Ranking the Golf Courses I Reviewed in 2020

Well, 2020 has certainly been a year, hasn't it? COVID-19 ruined many things for many people, but one thing that's benefitted is golf. Participation is up, spending is up, so as long as courses managed to weather the lockdown period in March through May, they were in for quite a bounty. Golf is basically the perfect social distancing activity, after all. I've certainly joined in on the golf boom; while I'm not sure I've played vastly more golf than previous years, it's definitely been a while since I played this much. And that's translated into this list: I've got 15 courses in this year's round-up. Four came from 2019, but there are many more that I played in 2020 that you'll see next year. But that's the future, let's take a look back at my reviews of 2020.

15. Whitetail Golf Resort

The first green at Whitetail.

The sixth hole.

This is a course I have some history with it, but it's not exactly good history. Most of the time, I feel like Whitetail is too difficult for not-so-good golfers and too easy for better golfers. I was able to get around it in under 80 shots despite some less than stellar play. Not a bad golf course, but not one that I particularly enjoy. Plus, it's cart golf, and that's no fun. 

The tenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The last hole.

Read my review of Whitetail here and here.

14. Augustine Golf Club

The tee shot on the second at Augustine is a tough one.

The sixth hole.

The very short eighth hole.

Augustine presents a more balanced challenge than Whitetail, being easier for high handicappers and tougher for lower handicappers. But the overall quality of the design is pretty similar. Both courses were built in a similar era, and both have some decent holes, but nothing particularly memorable. Since Augustine is slightly more interesting for better golfers and is walkable, it gets the nod for me above Whitetail.

The thirteenth hole.

The final hole.

Read my review of Augustine here and here.

13. The Links at Hiawatha Landing

The fourth hole at Hiawatha Landing against the Susquehanna River.

The fifth hole.

The back nine at Hiawatha Landing is almost as good as some as some of the courses in the middle of this list, but the front nine is just not fun. It's dead flat and the two lakes in the middle really make things less fun than they should. The seventh hole in particular is just bad, which is a shame, considering it's right on the Susquehanna. But water on both sides of a fairway is a red flag for me. Also, while I don't have a problem with the last two holes themselves, the routing is a disaster. You walk a hundred yards from the sixteenth green to the seventeenth tee, than turn around and play right back, since the sixteenth and seventeenth greens are right next to each other. Then you climb a mountain to get to the eighteenth tee, which is not a great idea at the end of the round.

The very extensive twelfth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

Read my review of Hiawatha Landing here and here.

12. Berkleigh Golf Club

The second hole at Berkleigh.

The sixth green.

The ninth hole.

It's an old, unrestored Golden Age golf course, designed by a B-level architect. It wasn't Robert White's best work, and several decades of general neglect and benign mismanagement have resulted in a course with too many trees and not particularly exciting greens. A restoration could make a big difference. As for the course that's actually there, it's not too bad, but it's not a standout among the old Golden Age golf courses that I've played.

The tenth green is wedged between two deep bunkers.

The Redan-like twelfth hole.

The fifteenth hole.

Read my review of Berkleigh here and here.

11. Cape Arundel Golf Club

The first green at Cape Arundel. The greens are the best part of the course, but the setting on the river isn't too bad either.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole, with the fourth beyond.

The eighth green, with the third beyond.

It feels very weird putting Cape Arundel all the way back here, considering that it's pretty highly regarded among enthusiasts and students of golf course design, as well as by Tom Doak and Golf.com, which nominated it as one of the 25 best 18 hole courses under 6,000 yards. And if this was a contest of which golf course had the best greens, Cape Arundel would win. Greens are a very important part of a golf course, after all. But in my opinion, great greens can only do so much, and I truly feel that Cape Arundel is lacking in several important areas. There's a lot of talk about bomb and gouge on the PGA Tour, but you don't even have to bomb it very far to play that way here. I certainly don't hit it very far nowadays, and I got away with so much. There are no par 4s over 400 yards, and I like the occasional long par 4. Frankly, Cape Arundel is just too short for today's game, as unfortunate as that is. Plus, if you play it in the summer, it's absurdly overpriced. $115 for this place? Never again. 

The tenth green.

The eleventh green, with the fifth beyond.

The thirteenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

Read my review of Cape Arundel here and here.

