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Most Fun Golf Courses

Pete Finch — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Golf doesn't have to be an ordeal. You work hard enough off the course! At these venues, 'play' and 'golf' are not mutually exclusive. We chose them with the help of Golf Digest's panelists, who create our biennial rankings of America's 100 Greatest, 100 Greatest Public and the Best in State.

Giving Bifurcation Its Due

Jaime Diaz — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

A large portion of recreational golfers are -- with every mulligan, improper drop and raked four-footer -- de facto bifurcators.

Editor's Letter: Buddies Go To Scotland

Jerry Tarde — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde describes the greatness of a buddies trip.

St. Andrews: The Old Course Gets A New Look

GolfDigest.com — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Photos of St. Andrews, which is under construction in advance of the 2015 British Open.

St. Andrews: A New Look For The Old Course

Geoff Shackelford — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Proponents say the 'Home of Golf' has been evolving for centuries, but recently announced changes to nine holes have many asking 'why?'

St. Andrews: Nothing New Here

Ron Whitten — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Change comes at the Old Course at St. Andrews -- as it always has.

Most Fun Courses

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:00:00 GMT

What the stats project for Day 4 at the Open Championship

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:38:00 GMT

Eight notable third-round stats that indicate how the Open Championship might unfold Sunday, provided by Golf World contributing writer Brett Avery, who compiles the Rank and File statistical sections for the magazine's coverage of the major championships and other significant events.

Graeme McDowell had never broken par the first three days of a major until this year's British Open. Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

1. This week marks the fifth time in 46 major-championship appearances that Adam Scott has broken par in each of the first three rounds. This is the third time he has accomplished the feat in the Open Championship and his 11-under 199 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes brought his first career 54-hole lead in a major. Scott's four earlier sub-par weeks, however, were hardly crucibles in the thick of contention:

-- 2004 PGA (Whistling Straits): Began 71-71-69 and stood T-11, trailing Vijay Singh by seven strokes; closed with even-par 72 for T-9.

-- 2005 Open (St. Andrews): Began 70-71-70 and stood T-20, trailing Tiger Woods by seven; closed with three-over 75 for T-34.

-- 2006 Open (Royal Liverpool): Began 68-69-70 for T-8, trailing Woods by four; closed with even-par 72 for T-8.

-- 2006 PGA (Medinah): Began 71-69-69 and stood T-12, trailing Luke Donald and Woods by seven; closed with a five-under 67 for T-3.

The '06 PGA was 23 starts ago -- a span equaling half of his major-championship career. In that time Scott has missed the cut in seven majors and made the top 10 only three times. Those latter performances are recent, though: T-2 in the '11 Masters, where he broke par in the last three rounds (72-70-67-67); solo seventh in the '11 PGA at Atlanta AC, where he broke par all but Saturday (69-69-70-68); and T-8 in this year's Masters (75-70-73-66).

Related: Obscure British Open facts

2. As with Scott, this could mark the first time returning four sub-par rounds in a major for Graeme McDowell, who began 67-69-67 and shares second with Brandt Snedeker at seven-under 203. McDowell had never broken par the first three days of a major and only once bettered it on the first two days. During the '10 Open at St. Andrews, a month after claiming the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, McDowell began 71-68 and shared seventh, seven shots behind eventual winner Louis Oosthuizen. McDowell spiraled to 76-70 and tied for 23rd.

3. Scott is flirting with his lowest total in relation to par in his major-championship career. He finished 12 under in the '06 PGA (276) and '11 Masters (276). Unless something disastrous happens, Scott will break par over 72 holes in a major for a 10th time, including six of his last 10 starts.

4. According to the PGA Tour database, Scott and McDowell have been paired together only once in a tour event. It happened during the final round of the 2005 WGC-Cadillac Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco. McDowell shot two-under 68 and tied for sixth while Scott's 74 tied for 29th. Tiger Woods won at 10-under 270.

5. Since the 1958 Open, the 54-hole leader/co-leader has won 30 of 54 times, including Louis Oosthuizen at St. Andrews in 2010 and Darren Clarke at Royal St. George's last year. In the first 10 Opens at Lytham, the men ahead after three rounds logged six triumphs: Peter Thomson in 1958, Bob Charles in '63, Tony Jacklin in '69, Gary Player in '74, Tom Lehman in '96 and David Duval in 2001.

Related: Know your British Open courses

6. The promise of the Day 3 item concerning midway leader Brandt Snedeker's recent performance following an extremely low round met a bitter end. Since his heartbreaking T-3 in the '08 Masters, Snedeker has shot nine 63s and 64s in PGA Tour competition. The day after those scores he failed to break par only twice. Snedeker, who shot 64 in Friday's second round, avoided bogey for his first 40 holes. But Saturday he dropped six shots between the fifth and 14th holes and returned a 73. Birdies at the 16th and 18th allowed him to avoid shooting his highest next-day in that stretch, a 74 in this year's Farmers Insurance.

Statistics can buttress both the case that Snedeker has a marvelous opportunity to succeed from four shots behind Scott or has little chance to remain a factor:

Pro: His three tour wins involved last-round rallies from five shots (2007 Wyndham), six shots (2011 Heritage) and seven shots ('12 Farmers, won in a playoff).

