The most exclusive golf clubs do not have velvet ropes. But some have security gates, small memberships and contributions the size of the national debt. All this makes them difficult to access. Quite a few of these places appear on GOLF’s latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World. Here are 11 of the toughest tee times on the list.
AUGUSTA NATIONAL — Augusta, Ga.
Hello again, friends. Take a seat for our mostly uninterrupted broadcast, drink the pastel colors of dogwoods and magnolias and let the pre-recorded birdsong wash over you. By the time the final putt drops, you’ll feel like you’ve memorized every ridge and rise of Alister MacKenzie’s masterpiece – which is handy, because experiencing it personally is a lovely little fantasy for almost all of us.
CHICAGO GOLF CLUB – Wheaton, Illinois.
Chicago Golf, one of the founders of the USGA and home to the nation’s first 18-hole course, is the game’s version of a sweet old grunt. The membership is small. Unsupervised play is not permitted. And guests are asked to leave the premises until their host arrives, and to hurry once the host leaves. If courses could channel cantankerous charm, CB Macdonald’s creation would be standing on the clubhouse steps, grumbling at the world to get off the lawn.
CHILDREN’S ROOM, UPSTAIRS – Childress, TX
Located in a lonely swath of the Lone Star State, where rumpled dunes line a scenic bend in a wide river, Childress is the newest course in our World Top 100, but Childress follows an old model of exclusivity: high entry fees, low membership numbers.
CYPRESS POINT CLUB — Monterey, California.
“Cypress once had a big membership drive,” Bob Hope liked to joke about his home club. “They expelled 40 members.” The roll today still hovers around a few hundred lucky souls who can hike to a stretch of coast so spectacular that you half expect park rangers to appear and warn you to stay on designated trails.
FISHERS ISLAND — Fishers Island, NY
Both literally and figuratively insular, Seth Raynor’s gem sits on the eastern tip of Long Island, accessible only by boat or private plane and far beyond the reach of the everyday golfer. The wealth here predates paper money. And it prefers anonymity: in 1979, after GOLF placed Fishers on the first-ever world rankings, the club politely asked to be removed. Difficult to reach? Absolute. But once you get there, it becomes etched in your memory.
HIRONO-Kobe, Japan
The Japanese devotion to etiquette and tradition finds a fitting expression in Hirono. What it doesn’t expand so easily is access. No unaccompanied play. Almost no tournaments worth mentioning; only the Japan Amateur and Japan Open have broken through. A recent restoration by Martin Ebert has only fueled curiosity, but the guest list remains as tight as ever.
MORFONTAINE — Hauts-de-France, France
Many golfers dream of hitting this sandy, pine wonderland an hour north of Paris. Très peu actually succeeds. Built in 1913 as the Duke of Gramont’s personal playground, Morfontaine remains a discreet retreat for France’s golfing aristocracy and various worldly heirs. Unaccompanied visitors are about as common as steak tartare without egg yolk. Unless you count a duke among your acquaintances, you may never get close, although you will certainly hear the legends about the luncheon.
THE OLD TRACK AT ST. ANDREWS — St. Andrews, Scotland
Yes, there is a vote. Yes, there is a queue. But if you’re not a local or have no ties to the R&A, you’ll probably want a tour operator to help you navigate a tee sheet that fills up years later. One of the game’s little paradoxes: the Old Course is open to everyone, which sometimes makes it seem almost impossible to reserve a slot.
PINE VALLEY – Pine Valley, NJ
Since we’re all into analytics these days, let’s analyze a few. The highest ranked course in the world means there is a worldwide demand to play this course. Most members live far away. Guests cannot come unaccompanied. Add to that the fact that Pine Valley doesn’t raise funds or host corporate days – rare entry points at other elite clubs – and the equation is simple. The odds of hitting the mark here hover somewhere around snowball-in-July territory.
SEMINOLE—Juno Beach, Florida.
Picture the stereotypical Florida golf enclave – glitzy clubhouse, overstuffed landscaping, gold-plated carts – and then imagine the opposite. That’s Seminole. Ben Hogan once said that if he were a young pro, he would do whatever he could to get access to this Donald Ross classic. Sensible advice, but not easy to follow. After all, this is the club that is said to have passed on Jack Nicklaus.
SHANQIN Bay – Hainan, China
A GOLF employee once spent several blissful days at this Coore-Crenshaw design, perched on windswept coastal cliffs on Hainan Island, and met exactly one other group. The emptiness is inherent to the design. Membership is low, initiation fees run into seven figures, and on many days the staff outnumbers golfers so large that staff have been known to spell guests’ names into range balls, in giant letters on the practice range.
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