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The votes are in—these are the 18 best holes that the BTS played in 2024
Words by Ryan BookScorecard art by Stu Stagg
Light / Dark
Editor’s note: For the fourth consecutive year, members in the Broken Tee Society Discord server compiled and voted on a routing of the best golf holes they played as a community over the past 12 months. Enjoy a tour of this wild amalgamation of 2024 below, and explore the previous versions here: 2021, 2022, 2023.
No. 1: Machrihanish Golf Club, Championship Machrihanish, Argyll and Bute, Scotland 424 yards, Par 4 Old Tom Morris, 1879 Nominated by Bob R.
After this moment, we are divided in our abilities, in the paths we take. But on the first tee at Machrihanish we stand together, just five yards separating the toes and tips. So often, we encourage golfers to play the tees they want. But each architect who has touched these links, from Old Tom on down, rightly recognized that everyone wants to play this shot.
The drive, across the North Atlantic to a fairway bending left, unites golfing sensibilities. The old-world links soil and an adrenaline-fueled carry always feels new. The distance home on this par 4, and this course, will henceforth be up to the player’s own skill. But we can all look back on the same starting patch and a shared opening thrill.
No. 2: Cabot Cape Breton, Cliffs Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada 402 yards, Par 4 Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2015 Nominated by W. Lichstein
Coore and Crenshaw might consider a third “C” for “coast.” The acclaimed design duo who came to prominence in central Nebraska has since often traded sand dues for seascapes, and the golf world is better for it. So drink in that view but be sure to weigh the fairway first.
It’s tough to miss—one of the widest landing areas in the Cabot collection—but the corridor tightens quickly once beyond the burn, sharpening into a shark-toothed green with two entry points separated by three sandy abscesses. Wrong angle? Long putt…or worse.
No. 3: Tot Hill Farm Golf Club Asheboro, NC 180 yards, Par 3 Mike Strantz, 2000 Nominated by Golf Crusade
Labeling any Mike Strantz design as “signature” says little, as each of his courses contain a unique, exuberant personality. Three, however, wear a skull logo, marking them as Strantz’s defining works. The emblems of Tobacco Road, Bull’s Bay and Tot Hill Farm advertise ill intent from the start, and the last of that group offers perhaps the stiffest test, as golfers must wrestle with the rock-strewn landscape just as Strantz did when blasting the course out of the earth two decades ago.
“The Rock” is a rather obvious title, but there is mystery in the large, fish-hook green, guarded at the front by a confluence of creeks, the middle by a horseshoe bunker, and the back by the putting surface’s own devious slope. A 2022 restoration has only added menace to this leering beauty.
No. 4: The Lido Nekoosa, WI 550 yards, Par 5 Tom Doak / C.B. Macdonald, 2023 Nominated by Daniel P.
Of all C.B. Macdonald’s Long Island wizardry, his Channel hole on Lido Beach’s swampy sands went well beyond templates. And of all the architects before and after Macdonald, Tom Doak is one of the few with the stones to change the Channel.
Doak’s Wisconsin version of the iconic hole leaves luck out of this equation: Either you make the full carry from the tee, and then repeat the feat, or you’re wet. Take the long way home if you don’t yet have your inland sealegs under you. Course architecture philosophers can debate proper attribution for Wisconsin’s Lido, but the record shows Doak made it his own.
The Channel hole seen from behind, with the tee at the top left of the frame. Photo: Christian Hafer
No. 5: Pinehurst Resort, No. 2 Pinehurst, NC 508 yards, Par 5 Donald Ross, 1907 Nominated by Bob R.
Consecutive short holes have gained acceptance in design circles in the 21st century, but the bold thinkers here at the BTS see no reason not to stack longs, especially considering the diverse demands of these respective entries. Where Macdonald required distance to earn an eagle putt on an the Channel’s immense putting surface, Donald Ross requests precision to one of the most devilish greens at the resort.
At just 508 yards from the standard back tees, and miles of bouncing Carolina terrain below you, length here has never been the issue. But the wiregrass waste raps any wrist that wavers on the tee, and the aggressive leftward slope only accelerates as you enter the final stretch.
The green itself defines Pinehurst’s notorious sand-capped crowns; now as much Coore and Crenshaw as it is Ross, it breaks every way but inward.
No. 6: Royal Melbourne Golf Club, West Black Rock, Victoria, Australia 428 yards, Par 4 Alister MacKenzie, 1926 Nominated by Davis M.
Ross devotees must make a pilgrimage to the North Carolina sandhills, while MacKenzie’s Mecca sits on a deposit of its own, the legendary Melbourne Sandbelt. The work laid by the good doctor impresses such that it must be considered among his very best, hung proudly in the gallery alongside masterpieces like Augusta National and Cypress Point.
