10 best new public golf courses in the United States

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GOLF Magazine's Top 10 New Courses You Can Play
The crop of candidates for our Top 10 New honors ran
the gamut from the spiritual (Del Webb at Ave Maria) to
the sinister (John Daly's Murder Rock Golf & Country Club),
but the winners rose above the fray. Selected with input
from our course-ranking panelists, editors and spies in the
field, these are the best new public-access courses opened
in 2007and the best new private and international
tracksand most of them can be played for a lot less than $100. No matter where you live, there's a must-play newbie right around the corner.
Believe it or not, the course on the left is not in Ireland, Scotland, Australia or New Zealand. It's in America and is our 2007 Course of the Year. Continue on to the gallery and learn where this emerald beauty can be found.

Clive Barber/Humber Valley Resort
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Best New International Course
Humber Valley Resort (River Course)
Newfoundland, Canada
7,199 yards, par 72
Green fee: $50-$100
866-686-8100, humbervalley.com
Humber Valley Resort's River Course is reason
enough for golfers to keep an eye on the Weather
Channel to see when the snows melt to the north.
Architect Doug Carrick infused this layout with
sufficient length and mettle to challenge the serious
stick, as shown by his artfully sectionalized greens
and the deft risk/reward test posed by such holes as
the downhill par-5 13th, where bunkers narrow the
target for long hitters.
Perhaps Carrick's greatest feat, however, was
allowing a stunning piece of property to yield one
spectacular, fun-to-play hole after another. Particularly
unforgettable is the par-4 10th, which plunges 180 feet
from tee to fairway. The par-3 5th calls for a long carry
over the lakeshore, and the par-3 14th perilously skirts
the riveranother two holes that make this out-of-theway
journey well worth the effort.

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Bandon Crossings Golf Course
Bandon, Ore.
6,855 yards, par 72
Green fees: $33-$93
541-347-3232, bandoncrossings.com
"Bandon on a budget" best
describes this low-key layout near
the famed Bandon Dunes Resort.
Designed by local boy Dan Hixson,
this inland track plays around a dry
river bottomland. Majestic coastal
trees, classically sculpted bunkers and
uneven terrain provide the main
challenges. It's not Bandon Dunes, but
if aching legs and wallet woes are an
issue, this is a refreshing alternative,
and well worth every penny.

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The Crossings at Carlsbad
Carlsbad, Calif.
6,835 yards, par 72
Green fee: $90-$120
760-444-1800, thecrossingsatcarlsbad.com
Municipal courses that overlook
the Pacific Ocean are about as
common as civil political campaigns
these days. Here's why: The Crossings
was green-lighted in a 1990 public vote
but it took another 17 years to clear
permit hurdles. It was worth the wait.
This Greg Nash design, a mile inland, is
draped over heaving terrain that's
bisected by scrub-choked canyons.
Environmental restrictions forced a
dozen routing changes and the result is
some awkward transitions, but you'll love a handful of enticing holes,
particularly the par-5 7th with its
shallow, elevated green menaced by a
lake, and the par-4 10th, which boasts a
10-story drop to the fairway. There are
muni moments here: airplane traffic and
amusement-park din, but where else can
you gaze over the Pacific from the 18th
tee yet still get change from $100?

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Juliette Falls Golf & Spa Community
Dunnellon, Fla.
7,239 yards, par 72
Green fee: $125
352-522-0309, juliettefalls.com
Florida's Marion County, 85 miles northwest of Orlando, is home to some
200 horse farms, and its latest golf offering is a pure thoroughbred.
Architect John Sanford coaxed a classic parkland layout from gently rolling
terrain, and while there are a few bells and whistlesfour waterfall
features and eye-catching waste bunkers dotted with shrubbery
and wire grass the course's strength lies in the variety of its
par-4s and the standout quartet of par-3s, two of which feature Daliesque
greens that seemingly melt into the water. Gallop over here
before it goes private sometime down the road.

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Leopard's Chase Golf Club
at Ocean Ridge Plantation
Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.
7,155 yards, par 72
Green fees: $95-$195
910-287-1717, big-cats.com
Architect Tim Cate has toiled on all four courses at Ocean Ridge, and has
improved on every one. Leopard's Chase might just launch him to a national
audience. This big cat stalks you with a daunting 140 slope, due primarily to the
enormous, heaving, speedy greens and a back nine that bares its fangs at the 11th
and never lets up. The front nine sports the prettiest holethe island-green par-3
4th, quickly followed by the intriguing par-4 5th, its green completely encircled by
sandbut it's the (par 37) back nine that can shred your scorecard. The 439-yard
finishing hole has ponds bracketing the fairway, a gigantic waste bunker up the
right side, a waterfall left of the green and a prevailing left-to-right breeze. All that
makes for one of the most memorable closers on the Grand Strand.

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Cougar Canyon Golf Links
Trinidad, Colo.
7,709 yards, par 72
Green fees: $35-$73
719-422-7015, cougarcanyonliving.com
Residental courses
tend to be like
the golf communities
they inhabit: relaxed,
conventional and
uncontroversial. Cougar
Canyon, located in the old
mining town of Trinidad,
halfway between Denver
and Albuquerque, breaks
that mold. Chris Cochran
of Nicklaus Design has
crafted a peril-filled track
with the Sangre de Christo
Mountains as a backdrop.
The formidable length
from the tips is mitigated
by the 6,000-foot
elevation, but there's
plenty of trouble here,
starting with the 42 deep,
black sand bunkers (a
nod to the town's mining
heritage). The flattish
front nine yields to
jacked-up excitement on
the back, notably at the
stunning 163-yard
16th, which demands a
short-iron dart over a
yawning swath of Gray
Creek to an island green
that rests atop a 7,800-
square-foot mesa.

