1. Santa Lucia Preserve Golf Club Course Review
The golf course was designed by the famous architect Tom Fazio and it measures 7067 yards from its longest tees, providing a challenging yet fair test for its visitors of all abilities, as well as for the golf pros or ranked amateurs who are lucky enough to play it. The fairways are generous, yet all the gifts stop at the greens, which are strategically bunkered and multi tiered, featuring nasty breaks that have the capability of changing a birdie into a bogey instantly. Everything here depends upon the quality of your short game and on how one approaches the greens. The Santa Lucia Preserve Golf Club is a a world-class resort, with impeccable conditioning all year round, offering a pure golfing experience together with the unspoiled beauty of the Santa Lucia Preserve, making for a once in a life-time experience.
The golf club was founded way back in 1920 and the three 18 hole courses available today are the Grace, which was designed by architect Herbert Strong, the Old and the Weyhill. Remember that the Saucon Valley is a private golfing facility, available just for its members and their guests, but playing here is like youve just arrived in golfing-heaven. All of the three courses are outstanding, and theyve hosted several USGA events and US Senior opens during the clubs long and rich history. The Grace Course, the Old Course and the Weyhill Course have all been ranked consistently in the top one hundred best golf courses in the United States by prestigious golf magazines and also ranked in the top ten courses in their home state. Considering that Pennsylvania boasts famous courses, the likes of Oakmont and Merion, which were designed by William Flynn or Donald Ross, this is no small distinction.
3. Scioto Country Club Course Review
The Scioto Country Club is everything about golf first and foremost, making for one of Donald Rosss best designs ever, boasting its greens which are artfully and quietly tucked into the landscape, the gentle contours of the approaches and the masterfully designed routing. The philosophy behind this golf course is to place a premium on course management and strategy. Playing the Scioto Country Club makes for a great privilege and an unforgettable experience, but remember that this golf resort is a private facility, available just for its member and their guests. Also, despite sitting in the company of other world-class resorts like the Scarlet Course at Ohio University, designed by Alister McKenzie or Pete Dyes The Golf Club, the Scioto Country Club managed to preserve its prestige and thats pretty impressive in this writers opinion.
4. Scottsdale National Golf Club Course Review
The course features 7561 yards of golf from its longest tees and the best thing about building a golf course in the desert is the fact that you dont have to worry about real-estate development. Basically, the architects were given a free hand while developing this beautiful course in a desert-secluded setting, surrounded by thousands and thousands of acres of pristine wilderness. Whilst the Scottsdale National was built unencumbered by real-estate issues, the design was made under the assumption that the clubs membership is composed from mostly low handicap players, i.e. the holes will demand both precise execution and good thinking and the course really offers a plethora of risk-reward choices. Even if there are no water hazards, the architects used masterfully the desert and washes for creating angles which promote hitting the ball to the proper side of the fairways for approaches into the multi tiered, firm and quite fast greens. There are also elevation changes which add to the flavor, making for the Scottsdale National golf course a real special place.
5. Sea Island Golf Club Course Review
The Seaside is also Sea Island Golf Clubs most challenging layout and it hosted multiple PGA events since its inception, being designed originally in 1929 by Charles Alison and Harry S Colt and later re-designed in 1999 by the famous architect Tom Fazio, being regularly ranked high in Golf Digests Top 100 Courses in the US list. The Seaside plays fun, fast and firm, just like traditional Scottish link-courses from which it was inspired and its framed by dunes, tidal creeks and marshes. The Plantation was masterfully restored by Rees Jones and it unfolds majestically among an ancient forest of live cedar and oak, boasting its expansive fairways and its incredible views of the ocean. The Retreat was thoroughly renovated in 2000 and its greens are a complex mix of sand bunkers, slope and undulations, presenting golfers with a truly challenging experience and offering a variety of shots.
