All-Star Favorites : Places to Play reveals your choices for the best public golf

Golf Digest, May, 2002 by Mike Stachura, Sue Sawyer

THE MOTTO FOR GOLF DIGEST'S biennial edition of Places to Play ought to be The Thrill of the Search. This handy guide is the source of hope and anticipation for so many golf trips, and its authority is substantial. Just look at the numbers: More than 6,000 golf courses have been profiled, some 20,000 Golf Digest readers contributed course evaluations, and over the years more than half a million individual votes have been counted.

Places to Play, which has been around since 1963, is the Rosetta stone for the public golfer. In golf course terms, this is the way, the truth and the life. Places to Play remains at its core the wisdom and the will of the people. What constitutes the difference between a rating of ..... ("golf at its absolute best"), .... ("outstanding"), ... ("very good"), .. ("good, but not great") and . ("basic golf") lies squarely within the hearts and minds of your fellow readers. It's a no-nonsense lot, especially given comments like, "Hit it straight or take a chain saw."

What follows are some of the leaders in the most recent Places to Play, a snapshot of the landscape of the game in our corner of the world. And is there any better place to start than at the top, the 12 courses that have received your supreme rating of five stars?

Fittingly, it is a collection that shows us the game can be at its best in places as diverse as Maine and the Dominican Republic, as unconnected as the tropical splendor of Hawaii's Lanai and the hearty north country of Minnesota, and as removed from golf's beaten path as a golf course named for a racehorse in a quaint Maryland harbor town. Let your search begin.

(Note: The order of the courses listed in the rankings on the following pages is based on the course's raw score.)

Courses

..... Belgrade Lakes (Maine) G.C.
..... Blackwolf Run G.C. (River), Kohler, Wis.
..... The Broadmoor G.C. (East), Colorado Springs, Colo.
..... Bulle Rock, Havre de Grace, Md.
..... Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog), La Ramona, Dominican Republic
..... The Challenge at Manele, Lanai City, Hawaii
..... Grand View Lodge Resort (The Pines), Nisswa, Minn.
..... Kiawah Island (S.C.) Resort (Ocean)
..... Pebble Beach (Calif.) G. Links
..... Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C. (No. 2)
..... Timber Ridge G.C., East Lansing, Mich.
..... Whistling Straits G.C. (Straits), Sheboygan, Wis.
Top courses with unrestricted

walking

..... Belgrade Lakes (Maine) G.C.
..... Grand View Lodge Resort-The Pines, Nisswa, Minn.
..... Blackwolf Run G.C. (River), Kohler, Wis.
..... Kiawah Island (S.C.) Resort (Ocean)
..... Whistling Straits G.C. (Straits) Sheboygan, Wis.
..... Timber Ridge G.C., East Lansing, Mich.
..... Bulle Rock, Havre de Grace, Md.
..... Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C. (No. 2),
..... Pebble Beach (Calif.) G. Links
..... 11/42 Limestone Springs G.C., Oneonta, Ala.
Top courses averaging more than 50,000 rounds per year

..... Pebble Beach (Calif.) G. Links
....11/42 Caledonia Golf & Fish C., Pawleys Island, S.C.
....11/42 Pinon Hills G. Cse., Farmington, N.M.
....11/42 Poppy Hills G. Cse., Pebble Beach, Calif.
....11/42 Painted Dunes Desert G. Cse. (East/West), El Paso, Tex.
....11/42 St. James Plantation (Members), Southport, N.C.
....11/42 Lely Resort & G.C. (Mustang), Naples, Fla.
....11/42 Kapolei (Hawaii) G. Cse
....11/42 Marriott's Desert Springs Resort (Valley), Palm Desert, Calif.
....11/42 Riverwood G.C., Port Charlotte, Fla.
Top courses averaging fewer than 20,000 rounds per year

.....      Belgrade Lakes (Maine) G.C.
....11/42  The Sound G.L. at Albemarle Plantation, Hertford, N.C.
....11/42  Black Lake G.C., Onaway, Mich.
....11/42  Karsten Creek, Stillwater, Okla.
....11/42  Campo de Golf Playa Grande, Dom. Republic
....11/42  Royal Westmoreland, Barbados
....11/42  Rock Hollow, Peru, Ind.
....11/42  Big Creek G. & C.C., Mountain Home, Ark.
....11/42  Isla Navidad G.C., Mexico
....11/42  Cedar Creek G. Cse., Broken Bow, Okla.
....11/42  Boyne Mountain Resort (Monument), Boyne Falls, Mich.
....11/42  Trillium Links & Lake Club, Cashiers, N.C.
....11/42  Lakewood Shores Resort (Gailes), Oscoda, Mich.
Top courses in service

