Category: Golfweeks Best

It’s official: 2026 Presidents Cup drops TPC Harding Park for Medinah No. 3

The PGA Tour announced that Medinah CC outside of Chicago will host the 16th playing of the Presidents Cup in 2026.

The PGA Tour on Friday made it official that the 2026 Presidents Cup will move to Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course.

The 16th Presidents Cup previously was slated for TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, site of this year’s PGA Championship, but shifts to Medinah outside Chicago. Medinah will become the fifth venue in the United States to host the Presidents Cup.

Medinah has hosted an array of elite championships through the years including the 2012 Ryder Cup, two PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens, the 1988 U.S. Senior Open, three Western Opens (BMW Championship) and a number of other professional championships. It most recently was on the world stage as site of the PGA Tour’s 2019 BMW Championship, one of three FedEx Cup Playoff events, won by Justin Thomas.

The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, where the Tiger Woods-led United States Team defeated Captain Ernie Els and the International Team in one of the closest finishes in Cup history, 16-14.

Tiger Woods and Webb Simpson on the first hole during the final round of the 2019 BMW Championship at Medinah No. 3 (Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)

“As the significance of the Presidents Cup continues to grow, we look forward to showcasing the 2026 event from one of the world’s great sporting and cosmopolitan cities in Chicago and a storied venue in Medinah Country Club,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a media release announcing the news. “One year ago, we saw an influx of great young talent on the International Team taking on a very experienced U.S. Team that resulted in a dramatic four days of competition for our fans throughout the world. I fully expect that competitive momentum to continue in the coming years.”

Medinah No. 3 originally was designed by Tom Bendelow and opened in 1928. It ranks No. 70 on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses list for all U.S. layouts built before 1960, and it ranks as No. 6 among Private Courses in Illinois.

No. 3 was renovated by Roger Packard in the 1980s and again by Rees Jones in 2002.

In advance of the 2026 Presidents Cup, Medinah No. 3 will receive another renovation from the golf course design firm of Ogilvy Cocking and Mead. Ogilvy would be Geoff Ogilvy, the former U.S. Open champion and Presidents Cup player who also served as a vice captain for the International Team in 2017 and 2019. He could be in line to serve as team captain in 2026.

Although an official announcement hasn’t been made, TPC Harding Park is expected to begin hosting an annual Tour event as soon as the 2021-22 season. News of Medinah’s role as venue for the 2026 Presidents Cup was first reported by Golf Channel.

Tournament dates for the 2026 Presidents Cup will be announced later.

Gil Hanse renovating Omni La Costa’s Champions Course before 2024 NCAA Championships

The course in Carlsbad has a long professional track record and will host the NCAA Championships for three years starting in 2024.

When the best college men’s and women’s players roll into Carlsbad, California, for the 2024 NCAA Championship, they will be greeted by a new Omni La Costa Resort and Spa’s Champions Course.

Gil Hanse is slated to renovate the course north of San Diego that originally was designed by Dick Wilson. The layout has a PGA Tour history dating back to 1969 and was host to the CBS Golf Classic in 1965.

The NCAA Championships for both men and women will be at the Raptor course at Grayhawk Golf Club in 2021-23. The tournaments had been scheduled for that facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2020, but the club’s three-year run was delayed a year because the championships were canceled in the wake of COVID-19.

Things then move farther west for the next three years, with La Costa scheduled to host the event from 2024 to 2026.

The 2024 NCAA Championships will be the first for men and women to be held at one course in consecutive weeks at a neutral site. The University of Texas will serve as the official host for both men and women, but no team will be allowed to play the Champions Course in the season before the championships.

The 2024 events also will be the first time the NCAA Championships have returned to Southern California since 2012 at Riviera Country Club.

Omni La Costa’s Champions Course in Carlsbad, California (Courtesy of Omni La Costa)

“We are thrilled that the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships will return to California in 2024,” Connie Hurlbut, senior associate commissioner at the West Coast Conference and chair of the NCAA Division I men’s golf committee, said in a media statement announcing the plans. “The collegiate golf community is excited about the opportunity to play La Costa as a neutral site for the championships, and we have complete confidence that it will prove to be a unique and challenging championship experience for all.”

Hanse has a well-respected track record of redesigns, renovations and restorations that include but certainly are not limited to Pinehurst No. 4 in North Carolina, the East and West courses at Winged Foot in New York and the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club. He and design partner Jim Wagner also have built the Olympic Golf Course in Brazil, Ohoopee Match Club in Georgia, Streamsong Black in Florida and the South Course at Los Angeles Country Club, among others.