10. Hooper Golf Course

The first hole at Hooper negotiates some rambunctious terrain.

The fourth hole.

Once again, I find myself in disagreement with Tom Doak and Golf.com, who named Hooper the 13th best 9 hole course in the world. To me, Hooper represents a fairly typical Golden Age design over some pretty good but not spectacular land. The first hole is pretty impressive, and I enjoyed the par 3s, but the rest of the course struck me as being fairly unremarkable. Good, to be sure, but nothing I haven't seen before. A decent diversion if you're in the area or passing through, but not someplace to go drastically out of your way to see.

The sixth hole.

The ninth hole.

Read my review of Hooper here.

9. Butter Brook Golf Club

The short third hole at Butter Brook.

The fifth hole.

The ninth hole.

I'll admit, Butter Brook has way too many trees to be my favorite course and some might enjoy it more than me, but there's some tough competition further on down the list, so I think this is a good place for it. The routing is walkable, not a given for modern golf courses, and there are some pretty good holes. But there are some questionable holes as well, like the ninth and seventeenth. It's not enough to ruin the experience by any means, but they are out there. Overall though, this is a good course, and worth a play if you're in Boston.

I wish more of Butter Brook was like the twelfth.

The thirteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

Read my review of Butter Brook here and here.

8. Mount Pleasant Golf Course

The third hole at Mount Pleasant.

The sixth hole.

The eighth hole.

We've come to the "municipal course designed during the Great Depression that could probably use some touching up but will probably never receive it" section of the list. Mount Pleasant, located on the edge of Baltimore city limits, is not the most heavily played of Baltimore's munies, but it is the most architecturally and historically interesting, having hosted a PGA Tour event in the 50s and 60s (a tournament that counts Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead among its winners). The land is excellent and is used very well. The third, sixth, and fifteenth are particularly noteworthy, and the round is pretty good value.

The tenth hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

Read my review of Mount Pleasant here and here.

7. Mark Twain Golf Course

The third green at Mark Twain is a bit tilted.

The fifth hole.

The eighth green.

Mount Pleasant was good value, but it has nothing on Mark Twain. You could play this course three times for the price of one round at Mount Pleasant, and it's not like you're playing around a field with some flags stuck in the ground. For as little as $15, you can play a genuine Donald Ross course. Sure, there has been some general neglect and a few not-so-great changes, but most of the course is still there as Ross designed it. I favor this over Mount Pleasant because the opening is better at Mark Twain, but it's honestly pretty close.

The eleventh green.

The thirteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Read my review of Mark Twain here and here.

6. Metacomet Golf Club

The first hole at Metacomet.

The second hole.

The third green, with the seventh hole beyond.

The fifth green.

The eighth hole.

Let us take a moment to mourn Metacomet, gone before its time, a victim of lies and mismanagement. It is a loss, but let us not elevate Metacomet too much. There was solid golf there and a few very good holes, but it's only sixth on this list for a reason. It's a bit meatier than Cape Arundel, but the issue of having a golf course stuffed on such a small property remains. There are many parallel holes, and while the 14th stands out, none of the other five par 4s that comprise the last third of the course are anything to write home about. To be blunt, Providence is a city that can afford to lose a Donald Ross course. If you want a public Ross, there's Triggs; if you want private, Wannamoisett is there. And there are eight other Donald Ross courses in Rhode Island, which means about a fifth of Rhode Island's golf courses are Ross courses. That's an impressive ratio. So while I'm glad I got to Metacomet before it closed, because it was a good course, I won't miss it too much.

The tenth green.

The twelfth hole, a very long par 3.

The fourteenth hole.

The last hole.

Read my review of Metacomet here and here.

5. Highland Links

The first green at Highland Links.

The dramatic tee shot on the second hole.

The third green.

The fifth hole.

If this was a contest of pure scenery, Highland Links would be No. 1 for this year and quite possibly for any year. What do you expect from a golf course on the edge of the world, perched upon giant sand dunes at the tip of Cape Cod? You get a tease right from the start, but when you're standing on the fifth tee and you hit your drive, then watch as your golf ball disappears into an infinity of water and sky, you really do get a sense of the sublime. The golf course itself is a bit rudimentary, but when you're dealing with howling wind off of the Atlantic, it doesn't take much to challenge the golfer. Then there's the second hole, which somehow manages to have a tee shot just as incredible as the one on the fifth. Seriously, the pictures don't do it justice, the scale of the valley and the drop down into the fairway, the gorse-like vegetation, it is a sight to behold, and well worth the long winding trip up the Cape. 

