Augusta National’s 18th hole rises about 70 feet from the base of the fairway to the green. The elevation is one of the hole’s defenses as drives don’t roll much and uphill second shots are blind and must cover the front bunker. Uphill shots don’t bother professionals, but they can cause imprecision, and slight imprecisions Read more…
The par-4 11th was named “Dogwood” for the 155 white dogwood trees that lined the fairway when the course opened in 1933. Along with holes 10 and 12, the 11th was cut through the pines on the lowest, most forested section of the property to the south. Augusta National’s seventh and 11th are the most Read more…
The seventh hole is called “Pampas” after a grassy bush indigenous to South America, setting it apart from the course’s hole names that are generally tree and shrub-oriented and more associated with Georgia. It’s an apt departure—the seventh has always been the black sheep of Augusta National, a hole that never quite fit in with Read more…
As much as any course in the world, Augusta National tailors its architecture to the demands presented one week a year. Virtually every decision the club makes, including each physical alteration, is done in response to how 80-some professional players (and a few amateurs) are playing the holes each April, and patrons are moving about Read more…
The inaugural Golf Digest Open, played last October at Omni PGA Frisco in Texas, came to a dramatic finish in the gross and net divisions. Battling chilly temperatures and a strong breeze, Scottsdale’s Bennett Blakeman and Cody Massa (top left) came to the final hole on the East course—slated to host the 2027 and 2034 Read more…
Pinehurst never stands still for long. The history of the North Carolina resort is one of continual expansion and evolution, and the last 15 years have been especially consequential, culminating with the opening of the newest course, Pinehurst #10, this month. Around 2010, the resort approached Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw about reviving the indigenous Read more…
You would think that living in the middle of Westchester County would make it easy to get to great public golf courses, but, sadly, that’s not the case. While I’m within a 20-minute drive from a few of the most famous private clubs in the country, the number of nearby munis is limited. And the Read more…
The Masters tee at the par-5 second hole has been moved back and to the left by about 10 yards, seemingly in an effort to bring the right fairway bunker more into play.
The respect and study of golf course architecture from the 1910s and ‘20s has never been more alive than it currently is. An aspiring architect who can transform that knowledge into a compelling drawing can earn an invitation to Cypress Point Club, ranked third on America’s 100 Greatest Courses, through the latest installment of the Read more…
The first thing one notices at the Cape Club of Palm City is that there isn’t a starter—and that’s a good sign. At this completely reimagined club that sits just off I-95 along Florida’s Treasure Coast, members have open access to the first tee. The three-hour round is alive and thriving. The Cape Club of Read more…
Six years ago, Pine Valley Golf Club allowed Golf Digest’s video team to capture exclusive drone footage of its rugged, sand-capped beauty. We delivered a hole-by-hole video with narration masterly crafted by our Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde, offering a glimpse inside the gates of the ultra-private No. 1-ranked golf course in the world. Thanks to the Read more…
PEBBLE BEACH — Golf’s best always frequent Pebble Beach. One of its best deals is down the road. Pebble Beach Golf Links, a crown jewel of USGA championships including multiple U.S. Opens past and present, is said to be the finest convergence of land and sea known to man, a proclamation that brings little argument. Read more…
We’ve all participated in some iteration of the cocktail party conversation that starts with “If I had my own golf-themed bar, this is what I’d do.” Greg Bartoli did, too. He just had more firepower to make it a reality. Fifteen years of success on Wall Street had given Bartoli enough cushion to invest in Read more…
Australian Golf Digest