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Cottonwood Hills Golf Club
Hutchinson, Kan.
7,260 yards, par 72
Green fees: $49-$55
620-802-9150, cottonwoodhills.net
Nick Faldo won his
first British Open
with 18 straight pars
in the final round,
but we'd be more
impressed if he could
do it on his new course
in Central Kansas.
Blind shots, rippled
fairways, more than
70 bunkers and
diabolically contoured
greens allow creative
players to thrive while
the rest of us can
bunt around trouble.
Cottonwood Hills
rivals nearby Prairie
Dunes as a varied test.
And with a peak fee of
$55, it is heaven in
the heartland.

L.C. Lambrecht
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Stowe Mountain Club
Stowe, Vt.
6,411 yards, par 72
Green fees: $175-$250
802-253-3564, stowemountainclub.com
Golfers with egos
bigger than their
drives might scoff at the
total yardage at Stowe
Mountain Club: just
6,411 yards. If that's you,
let your eyes wander over
to the fearsome slope of
141 as testament to the
strength of architect Bob
Cupp's pint-sized
shotmaker's delight at
the Stowe Mountain
Resort. The course basks
in postcard views of Mt.
Mansfield, Vermont's
highest point, but the
off-course vistas are
exceeded only by the
on-course challenges.
Among them: the
muscular 252-yard
par-3 4th, which sports
rock-wall tee boxes, a
mountain stream and a
greenside bunker that
will catch even a slight
push. The flatter back
nine features a trio of
holes that tangle with
Peregrine Lake.

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Blue Top Ridge at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort
Riverside, Iowa
7,505 yards, par 72
Green fees: $55-$80
877-677-3456, riversidecasinoandresort.com
This is golf's answer to
Field of Dreams a
sporting oasis in the
middle of an Iowa
cornfield. Blue Top Ridge
is a brawny Rees Jones
design that boasts
remarkable variety, with
three different landforms.
The front nine begins in a
prairie before descending
at the 4th to a river plain
(a trio of holes are set on
the Iowa River). The back
nine is carved into a
hillside that boosts the
requisite drama quotient.
There is a wonderful ebb
and flow to the course, but
the finishing stretch will
resonate, especially the
gargantuan 665-yard 16th
hole, where a creek splits
the landing areas.

Rob Perry/Butterfield Trail GC
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Butterfield Trail Golf Club
El Paso, Tex.
7,307 yards, par 72
Green fees: $65-$80
915-772-1038, butterfieldtrailgolf.com
Tom Fazio is known for his stylized, flawlessly
landscaped, big-budget designs that are as
polished as a Beverly Hills trophy wife. At
Butterfield Trail, not far from El Paso
International Airport, each hole is named for a
different Stagecoach stop on the 2,800-mile
Missouri-to-San Francisco trail used by the
Butterfield Overland Mail Company from 1858
to 1861. The fairways are wide enough to
accommodate shots in the roaring west Texas
winds, but there are sufficient strategic options
to keep you interested. The Trail's final stop is its
finest, a classic gambler's par-5 of 566 yards that
buttonhooks to the right around a lake. If you
want an on-time arrival at the green, your
approach had better be letter-perfect.

Dick Durrance II
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Best New Course of the Year
Chambers Bay Golf Course
University Place, Wash.
7,585 yards, par 72
Green fee: $65-$150
877-29-LINKS, chambersbaygolf.com
At Chambers Bay the visuals scream
Ireland: giant sand dunes, rumpled
fairways, stunning sea views, and
unpredictable weather. But this superb
new course is almost 5,000 miles west
of Ballybunion, atop an old gravel mine
about an hour south of Seattle, Wash.
This Robert Trent Jones II-designed
municipal track is a walkers' only feast
for the eyes, and a relentless test of both
swing and stamina. Call it Bethpage
Black-by-the-Sea.
The eye candy commences right at
the 1st hole, with a 50-foot-high dune to
the right and the backdrop of Puget
Sound. It only gets better from there.
Highlights include the par-4 5th, called
"Free Fall," which plummets 80 feet
from tee to landing area and culminates
in two separate greens150 yards apart.
The farther green is receptive to a lowrunning
approach, while the closer one
is fiercely guarded by sand. The dearth
of forced carries means Chambers
Bay is playable for all, although a
memorable exception to that is the
jaw-dropping par-3 9th, its wavy potato
chip-contoured green perched on the
far side of a ravine.
Chambers Bay earns the greatest
compliment it's possible to bestow on a
new course: By the time your caddie
replaces the flag at 18, all you can think
about is repeating the journey.

Brent Stewart/Colorado Golf Club
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Best New Private Course
Colorado Golf Club
Parker, Colo.
7,604 yards, par 72
coloradogolfclub.com
Architects Bill Coore and Ben
Crenshawthe partnership behind
Sand Hills and Bandon Trailswere
handed a 1,700-acre former Arabian
horse ranch dusted with deep gullies,
meadows and clusters of tall pines. Not
a bad start, right? And they improved
on it. The fairways hew to the lay of the
land, and the artfully crafted, multitiered
greens ensure that a variety of
shotmaking skills are required to
navigate the challenges. After the 653-
yard downhill opening hole, the course
switches gears abruptly at the 154-yard
2nd, requiring a precise pitch over a
wash and a pot bunker to a tiny green
that rejects balls hit to the edges. Game
on. Brutal two-shot holes are balanced
by reachable, short par-4s; split-fairway,
thinking-man's par-5s mesh with the
occasional grip-it-and-rip-it test. The
result is a terrific medley of holes that
appear to have evolved rather than
been manufactured, a true expression
of least-disturbance design by two
of its finest practitioners.