SIGN UP Golf Digest Logo
SUBSCRIBE
Courses
Golf Courses
Golf Courses

They Built It Where?!

By Alex Myers

Golf courses constructed on unconventional sites

Share story
Trump Golf Links Ferry Point
Donald Trump's latest creation, designed by Jack Nicklaus, was built on top of a Bronx, N.Y., landfill. Mayor Mike Bloomberg helped along a construction process that was completed after 12 years in Oct. 2013. The course won't be open to the public until 2015.
Courtesy of Jim Mandeville
Harborside International Golf Center
Just 16 minutes from the Loop on the South Side of Chicago, Harborside was built on top of a landfill in 1995. It's Port and Starboard links courses, designed by Dick Nugent, offer great views of the Windy City's skyline.
Courtesy of Harborside International Golf Center
Victoria National Golf Club
The Tom Fazio design was constructed in 1996 on reclaimed mining land near Evansville, Ind. Victoria National has consistently been ranked in Golf Digest's America's 100 Greatest Coursesand has hosted a Web.com Tour event the past two years.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Old Works Golf Club
Ground was broken again at this former mining spot in 1994 for a Jack Nicklaus design in Anaconda, Mt. The course features black sand, which gets its color from the smelting of ore.
Stephen Szurlej
TPC Sawgrass
The first Tournament Players Club was built on swampland. Designed by Pete Dye, the Stadium Course opened in 1980 and has hosted the Players Championship since 1982.
David Cannon/Getty Images
Musselburgh Old Golf Links
The par-34 course in East Lothian, Scotland, is believed by some to be the oldest course in the world. Golfers visiting now also get a unique experience since the track is surrounded by another track: the Musselburgh Racecourse for horse racing.
David Cannon/Getty Images
Cape Kidnappers
This New Zealand Tom Doak design, built on cliffs jutting out into the Pacific Ocean, opened in 1994 and has been providing some of the most scenic views in golf since. Golf Digest has ranked Cape Kidnappersas one of the 10 best courses outside the U.S.
Stephen Szurlej
Augusta National
What makes the Masters so beautiful? It doesn't hurt that it was built on an old nursery for trees and plants. Augusta National is always at or near the top of Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Courses.
J.D. Cuban
Liberty National
Built on a former landfill in New Jersey, Liberty National cost more than $250 million to create. Designed by Robert Cupp and Tom Kite, it opened in 2006 and has hosted the Barclays -- part of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup Playoffs -- twice. Located about 10 minutes away, the stunning Bayonne Golf Club was also built on land that used to be used as a garbage dump.
Stephen Szurlej
Old Head Golf Links
Built on a piece of headland that juts two miles out into the Atlantic Ocean on the southern coast of Ireland, this course opened in 1997. With nine of its holes along cliffs, Old Head is visually stunning, but tricky in spots.
Sam Weinman
Shadow Creek
Perhaps the most spectacular of all the desert courses, this Tom Fazio design was built in 1989 with the backing of Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn. To complete it, some 25 million cubic yards of earth were moved. That's a big reason why the course charges the highest green feein the country.
Courtesy of Shadow Creek GC
Whistling Straits (Straits Course)
Established in 1998, Whistling Straits was built on an old, flat air base on a two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan in Kohler, Wisc. The Pete Dye design has hosted the PGA Championship twice.
Stephen Szurlej
Brickyard Crossing
An 18-hole course, which features four holes inside the track of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There are certain blackout dates during big races like the Indy 500.
Scotland Run
Built in and around an old sand quarry, this Williamstown, N.J. course is located between Philadelphia and Atlantic City and gets 4.5 stars from Golf Digest.
Courtesy of Scotland Run
Chambers Bay
Robert Trent Jones moved 1.4 million cubic yards of sand and dirt to build this links-style course on the Puget Sound in University Place, Wash. Among other things, the land was previously used as a gravel mine, a lumber yard and a paper mill. The course opened in 2007, but has already hosted a U.S. Amateur and will be the site of the 2015 U.S. Open.
Stephen Szurlej
Merion Golf Club (East)
If you were listening during the 2013 U.S. Open broadcast, you probably heard the word 'quarry' a lot. A rock quarry cuts through only three holes (16-18) of the Philly-area course, but it makes for a spectacular finish and is part of the reason Merion is regarded as one of the country's best courses.
Stephen Szurlej
Share story