6. Sebonack Golf Club Course Review
The golf course was designed by 2 of the worlds most famous architects, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak. According to Jack Nicklaus, the day the Sebonack Golf Club first opened, it played and looked very familiar, as it if was there for decades. Despite of Tom Doak and Jack Nicklauss very different philosophies in terms of golf design, the Sebonack Golf Club ended up as a fascinating golfing facility, as it was developed on a site with numerous bumps, humps and elevation changes. The layout of the golf course moves among open land and trees alike, being very similar to a links land. The land upon which the Sebonack Golf Club was built seems to have been the ideal location for a golf course if it ever was one, boasting its extraordinary visual impact of the water-vistas, the expensive bunkers, the rolling fairways and waste dunes. The undulating greens of the Sebonack Golf Club will present you with a real challenge, due to their tricky burrows and swales. The golf course uses masterfully the natural features and contours of the land for creating a unique look and it appears as it was spawned from the wild terrain itself.
7. Secession Golf Club Course Review
Despite being located in Beaufort, a small town in South Carolina, where the secession articles were drafted, the Secession Golf Club is all about camaraderie and inclusion, where golf is more than just another game but a true passion. Also, this is a golf resort that attracts golf purists from all over the country, been a walking only golf course since its initial opening, back in 1992. Most of the Secession Golf Club members are low-handicappers, in the single digit, people who really appreciate the nuances and exceptional challenges offered by the golf courses 7068 yards layout. The Secession Golf Club plays best with old school shots, like bump and runs, knockdowns and long putts from off-the-green. Playing the Secession Golf Club makes for an unequaled golf experience, but also, this is not for everybody. The greens are fast and firm and the exposed nature of the golf course reminds of playing in the British Isles, especially due to the Secessions Scottish style bunkers and the scenic marsh views in almost any direction.
8. Seven Canyons Club Course Review
Since its initial opening back in 2002, the Seven Canyons Club Golf has received recognition and acclaim from Americas most prestigious golf magazines and publications. And thats quite understandable, since the golf course was designed by the former PGA legend and famous golf-architect Tom Weiskopf, who created an awesome layout set in the beating heart of Sedona, a golf course surrounded by ancient ponderosa pines and towering red-rock formations. The golf course features numerous elevation changes and a classic bunkering, being everything about golf in its purest form, which doesnt exclude pure enjoyment. Also, the course is every bit as beautiful and its challenging, making for one of Americas most revered naturally breathtaking courses. Keep in mind that Sedona is a private golf resort, available for its members and their guest only and its regarded by New Agers and native Americans alike as sacred ground, together with being one of the best works of Tom Weiskopf and among the South Wests most epic courses.
9. Shadow Creek Club Course Review
Tom Fazio worked closely with the owner Steve Wynn, and they both managed to dug a premiere golf course into the desert bed, manufacturing a golf-ecosystem of sorts basically out of nothing, by creating canyons, hills, streams and lakes, planting exotic trees, plants and flowers (over 21,000 of them). They even imported swans, wild turkeys and wallabies, ending up with a price tag of 40 million dollars for their endeavor. The Shadow Creek Club first opened for players in 1989 and it was the hype of the day, that kind of real-estate development even Donald Trump would envy, boasting an inspired design and layout together with some may call the greatest fabrication in golf. But we must give Tom Fazio the credit for composing a perfectly paced golf course, a beautiful routing, perfectly complemented holes and a nothing short of dramatic finish on a virtually empty canvas. To understand what I am talking about, the golf course at Shadow Creek Club must be played, enjoyed, shared and then played again and again. And if youre a true golf aficionado, youll understand and appreciate this courses breathtaking beauty.
10. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Course Review
The undulating terrain upon which the Shinnecock Hills was built has relatively narrow fairways and impassable rough, slick and fast putting surfaces and due to the area's geography, a lot of potential for windy weather. As per accolades, the Shinnecock Hills golf course was ranked 3rd on Golf Digest's 2013-2014 Top 100 Greatest Golf Courses in the United States of America and number one in its home state, New York. Also, it's worth noticing that the golf course at Shinnecock Hills hosted the US Open 4 times and it will do it again in 2018 for the fifth time. The signature hole at Shinnecock Hills is definitely the famous Redan, which is nothing short of iconic for golf course architecture aficionados. Also, the clubhouse at Shinnecock Hills makes for an outstanding display of golf history and architecture. In terms of playing the Shinnecock Hills, well, you'll be in for a real treat, as the golf course makes for one of the purest golf experience you'll have in your life time, being one of the most historic golfing facilities in America , as it flows over the natural undulating terrain boasting its links layout covered in fescue grass, with just one water hazard.
