-100 instructor Charlie King’s Red Zone Challenge, relax with sunset bass fishing, and enjoy dinner at the aptly named Linger Longer Steakhouse. The perfect day… until tomorrow.

—Janina Jacobs, janinajacobs.com

10) Sunriver

In 1965, a visionary named John Gray bought a 4,000-acre WWII army base along the Deschutes River south of Bend, Oregon, and turned it into a destination resort he called Sunriver. He erred in hiring a local golf pro to design its first course, but more recently, John Fought remedied that by designing a new course on the site, named The Meadows, worthy of its setting and its provenance. Robert Trent Jones, Jr, designed the resort’s second course, now called The Woodlands, setting a standard for excellence that challenged a generation of developers in central Oregon to try to do as well. In 1995, Bob Cupp, who had demonstrated his design chops at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, crafted the third Sunriver course, Crosswater, a brilliant amalgam of strategic design and environmental restoration. No desert course in the world is more beautiful or as tranquil, especially one capable of hosting a Champions Tour major, as Crosswater has. Sunriver not only inspired the development of a golfing tourism Mecca that now boasts more than 20 courses, it formed a bridge to Bandon Dunes, keeping the idea of high-quality destination golf alive in an area known more for rodeos, timber sports, and fly-fishing than tees and greens.

—John Strawn, johnstrawn.com

A very definite “yes,” according to the writers at The A Position, the web’s top site for golf and travel. There are many—very many!—outstanding courses that would give the world’s best golfers a stiff challenge.

The members of The A Position were polled for their pick of the best course to never host an Open Championship, an important distinction as it forces out great past venues such as Scotland’s Prestwick, England’s Royal Cinque Ports and Prince’s, and Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush.

The A Position’s suggestions—a brilliant baker’s dozen—are a quirky lot, spread across Britain and into Ireland. But they have a few things in common, most notably that they are all on water and are true links or links-style courses, just like the courses in the existing rota. It is the writers’ belief that only a true seaside layout is a proper test for such a venerable championship.

Something else they all have in common? They can all be played by the traveling golfer (with some advance planning, of course). And according to The A Position, are experiences not to be missed.

Maybe the world’s best golfers will be so lucky—some day.

Cruden Bay (above) is not merely the most gorgeous, if relatively unknown, golf course in the British Isles capable of hosting an Open Championship. Rather, Cruden Bay is plainly and simply the most magical golf course in the world that somehow remains almost totally unfamiliar to even the most ardent golfer. Its anonymity results not from its newness, as golf was played in the village of the same name as early as 1791, and the links was originally designed by Old Tom Morris and opened in 1899. Instead, part of Cruden Bay’s charm comes from its secluded locale 23 twisting miles from Aberdeen near a sleepy town called Aberdeenshire that is nearly as challenging to reach as it is to say aloud. Yet those who make the homage discover a masterpiece that quietly meanders in a figure eight along the North Sea through massive sand dunes veiling one brilliant hole from the next. Only there can one fully appreciate how the distant outline of Slains Castle provided Bram Stoker’s inspiration for “Dracula;” and why Pete Dye calls Cruden Bay, along with Prestwick, his favorite in Scotland: Mystery with a splendid mix of architectural wonder.
—Brad King, bradkingwrites.com

Since it is too hard for me, it should be just right for the good players. But seriously, while Royal County Down makes everyone’s Top 10 in the world list, from an architectural point of view it is surely number one. It requires you to actually hit all kinds of differently shaped shots, something few courses ask—high, low, left to right, and vice versa. It also requires accuracy: When caddies say hit it over the aiming rock on the many blind tee shots, they mean over the rock, not a yard right of the rock. “Pretty good” shots don’t work here; good ones do. There’s really nothing like it in golf. And it doesn’t hurt that it is epically, stunningly gorgeous, with long coastal exposure, towering dunes, views to the Mountains of Mourne, and, in season, the course is alive with purple heather and blazing yellow gorse. There is a reason why almost every other great course has a painting of RCD hanging in its clubhouse.
—Larry Olmsted, larrygolfstheworld.com

I know what you’re thinking: Anything done by The Donald, least of all in his distant ancestral home, can’t be worth a dime, much less the Open Championship. But on a spectacular site boasting some of the biggest dunes in Britain, Trump gave third-generation architect Martin Hawtree carte blanche to fashion a stunning, grand-scale links with a view of the sea from nearly every hole. Trump International Golf Links is tucked away in Scotland’s northeast corner, the Aberdeen area known for its fierce winds and gloomy weather. But no matter. Trump’s 2,000-acre development has plenty of room to accommodate a major event. The layout itself, stretching to over 7,400 yards and parted through massive, bearded dunes, is as daunting as any links on the Open rota. Trump may not live long enough to see the Claret Jug hoisted at “the world’s greatest golf course,” as he calls it, but this epic links is more than good enough to test the world’s best players.

