About Golf - History - International Golf Federation (IGF) The origin of the modern game is usually traced to Scotland. In the 15th century 1457 The Scottish Parliament passed several acts banning the practice of the game, along with football (soccer), because the two sports were interfering with archery practice, which was necessary for national defence. The first act was passed in 1457 by James II, King of Scotland, and it was reaffirmed in 1471and 1491. 1500 The ban on golf in Scotland is lifted and within two years King James IV of Scotland takes up the game himself. 1552 Archbishop Hamilton’s Charter recognises the right of the people of St Andrews to play golf on the Old Course. 1567 Mary Queen of Scots reportedly plays golf just days after the murder of her husband Lord Darnley. 1603 King James VI ascends to the English throne and his court begins playing golf at Blackheath in London. 1724 The first known reference to golf balls being stuffed with feathers. They were previously made from hard leather.

1729 The first known reference is made to golf in the USA with clubs being recorded in the estate of William Burnet, the Governor of Massachusetts. 1744 The first Rules of Golf are set out by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. 1754 The Society of St Andrews Golfers is formed. It became the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1834. 1764 The Old Course at St Andrews is reduced from 22 holes to 18 holes. This became the recognised format for the game around the world. 1848 The gutta percha ball is introduced. It was a solid ball, made by softening strips of gutta percha, (dried sap of a Sapodilla tree) in boiling water and then moulding the ball by hand before placing it in cold water to harden. 1860 The first Open Championship is played at Prestwick and is won by Willie Park Senior of Scotland 1885 The secretary of Royal Liverpool Golf Club came up with the idea of an amateur event in which leading clubs were invited to send entrants. The Amateur Championship is played for the first time in 1885 at Hoylake.

It is won by Allan MacFie of England. 1890’s Persimmon becomes a popular wood for making club heads. 1893 The Ladies’ Golf Union is formed in the UK and the British Ladies’ Amateur Golf Championship is played for the first time at Royal Lytham & St Annes. It is won by Lady Margaret Scott of England. 1894 The United States Golf Association (USGA) is formed in New York. One of its most important functions was to serve as arbiter for questions of amateur status. The five charter members of the newly formed the USGA were the St. Andrew’s Golf Club of Yonkers, N.Y., Newport (R.I.) Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., and Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill. 1895 The US Amateur Championship and the US Open are played for the first time at Newport Country Club, Rhode Island and are won respectively by Charles B Macdonald (USA) and Horace Rawlins (England).

The US Women’s Amateur Golf Championship is also played for the first time at Meadow Brook Club in Long Island and is won by Lucy Barnes Brown of the USA. 1900 Golf is played at the Paris Olympic Games. Twenty two participants took part (12 men and 10 women) from four countries who competed in 36-hole individual stroke play events for men and women. The women’s Olympic champion was Margaret Abbot (USA) and Charles Sands (USA) was the men’s champion.1901 The rubber cored Haskell ball is introduced. It changed the way the game was played. The Haskell ball travelled farther than the old gutta-percha ball and cost considerably less because it could be mass produced. The game’s popularity surged in response. 1901 The first Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) is formed in the UK. 1904 Golf is played for the second time in the Olympic Games in St Louis. Only men’s competitions were staged. (A team event of 36 holes stroke play won by the United States of America’s team and an individual event was won by George Lyon from Canada).

1916 The PGA of America is formed and the US PGA Championship is played for the first time at Siwanoy Country Club in New York. 1921 The Ryder Cup is played for the first time between the men’s professionals of Great Britain and the USA at Gleneagles. It is won by Great Britain. 1922 The Walker Cup is played for the first time between the men’s amateurs of Great Britain and Ireland and the USA at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York. It is won by the USA. 1929 Steel shafted clubs are accepted by The R&A. 1930 Bobby Jones completed the Grand Slam of The Open, the Amateur Championship, The US Open and the US Amateur Championship in one season. 1932 The Curtis Cup is played for the first time between the women’s amateurs of Great Britain and Ireland and the USA at Wentworth. It is won by the USA. 1934 The inaugural Masters is staged at Augusta National. It is won by Horton Smith of the USA. 1946 The US Women’s Open is played for the first time at Spokane Country Club in Washington and is won by Patty Berg of the USA.

1950 The Ladies’ Professional Golfers’ Association (LPGA) is formed in the USA. 1953 The Tam O’ Shanter World Championship of Golf becomes the first nationally televised golf tournament in the USA. 1955 The LPGA Championship is played for the first time at Orchard Ridge Country Club. It is won by American Beverly Hanson. 1958 Representatives of 35 national amateur golf organisations form the World Amateur Golf Council. They agree to stage the World Amateur Team Championship with teams of men competing for the Eisenhower Trophy, named after President Dwight D Eisenhower. The event was staged at the Old Course in St Andrews and Australia defeated the USA in a play-off. 1964 A friendly match between the American Curtis team and France is expanded to invite other international teams to establish a Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. The trophy was provided by Mrs Espirito Santo Silva through the Portuguese Golf Federation. A total of 25 teams took part in the inaugural competition at St Germain Golf Club in France which was won by the home team. 1976 The Women’s British Open is played for the first time at Fulford Golf Club. It is won by England’s Jenny Lee Smith.

