By Dan Jenkins and Ron Whitten March 2000

PART 2: The back nine

Long time in the halfway house, huh? In case you don't recall from last month's introduction to the Best Modern 18 Holes in America-an update to the original Best 18 35 years ago-the layout spreads itself over 14 states and enhances the scenery behind 15 residential security gates, which, apart from everything else, suggests that manufacturing resident decals for homeowner automobiles hasn't been all that bad a business itself. One thing that makes our back nine a little different from the front is that four of the clubs from which the holes were selected play host to events on the regular PGA Tour, whereas none on the front nine do. This was purely accidental. The search for excellence just worked out that way. But let's get back out there.

No. 10, Castle Pines Golf Club

Castle Rock, Colo., 485 yards, par 4,
Jack Nicklaus (1981)
From the elevated tee, sweeping downhill to a green nestled right behind a pond-with Pikes Peak looming in the background-this hole looks like a brilliant par 5, and certainly can play like it is. Sure, the ball's supposed to go farther in Colorado, but only if you get it in the air. The green mainly accepts a high fade-it's Nicklaus, remember. The fairway is lined with pines, but there are no fairway bunkers, because none are needed. Two bunkers behind the green make the explosion a little touchy, since you're facing water beyond the putting surface. This is our first "tour" hole, for Castle Pines annually hosts the International-and its arcane scoring system.

Honorable mention No. 10s:
Crystal Springs Golf & Country Club, Hamburg, N.J., 186 yards, par 3, Robert von Hagge (1991); Wild Dunes Resort (Links Course), Isle of Palms, S.C., 331 yards, par 4, Tom Fazio (1980); True Blue, Pawleys Island, S.C., 586 yards, par 5, Mike Strantz (1998).

No. 11, Mira Vista Golf Club

Fort Worth, 540 yards, par 5,
Jay Morrish & Tom Weiskopf (1987)
The elevations on Mira Vista are stunning, considering that it's located in a reasonably flat part of Texas, and the course has long since taken its place among the best in the state. On a clear day from the clubhouse veranda, you can see practically all the way to cowboys and Indians out west. A trademark of Morrish and Weiskopf architecture is the use of a dynamic, drivable par 4 somewhere along the way, but they give you the same thing on this par 5. After your tee shot has avoided the trees on the right, there are alternative routes to the green. You can try to thread it down the chute on the right, or take the safer but still tricky route to the left. Even going left, you're pre-sented with a testy pitch to a ravine-fronted, well-bunkered green. It's both a reachable par 5 and a true three- shot par 5.

This is a magnificent and totally natural hole. It might be added, if you'll excuse a personal reference, that some of the scenes from the movie "Dead Solid Perfect" were filmed on this hole and elsewhere at Mira Vista.

Honorable mention No. 11s: Atlantic Golf Club, Bridgehampton, N.Y., 127 yards, par 3, Rees Jones (1992); Annbriar Golf Club, Waterloo, Ill., 404 yards, par 4, Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, (1993); The Fort Golf Course, Indianapolis, 547 yards, par 5, Pete Dye (1997).

No. 12, The Challenge at Manele

Lanai, Hawaii, 202 yards, par 3,
Jack Nicklaus (1993)
This striking hole was such a no-brainer for Jack, he was forced to give you two looks at it. The 11th green is behind it, to the right and slightly uphill. Therefore, after you play the 11th, the cartpath takes you right past the 12th green on your way to the 12th tee. But if anything, this rather awkward route only adds to the anticipation-and apprehension-of playing the hole. Of all the photogenic ocean-cove holes in golf, this must be the highest. The tee and green are both about 150 feet above the surf. Well-traveled golfers may think of the tee shot as a mirror image of one of the great second shots in the game: the approach to the eighth green at Pebble Beach. Except the bailout here is to the right, so the terminal slicer's ball doesn't end up out to sea-at least not as often.

Honorable mention No. 12s:
Wild Dunes Resort (Links Course), Isle of Palms, S.C., 192 yards, par 3, Tom Fazio (1980); Marsh Landing Country Club, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., 437 yards, par 4, Ed Seay (1986); Oxmoor Valley Golf Club (Ridge Course), Birmingham, Ala., 539 yards, par 5, Robert Trent Jones and Roger Rulewich (1992).