Royal Melbourne’s West course is Mackenzie’s top design Down Under, and No. 6 could be the best in that route’s bunch. The hole slithers past a knot of signature Sandbelt bunkers up to a perched green set amid a natural amphitheater. Handle with care; whether too short or too long, you’ll feel fangs on this green when the putt bites aggressively downward.
No. 7: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Old Macdonald Bandon, OR 363 yards, Par 4 Tom Doak & Jim Urbina, 2009 Nominated by Scott P.
Back at the Lido, Doak began with the concepts of Macdonald and ended with a hole bearing his own fingerprints. And while Old Mac is a tribute to many of the old master’s templates, on this hole, Doak and partner Jim Urbina took a break from hero worship and created something entirely their own.
Infinity greens demand an endless background, either the sea or the horizon, and thanks to the uphill, dune-carrying approach into this wobbling putting platform, you can experience both. At a complex packed with oceanic reveals, climbing these sandy steps might be the best.
No. 7 at Old Mac. Photo: Stephen Szurlej
No. 8: Pinehurst Resort, No. 10 Aberdeen, NC 385 yards, Par 4 Tom Doak, 2024 Nominated by Paolo U.
More than a century in, Pinehurst is still keeping up with the kids. Putting course? Check. Quirky pitch-and-putt? Check. Psychedelic sand wonderland to compete with that Strantz concoction up the road? He might not have pitched No. 10 in quite those words, but Doak nevertheless provided one, and the eighth is a perfect encapsulation.
The medium-length par 4 plays part Road, part Rye, and part Phantom Menace pod race. Hug the hills, lest the hog’s back send a timid tee shot toward the dark, or have a signature Doak-designed green usher a birdie putt elsewhere upon approach.
The 8th at Pinehurst No. 10. Photo: Christian Hafer
No. 9: Friar’s Head Riverhead, NY 395 yards, Par 4 Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2003 Nominated by Will L.
Clubhouses frequently sit upon the property’s high point. At Friar’s Head, owner Ken Bakst shrewdly left the best land for the golf. Thanks to his foresight, both golf course architecture and regular ol’ architecture nerds can celebrate together as they descend from the ninth tee box, across the property’s grey silt sandscape, toward Friar’s rusticated clubhouse and, beyond, the Long Island Sound.
Coore and Crenshaw’s contributions include the caped tee shot around the waste, tumbling down the dunes to a putting surface that orbits a nearly 5-foot internal knob. The entire package, put together, is strong enough to inspire many to forgo the club’s legendary showers and play another nine.
No. 10: Rustic Canyon Golf Course Moorpark, CA 571 yards, Par 5 Gil Hanse & Geoff Shackelford, 2001 Nominated by Michael U.
A river runs through it, though not as frequently as in millennia past. What remains are the barrancas that pro golf fans know from their star turns at Riviera and Los Angeles Country Club. They run through Rustic Canyon too, although their potential was less obvious on this comparatively flatter plot. Enter Gil Hanse.
Seeing the big idea at No. 10 requires sharp eyes. Look away from the big bunker cracking the fairway and focus on the tiny pot, placed strategically along the right. Getting home quickly means hugging the scrub-and-sand siding tight. The putting surface could rightfully be nicknamed Kagreen Abdul-Jabbar; approach from the side and risk getting your offering swatted into the third row.
No. 11: Camargo Club Cincinnati, Ohio 140 yards, Par 3 Seth Raynor, 1925 Nominated by David S.
Pete Dye constructed some of the most feared short holes on the PGA Tour. And he cited Camargo Club as having golf’s greatest set of one-shotters. Noted.
Dye was no template man, but he and and Seth Raynor overlap in their penchant for short holes with fearsome trappings. Raynor demonstrates exactly how to do it on this version of a “Short,” whose signature “thumbprint” looks more like an index finger, pointing long and right, a horseshoe hemming its edge.
Miss into the bowl for a testing two-putt but don’t dare miss the green. While your ball won’t succumb to the swimming pool that would swallow it at the 17th on Sawgrass, this bunker is no beachside picnic—it’s deep enough on the right to bury two golfers, one atop the other’s shoulders.
No. 12: Sand Valley Golf Resort, Sedge Valley Nekoosa, WI 278 yards, Par 4 Tom Doak, 2024 Nominated by Danny P.
After eating through The Lido, Old Macdonald and Pinehurst No. 10, BTS Doak devotees were still hungry! And so they traveled to the fat fairways of Sedge Valley. They nibbled on the idea of laying up at this short par 4 but, like the main character of Eric Carle’s famous children’s book, they ultimately reached for the green.