—Brian McCallen, brianmccallen.com

First, the Open Championship should always be played on a links course in Scotland, where the game began; forget these polite and political nods to heathland and parkland layouts in England or Wales. Second, the course should be at least 100 years old, since the event itself is more than 150. Last, to prove that modern technology has not tamed the elements of sand, sea, wind, rain, and fescue that make Scottish golf the ground-loving game that it is, the event should be staged on a course that’s old-school in length, which is to say under 6,000 yards, and in a locale where the ocean breeze could blow hawks out of the sky. So what if the pros shoot in the 50s, and what could be more fun to watch? All of which points to The Crail Golfing Society’s most excellent and demure Balcomie Links (above)—laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1895, and located a few miles up the road from St. Andrews—as the most likely candidate. Infrastructure such as hotels and restaurants are already in place at the nearby Home of Golf, there’s plenty of room for parking and staging on Crail’s second golf course, and Balcomie’s signature stone boathouse will look brilliant as a logo.
—Jeff Wallach, jeffwallach.com

“It doesn’t overawe you with its length. It supplies plenty of gorseless Lebensraum to err in. It keeps you on your toes by making it clear from the outset that it rewards only shots that have been well thought out and well executed. And it encourages you to hit decisive shots by providing vigorous, close-cropped turf, on which the ball sits up beautifully, and very true greens, which are a joy to putt. In a word, I found Dornoch (left) all I had hoped it would be—a thoroughly modern old links with that rare equipoise of charm and character that only the great courses possess.” Herbert Warren Wind wrote that in 1964. Nothing has changed but the breadth of Royal Dornoch’s renown. Golf Magazine ranks it #15 in the world. Tom Watson went there to play one round after winning the 1981 Open, and stayed for 54 holes of “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course.” Donald Ross learned the game there. If it is too far north with too-iffy weather for the R&A to bring an Open, it’s the R&A’s loss, and golf’s.
—Jeff Neuman, neumanprose.com

Imagine a spectacular expansive 20-hole Irish links course with plenty of muscle designed by veteran golf writer Pat Ruddy. Opened in 1993, this test has been lovingly refined since. That would be The European Club (left). Ranked 14th in the British Isles, it is located on Ireland’s East Coast about 40 miles south of Dublin. The layout boasts three of the world’s best holes (par-four 7th, par-five 13th, and par-three 14th) and a healthy supporting cast to test the world’s finest players. You will also find several bunkers reinforced by railroad ties a la some of the older Scottish tracks. The course is set on a sandbank of dunes and is anything but tedious as it is unspoiled with nothing but gorgeous vistas. It may well be the last great links course ever built in Ireland and would make for a splendid Open site. By the way, Tiger Woods is the course record-holder with a mere 67.
—Bob Fagan, robertfagan.com

Dublin’s Portmarnock, a classic links built on land originally owned by the whiskey distiller John Jameson, should host an Open Championship because the peninsula on which it sits, tucked between the Velvet Strand and Baldoyle Bay, evokes the primordial linksland of St Andrews. And it was praised by no less than Bernard Darwin, who called it “a good, long, bold course, with plenty of natural features”—his highest compliment. And it would bring the Open to Dublin, whose people have proven their resilience again and again by nurturing a culture that takes life seriously, forging an attitude that congeals in that wondrous Irish social space, the pub, where all pretensions dissolve. And it was the home course—literally, because he was raised on the grounds—of the greatest of all Irish amateur golfers, Joe Carr, who won three British Amateurs and clusters of Irish championships, captained two Walker Cup teams, and was the first Irish Captain of the R&A. And because Portmarnock needs a graceful way to shed its men-only policy, which it clings to with the stubborn tenacity that has served the Irish well in many instances but is imprudent here. Negotiating with the R&A for an Open would let the members off the hook by allowing them to insist that abandoning their policy was a reluctant concession undertaken only so the club could venerate Carr’s memory.

