The greatest trend in golf development over the past decade has been the introduction of short courses at so many resorts and private clubs. These par-3 and other non-traditional layouts are nothing new, of course, but there’s been increased focus and capital allocation on providing guests and members a fun and fast loop that doesn’t focus on traditional length.
To acknowledge the rapid rise for short courses, Golfweek’s Best introduced a ranking of these layouts in 2023. This year we go a step further, breaking the category into two divisions with the top public-access and private lists of short, par-3 or other non-traditional courses. This is the ranking for private courses.
Basically, they all fit the bill of not being a traditional-length, traditional-par course. And just like the best short courses, we threw out some of the rules used for rating traditional courses and asked the raters to submit one overall score for each course based on how much they enjoyed the design and the environment. Those individual ratings were then combined to form one average rating, which is listed for each course. Each course had to receive a minimum number of 10 votes. We have received thousands of votes over the past 18 months.
As for how we decided which courses fit the bill: All of these would be shorter than 2,700 yards if they were nine holes, compared to a traditional course typically being made up of nines measuring 3,100 to 3,800 yards.
For this list, we included each course’s average rating on a points scale of 1 to 10. We also included their locations, the designers, the year they opened, the number of holes, the total length and the par.
Nos. 1-5
1. Pine Valley (Short Course) 8.81Pine Valley, N.J.; Tom Fazio, 1992; 10 holes, 2,006 yards, par 31
2. Augusta National (Par 3 Course) 8.03Augusta, Ga.; George Cobb, Clifford Roberts, 1958; 9 holes, 1,115 yards, par 27
3. Philadelphia Cricket Club (St. Martins) 8.00Philadelphia, Pa.; William H. Tucker, Keith Foster, Kevin Hargrave, 1895; 9 holes, 2,617 yards, par 35
4. Saddle at Glen Cove 7.97Cashiers, N.C.; Beau Welling, 2019; 12 holes, 1,601 yards, par 36
5. Headwaters 7.88Cashiers, N.C.; Tom Fazio, 1999; 9 holes, 1,450 yards, par 27
Nos. 6-10
6. Desert Mountain (No. 7) 7.78Scottsdale, Ariz.; Wendell Pickett, Bill Brownlee, 2019; 8 holes, 3,114 yards, par 54
7. Hamilton Farms (Hickory) 7.72Far Hills, N.J.; Dana Fry, Michael Hurdzan, 1998; 18 holes, 3,080 yards, par 54
8. Whispering Pines (The Needler) 7.67Trinity, Texas; Chet Williams, Cole Sanders, 2013; 9 holes, 1,682 yards, par 27
9. The Quarry at La Quinta (Short Course) 7.66La Quinta, Calif.; Tom Fazio, 2002; 10 holes, 1,653 yards, par 30
10. Ballyneal (Mulligan) 7.62Holyoke, Colo.; Tom Doak, 2017; 12 holes, informal distance, par 36
Nos. 11-15
11. Shelter Harbor (Par 3 Course) 7.48Charlestown, R.I.; Dana Fry, Michael Hurdzan, 2005; 9 holes, 1,206 yards, par 27
12. Oakwood Country Club (Short) 7.45Kansas City, Mo.; Todd Clark, Ron Whitten, 2023; 9 holes, 1,100 yards, par 27
13. Olympic Club (Cliffs) 7.40San Francisco, Calif.; Tom Weiskopf, Jay Morrish, 1994; 9 holes, 1,432 yards, par 27
14. Scottsdale National (Bad Little 9) 7.31Scottsdale, Ariz.; Jackson Kahn Design, 2016; 9 holes, 972 yards, par 27
15. Colorado GC (Short Course) 7.03Parker, Colo.; Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, 2006; 9 holes, 1,103 yards, par 27
Nos. 16-20
16. Madison GC 6.87Madison, N.J.; Club Members, Robert McNeil, 1896; 9 holes, 2,240 yards, par 31
17. The Concession (The Gimme) 6.76Bradenton, Fla.; Chris Cochran, 2019; 9 holes, 1,088 yards, par 27
18. Farmington (East) 6.75Charlottesville, Va.; Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, 2017; 10 holes, 2,026 yards, par 35
19. Olde Farm (Orchard) 6.65Bristol, Va.; Bobby Weed, 2011; 8 holes, informal distance, par 24
20. Sutton Bay (Short Course) 6.60Agar, S.D.; Graham Marsh, 2003; 9 holes, 1,244 yards, par 27
Nos. 21-25
21. University of Texas GC (Speith Lower 40) 6.53Austin, Texas; Roy Bechtol, Jordan Speith, 2017; 6 holes, 532 yards, par 18
22. Shady Oaks (Little Nine) 6.50Fort Worth, Texas; Robert Trent Jones Sr., Michael Clayton, Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking, Ashley Mead, 1958; 9 holes, 1,228 yards, par 28
23. Bluejack National (The Playgrounds) 6.40Montgomery, Texas; Tiger Woods, 2016; 10 holes, 747 yards, par 30
24. Eagle Point (Short) 6.27Wilmington, N.C.; Andrew Green, 2023; 9 holes, 1,427 yards, par 27
25. Wickenburg Ranch (Li’l Wick) 6.17Wickenburg, Ariz.; Wendell Pickett, Bill Brownlee, 2016; 9 holes, 1,240 yards, par 27
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Golfweek’s Best Top 25 private short, par-3 and non-traditional courses
