The mailbox this week brought even more course rankings that included Minnesota courses.
The oldest ranking in the game (started in 1966), the Golf Digest presents America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is out in the May 2009 edition. The 09/10 version includes a second list of the 100 greatest public courses.
This bi-yearly ranking is based on reports from more than 900 evaluation panelists who assign values in seven categories (see below).
On the main list, two Minnesota courses continue their long-standing inclusion:
- #64 – Interlachen (7.74 shot values, 7.44 resistance to scoring, 7.73 design variety, 7.74 memorability, 7.66 aesthetics, 8.07 conditioning, 8.19 ambiance – 62.31 total)
- #91 – Hazeltine National (7.75 shot values, 8.20 resistance to scoring, 7.55 design variety, 7.42 memorability, 7.31 aesthetics, 7.64 conditioning, 7.67 ambiance – 61.29 total)
Both courses dropped two positions since the last edition of the list. Hazeltine has been ranked for all 43 years, while Interlachen missed the list only once (1969-1970).
On the public course side, three Minnesota courses made the top 100:
- #20 – The Quarry at Giants Ridge
- #40 – The Classic at Madden’s Resort
- #72 – The Legend at Giants Ridge
Still thinking about creating a Golfing in Minnesota list soon…