Classic courses tend to fit the land seamlessly, like your favorite pair of penny loafers. The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing featured three — Pebble Beach, Riviera and Waialae. Each made its debut between 1910 and 1940, the period considered the Golden Age of golf course architecture. Riviera and Waialae are private, but while Pebble is pricey, at least you can play it. Here are 10 Golden Age classics you can play.
10. The Greenbrier (Old White)
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
800-624-6070, greenbrier.com
$130-$225
Architect: Charles Blair Macdonald, 1914
The father of American golf course architecture (Chicago Golf Club, National Golf Links, Yale), left few public designs, but this Old World masterpiece is a marvelous exception. Artfully restored in 2006 by Lester George, Old White is replete with forested hillsides and strategic bunkering.
9. The Broadmoor (East)
Colorado Springs, Colo.
719-577-5790, broadmoor.com
$100-$225
Architect: Donald Ross/Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1918
One of Ross' only ventures west of the Mississippi resulted in a wonderful mountain layout with slick, impossible-to-read greens that will host the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. While half the holes bear the design stamp of Trent Jones, the early holes and the closing stretch are the most graceful—and they belong to Ross.
8. Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
Southern Pines, N.C.
910-692-7111, pineneedles-midpines.com
$120-$235
Architect: Donald Ross, 1927
Three U.S. Women's Opens have been contested on Pine Needles, in 1996, 2001 and 2007 and winners Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Cristie Kerr, respectively, proved that it takes the best at their best to master the strategic options and beguiling greens presented here.
7. Linville Golf Club
Linville, N.C.
800-742-6717, eseeola.com
$115
Architect: Donald Ross, 1924
Ross-aholics need to check into the Eseeola Lodge to play this mountain gem 90 minutes northeast of Asheville, but it's worth the freight to tackle one of the most bucolic courses around—with the heart-pounding exception of the 472-yard, par-4 3rd, an early-round card-wrecker if there ever was one.
6. Taconic Golf Club
Williamstown, Mass.
413-458-3997, taconicgolf.com
$145
Architects: Wayne Stiles/John Van Kleek, 1927
Among the most underrated of the Golden Age architects is the duo of Stiles and Van Kleek, who scattered their design imprint all over New England and for a time teamed with Hall-of-Famer Walter Hagen. Lovely Taconic, in the heart of the Berkshires, was the site of Jack Nicklaus' first ace, a feat the 18-year-old achieved in the 1956 U.S. Junior Amateur.
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