More fine work by Bob Labbance.
Golf Digest Best New 2007
Now posted at GolfDigest.com, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak's Sebonack takes the private category.
The Best New Public With Hot Beverage Cart Girls Over $75 goes to Virginia's Highland Course at Primland by Donald Steel and Martin Ebert.
Best New Public Where You Might Have To Change Shoes In The Parking Lot Under $75 goes to another Virginia course, Ed Carton's Spring Creek.
The Best New Public Remodel, Lester George's restoration of The Greenbrier, beats out in stunning fifth place position, the horrid Industry Hills, aka Misery Hills, oh, wait, it's been rebranded as Industry HIlls GC at Pacific Palms Resort. I think the rebranding put it in the top 5.
Best New Private Remodel, goes to Gil Hanse, Brad Faxon and Jim Wagner for their revitalization of TPC Boston, edging out Rees Jones remodels of Bellerive and Atlanta Athletic Club as well as Jack Nicklaus's work at Ohio State.
And Best New Canadian goes to Muskoka Bay by Doug Carrick.
Stephen Szurlej's exclusive photos of the winners are posted, but other than the aerials of Sebonack I wouldn't waste your time unless you want to see a bunch of TPC Boston ground views from behind greens guarded by lakes. Not as horrific as his photo of Rustic Canyon when it won, which actually was taken by a blind ground squirrel. However, considering how easy the two courses are to photograph (I know, I'm biased) and considering the landscape photography work of folks like Lambrecht, Dost, Brown, the Henebry's, Cuban, Furore and Scalletti, Golf Digest should farm this assignment out.
While not award winning, at least some of these images give you a sense of why TPC Boston edged out some tough competition.
Geoff
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Yikes
2. FALLEN OAK • Saucier, Miss. • Yards 7,487 • Par 72 • Fee: $300 • Tom Fazio • 877-805-4657 • fallenoak.com
This may be to keep the architects happy, because a lot of them aren't doing any new courses these days.
I'll say this -- with the reversal of the golf boom, the competition for the next few years won't be as heavy as it was during the 1990s, when the Best News were chosen from a pool of about 500 courses each year.
Ar the rate we're going, in 2010 we may see less than 200 new courses open.
I think Golf Digest is considering yet another category, best course that closed last year.
2006 - last year there were about 110 new courses.
2007 - This year probably less around 100.
2008 - Next year even less maybe 80?
Picture Shadow Creek of the Southeast... on a better plot of land... at the edge of a national forest... with better greens... and you've got Fallen Oak.
Uh, Canadians do.
I think it listed the green fee at 155, which for Muskoka (summer vacation area) is pretty good.
Doug Carrick, the architect, is my local fave. His Osprey Valley Heathlands is a great course, a great walk and great value. I've probably played it 200 times and it's never grown old. If you're ever in the Toronto area give it a go.
"2006 - last year there were about 110 new courses.
2007 - This year probably less around 100.
2008 - Next year even less maybe 80?"
Where did you get these stats? The NGF stopped releasing the number of new openings in 2004, with 105.5 18-hole equivalents and a forecast of 150-160 for 2005. (Why is it in so love with lumping the numbers into 18-hole equivalents? But I digress.)
But that's where it ended, cementing my statement that the NGF is nothing more than a cheerleader for golf, a windsock. If it is truly clocking the industry as it claims, why not continue reporting the numbers, even if they're declining?
4p