Hanse and Wagner also are building the East Course at PGA Frisco, which will be the PGA of America’s new home in Texas. That course will be the site of the 2027 and 2034 PGA Championships.

“Our team is very excited to be a part of bringing Omni La Costa’s esteemed stature in American tournament golf into a new generation,” Hanse said in the media release about the renovation in Carlsbad. “Just as we did with the Olympic Course in Rio, we embrace collaborating with the NCAA on creating a course that is suitable for both top-tier men and women players as well as Omni La Costa’s members and resort guests.

“Bob and Blake Rowling (owners of Omni Hotels and Resorts) have tremendously high golf IQs. They understand what quality golf is and what it takes to make it a reality. Their support has been invaluable and motivates us to create something special here in this excellent Southern California landscape. It’s too soon to say if the characteristics will be more like a George Thomas Los Angeles Country Club, Bel Air or Riviera style or an Alister MacKenzie look, like at Valley Club of Montecito, or something else, but we’re looking forward to solving the puzzle out in the land.”

Omni La Costa also is home to the Legends Course, giving the facility 36 holes in all.

“The renovation that La Costa has committed to with Gil Hanse will make the Champions Course outstanding on many levels for our men’s and women’s student-athletes as well as for the membership there,” Julie Manning, executive associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Minnesota and chair of the NCAA Division I women’s golf committee, said in the media release. “Similar to what Gil was able to accomplish with the Brazilian Olympic course, the renovation at La Costa will provide a challenging but fair venue, with plenty of teeing grounds for both genders that will undoubtedly lead to outstanding play during each of the championships.”

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Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play 2020: South Dakota

Golf Club at Red Rock is No. 1 on the list of Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play 2020: South Dakota.

It comes as little surprise that South Dakota doesn’t have an overabundance of golf courses. With a population of under 900,000, the Mount Rushmore State has one of the least dense populations in the United States.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t worthy courses in South Dakota, of course.

Golfweek ranks courses by compiling the average ratings – on a points basis of 1 to 10 – of its more than 750 raters to create several industry-leading lists of courses, including the popular Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for facilities that allow non-member tee times. These generally are defined as courses accessible to resort guests or regular daily-fee players.

The Golf Club at Red Rock in Rapid City tops the list of Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play for South Dakota. Designed by course architect Ron Farris, Red Rock opened in 2002 and, starting at a base of 3,800 feet above sea level, features more than 200 feet of elevation changes and long views across the foothills of the Black Hills near the mouth of Red Rock Canyon.

Rapid City is also home to No. 2 on the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for South Dakota: Hart Ranch, designed by Patrick Wyss and opened in 1984. Nos. 3 and 4 on the state list, Prairie Green and Willow Run, are both in Sioux Falls. No. 5 is back in Rapid City at Meadowbrook.

Willow Run in South Dakota (Courtesy of Willow Run)

Golfweek’s Best also ranks private courses state by state, and the top-rated layout in South Dakota of any kind is the private Sutton Bay. Built atop wide-open bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, Sutton Bay was designed by Graham Marsh and opened in 2003. The course is not only No. 1 in South Dakota, it is No. 70 on Golfweek’s Best list for all modern courses built in or after 1960 in the U.S.

Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls is the No. 2-ranked private course in South Dakota, and Dakota Dunes Country Club – just across the state line from Sioux City, Iowa – is No. 3.

Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in South Dakota

1. Golf Club at Red Rock

Rapid City (m)

2. Hart Ranch

Rapid City (m)

3. Prairie Green

Sioux Falls (m)

4. Willow Run

Sioux Falls (m)

5. Meadowbrook

Rapid City (m)

Golfweek’s Best Private Courses 2020 in South Dakota

1. Sutton Bay

Agar (No. 70 m)

2. Minnehaha

Sioux Falls (c)

3. Dakota Dunes

Dakota Dunes (m)

(m): modern; (c): classic

Golfweek’s Best 2020

How we rate them

The members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged together to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in its state, or nationally, to produce the final rankings.

The Masters: What was the easiest hole in 2019?

Par is just a number when it comes to one of the par 5s at Augusta National, but this hole is a strategic masterpiece of risk vs. reward.

Contenders needing to make up ground in the Masters must be ready to attack No. 13, the easiest hole at Augusta National in the 2019 event.

