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Van's Top 10
New Public Courses
Posted: Tuesday December 04, 2001 1:28 PM
By Gary Van Sicle
Golf courses are like mountains: There's always one more to conquer. In the last
year 524 tracks, 87% of them public, opened in the U.S. Here are my favorites
from that group, plus one from
overseas.
1. Pacific Dunes
Bandon, Ore.
Set hard by the Pacific 236 miles south of
Portland, complete with cliffs and sandy blowouts, this course feels like
Ireland. Quirky (three par-5s on the back nine), with seven oceanfront holes,
Pacific Dunes offers an added bonus for purists: No motorized carts permitted.
Greens fee: $50 to
$150.
2. Doonbeg Golf Club
Doonbeg, Ireland
For a new links experience, try
this brute, which will be Greg Norman's Mona Lisa when it opens to the public
next April. Built on a 1 1/2-mile stretch of beach along Doughmore Bay on
Ireland's western coast, Doonbeg is a 6,800-yard course that winds between
natural dunes as high as 100 feet. Greens fee:
$165.
3. Golf Club at Redlands Mesa
Grand Junction, Colo.
There's nothing like
standing on the 1st tee at sunrise and watching the Colorado National Monument,
a sprawling collection of sandstone monoliths and deep canyons, turn amber and
gold. Watch for falling golfers from the rocky pinnacle that's the tee -- and
150 feet above the green -- at the 218-yard 17th. Getting down in three is
easier than getting down from this box. Greens fee: $39 to
$50.
4. Augusta Pines
Spring, Texas
The 2nd hole at Augusta Pines is similar
to the 13th at Augusta National, except it doglegs to the right. The Pines also
has versions of the National's 11th, 12th and 15th holes. The second nine
has a TPC feel. Stop me if you've heard this: The 17th is a par-3 with an island
green. Greens fee: $67 to
$85.
5. Thunderbirds Golf Club
Phoenix
T-Birds has big, sweeping fairways and
awe-inspiring views of Camelback Mountain and Squaw Peak. The par-3 17th, a
144-yarder in a box canyon, is a beauty, and the 9th and 18th holes share a
double green guarded by water. Greens fee: $39 to
$138.
6. Architects Golf Club
Lopatcong, N.J.
A homage to classic designers Old
Tom Morris, Donald Ross, A.W. Tillinghast and others, each hole is patterned
after the work of one of the masters. Ross is the only honoree with two holes,
including the 9th, a 447-yard uphill par-4 with a lake in front of a two-tiered
green. Greens fee: $65 to
$85.
7. Otsego Club, The Tribute Course
Gaylord, Mich.
Think big, really big.
The Tribute's secluded, tree-lined holes ramble over 1,100 acres, and the course
has almost seven miles of cart paths. On the 3rd hole the tee overlooks the
Sturgeon River Valley and the fairway dives 140 feet through hardwood forest
into wetlands below. Greens fee:
$105.
8. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club
Fountain Hills, Ariz.
The first 18 at We-Ko-Pa, a
sprawling development 10 miles east of Scottsdale on the Fort McDowell
Yavapai Nation, is set to open to the public next week. There's already a
casino, and plans call for a second 18 and a resort. Greens fee: $55 to
$165.
9. Raptor Bay Golf Club
Bonita Springs, Fla.
Are U-turns legal in
Florida? Raymond Floyd, who was ripped for adding new sand bunkers and enlarging
the existing ones at Doral's Blue Monster, made a U-turn at Raptor Bay. The
course has no sand bunkers, only waste areas filled with crushed coquina shells.
With lots of elevated greens and swales, Raymundo would like to introduce you to
the art of chipping. Greens fee: $110 to
$190.
10. The Glen Club
Glenview, Ill.
The old Glenview Naval Air Base course
was as flat as a runway. After pouring in $27 million, adding 4,000 trees and
moving 2.4 million cubic yards of earth, the Tom Fazio design has the best
par-3s in the state and is home to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. Greens fee:
$110 to
$135.
Issue date: December 10, 2001
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