—John Strawn, johnstrawn.com

In 1933, 73 years after the inaugural Open Championship at Prestwick, R&A officials scouted a noble Welsh course and recommended alterations for possible inclusion in the Open rota. WW II interrupted, and decades later Royal Porthcawl (above) patiently awaits its invitation. No stranger to major tournaments, the course routing encompasses every direction and thus the sea is visible from each hole; competitors deal with its windy, variable wrath on this exposed jut of land on Wales’ southwestern coast. Architect Tom Doak thinks it a “more likely prospect for really severe weather than any of the championship links except Turnberry.” And really, don’t we watch The Open to see great players twist and turn in the elements? Wicked slopes and deep pot bunkers protect greens and fairways alike. Strong closing holes add tense drama; unforgiving gorse will swallow poorly calculated drives on 18. Blame panoramic views and prevailing gusts off Swansea Bay for that distraction. The Senior Open arrives here in 2014. A trial run, perhaps, before the younger chaps have a go?

—Janina Jacobs, janinajacobs.com

When planning a trip for a golf student’s 50th birthday party, I had read glowing reviews of Kingsbarns, a relatively new course on the ocean seven miles from St. Andrews. While it may not be steeped in history like St. Andrews, it’s high on everyone’s list as one of the most beautiful golf settings in the world. You don’t need a camera at the Old Course—at least not after the obligatory first-tee photo with the clubhouse in the background—but you do at Kingsbarns, for nearly every hole: All 18 greens and 18 tees offer a view, usually memorable, of the North Sea and a generally rocky tidal coastline. Yet what is most striking is the design, the marriage of the layout to a gently sloping piece of land flawless. The finishing hole leaves a downhill lie on the second shot across the burn to a two-level green, providing great action for viewers, comfortably nestled in at beautiful clubhouse. Kingsbarns combines the rolling terrain and scenic views of Turnberry with the linksy charms of the Old Course. Good thing I put it on our itinerary.

—Roberto Borgatti, robertoborgatti.com

Royal Aberdeen (left) has existed on the edge of the city of Aberdeen, on the edge of the North Sea, and on the edge of hosting an Open Championship for the past 150 years. The sixth oldest golf club in the world hosted the 2005 Senior Open Championship in 2005 and last year, the Walker Cup. There is no doubt that the silky swells of Aberdeen’s front nine are among the very best links holes in existence. But with painstaking husbandry and several hole redesigns, the back nine lengthens and balances the course to make it the consummate golfing experience. Bernard Darwin wrote that Royal Aberdeen’s Balgownie course, “represented a huge gap in my golfing education…. much more than a good golf course, a noble links.” As Royal Aberdeen has evolved, especially over the past 10 years, as an Open Championship venue it would be a natural selection!

—David J Whyte, Go-Golf.tv

What do you need for an Open Championship venue? A links course more than 7,000 yards long, preferably one that has hosted important professional events before. Ample room for spectators and all the circus tents that accompany major golf events. Parking nearby. And hotels for the players and staff to stay in. These requirements rule out 90% of all possible courses, but not Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland. Dundonald ticks all these boxes plus one: it’s a great golf course. This Kyle Phillips-designed track, which sits just across the railway tracks from Western Gailes GC, would provide a good, stern test for today’s pros. Plenty of length, wonderfully challenging green complexes and putting surfaces, lots of variety, and just enough gorse to make those frantic searches for stray balls dramatic. I think Dundonald is one of the most underrated courses in Scotland. The R&A should consider it.

—David DeSmith, daviddesmith.com

The official purpose of the Open Championship is, of course, to identify the year’s champion golfer. But like every major sporting event—the Olympics, Ryder Cup, World Cup—a salutary byproduct is flattering exposure for the venue and its surroundings. And this writer can attest that there’s no more eye-popping promo on the planet than to arrive via helicopter at Old Head Golf Links (above), in Kinsale, Ireland. Talk about an opening sequence for television coverage: a two-mile-long peninsula with 300-foot cliffs jutting into the Atlantic. Okay, it’s true that Old Head’s dramatic topography also may disqualify it as an Open site: The property’s 220 acres—180 of which are occupied by the course, most of the remaining 40 by ecologically sensitive terrain—probably couldn’t support the corporate hospitality and other traffic integral to the festivities. Still, Old Head, first opened in 1997, could counterbalance the game’s occasionally hidebound image. Kinsale, Ireland’s foodie capital, would do the same on the culinary front.