The fifth green.

Yeah, it's hard to stay focused on the fifth hole.

The sixth green.

The ninth hole.

Read my review of Highland Links here.

4. Galen Hall Golf Club

The second hole at Galen Hall.

Looking back at the boomerang-like second hole.

The fourth hole.

The very small seventh green.

The eighth hole.

If you're looking for a quirky golf course from the Golden Age, Galen Hall has got you covered. I defy you to find another golf course with a boomerang-shaped par 5 that drops 150 feet from its highest point to the green. There's also a par 5 with a barn next to the green and a par 3 with what may very well be the oldest island green in existence. Those are the standouts, but Galen Hall's charm is hardly limited to those three holes. And it's a tough little course too, with tiny, fiercely sloped greens. A bit of restoration work to counter decades of benign neglect would only elevate Galen Hall, but it's still well worth seeing in its current state.

The twelfth hole, complete with barn.

The fifteenth hole, aka the Moat hole.

The fifteenth green. I can't believe the hole plays 190 when the green is this small.

The eighteenth green.

Read my review of Galen Hall here and here.

3. Cape Cod Country Club

The first hole at Cape Cod CC.

The fifth hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole.

It just wouldn't be a proper year-end round-up without a Devereux Emmet course near the top of the list. Copake is definitely superior to this, but Cape Cod is still a very good golf course. It's generally not flashy (except for the 14th, which is perhaps a bit too flashy), but it's solid and fun golf throughout. This is also a great example of how to route a golf course through a forest. There are many trees around the holes at Cape Cod, but at no point do you ever feel claustrophobic or fear going into the forest unless you are purposely trying to cut off a dogleg. There's good elevation change and the course is sand based, and it's tough to go wrong with that combination.

The tenth hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The dramatic Volcano fourteenth hole.

The fifteenth hole.

Read my review of Cape Cod here and here.

2. Royal New Kent Golf Club

There's quite a lot to take on the first tee at Royal New Kent.

The fishhook second hole.

The fifth hole.

The sixth hole, with its slightly silly green.

The seventh hole.

The ninth hole.

The front nine at Royal New Kent is excellent and a showcase of Mike Strantz's unique take on golf course design. The back nine, however, suffers from routing problems, too many houses, and an awful closing hole that just might be the worst I've ever played. But that still strangely befits Royal New Kent. There's no middle ground at this place; you're thrown into the deep end right off the bat, and you're in for 4 hours of nonstop battle. You think Cape Arundel has undulating greens? Royal New Kent puts them to shame. Highland Links not got enough sandhills? Try sandhills a few dozen feet high. They're artificial of course, but it's the thought that counts. It's occasionally brilliant, occasionally insane, occasionally terrible, but it's never boring.

The tenth hole.

The twelfth hole.

The 90 yard long twelfth green.

The sixteenth hole.

Plenty of Irish links finish with a par 4 surrounded by a pond.

Read my review of Royal New Kent here and here.

1. George Wright Golf Course

The third hole.

The fourth hole.

The fifth hole traverses some dramatic topography.

The punchbowl-like fifth green.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole.

In the past couple years, the top spot on my roundup has been close. Not this time. Like Royal New Kent, the front nine at George Wright is stronger than the back, but unlike Royal New Kent, the back at George Wright is plenty strong on its own. Of course, it's the front nine that really sticks in my mind; specifically the three consecutive par 4s: 5, 6, and 7. Even if the rest of the course had been average, those three holes would have been enough to move George Wright a fair way up this list. It took work to make the land at George Wright suitable for a golf course, and the care that was taken in that work shows, thanks to general restoration work that's occurred over the past 10-15 years. Bethpage Black is probably the best municipal golf course in the country, but George Wright definitely deserves to be in the conversation. And for $50, it's fantastic value. Even in as golf-rich a city as Boston, George Wright can stand proud with its shoulders high. If you're in the city and you don't play it, you're missing out.

The twelfth hole.

The fourteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

The eighteenth green.

Read my review of George Wright here and here.