*Golf Digest* Announces America’s Best New Courses of 2009

NEW YORK, NY—Golf Digest has announced its list of America’s Best New Courses of 2009. The annual ranking, which is in its 27th year, will be featured in the January 2010 issue of Golf Digest, on newsstands now. The complete package can also be viewed online.

According to Ron Whitten, Golf Digest Senior Editor, Architecture, “America’s Best New Courses of 2009 are all about old school. All four winners were designed by senior golfers with decades of experience…and all four courses built for the purest of reasons, the sheer enjoyment of the game.”

The Best New Public winner is The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort, a Pete Dye design in French Lick, Indiana.Pikewood National Golf Club in Morgantown, W.Va. is the top–ranked course in the Best New Private category. It was designed by two amateurs, John R. Raese and J. Robert Gwynne, with counsel from PGA Tour veterans Dow Finsterwald and Johnny Pott. The Best New Canadian winner is Sagebrush Golf & Sporting Club in Quilchena, B.C., a collaboration by Rod Whitman, two–time PGA Tour winner Richard Zokol and longtime superintendent Armen Suny. The Best Remodel of 2009 is Charlotte Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., a classic Donald Ross design restored and updated by architect Ron Prichard.

The survey was conducted using a panel of more than 900 panelists, who evaluated courses using five criteria: Shot Values, Design Variety, Resistance to Scoring, Memorability and Aesthetics. To be eligible, a course must have officially opened (or re–opened after a remodel) between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009.