I've been fortunate enough to play dozens of top courses with many memorable holes. To narrow the list to my top nine holes is no easy task since my favorite hole is usually the one I'm playing. But here are nine that would make for a pretty spectacular front side, in no particular order.
1. Old Course at St. Andrews, 17th hole, par 4, 455 yards
The most challenging hole on the course where it all began. The
holes with their rumpled charm get better with each playing as you learn the
quirks and bounces. This is especially so at the Road hole, where your first
thought on the blind tee shot is to avoid hitting golfers coming up the parallel
2nd hole. Your second thought is not to hit the ball in the Old Course Hotel,
the corner of which you have to carry (aim for the H). The second shot is one of
the toughest in golf, requiring a long run-up approach to hold the diagonal
green, while missing both the Road bunker and the road itself.
2. Pebble Beach Golf Links, 8th hole, par 4, 416 yards
With so many great holes from which to choose at Pebble, it's
difficult to pick just one. But it's hard to disagree with Jack Nicklaus, who
called the approach over Carmel Bay his favorite second shot in golf. A blind
drive of 240 yards leaves you a mid-iron second over the steep cliffs to a
heavily bunkered and sloped green.
3. Cypress Point Club, 16th hole, par 3, 233 yards
Cypress Point is often referred to as a masterpiece, and for good
reason: It was the coming together of the game's greatest architect, Alister
MacKenzie, with his greatest canvas. To think that he built this hole when
golfers played with hickory shafts is astonishing. He wanted it to play as a par
4 until Marion Hollins convinced him to make it a one-shotter. There isn't a
more daunting (or beautiful) tee shot—if you go for the green, that is. The
fairway left is an attractive bailout for a lot of players.
4. Riviera Country Club, 10th hole, par 4, 311 yards
Perhaps the best short par 4 in America. The temptation is to pull
out the big stick and have a go at the green, but leave it anywhere right, even
in the fairway, and par becomes a good score because the green slopes away from
the player. Laying up left with a long iron or fairway metal isn't a guarantee either, since the green is so narrow, maybe 10 yards wide, requiring a
very precise approach.
5. Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), 17th hole, par 5, 650 yards
One of A.W. Tillinghast's best par 5s, which is saying something
considering how many great ones he designed. A true three-shotter with lots of
deep bunkers. The emerald ribbon of fairway tilts from left to right while the
hole doglegs right to left, making the lay-up over a series of cross bunkers
especially difficult. The uphill green is heavily bunkered in front.
