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GreeningUp
Hostinganyprofessional tournament isawhoppingundertaking, but
when that tournament isamajor, the stakes rise.AtPebbleBeach,
workbegan right after its lastU.S.Open in 2000. Since then, everyhole
but the 12thhasbeen tinkeredwith in someway, includinganoverall
course-lengthening to 7,040yards.
InScotland,
THE OLD COURSE
hasabusy tournament scheduleeach
yearbut still buffsupmorewhenTheOpen comes to town. This
year, the coursewill closeonJune 19 forfinal preparations.Anew
championship tee tooneof themost famousholes ingolf, number 17,
will stretch it about 35yards, to 490 in total. Considering that theRoad
Holehas remained the same length formore than 100years, this isbig
news for thehomeof golf.
THE CASTLE COURSE
is still news, too, being the
seventh layout inTheLinksTrust portfolioandentering just its second
full season.Yet it heldfirmlyonto secondplaceagain in thisyear’s list.
Theperipateticnatureof
CL
readersshouldn’t surpriseus, but the
inclusionof two relativelynewcourses inNewZealand—
KAURI CLIFFS
and
CAPEKIDNAPPERS
—attests to theirzeal inseekingoutwhat’snew ingolf.
Elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, the
NEW SOUTH WALES GOLF
CLUB
inSydney,Australia,made itsdebut in thereaders’ top20.Wesug-
gest, byway of an Editors’ Mention, that while inOz readers try the
MOONAH COURSE
atTheNationalGolf Clubon theMorningtonPeninsula,
surelyoneof native sonGregNorman’sfinest efforts.
Therewasother spiritedmovement on the International List:
GLENEAGLES
rose from 11th to sixth,while
THE GREENMONKEY
courseat
SandyLane inBarbados swung from 15th to 10th. Inonly its second
year in the rankings,
PORT ROYAL GOLF COURSE
inBermudamoved from 16th
intoa tie for 12thwith
CARNOUSTIE GOLF LINKS
.
TwoScottishgems thathad fallenoff the list in2009areback in
readers’ goodgraces.
MUIRFIELD
, thehomeof theHonourableCompanyof
EdinburghGolfers,willhostTheOpenChampionshipagain in2013. Itwas
TURNBERRY
’s turn lastyear,whenTomWatsonhadanear-win twomonths
shyofhis60thbirthday. Itwasnot tobe, butWatsonalluded tosomething
beyondwinning— thespiritualityof thecourse: “Therewassomething
out there. I still believe that. Ithelpedmealong. It’sTurnberry.”
Readers recognize the feeling, a feeling that returnswhen teeing itup
onceagain,whereveronemaybe in theworld.BecauseasWatsonalso
put itat the time, “Golf is for life; youarenever tooyoung tostartand
never tooold toplay.”
Editors’Mentions
UNITEDSTATES
CascadesCourseat TheHomestead,
Hot Springs, Virginia
(866) 354-4653, thehomestead.com
Cougar CanyonGolf Links, Trinidad, Colorado
(877) 547-7455, cougarcanyonresort.com
ShadowCreek, LasVegas
(866) 260-0069, shadowcreek.com
Longaberger Golf Club, Nashport, Ohio
(740) 763-1100, longabergergolfclub.com
INTERNATIONAL
CrudenBay, Scotland
011-44-1779-812285,
WatervilleGolf Links, Ireland
011-353-66-947-4102, watervillegolfclub.ie
Moonah Links (OpenCourse)
,
Australia
011-61-3-5988-6666, nationalgolf.com.au
Royal ZouteGolf Club, Belgium
011-32-50-60-12-27, zoute.be
Readers’ Choice Platinum List
GolfC s
Kauri Cliffs
SUMMER 2010
celebratedliving.com
66
Moonah Links