—Tom Harack, tomharack.com

Returning recently to Western Gailes Golf Club (above) after a 15-year absence, I was reminded that this wonderful course has all the charms of the famous Open venues, just on a slightly more modest scale. It has the uniquely British private-club atmosphere of a Muirfield, and, celebrating its 115^th anniversary this year, a healthy dose of tradition; but it’s not nearly as snooty even if the clubhouse is well stocked with its own bounty of trophies. It has the adjacent railroad line of a Prestwick, the Firth of Clyde-side locale of a Turnberry and Troon, the dunes of a St. George’s, and the natural provenance of a St. Andrews. Plus it boasts links golf at its best, especially the 5^th through 13^th holes, running along the shore and the sandy, grass-covered mounds. Changing direction at 14 for the hard slog home guarantees a different wind and the need to hitch up one’s pants (quite possibly under rainwear) and find another gear. Y’know what? Let the R&A pass on Western Gailes; the rest of us shouldn’t.

—James A. Frank, jimgolfrank.com

When the world’s best golfers begin playing the 112^th U.S. Open next week at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, they will be returning to the site of the 8^th best Open of all time. Or so say the writers at The A Position.

The 1955 Open, a legendary battle between four-time victor Ben Hogan and no-name club professional Jack Fleck, was picked by The A Position as number eight of the “10 Best U.S. Opens Of All Time.” The A Position’s roster of writers was polled for their favorites, the votes tabulated, and the Top 10 chosen.

Each of the 10, beginning with the 1913 Open—in which an unknown American youth broke the British stranglehold on golf—is remembered for its triumph or tragedy, as well as its significance to the game’s history and traditions. The 10 Best Opens go back to the game’s earliest days in this country, and fall as recently as 2008, when Tiger Woods, playing on a broken leg, had to withstand a fifth-round playoff to win.

Now the golf world waits to see if this year’s staging at Olympic will be an Open for the ages. Based on the 10 Best list as chosen by The A Position, it’s going to have to be something very special to make the list.

The 10 Best U.S. Opens Of All Time are…

1) 1913. The outcome, predicted by no one, remains improbable even in retrospect. Yet almost 100 years ago a 20-year-old amateur outpaced the field, a triumph that galvanized the growth and democratization of the U.S. game. The expected storyline for the 1913 U.S. Open was continued British dominance, particularly with greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray playing. From seemingly nowhere—although he was the reigning Massachusetts Amateur Champ—came Francis Ouimet, who lived across the street and had caddied at the private Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, site of the Open. After two rounds Ouimet was tied with Walter Hagen, trailing Ray by two, Vardon by four. After the third, Vardon, Ray, and Ouimet were deadlocked. And so it remained after the fourth, leading to a nail-biting 18-hole playoff. After his victory—by five strokes over Vardon, six over Ray—Ouimet was carried away on the crowd’s shoulders and into the ages.

—Tom Bedell, tombedell.com

2) 2000. There are people who think that Rory McIlroy’s victory in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club was the most dominant in U.S. Open history. These people are ignorant. They are ignorant of recent history. True, McIlroy led after every round and won by 8 shots with a 16-under total. That is strong. It’s just not even in the same league as Tiger Woods in 2000 at Pebble Beach. Tiger led every round and shot 12-under par in brutal conditions. Rory was one of 20 players under par. Tiger won by 15 shots and was the only player under par! Tiger shot the low round of the day three of the four rounds at Pebble Beach. His second round 69 was one of only two rounds in the 60s. Tiger buried them all in a way that Rory never will.