No. 13 is a 510-yard par 5 that might be a par 5 in name alone. In reality, it might be bettered considered as more of a par 4 and a half. Last year it played more than half a stroke easier than par with a 4.47 average.

Historically, No. 13 had played to a 4.79 average before last year, which made it the second easiest hole in the Masters, trailing only No. 15 by 0.01 average strokes.

The 13th green during a practice round for the 2018 Masters at Augusta National (Michael Madrid/USA TODAY Sports)

There were 17 eagles, 158 birdies, 102 pars, 23 bogeys and four double bogeys or worse on No. 13 in 2019.

What that all means, really, is that the shortish hole named Azalea is a strategic masterpiece, regardless of what the par might be.

Masters: How to stream, watch on TV | Tiger’s history at Augusta

Players are forced to work a ball around the corner off the tee, avoiding trees, bushes and a creek to the left. They also can’t just blast away, because tee shots that don’t curve left to catch the hillside can easily run through the fairway into a stand of tall pine trees. If they do manage to sling a ball around the dogleg, most modern players then face a long or mid-iron off an uneven lie – ball above their feet while sloping downhill – to a green guarded by the tributary to Rae’s Creek. No easy task.

Tiger Woods in 2018 plays from the pine trees that wait through the fairway on No. 13 at Augusta National. (Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports

There’s concern that modern long hitters can bite off too much of the dogleg and leave themselves a wedge for a second shot – Bubba Watson, as just one example, was able to do that en route to his victory in 2014. If Bryson DeChambeau or any of several other power players take it over the trees to the left off the tee, they easily could be left with a wedge this year.

But that requires taking on a massive risk – miss by just a bit on that bold tee shot to the left, and double bogey or worse is lurking.

Phil Mickelson walks past the tributary to Rae’s Creek along the left side of No. 13 at Augusta National. (Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports)

One interesting factor for 2020 with the Masters being played in November: The 13th tees off to the north before curving northwest toward the green. If there is a cold front in November – a real possibility – brisk winds could blow directly into the players’ faces. That would greatly complicate any efforts to blast a drive over the trees to the left, as well as force players to take extra club into the green for any second shots. There will be a lot of math to consider on that tee and in that fairway.

And that’s what makes No. 13 at Augusta such a great hole, even with modern bombers firing away. It’s all about negotiating risk while trying to maximize reward.

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Masters: Alister MacKenzie’s top 10 courses in Golfweek’s Best

Augusta National is stunning, but it’s not the top-ranked course by Alister MacKenzie in the annual Golfweek’s Best rankings.

Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia is a stunning, beautiful piece of creation by famed golf course architect Alister MacKenzie. The annual host site of the Masters, it receives plenty of television exposure, with many fans having learned every hump and hollow by following shots on their high-definition screens.

Golfweek ranks courses every year based on the input of about 750 raters nationwide, and Augusta National in 2020 is ranked No. 3 among all Classic Courses in the United States built before 1960. The Golfweek’s Best raters judge every course on a scale of 1 to 10, with only the top handful of courses in the world surpassing an average rating of 9.

Augusta National comes in at 9.54, so clearly MacKenzie did great work on the old tree farm. Funny thing, though, it’s not even the best course in the U.S. designed by the Scottish surgeon.

That honor belongs to a club out west. Click through to see MacKenzie’s top courses in the world, as rated by Golfweek’s Best.

It’s worth noting, MacKenzie laid his hands and intellect on many courses. The ones below include tracks that were MacKenzie originals or received substantial MacKenzie input, often with help from other designers. Several clubs he worked on, such as California Golf Club, are not included because much of his work has been redone in subsequent renovations or he didn’t have the majority of the design input.

So here goes, MacKenzie’s top 10:

The Masters: Get to know the par 3s at Augusta National

The par 3s at Augusta National offer a wide variety of challenges during the Masters, and the whole tournament often is decided on them.

The par 3s can make or break a potential Masters champion. Just ask the foursome of contenders who dumped shots into Rae’s Creek on No. 12 last year, clearing a path for Tiger Woods to win his fifth green jacket.

One of the greatest commonalities for a top course is a wide variety of par 3s, and Augusta National excels in this category. Players might hit anything from a wedge on No. 12 to fairway wood on No. 4 if it’s playing into the wind. And the demanding putting surfaces frequently require a precise shot just to set up a two-putt opportunity. Each hole averages an above-par score historically.

In all, there have been 29 holes-in-one during the Masters. Check out who made them at the bottom of each hole description, with details about each hole from Masters.com.

