Move over, Augusta. You’ve been replaced in the prime position of America’s Top 100 Golf Courses.
Pine Valley is now the nation’s No. 1 links destination, according to Golf Digest’s annual rankings.
Described by the magazine as a “genuine original” that blends penal, heroic and strategic designs from hole to hole, the New Jersey course switched spots with previously top-rated Augusta, which had been perched atop the rankings since 2008.
This is the third time Pine Valley has been the king of the hill since the rankings began in 1966, having previously been ranked No. 1 from 1985-2000 and then again from 2003-08.
The rest of the top 10 includes:
3. Pebble Beach’s Cypress Point Club; 4. Shinnecock Hills Golf Course (Southampton, N.Y.); 5. Oakmont Country Club (Oakmont, Pa.); 6. Merion Golf Course East (Ardmore, Pa.); 7. Pebble Beach Golf Links (Pebble Beach, Calif.); 8. Winged Foot Golf Course West (Mamaroneck, N.Y.); 9. Sand Hills Golf Course (Mullen, Neb.); and 10. Fishers Island Club (Fishers Island, N.Y.).
Courses to crack the Top 100 list for the first time: 27. Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Course (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho); 45. Pikewood National Golf Course (Morgantown, W. Va.); 49. Old Macdonald (Bandon, Ore.); 59. Baltusrol Golf Course Upper (Springfield, N.J.); 69. Quaker Ridge Golf Course (Scarsdale, N.Y.); 75. Whispering Pines Golf Course (Trinity, Texas); 93. The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort (French Lick, Ind.); 98. Grandfather Golf & Country Club (Linville, N.C.).
Golf Digest panelists score the courses on seven criteria: shot values (double weighted), resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability, aesthetics, conditioning and ambience.