—Casey Alexander, caseyalexandergolf.com

3) 1982. As television golf commentator Jack Whitaker was practically handing Jack Nicklaus his fifth U.S. Open during post-round interviews at Pebble Beach, back on 17 Tom Watson wasn’t quite finished. Prior to the tournament, Watson pegged his chances of winning at about one in a million. Admittedly “swinging awful,” he’d fought back with stellar chipping and putting. Tied with Nicklaus after bogeying 16, Watson hooked his 2-iron on the 209-yard par-3 into notoriously thick fescue. Nicklaus watched the monitor and thought, “certain bogey, I win.” Watson’s legendary caddie, the late Bruce Edwards, eyed the impossibly delicate 16-foot chip and said, “Get it close.” Watson countered, “I’m not going to get it close. I’m going to make it!” Watson slam-dunked, danced, and then earned the title he most coveted. “That shot meant more to me than any golf shot I ever made,” Watson said in 1982. Three decades later, nothing has changed and Watson still regards that victory as his most precious of eight majors, including five British Opens.

—Janina Jacobs, janinajacobs.com

4) 1950. The saga of the most dramatic U.S. Open ever played, the 50th in 1950 at Merion Golf Club, began in the fog outside Van Horn, Texas, on February 2, 1949 when a bus struck Ben Hogan’s car head-on. Miraculously Hogan wasn’t killed but he did suffer what were called career-ending injuries. Hogan didn’t believe his career was over and after months recuperating he was able to play on legs so weak he had to soak them daily in long hot baths and tape from ankle to hip to get around 18 holes. Pundits opined he could totter around perhaps for one round but never the two required on the final day of an Open. Hogan proved them wrong. His determination and guts carried him for not only four rounds but a playoff fifth against George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum. The playoff wasn’t even close: Hogan 69, Mangrum 73, and Fazio 75.

—Ed Travis, edtravisgolf.com

5) 2008. I literally wrote the book on Ben Hogan winning the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion (Miracle at Merion), but to me that championship was topped by Tiger Woods’ triumph in 2008 at Torrey Pines. The reason: more golf heroics and drama at Torrey, where Woods holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, then birdied the 18th playoff hole to force sudden death, which he won. Not to mention his two eagles and holed bunker shot on the back nine of the third round and runner-up Rocco Mediate’s three straight birdies to take the lead on the back nine of the playoff. In 1950, the field went backward on the final day, most of the contenders faltering on the front nine and Hogan on the back. Hogan and Woods both overcame leg problems as they limped to victory; the Hawk gets bonus points for making it through a 36-hole final day of regulation, but Woods’s physical situation was more acute at the time as he needed major surgery on his knee immediately after the championship.

—David Barrett, davidhbarrett.com

6) 1960. Did three days in Denver really give birth to The King and the Grand Slam, while providing Hogan’s Last Chance and Jack’s Coming-Out Party as well? Yes, indeed they did. Cherry Hills made Arnold Palmer into ARNOLD PALMER. Starting the final round seven back, he drove the 346-yard first hole—the signature shot of his career; made six birdies on the first seven holes; and charged to a 65, cementing his reputation for last-round heroics. Whom did he beat? It came down to two guys playing just ahead of Arnie: Ben Hogan, tied for the lead on 17 when he went for a front pin and dumped his approach in the water; and U.S. Amateur champ Jack Nicklaus, who bogeyed 18 when a birdie would have forced a playoff. Palmer. Hogan. Nicklaus. Who could ask for anything more? (A month later, Masters and U.S. Open in hand and traveling to his first British Open, Palmer mused that a win at St. Andrews and then at the PGA would be a modern equivalent of Bobby Jones’s Grand Slam. The idea took hold immediately and has held sway ever since.)

—Jeff Neuman, neumanprose.com

7) 1999. How can anyone forget the 1999 Open Championship at Pinehurst, if only because of Payne Stewart’s winning celebratory pose after sinking an 18-foot putt on the final hole, that indelible image of his right fist thrust into the air and leg kicked out behind, wearing Plus Fours and the old-style golf cap? That “One Moment in Time” is frozen in a life-size bronze sculpture behind the 18th green at Pinehurst No. 2. But just as important is the context. This was Stewart’s second Open title and it came as the once hyper and arrogant 42-year-old had clearly reformed. He started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson, whose wife Amy was due to give birth to their first child any moment. As memorable as the pose was Stewart consoling a disappointed Mickelson, saying, “You’re going to be a father.” When Stewart died just four months later in a plane crash, 1999 became the Open for the ages.