Problem is that the blade of Doak’s Caterpillar 320 excavator created a well-placed bunker in the fairway and another huge one on the right side of the putting surface. A bombed tee shot will set you up nicely, but miss big either way and on that night, you’ll have a stomachache.
No. 13: Pinehurst Resort, No. 4 Pinehurst, NC 529 yards, Par 5 Robert Trent Jones (1973), Gil Hanse, 2016 Nominated by JJ H.
Hanse has a history of restoring Ross from Robert Trent Jones, raising monsters from golden age classics. Count Pinehurst No. 4 among those to run from Ross to Jones to Hanse—but spare a thought for RTJ, who deserves credit for what many consider the course’s signature hole.
The water that plays little spoon to this par 5 came from Jones, and Hanse wisely saw fit to work with the existing concept, expanding the green as his personal cherry on top of Jones’ sundae. Love the lake or hate it, this hole stands out dramatically amid the plethora of crowned greens and waste areas.
No. 14: Cruden Bay Golf Club, Championship Cruden Bay, Peterhead, Scotland 431 yards, Par 4 Old Tom Morris / Archie Simpson (1899), Tom Simpson / Herbert Fowler (1926) Nominated by Matt C.
Local knowledge, known the world over: When standing on the tee at Cruden Bay’s ninth, atop the property’s peak dune, look left and note No. 14’s pin.
Lacking modern mechanical heft, Archie Simpson traversed these colossal hills and placed greens where he could. The necessary became the fantastic; Tom Simpson (no relation) and Herbert Fowler later kept many green sites, recognizing the lurching land’s personality. They extended this one as they extended the hole, giving players a sunken, 60-yard runway as insurance during a blind approach. Getting into the “Bathtub” is all well and good, but a 40-yard putt may leave you washed.
No. 15: Tobacco Road Golf Club Sanford, NC 365 yards, Par 4 Mike Strantz (1998) Nominated by Ryan B.
Whether audible or while shaking one’s head, “What in the world?” is a familiar refrain at Tobacco Road. No. 15 asks a different question: “How?”
The cart path from No. 14 shakes your sense of direction, and by the time you’re asked to determine a strategy, you might feel outright lost. Should you play to the thin, high tier right of the fairway’s tectonic crack, or to the lower, farther landing strip? Your answer likely depends on the day’s pin position, but unlike the previous hole at Cruden, you never get a chance to check. It’s an old-world hole, testing the ability to act regardless of whether a right answer exists.
No. 16: Columbia Country Club Chevy Chase, MD 163 yards, Par 3 Walter Travis (1911) Nominated by Hunter R.
When looking at the plot of Georgia land that would become one of the world’s most well-known par 3s, Bobby Jones offered a tip to Alister MacKenzie: Check out No. 16 at Columbia.
Walter Travis, a fellow trailblazing amateur, specialized in green surfaces; his legendary putting skill inspired him to create greens like hot springs, which boiled with bubbling breaks. No. 16 is a different animal than No. 12 at Augusta—it is defined not by the hazard in front but by the water ahead, the thin green making a comebacker almost as hazardous. A professional test from an amateur legend.
No. 16 at Columbia. Photo: Lexey Swall
No. 17: Hollywood Golf Club Deal, NJ 224 yards, Par 3 Walter Travis (1917) Nominated by Ben D.
Same designer, same par, different beast. This long-legged Travis one-shotter coils like a tiger to Columbia’s tabby, with a spine arched prominently in defense and 200 yards of turf between you and the 11 sandy stripes decorating its sides. Brian Schneider restored those bunkers during a 2021 project, bringing back both the hole’s character and snarl. Take a loss here and walk the visitor’s tunnel, another Schneider restoration, back to the locker room.
Or maybe to the 18th tee, if you’re still with us.
No. 18: Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach, CA 541 yards, Par 5 Jack Neville (1919), Hebert Fowler (1921), Chandler Egan (1929) Nominated by Jason B.
After opening on the Atlantic, it only feels right that we conclude on the Pacific. Just as with our opening tee shot at Machrihanish, we play across the surf crashing on the coast like the roars of a major gallery, and we tip our hats to the real audience (or at the very least the gulls circling above) after pulling the last putt from the cup.
Prior to this point, we have hit poor shots, made bad reads and taken winding paths back and forth across the fairways of the 2024 BTS Composite. But none of us regret where we ended up.
Photo: Taku Miyamoto
If an official committee were to somehow play and rule on this golf course, they would return with something like a 78.1 rating and a slope in the low 150s. Forced carries, blind shots, tabletop greens and myriad hazards make the 2024 Composite Course the toothiest yet. Thanks and kudos to BTS member Stu Stagg for designing the scorecard and a detailed routing map.
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