“The only world class courses built between 1949 & 1995 are those designed by Pete Dye”
Truth or Myth?
“The only world class courses built between 1949 & 1995 are those designed by Pete Dye”
Truth or Myth?
| Atlantic |
| Bellerive |
| Black Diamond Ranch (Quarry) |
| Blackwolf Run (River) |
| Butler National |
| Cabo del Sol (Ocean) |
| Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) |
| Castle Pines |
| Caves Valley |
| Cog Hill (Dubsdread) |
| Crooked Stick |
| Desert Forest |
| Double Eagle |
| European Club |
| Forest Highlands (Canyon) |
| Harbour Town |
| Hazeltine National |
| Jupiter Hills (Hills) |
| Kiawah Island (Ocean) |
| Loch Lomond |
| Long Cove |
| Mauna Kea |
| Monterey Peninsula (Shore) |
| Muirfield Village |
| Ocean Forest |
| Peachtree |
| Pete Dye |
| Sand Hills |
| Shadow Creek |
| Spyglass Hill |
| The Golf Club |
| The Honors Course |
| Torrey Pines (South) |
| TPC at Sawgrass (Stadium) |
| Trump National Doral (Blue Monster) |
| Valderrama |
| Wade Hampton |
| Waterville |
| World Woods (Pine Barrens) |
“The only world class courses built between 1949 & 1995 are those designed by Pete Dye”Be interesting to list all the courses built during this period by designer and then analyse which of them folks contributing herein have a high or medium or poor regard for or indeed consider to be in the words of the OP ‘world class’.
Truth or Myth?
“The only world class courses built between 1949 & 1995 are those designed by Pete Dye”
Truth or Myth?
The myth is busted, but let's not get carried away. That roughly 50 year period after the war didn't cover itself in glory compared to the previous 45 years and the post 35 years. There was opportunity galore and what was produced is as a lot relatively disappointing not only for what was produced, but for what was done (or not done due to lack of maintenance) to classic courses.To put it another way, in vogue style is cyclical.
Ciao
Post-War era courses are entering an age that is now equal to the golden age courses when their revival began 30 years ago. Don't be surprised if in the next 10-15 years interest in Post-War courses peaks and it's own restoration movement takes off.
Courses that open during that period that might have been ranked:
Atlantic Bellerive Black Diamond Ranch (Quarry) Blackwolf Run (River) Butler National Cabo del Sol (Ocean) Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) Castle Pines Caves Valley Cog Hill (Dubsdread) Crooked Stick Desert Forest Double Eagle European Club Forest Highlands (Canyon) Harbour Town Hazeltine National Jupiter Hills (Hills) Kiawah Island (Ocean) Loch Lomond Long Cove Mauna Kea Monterey Peninsula (Shore) Muirfield Village Ocean Forest Peachtree Pete Dye Sand Hills Shadow Creek Spyglass Hill The Golf Club The Honors Course Torrey Pines (South) TPC at Sawgrass (Stadium) Trump National Doral (Blue Monster) Valderrama Wade Hampton Waterville World Woods (Pine Barrens)
The irony is that it's the 'Dark Ages' only for those same kind of well-travelled-and-rating-inclined golfers as the ones who originally compiled a list of 'America's 200 Toughest Courses', for Golf Digest in the 1960s.
One of Ran's mid 60s antecedents worked to ensure that courses like Firestone were featured on that list, and his many acolytes agreed with him and celebrated its inclusion; but some 40 years later, after assuming the mantle of golf's enlightened man, Ran himself, now come of age, looked back at that time and those tastes with utter contempt, and consigned both his ancestor and the list to darkness and oblivion -- leaving only the acolyte-types alive and intact, ready to (lemming-like) follow their new leader.
Meanwhile, far from the centres of power and influence, in the flung-away places of the world, average golfers by the millions who were immune to the influence of conventional wisdom and indifferent about expert opinion played (and continue to play) literally thousands of modest and low-key and unknown golf courses designed & built during these same so-called Dark Ages -- the vast majority of which are c. 6100 yards long, and feature the wide fairways and gentle contours and open-fronted greens that allow for strategy and recovery and the ground game, and that make them playable for all levels of golfers.
So, the 'Dark Ages'? No -- no, for millions of average golfers like me there was and is no such thing. We are happy, in our ignorance, to simply play the game of golf, humbly accepting a golf course for what it is instead of always complaining about what it isn't. But for the cognoscenti of the world -- then and now, determined to stamp an era with their own seal of approval or disapproval -- they see precisely what they want to see, and hope to convince the rest of us that they are right!
The myth is busted, but let's not get carried away. That roughly 50 year period after the war didn't cover itself in glory compared to the previous 45 years and the post 35 years. There was opportunity galore and what was produced is as a lot relatively disappointing not only for what was produced, but for what was done (or not done due to lack of maintenance) to classic courses.To put it another way, in vogue style is cyclical.
Ciao
Post-War era courses are entering an age that is now equal to the golden age courses when their revival began 30 years ago. Don't be surprised if in the next 10-15 years interest in Post-War courses peaks and it's own restoration movement takes off.
Are they cheap and cheerful or expensive and so-so?
In other words, we have to consider brief and budget where we know it. Many quite good but not great courses were built in Britain during the period but very few of them set out with the sort of high-end build budget we’ve seen in the courses built in the last 25 years.
On the other hand, towards the end of the era, we did start to see high-budget courses being built in - say - Ireland that missed the mark because of design philosophy & style. Are these courses better than we give them credit for because they are currently out of favour? Or are they always going to be so-so? In Ireland, I veer to the latter. Elsewhere, I’m less sure.
Also site has to be considered. There was less emphasis on natural sites for golf during the “dark ages”. That is permanent, not to be overcome.