—Jay Stuller, jaystuller.com

8) 1955. Rooting for the underdog is a reflexive sentiment among many sports fans. But the “democratic” appeal of U.S. Open championships—where amateurs and club pros qualify and compete alongside the world’s greatest professionals—fosters the hope, almost always illusory, that a complete no-name can win it all. That’s what makes the 1955 edition, coincidentally also played at this year’s U.S. Open venue, The Olympic Club in San Francisco, among the greatest ever. Jack Fleck, an unheralded young pro from Iowa, made up a nine-shot deficit over three rounds—still a tournament record—including a pressure birdie putt on the final hole of regulation play. The following day, he defeated four-time champion Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff, 69 to 72. The stats, though, while amazing, can’t possibly capture all the intrigue of the tournament’s multiple back stories. It was Cinderella on steroids. Fortunately, a just-released book—The Longest Shot: Jack Fleck, Ben Hogan and Pro Golf’s Greatest Upset at the 1955 U.S. Open, by Neil Sagebeil—does.

—Tom Harack, tomharack.com

9) 1971. The 1971 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, which will be hosting the event again next year, stands out as one of my favorites because that is when I decided to become a golf writer and started following the story of how Lee Trevino finally got a chance to show off his self-taught game on the big stage. While some of my fellow scribes wrote that it was an act of gamesmanship when Trevino pulled a rubber snake out of his bag—something he might have tried earlier in money matches—on the first tee of an 18-hole playoff with Jack Nicklaus, it turned out Nicklaus asked him to do it and enjoyed a laugh with the rest of the fans. Nicklaus was not laughing later when Trevino prevailed, 68-71, for his second Open, leaving Nicklaus a runner-up again. Later in 1971, Trevino claimed both the British Open and the Canadian Open, the first time it had been done, and ended up with six titles and player of the year honors plus athlete of the year by the Associated Press.

—James McAfee, jamesamcafee.com

10) 1974. I was a callow youth when I, and a couple of fellow caddies at Westchester CC, hopped the fence at nearby Winged Foot to see if the rumors about the 1974 U.S. Open were true. Even as hardened golf skeptics, we were taken aback. There was the impressive wood-and-stone clubhouse. The charged air of a Major. And the strained faces of the players. Except for Tom Watson, a Tom Sawyer in spikes who didn’t win but clearly had the game and heart for big things. As for the West Course, it was overtly cruel and torturous. Single-file fairways. Rock-hard greens. And of course the rough, the thickest, most punishing gunch the world has ever seen. Aptly chronicled as “The Massacre at Winged Foot,” the ’74 Open was the USGA’s kick to the shins of the world’s best players. Hale Irwin won with a 72-hole total of 287, seven over par.

—Brian McCallen, brianmccallen.com

I look at driving ranges as sort of “proving grounds” for people either real new to the game or folks who are infrequent players wanting to knock the rust off of their clubs. Husbands and wives, a father and his son or daughter or 2 friends that are offering up their version of what you are doing wrong and how to correct it.  I have overheard some golf theories that must have originated somewhere in outer space. I have seen golf swings that are beyond description and these are the same people giving others advise as to how they can break 90 if they just do this and just do that.

All of these folks mean well…they just don’t know any better. They don’t realize that in the long run they are doing a big disservice to whoever they are trying to help. It gets even better because sooner or later the conversation turns to golf equipment. Everyone is an expert when it comes to equipment at the driving range. You have to wonder, though, when the person offering advise as to your driver is using something made right after World War 1…with the headcover to prove it. Again they mean well but if the truth be known, these folks wouldn’t know a cavity back club from a forged club to a blade.

After I hit balls for a while, I usually stop and rest so that I can have the opportunity to sit near by and hear these folks talk about Tour professionals and how they swing. “Just swing like Tiger, Fred. All you need to do is turn your hips a little faster.” Keep in mind Fred is on Social Security. Another one of my favorite lines that I hear, coming from both men and women is, ” Why do all my clubs go the same distance, honey?” The answer is usually so protracted and gibberish that I almost forget to hit the rest of my bucket.

Come on folks! The rule is: If you can’t walk the walk, shut the hell up! Tell your partner that if they are somewhat serious about the game and want to stay in it, go see a good teaching professional. By the way, the fellow next to me was done hitting balls and asked someone coming by if he “wanted to play here.” Really?

Dennis H. Silvers