Masters: How to stream, watch on TV | Tiger’s history at Augusta

The Masters: The easiest three-hole stretch at Augusta National

Contenders need to go low after as they wrap up Amen Corner and face the two easiest par 5s on the course in a span of three holes.

Any Masters contender who has safely navigated the brutal three-hole stretch of Nos. 10, 11 and 12 at Augusta National must be licking his chops, because the easiest stretch of the famed Alister MacKenzie golf course begins on No. 13 tee.

The three-hole stretch of Nos. 13, 14 and 15 is the easiest at the course, presenting two birdie or even eagle opportunities on par 5s that consistently play under par. When those par 5s at Nos. 13 and 15 are combined with the mid-difficulty par-4 14th, the historical scoring average of this three-hole stretch is 0.25 strokes under par each round.

That is all in comparison to the three-hole stretch of Nos. 10-12, which plays a combined 0.88 over par on average historically.

Check out this three-hole stretch, with details provided by Masters.com.

Masters: How to stream, watch on TV | Tiger’s history at Augusta

The Masters: The toughest three-hole stretch at Augusta National

Before they get to the birdie opportunities on the back nine at Augusta National, Masters contenders must survive this hardest stretch.

Augusta National Golf Club presents several great scoring opportunities on the back nine, but Masters contenders must survive the first three holes after the turn to reach those birdies.

Combined, Nos. 10, 11 and 12 make for the most difficult three-hole stretch on the famed Alister MacKenzie course. Historically, these three holes play a combined average of 0.88 over par – that means the best golfers in the world average the loss of nearly a full stroke to par over these three holes each round. In the 2019 Masters, there were 33 double bogeys or worse on this stretch.

In comparison, the easiest three-hole stretch on the course plays a combined average of 0.25 strokes under par.

Check out these three challenges, with details provided by Masters.com.

Golfweek’s Best 2020: Top 50 Casino Courses

Shadow Creek extends its run at No. 1, but there were changes this year to Golfweek’s list of best courses owned by casinos in the U.S.

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best Casino Courses in the United States.

This list focuses on courses owned and/or operated by casinos, with data pulled from Golfweek‘s massive database of course rankings. (Pictured atop this story is No. 5 We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro Course, with the photo courtesy of We-Ko-Pa/Lonna Tucker.)

There was only one change in the top 10 of this list from 2019, with The Preserve in Vancleave, Mississippi, moving to No. 10 on the list, replacing Spirit Hollow in Burlington, Iowa, which slid down a spot to No. 11. There were several shuffles in the next 40 courses, including several courses new or returning to the list.

The hundreds of members of Golfweek‘s course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each that is then used to compile the Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

Each course is listed with its 2019 ranking in parenthesis, an average ranking from all the Golfweek Raters who reviewed it, its location, architect(s) and the year it opened.

For more of our rankings in different categories, click below:

Billy Casper Golf management company rebrands itself as Indigo Golf Partners

The prolific course operator has more than 160 layouts in 29 states under its management umbrella.

Billy Casper Golf, a management company with more than 160 courses in 29 states under its umbrella, has rebranded as Indigo Golf Partners.

Based in Reston, Virginia, Indigo Golf Partners says its goal is to operate golf courses as real, profitable businesses on behalf of course owners while providing a “golf for everyone” experience that drives repeat business.

The company was cofounded in 1989 in partnership with three-time major championship winner Billy Casper, who died in 2015.

Wintonbury Hills in Connecticut (Courtesy of Indigo Golf Partners)

The new Indigo Golf Partners employs nearly 7,000 people at facilities that range from municipal courses to high-end resorts and private clubs. Its management services include the full gamut of course operation such as staffing, food and beverage, golf instruction, tee time services and marketing.

Indigo’s courses under management are sprinkled through the various 2020 Golfweek’s Best lists for top courses. Examples include Wintonbury Hills, which is No. 1 in Connecticut on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list; Giants Ridge, which is No. 1 in Minnesota; English Turn, at No. 4 in Louisiana; and Royal Ka’anapali, at No. 14 in Hawaii.

“We believe golf is for everyone and our goal is to lead the industry with innovations for current and future generations,” Peter Hill, Chairman and CEO of Indigo Golf Partners, said in a release announcing the rebranding. “With a rapid pace of cultural, health and economic change all around us, now is the time for our entrepreneurial company to further evolve.

“We are stronger and more courageous than ever building tools and cultivating hard-working, well-trained, caring, collaborative and high-performing talent for our managed properties and the sport of golf at large to thrive.”

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