Have the world’s most exciting golf courses been forgotten at the highest level?

A new Presidents Cup has been and gone, but the same frustrations seemed to arise like every other year.

‘The event needs a shake-up’ and ‘the Internationals need help’ are two common lines of debate. There was also venue-related unrest emanating from Royal Montreal, a venue that has hosted the event twice now despite its inception being just 30 years ago, with the first four of them being at the same venue in Virginia.

Given there are more golf courses in the world than most people have had hot dinners, surely the Presidents Cup, a tournament that pitches the best Internationals (non-European players) against the best Americans, should show enough imagination to visit somewhere original and utilise all corners of the world, over somewhere already used.

And it has in the past. We’ve seen Royal Melbourne, a spectacular golf course in a region of golf heaven, and Fancourt in South Africa which is also highly rated. The use of Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon showed imagination too.

The DP World Tour visits Australia and South Africa each season, while the PGA Tour goes to the Dominican Republic too. Credit where it’s due. Can more be done though?

But actually, with visits to far-flung corners of the earth come issues including timezones, travel and scheduling. Is it fanciful to hold the Presidents Cup or several PGA Tour events per season in the Southern Hemisphere, and other less visited areas of this planet? Would players even want that given a large proportion have cushy schedules circulating the same old routes in America?

Perhaps one side of this argument uses the head, one uses the heart. NCG’s team tackles the issue in our latest debate.

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Should more of the world’s best golf courses be used on tour, or is this at all feasible?

‘Global golf’ is a tedious concept, but maybe there’s sense to it

Not too long ago, I wrote passionately about how venues should be used as a bigger bargaining chip to attract top players to an event than prize money, but money isn’t part of this debate, writes Matt Chivers.

There are corners of the golf world that are yet to be visited or unlocked by the elite level of the game. They must be used, otherwise, what are we doing? There are Maracanas, Azteca Stadiums and Santiago Bernabeus in the golf world that are waiting to be shown to fans that aren’t aware of their beauty.

I represent the heart side of the debate here, but let’s begin with the Presidents Cup. We’ve seen Royal Melbourne. Fantastic, well done. Let’s take it to New Zealand. Tara Iti Golf Club is literally ranked seventh in Golf Digest’s best golf courses on Earth. Heard of Cabot Links in Canada? Didn’t think so. Google it, and look up Hirono Golf Club while you’re there. How about Te Arai Links in Auckland too?

This could then pave the way for more PGA Tour events to think this way. Just take a look at said golf courses above, and tell me Scottie Scheffler wouldn’t want to win an event at those tracks.

I’m not completely naive. I understand there are logistical issues that go into arranging golf tournaments, and top golf courses might want to save their dreamy settings for visitors, and not have the world’s TV cameras, trucks and equipment vans descend upon them.

But the Presidents Cup was just held at Royal Montreal, four kilometres from a bridge that had construction work on it that fans were encouraged to avoid. Logistical issues can be overcome, as can time zones. I’m not asking players to take day-long flights all the time, just occasionally.

All I hear from figures in the game is that there must be a global tour. Greg Norman, Rory McIlroy. Two people on completely opposite sides of the professional golf fence who think the same thing. We are doing designers, courses and countries a disservice by not showing them to fans and prospective fans who just need a little more encouragement to step into the game forever.

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There are reasons why some countries are rarely visited at golf’s top level

I do get where Matt is coming from, and part of me agrees that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour should expose the golfing world to Australia and New Zealand on a larger scale. However, it isn’t that simple, writes Matt Coles.

For the last few years, the DP World Tour has kicked off its season with some events in the Southern Hemisphere, mainly with events in South Africa and Australia, but only with two in the latter in the 2024 season – the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has just one event in the east, the ZOZO Championship in Japan.

Logistically, I can only imagine how much trouble it is to sort a schedule out for these tours, let alone to organise a tour that then has flyaway events. It’s easier for LIV Golf as they only have 14 events a year but for the PGA and DP World Tours, who both have over 40 events a year, where do events in the Far East and Oceania fit in?

Flights are expensive, and in this day and age, viewing numbers are key. Take the PGA Tour to New Zealand, for instance, and you’re alienating the majority of your audience due to the time difference. The event would finish around midnight on Saturday into Sunday, and even earlier on the West Coast.

As much as I would love to see the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, and the Presidents Cup on top of that, to be in Oceania regularly, at courses like Tara Iti or the Millbrook Resort (host of this year’s New Zealand Open on the Asian Tour), I just can’t see it happening any time soon…

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Does the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour visit enough of the world’s best golf courses? Tell us on X!