Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro GA: Most decorated.
The GolfCourseHome Rankings Compendium
Our modern culture is all about creating lists of who or what
is tops in its field. Golf courses and golf communities have
had various rankings systems for decades, as you know.
What’s hard to know is which communities and courses have
earned which honors—the "rankings season" extends from
October to February.
If you look at all the different kinds of ways to rate or rank
a golf course, you'll discover quite an array. From Best New
Course to Best Residential to Best Public to Best Private to
Best Classic to Best Modern from Top 100 to Top 50, there
are multiple ways to shine.
To all courses and communities, these annual and biennial
awards mean a great deal. There's great crowing when a top
ranking is achieved and much soul-searching when it’s lost.
GolfCourseHome does not send out field researchers and
raters in pursuit of its own, proprietary ranking system. But
we thought we could do the next best thing--look at all the
current rankings and identify all GolfCourseHome communities
that have received more than one or two accolades and
arrange them in a suitable 'Rankings Compendium.'
Topping our compilation is a fabulous Front Nine, with the
most dynamic of them all being Reynolds Plantation, which has
received honors of every sort for its many golf courses and for
the community in general.
The Front Nine (or The Divine Nine)
1. Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro GA uses a rare and
impressive blend of quality and quantity to rise to the
pinnacle of the golf rankings, both for its courses and its
overall amenities.
- Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, The Creek
Club, by Jim Engh - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- No. 61 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Great Waters course) - No. 95 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Oconee course) - No. 38 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(Great Waters course) - No. 61 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(Oconee course) - A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
(Great Waters and National courses) - No. 43 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine (GW) - No. 60 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine (Oconee) - No. 97 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest - No. 5 on the 50 Top Courses for Women by Golf for
Women (Oconee) - Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
- Click here for more information about Reynolds
Plantation!
2. Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, SC, is perhaps the most highly
lauded new community in the U.S. Current awards for this
20,000-acre resort/residential Lowcountry property:
- Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, May River Golf
Club, by Jack Nicklaus - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- A Golfweek Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
- No. 31 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- No. 53 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine. - Click here for more information about Palmetto Bluff!
3. Sea Pines, Hilton Head SC is a landmark community on a
huge waterfront site with a long list of great amenities but
one in particular that garners close attention from the raters—
Pete Dye’s Harbour Town Golf Links.
- No. 29 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
- No. 13 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
- No. 15 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest - No. 93 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf
Digest - No. 40 on 100 Top Courses in the U.S. by GOLF
Magazine - No. 15 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine - A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
- Click here for more information about Sea Pines!
4. Homestead Preserve, Warm Springs, VA benefits from the
combined glory of the lofty rankings and ratings garnered by
the famed Cascades Course and a sister course at the historic
Homestead resort property.
- No. 2 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Cascades) - No. 12 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(Cascades) - No. 61 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(Cascades) - A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
(Cascades and Old Course) - No. 16 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest (Cascades) - No. 97 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf
Digest (Cascades) - No. 61 on 100 Top Courses in the U.S. by GOLF
Magazine (Cascades) - No. 18 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine (GW) - Click here for more information about Homestead
Preserve!
5. Barton Creek Resort & Spa, Austin, TX, did more than
other other area property to put Austin on the national golf
map. The residential component of Barton Creek is a golf-
and spa-lover’s way of enjoying this award-winning community
on a daily basis.
- A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
(Fazio Foothills and Fazio Canyons courses) - No. 83 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest (Canyons) - No. 68 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine (Foothills) - No. 69 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine (Canyons) - No. 40 on the 50 Top Courses for Women by Golf for
Women (Foothills) - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- Click here for more information about Barton Creek
Resort & Spa!
The Powder Horn, WY: New clubhouse & plenty of awards.
6. The Powder Horn, Sheridan, WY earns its list of honors
without benefit of being an easy visit for the traveling raters.
Of course, once a visitor does arrive at this grand Western
community, they are sure to agree it has earned its awards.
- No. 24 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- No. 68 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
- No. 21 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
- A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
- Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about The Powder Horn!
7. Desert Mountain, Scottsdale AZ, is an upscale and highly
influential Arizona enclave that can provide six excellent
reasons (and courses) for visiting.