1980’s Metal woods made of stainless steel are introduced. 1994 The Evian Masters is played for the first time at Evian-les-Bains in France. It is won by Helen Alfredsson of Sweden. 2000’s Materials such as graphite, titanium, carbon fibre and tungsten are used to manufacture golf clubs. 2003 The World Amateur Golf Council becomes the International Golf Federation. 2009 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) votes in favour of golf returning to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 2010 The 150th anniversary Open Championship takes place on the Old Course at St Andrews. 2012 What are the major tournaments in Golf? What are the major tournaments in Golf? Courtesy : Main Image: Today, there are many people that are playing golf. It has become a very popular game that many seem to enjoy playing in their spare time. If you like sports and enjoy golf then here is some interesting information about the four major tournaments in golf. There are many tournaments that are plyed in golf but the most prestigious golf tournaments that are conducted every year are the, The Masters , The U. S.

Open, The British Open also called the open championship and the PGA championship. The one who wins all four major tournaments of golf in the same year is considered a Grand slam. Content What is the The Masters Golf Tournament? The Masters Golf Tournament is the only one of the four men's major golf tournaments that is held at the same golf club every year, the Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club were founded by famed golfer, Bobby Jones in 1934. It is an invitational tournament, with each winner receiving a lifetime invitation to play. One of the most enduring symbols of The Masters Golf Tournament is the green jacket given to the winner each year. The jacket is a sign of prestige in the club and the previous year's winner presents the jacket to each year's champion. After the year is over, the jacket must be returned to Augusta National Golf Club. Though the time period is short, having the green jacket for one year is a dream of every golfer. The Masters is the first of the major golf tournaments played each year in April. What is the US Open Golf Tournament? The US open golf is the one run by the United States Golf Association, one of golf's two governing bodies.

The game is held every June with the final round always falling on Father's Day. The tournament began in 1895 at Newport country club in Newport, Rhode Island. It is considered one of golf's major championships, along with the Masters , the British Open and the PGA championship tournament. Players from England and Scotland dominated the first few US Opens. It was not until 1911 that an American, John McDermott, won the title, and after that it was almost always won by a US citizen. What is the British Open Golf Tournament? The oldest championship in all of golf, the British Open by name of The Open Championship, is the third of the four major tournaments in golf. This is the only major golf tournament often played outside the US. It is hosted by prestigious golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and administered by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews which is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. Tournament starts on the weekend of the third Friday of July in every year. The British open has reputedly the largest prize fund among the four major tournaments. What is the PGA Championship Golf Tournament? The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) presents an annual championship, the PGA Championship.

It is one of the most coveted titles in professional golf and represents one of the PGA Tour's four "major" championships. The PGA Championship is the final major championship of the year and is held in mid-August. LINKS Golf Magazine | The Best Source on Golf Courses, Travel and Lifestyle: July 4th Special: Best Courses in the Original 13 Colonies July 4th Special: Best Courses in the Original 13 Colonies By: Brian McCallen Here’s an Independence Day special for the nation’s civic-minded golfers: Because golf first took root in America in the 13 original colonies, there’s a preponderance of truly great courses on the Eastern Seaboard, including five U.S. Open venues—not to mention the annual home of the Masters. Connecticut: The Course at Yale This epic design, hewn from a wilderness of swamp, forest, and rock by C.B. Macdonald, Seth Raynor, and Charles Banks in 1926, is a quintessential Golden Age classic . Rugged and massive, with replicas of famous Scottish holes in the routing, Yale confronts players with rolling fairways, cavernous bunkers, and huge confounding greens.

Only 6,759 yards (par 70) from the tips, but Yale is the consensus No. 1 college course in the nation. Delaware: Wilmington Country Club (South) The nation’s first state is home to this vintage (1901) 36-hole club that moved around quite a bit in its early years on land leased from the duPont family. The South Course, the club’s signature layout, is a splendid parkland design built by Robert Trent Jones in 1960 that has hosted numerous USGA events over the years. A major renovation by Keith Foster in 2008 restored rigor to the 7,334-yard, par-71 layout. Georgia: Augusta National Named for King George II and the last state of the original 13 to ratify the Constitution, Georgia is the home, of course, of Augusta National , and everyone’s favorite springtime ritual, the Masters. Carved by Alister Mackenzie and club founder Bobby Jones through the hills, dales, and tall pines of a former nursery, Augusta National is a flowing, strategic test renowned for its lightning-fast greens. It is America’s finest and most beautiful parkland course.

Maryland: Baltimore Country Club (East) Founded in 1898 and commonly known as “Five Farms,” this superlative 36-hole club is home to the East Course, one of A.W. Tillinghast’s masterpieces. Sloping greens pitched from back to front and nearly 100 well-placed bunkers characterize the design, which opened in 1926 and has hosted several major events, including the 1928 PGA Championship, 1965 Walker Cup, and 1988 Women’s Open. Massachusetts: The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel) Immortalized by teenage caddie Francis Ouimet, who against all odds defeated Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to capture the 1913 U.S. Open and vault golf into the forefront of the American sports scene, Brookline is one of the USGA’s five founding clubs. Most recently the host of the 1988 U.S. Open and 1999 Ryder Cup, The Country Club is credited with starting the trend of restoring courses to their original style rather than merely remodeling.

