No. 13 on the Top 100 ranking is a course for which Colt gets all the credit: Royal Portrush (Dunluce) in Northern Ireland. That epic layout played host to the 2019 Open Championship, won by Irishman Shane Lowry.
Here’s the full list of the Colt-designed golf courses that made our new Top 100 ranking:
1. Pine Valley (PINE VALLEY, NJ; GEORGE CRUMP/HARRY S. COLT, 1918)
12. Muirfield (GULLANE, SCOTLAND; OLD TOM MORRIS, 1891/H.S. COLT, 1925)
13. Royal Portursuh [Dunluce] (PORTRUSH, N. IRELAND; H.S. COLT, 1929)
29. Sunningdale [Old] (SUNNINGDALE, ENGLAND; WILLIE PARK JR., 1901/H.S. COLT, 1922)
33. Royal St. George’s (SANDWICH, ENGLAND; W. LAIDLAW PURVES, 1887/H.S. COLT, 1922)
54. Woodhall Spa [Hotchkin] (WOODHALL SPA, ENGLAND; HARRY VARDON, 1905/H.S. COLT, 1912/S.V. HOTCHKIN, 1926)
55. Swinley Forest (SOUTH ASCOT, ENGLAND; H.S. COLT, 1910)
67. Rye [Old] (CAMBER, ENGLAND H.S. COLT, 1895/TOM SIMPSON/HERBERT TIPPET/GUY CAMPBELL, 1907)
73. Sunningdale [New] (SUNNINGDALE, ENGLAND H.S. COLT, 1922)
86. St. George’s Hill (A & B) (WEYBRIDGE, ENGLAND H.S. COLT, 1913)
88. De Pan [Utrechtse] (UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS H.S. COLT, 1929)
Most of the architects who come closest to Colt’s Top 100 haul, like Colt, died long ago. But there are two modern outfits who could give him a run for his money some day. Celebrated modern designer Tom Doak has an impressive six courses already on the Top 100 list, while the famed duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have five.
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