- No. 55 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Chiracuhua course) - No. 75 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Renegade course) - No. 76 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Geronimo course) - No. 97 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Cochise course) - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Desert Mountain!
8. Barefoot Resort, No. Myrtle Beach, SC, is a community
that’s had to work to stand out from the crowd of excellent
Myrtle Beach venues. Here’s how Barefoot did it:
- No. 87 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(Love course) - No. 97 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(Fazio course) - No. 53 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest (Love course) - No. 92 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest (Fazio course) - No. 95 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine (Love course) - Click here for more information about Barefoot Resort!
9. Cuscowilla, Eatonton GA is a highly ranked community with
a distinctly down-home feel that visitors and residents alike
keep returning to—and golf that keeps earning kudos.
- No. 2 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- No. 33 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
- No. 21 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
- A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
- No. 19 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine - Click here for more information about Cuscowilla!
The Next Tier --
Colleton River Plantation, Bluffton, SC, is spread across a
romantic landscape of marsh and woodland—terrain that
inspired two great modern course designers to do some of
their finest work, as the rankings prove:
- No. 44 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Nicklaus course) - No. 67 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(Dye course) - No. 35 on America's 50 Greatest Golf Retreats by Golf
Digest Index - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Colleton River
Plantation!
Paa-Ko Communities, Sandia Park, NM, burst on the golf
scene in 2000 (it has recently added an excellent new nine
to complement its original 18) and set the stage for build-out
of attractive residential neighborhoods.
- No. 5 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- No. 40 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
- A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
- No. 38 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest - No. 30 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine - Click here for more information about Paa-Ko Communities!
Suncadia, Roslyn, WA, represents a finely honed blend of
resort ambience with a distinctive private golf club secluded
within it. Its honors reflect that versatile profile.
- A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
(Prospector course) - Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Prospector
Golf Course, by Arnold Palmer - Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Tumble Creek
Golf Club, by Tom Doak
- Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Suncadia!
Best of the Rest
Belfair, Bluffton, SC, is a double-Fazio venue in the pristine
Lowcountry of South Carolina.
- No. 63 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(West) - No. 72 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
(East) - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Belfair!
Daniel Island, Charleston, SC, the winner of untold awards for
overall community plan and design, also does well in the golf-
rankings category.
- Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Ralston Creek
Club, by Rees Jones - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
- Click here for more information about Daniel Island!
Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls, TX, is a must-visit for any
aficionado of Robert Trent Jones, Sr., whose designs here
rank among his finest.
- No. 79 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(RamRock course) - No. 99 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
(AppleRock course) - A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
(RamRock course) - A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
(AppleRock course) - Click here for more information about Horseshoe Bay!
Spring Island, Spring Island, SC, is one of the great
environmentally planned golf communities in the U.S., with
a standout golf course by Arnold Palmer.
- No. 27 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- No. 89 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
- Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Spring Island!
Grande Dunes, Myrtle Beach, SC, is a 2,200-acres coastal
property that continues to build its reputation as a golf jewel
between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway.
- Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Members
Course Club, by Nick Price and Craig Schreiner - No. 100 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Grande Dunes!
Oldfield, Okatie, SC, is an emerging jewel still adding to
its stock of awards.
- Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
- Click here for more information about Oldfield!
Mirabel, Scottsdale, AZ, is perched above the distant city
lights of Scottsdale and admired as a top-echelon private
desert golf community.
- No. 91 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
- Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Mirabel!
The Cliffs Communities, Travelers Rest, SC, is a leading
innovator among Southeastern U.S. communities, as
evidenced by these honors.
- Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Walnut Cove
Club, by Jack Nicklaus - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about The Cliffs!
The Villages at Tullymore, Stanwood, MI, is not yet as
famous as some of the Northern Michigan properties are, but
the rankers and raters know it well, as these fine
achievements show.
- No. 14 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
Golf Digest - No. 83 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf
Digest - No. 96 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
Magazine - Click here for more information about Tullymore!
Tesoro, Port St. Lucie, FL, is a Ginn Club community
offering two Signature golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer
and Tom Watson—and honored with:
- Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Tesoro Club
course by Arnold Palmer - Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
- A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
- Click here for more information about Tesoro!
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