Con: This will be Snedeker's 12th Sunday round in a major. In his first 11 tries he's averaged 72.818 and broken par only in the '11 Masters (70 for T-15) and '11 U.S. Open (69 for T-11). He played in the '08 Masters' final pairing but posted 77.

7. Next up: Tiger Woods, whose par 70 put him in solo fourth at 204, five behind Scott. Among his incentives for winning this week:

-- Fourth Open title (2000, '05, '06) would match the output of Tom Morris Sr., Tom Morris Jr., Willie Park Sr., Walter Hagen and Bobby Locke and trail only Harry Vardon (six), James Braid, John H. Taylor, Peter Thomson and Tom Watson (five each).

-- A 15th career major triumph would leave him three behind Jack Nicklaus

-- He would become the first man in PGA Tour history with more than $100 million in official earnings. Woods entered the week with $99,037,940. First prize is Â£900,000, or roughly $1.4 million.

8. For a third day the wind remained all but absent, allowing a field average of 71.807. The players hit a combined 63.6 percent of fairways and 60.1 percent of greens, and averaged 29.52 putts. The rough cost an average of 0.543 strokes for every shot hit from it. All those figures are virtually identical to the first two rounds.

The outlook for Sunday promises wind -- and plenty of it. Anyone who has spent time in Britain knows Met Office weather forecasts are subject to frequent and potentially vast revisions. That said, according to an R&A press release the seven-hour window during which the Open should be decided (1200 to 1900 local time, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Eastern U.S.) calls for south-to-southwest winds of 10-15 mph, increasing to 15-20 mph and gusting 25-35 mph. That direction is almost 180 degrees opposite of what little wind the field has encountered the first three days.

One hint of how significantly such winds would affect play can be gleaned from the 2001 Open at Lytham. Thursday was mostly overcast, breezy and cool and resulted in a 73.128 average (2.128 strokes over par because No. 6 played as a par 5). With scant wind and cloudy skies the rest of the week, the field averaged 72.416 Friday, 71.414 Saturday and 72.657 Sunday. Such a small variation may seem insignificant, but the difference between calm and "breezy" conditions is far less than between calm and 35-mph gusts.

-- Brett Avery
Follow @BWAvery

A slice of golf history

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:56:00 GMT

It's one of the all-time golf and real estate stories. Playing the 18th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews in 1983, George Peper sliced his tee shot so badly it crossed the road adjoining the fairway. If you have never played the Old Course, take my word for it: This is a severe slice. Peper, who was then the editor of Golf magazine, never found the ball. But while rooting around for it, he noticed a two-bedroom flat overlooking the course that was for sale.

George Peper's home in St. Andrews, now on the market, sits just off the 18th hole of the Old Course. (Photo courtesy of Savills)

Legend has it Peper circled back after his round and stuffed the for-sale sign into the trunk of his rental car, so no one might beat him to it. ("Absolutely not," he answers, when asked about this. "But I wish I'd thought of it!") Peper was soon the proud owner of 9A Gibson Place, a charming and impossibly well-situated two-floor apartment overlooking the most famous course and clubhouse in golf. He paid £42,000, or roughly $65,000 at the time.

Related: The best backyard golf holes

Now Peper's place can be yours. After owning it for 29 years, he and his wife, Libby, have decided to sell. It officially goes on the market Sept. 1 but you can have a look at the listing details here.

The probable asking price is £1.5 million, or about $2.35 million. On top of that you'll have annual taxes of roughly $4,800. Consider this, though: Establish St. Andrews as your home and you can buy a "full resident ticket" that will allow you to play all seven of its courses, including the Old, for around $270 a year. You didn't misread that. Two hundred seventy dollars for the whole year.

"St. Andrews is the absolute hottest spot of all the markets I cover," says listing agent Jamie Macnab of Savills Edinburgh. He notes that in 2010, a 3,700-square-foot home just up the street from Peper's flat sold for £4 million. It was the year's most expensive home sale in all of Scotland. Macnab's firm is also marketing units in Hamilton Grand, a former university dormitory behind the Old Course 18th green and 1st tee. They will start at £1.3 million and (it is hoped) reach £6.8 million.

(Photo courtesy of Savills)

George and Libby Peper lived at 9A Gibson Place full-time for much of the 2000s, a period when he wrote the book "Two Years in St. Andrews: My Home on the 18th Hole." The decision to sell was "painful," says Peper, now the editor of Links magazine. "I wish we could afford to keep the place. But this is the economic reality." The Pepers will split their time between homes in Rhode Island and Florida.

Related: The best courses outside the U.S.

Was Peper's purchase of 9A Gibson -- as some of his peers have wondered -- the greatest investment ever made by a golf writer? Assuming it sells for $2.35 million, that would equal 36 times what he paid for it, without adjusting for inflation. It's not the fairest comparison, but as a point of reference, consider that an investment in the S&P 500 stock index in 1983 would have increased 18-fold over the same period, including dividends. So yeah, it was a pretty good investment by George.

-- Peter Finch

Follow @Pete_Finch

The Most Unlikely British Open Champs

Alex Myers — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

A look back through the years at the players who were surprising winners at the oldest major.