Worst of the best

The not-so-great holes on America's 100 Greatest

December 2008
Worst of the best

Illustration By Chris Gash

Just as Cindy Crawford has the mole and Robert Redford those baggy eyes no amount of surgery can remedy, the most glamorous golf courses in America have flaws, too. No course is perfect, not even those ranked on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest. Sometimes the flaw is a substandard hole, the result of an architectural hiccup or a committee compromise or a ham-handed alteration by a design dilettante. Hadn't noticed? That's because you were blinded by the marquee. Here are Architecture Editor Ron Whitten's picks of the worst holes on the nation's best courses.

THE BOTTOM 10
2007 rank on 100 Greatest in ( )

Bandon Dunes (31)

Bandon, Ore.

Par-5 18th / A blind tee shot, a straight, boring fairway and an ugly gray lodge behind the green mar this otherwise extraordinary course.

More information on this course >

Cypress Point Club (4)

Pebble Beach

Par-4 18th / No fairway, just cypress trees practically everywhere.

More information on this course >

Flint Hills National G.C. (49)

Andover, Kan.

Par-5 18th / An awkward tee shot to a fairway pinched by water left and trees right.

Hazeltine National G.C. (89)

Chaska, Minn.

Par-3 17th / A drive-and-pitch par 4 was converted to a 182-yard par 3.

More information on this course >

Medinah C.C. (No. 3) (11)

Medinah, Ill.

Par-4 ninth / The hole turns left and the fairway slopes right, into trees.

Oak Hill C.C. (East) (25)

Rochester, N.Y.

Par-3 sixth / The catcher's-mitt green yielded four aces in one round at the 1989 U.S. Open.
Keywords:
Architecture,
Worst of the best,
America's 100 Greatest Courses,
Bandon Dunes,
Cypress Point Club,
Flint Hills National G.C.,
Hazeltine National G.C.,
Medinah C.C.,
Oak Hill C.C.,
Olympic Club (Lake),
Pebble Beach G. Links,
Scioto C.C.,
Whistling Straits

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