Top Jack Nicklaus golf courses
Shoal Creek, Alabama
Jack Nicklaus designed Shoal Creek and the course opened in 1977. The course has hosted several top-level events including the 1986 US Amateur championship won by Buddy Alexander. The course is routed through a secluded and natural environment in Alabama. It is regarded as a challenging shot makers course which use many water features including ponds and lakes to provide extra challenge and definition to the course. The signature hole the 12th stands at 470 yard par 4, a slight dogleg to the right the hole requires two well struck shots to find this long narrow green, with a steep drop of right and a deep bunker left, any par 4 score is well earned. For the 2018 US Womens Open Jack Nicklaus reconstructed almost every hole, to change bunker layouts, take out trees to improve sightlines and re-contour the greens with Auburn victory grass to allow more pin positions.
Quivira golf club
Quivira Golf Club in Los Cabos, Mexico. Located on the true Land’s End of the Baja Peninsula with more than three miles of sparkling white beaches, picturesque desert cliffs and panoramic ocean views, the exclusive 1,850-acre resort community of Quivira Los Cabos is a paradise of elegance, serenity and service. A lush landscape of gardens and waterfalls in a spectacular natural setting with a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, private beach clubs, village and community centers, an exclusive clubhouse and an endless array of amenities and services all come together to create the ultimate destination for residents and guests to live, love and celebrate life. The course has been named as ‘Mexico’s Pebble beach with its cliff tops ocean views’.
Mayacama golf club
Located in a secluded 600-acre plot of land, in the heart of California, Mayacama is a Jack Nicklaus design that incorporates strategy over power, he does this by rewarding strategic play and patience, whilst penalizing the slightly over aggressive approach or tee shot. Measuring at only 6,761 yards and layed out over constant undulating ground, the course is by no means long by modern day terms, what it lacks in length it makes up for in variety. Par 3s that have dramatic drops down to the green or par 5s that are very tempting and reachable in two but the prudent play is to lay-up instead of taking on the small greens that are targets. The course is known for its year round play-ability and presentation, also the play ability for all golfers who wish too play the course.
Valhalla golf club
Valhalla, located 20 miles east of Louisville, was designed by Jack Nicklaus in the mid 1980s over a 486 acre plot of land which he described as a golf architects dream due to the variety of terrain, vegetation and water to work with. Par at Valhalla is 72 and the course measures over 7,500 yards from the back tees. Jack designed the slick, bent-grass putting surfaces in typical modern style. They range from medium to large size, averaging 6,500 square feet. Each one is well guarded by hazards, including bunkers, water, scooped-out grassy hollows and mounded patches of rough. The putting surfaces are undulating and often divided into distinct areas, making the large greens have smaller landing areas. These green complexes place a premium on creative shot making and on skillful chipping and putting. The course has hosted numerous major golfing championships the most recent being the 2014 PGA championship, also included in its resume is the 2008 Ryder Cup where Team USA were victorious.
Cabo del sol (Ocean)
Opened in 1994, Cabo del sol quickly gained recognition as one of Jack Nicklaus’ best designs, offering one of few courses in the world where there are views of mountains, desert and the sea all at once. The course runs alongside the bright blue Sea of Cortez which provides a stark contrast from the emerald green turf and white rocky beaches. Cabo del sol is renowned for having three of the best finishing holes in golf. The 17th hole is the signature hole on the layout, teeing off from a cliff top down to the fairway, the player must carry his ball over 220 yards to reach the fairway and then the approach must carry the sea in order to reach the green perched on an outcrop. The 18th is a medium length sweeping par-4 which hugs the coastline on the entire right side, players are tempted to cut off as much of the right side as possible to leave a shorter second shot to a large Oceanside green.
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Designed by Jack Nicklaus and host of the 2015 President’s Cup, the course opened for the play in 2010 and is constructed too the highest standards of quality. Substantial amounts of turf had to be brought in too turn the flat land into a golf course, with a variety of water features including lakes and waterfalls. These water features come into play on a number of holes, on tee shots, approach shots too the green or some cases both. The greens are the standout feature on the course with the severe undulations on each green requiring players to hit not just the green but the right part of the green. From the first tee to the 18th green the course will test players shot-making ability, their patience and their accuracy by doing so players will be rewarded.
Punta Espada golf club
Opened in 2007, Punta Espada quickly gained recognition as one of the best courses in the world, with it’s natural topography of cliffs, it’s use of beaches and lagoons and that nine of the holes run along the shoreline itself. The toughest hole on the course is the Par-5 second which can stretch to 611 yards from the back tees. Teeing off from the highest point on the course the hole doglegs right past a tidal lagoon and a beach bunker.
Punta Espada’s signature hole is the 250 yards Par 3 13th hole, which requires an all carry tee shot over the Caribbean sea to reach the green which clings to the islands edge. The course has also had the honor of hosting the Cap Cana Championship, a PGA Champions Tour, on multiple occasions.
Castle Pines golf club
The Castle Pines Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, was designed with great care to follow the natural contour of the land and complement its densely wooded areas and rolling hills. Rarely will one encounter a golf course as magnificent as the Castle Pines Golf Club. We have taken great pride in developing a very challenging golf course for both professional and amateur golfers alike.
Sebonack golf club
Situated on 300 acres in Southampton, NY, and neighboring the historic National Golf Links of America and Shinnecock Hills Golf Course, Sebonack has been carved out of land which seems to have been long-destined to become a golf course. Sebonack features holes that offer panoramic views of Long Island’s Great Peconic Bay and Cold Spring Pond. The visual impact of the water vistas competes for the golfer’s eye with the rolling fairways, expansive bunkers and waste dunes, and undulating greens that present tricky swales and burrows. Meant to look as if manicured by time, Sebonack appears to have fashioned itself from the wild terrain.
Muirfield Village
Muirfield Village Golf Club was the dream and work of Jack, in association with Desmond Muirhead. The land was acquired in 1966, but construction did not begin until July 28, 1972. The golf course is situated on 220 acres, which includes an 11-acre driving range. The course was officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 27, 1974, with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus scored a six-under par 66, which stood as the course record until 1979. The 18-hole layout, played at 7,221 from the championship tees. It had 77 bunkers, a number since reduced to 71, and water can be a hazard on 11 holes.
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
