Few current or former pros can boast the same combination of on-court success and design skills as Geoff Ogilvy.
Ogilvy won eight times on the PGA Tour, including the 2006 US Open, and is now a member of OCM golf course architects (along with Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead). He is also set to captain the 2026 International Presidents Cup team at Medinah No. 3, a course that OCM recently renovated.
Ogilvy, 48, was the guest on this week’s episode GOLF’s Subpar Podcast and discussed that recent renovation, this year’s Presidents Cup and his love of golf course architecture. One question he was asked focused on his favorite courses from a design perspective.
‘Royal Melbourne [in Australia] is great,” he said. “It’s quite doable for the average player. But it’s really hard for that [pros]especially if the pins are tough. … If you miss it in the wrong spot, it’s a bit like the Masters, you’re just compounding your mistake. Every time you make a mistake, you only have more trouble getting back on track. Royal Melbourne does that in a very subtle way and it catches up with you.”
Ogilvy said that while he loves New Jersey’s Pine Valley — long GOLF’s top-rated course in the world — he believes it’s too difficult for most golfers but probably the best course in the world for great players.
He is also a big fan of the Old Course at St. Andrews.
“I think [the Old Course] every time you go around it gets better and you learn a little more,” he said. ‘It’s shaped by nature and the way people played the game, rather than by a person. You can play it conservatively all day long and according to the regular rules you hit 16-17 greens – no one can hit 17 in two – but according to the regular rules you hit the most greens. But you’re going to have 50-footers all day long, so then you get braver and braver and you start getting into the bunkers and out of bounds and then you start making birdies and you think this spot is pretty easy, but then you get burned and hit in the bunker and make a triple and then you go back to being conservative. It seems like you are in these cycles. The higher the quality of your recording, the easier your next recording will be. That place is doing better than anywhere else.”
To listen to the entire podcast with Ogilvy, click hereor look further YouTube below.
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