..... The Broadmoor G.C. (East), Colorado Springs, Colo.            4.86
..... Grand View Lodge Resort (The Pines), Nisswa, Minn.            4.83
....11/42 Southern Hills G.C., Hawkinsville, Ga.                    4.82
....11/42 Hualalai G.C., Kailua Kona, Hawaii                        4.81
....11/42 Westwood Plateau G. & C.C., Coquitlam, British Columbia   4.80

Note: Raw scores for service only
Top courses in conditioning

....  11/42 Shenendoah G.C., Verona, N.Y.                 4.92
..... Blackwolf Run G.C. (River), Kohler, Wis.            4.88
..... Grand View Lodge Resort (Pines), Nisswa, Minn.      4.88
....  11/42 Karsten Creek G.C., Stillwater, Okla.         4.86

..... Belgrade Lakes (Maine) G.C.                         4.84

Note: Raw scores for conditioning only
Top courses in value

....11/42 Bethpage State Park (Black), Farmingdale, N.Y.     $11-$39
....11/42 Grand View Lodge Resort (Pines), Nisswa, Minn.     $75-$85
....11/42 Southern Hills G.C., Hawkinsville, Ga.             $21-$32
....11/42 Eisenhower G.C. (Silver), Colorado Springs, Colo.  $10-$50
....11/42 Heather Hills G. Cse., Romeo, Mich.                $22-$30

Note: Raw scores for value only
Most improved courses

.... Bide-A-Wee G.C., Portsmouth, Va. (111/42 stars in 2000 edition)
.... Wilderness Resort & G. Cse., Wisconsin Dells, Wis. (2 stars in 2000)
.... Finley G.C. at U.N.C., Chapel Hill, N.C. (2 stars in 2000)
Top courses for pace of play

..... Grand View Lodge Resort-The Pines, Nisswa, Minn.   4.68
..... Belgrade Lakes (Maine) G.C.                        4.67
..... The Challenge at Manele, Lanai City, Hawaii        4.64
..... 11/42 Big Creek G. & C.C., Mountain Home, Ark.     4.63
..... 11/42 Seneca Lake C.C., Geneva, N.Y.               4.62

Note: Raw scores for pace of play only
Top municipal courses

....11/42 Pinon Hills G. Cse., Farmington, N.M.
....11/42 Washington County G. Cse., Hartford, Wis.
....11/42 Northwood G. Cse., Rhinelander, Wis.
....11/42 Birch Creek G.C., Smithfield, Utah
....11/42 Buffalo Dunes G. Cse., Garden City, Kan.
....11/42 Richter Park G.C., Danbury, Conn.
....11/42 G.C. at Yankee Trace, Centerville, Ohio
....11/42 Harborside International G. Ctr. (Starboard), Chicago
....      Brown County G. Cse., Oneida, Wis.
Top 100 years or older

....11/42 Taconic G.C., Williamstown, Mass., 1896
....11/42 Rutland (Vt.) C.C., 1902
.... Del Monte G. Cse., Monterey, Calif., 1897
.... Kebo Valley G. Cse., Bar Harbor, Maine, 1888
.... Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C. (No. 1), 1898
States with the most 4-star and higher courses

  1. Florida             82
  2. California          81
  3. Michigan            76
  4. North Carolina      58
  5. South Carolina      51
  6. Texas               46
  7. Wisconsin           45
  8. Ohio                44
  9. Illinois            40
T10. Colorado            39
T10. New York            39
Top 10 states by average star rating

 1. Hawaii                3.680
 2. Colorado              3.332
 3. New Mexico            3.286
 4. Arizona               3.284
 5. South Carolina        3.265
 6. Oregon                3.219
 7. Nevada                3.190
 8. North Carolina        3.152
 9. Georgia               3.134
10. Alabama               3.125
Bottom 5 states by average star rating

1. Louisiana         2.360
2. Arkansas          2.589
3. Alaska            2.667
4. Delaware          2.688
5. Wyoming           2.750
Highest green fees

$350: ..... Pebble Beach (Calif.) G. Links
$325: ..... Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C. (No. 2)
$300: ....11/42 The Greenbrier (Greenbrier, Meadows, Old White),
White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
$295: ....11/42 Cabo del Sol (Ocean), Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
$270: ....11/42 Pelican Hill G.C. (North, South), Newport Coast, Calif.
Average star rating

$20 or less: 2.324       (969 courses)
$21-$50: 2.884         (2,834 courses)
$51-$100: 3.494        (1,131 courses)
$101-$150: 3.834         (307 courses)
$151-$199: 4.139          (79 courses)
$200 or more: 4.241       (58 courses)