New Hampshire: Baker Hill The “Live Free or Die” state’s top track is Baker Hill , a rugged Rees Jones-designed course laid out on rolling, wooded farmland accented by granite outcrops and crisscrossed by ravines. The course, opened in 2002, overlooks Lake Sunapee, Mt. Sunapee and other New England mountains. The club occupies the farm of Benjamin Baker (1717 – 1799), who served in the 1st New Hampshire Regiment in the Revolutionary War and fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. New Jersey: Pine Valley Only an incorporated township with its own mayor, post office, fire and police departments could get away with a place like Pine Valley , one of the most fiendishly difficult courses ever built. Hacked from a stricken wilderness of pine-clad sand hills outside Philadelphia, the 7,057-yard, par-70 chamber of horrors was built by hotelier George Crump and British designer H.S. Colt in 1918.

New York: Shinnecock Hills Founded in 1891 (it’s the nation’s oldest incorporated club), this revered haven in the Hamptons has unassailable credentials: it has hosted the U.S. Open four times in three different centuries and will welcome back the national championship in 2018. Stretched below the Stanford White-designed clubhouse, Shinnecock’s windswept holes, angled to all directions, unfold on sandy, undulating terrain bordered by thorny brambles, thick fescue grasses, and over 150 bunkers. North Carolina: Pinehurst Resort (No. 2) Having successfully hosted the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in back-to-back weeks, the legendary No. 2 course, the Donald Ross-designed Sandhills masterpiece restored by Coore & Crenshaw to its original links-like appearance, is once again the state’s top course . The broad fairways, framed by sand and scrub, lead to inverted saucer greens that shrug off indifferent approach shots to close-mown swales and hollows.

Pennsylvania: Oakmont Country Club Oakmont narrowly edges out Merion as the top course in the “Keystone State,” so named because it’s the center of the arch of the 13 original colonies. Laid out by Henry C. Fownes and his son in the suburbs of Pittsburgh in 1903, Oakmont is a grueling, grand-scale test that was restored to its former glory when most of its trees were felled before the last Open in 2007. Oakmont is known for its hard, fast greens and perilous Church Pews bunker shared by the 3rd and 4th holes. Rhode Island: Newport Country Club An historic club located in a seaside resort town, Newport, founded in 1893, hosted both the first U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open championships in 1895. Founded by some of the Gilded Age’s richest tycoons, Newport was originally designed by William F. Davis and later touched up by A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross. A recent restoration has brought back its seaside flavor and dramatic bunkering. Tiger Woods won the second of his three consecutive U.S.

Amateur titles at Newport in 1995. South Carolina: Kiawah Island (Ocean Course) On the eastern tip of a 10,000-acre barrier reef island anchored off the coast of Charleston, Pete Dye built a facsimile links in low tumbling dunes and coastal marshes that has evolved into one of the nation’s most exacting tests of golf . Site of the 1991 Ryder Cup (the “War by the Shore”) and 2012 PGA Championship, the Ocean Course is a take-no-prisoners pirate with a knife in its teeth and a “Triple Bogey” tattoo on its forearm, a sandy dungeon with enough defenses at hand to drain the plaid from a golfer’s knickers. Virginia: Omni Homestead Resort (Cascades) Home state to four of the five first U.S.

presidents, the Old Dominion also boasts a resort that dates to 1766 and has been “serving the republic since before there was a republic.” Famous for natural hot springs that have long attracted pilgrims eager to “take the cure,” The Homestead’s Cascades Course, where Sam Snead refined his syrupy swing, is a 1923 William S. Flynn design utterly free of artifice. The naturally rugged course roams across the wooded foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. Feedback Just Awesome, what a list. — Wm. Sean Toohey · Thursday July 3, 2014 · Are these courses publ/priv ? What are the greens fees ? They’re probably exorbitant !! Good luck to the people w/ the “big Bucks “ What does LINKS have for the peons like us ? — Paul · Thursday July 3, 2014 · I believe that the church pews at Oakmont are on the 3rd and 4th holes, not numbers 4 and 5. Editor's Note: Thanks, Allen. You are correct. We've fixed the error.

— Allen Tulgan · Thursday July 3, 2014 · Cool list but just a fact check on the point about Newport CC: Tiger’s first US Amateur victory was at TPC Sawgrass in 1994. Newport CC was #2 in 1995. We stand corrected, Ken. Thanks, LINKS. — Ken Barrette · Thursday July 3, 2014 · An impressive listâ¦butâ¦Merion? Winged Foot? — R.L.Cooney · Thursday July 3, 2014 · The Yale course is certainly beautiful, but I thought that Karsten Creek (Home to Oklahoma State Cowboys golf team – Ricky Fowler / Hunter Mahan, etc) was the #1 College course… — Tom Karalis · Thursday July 3, 2014 · To Paul, et al: I believe only Pinehurst #2, Kiawah’s Ocean Course and the Cascades are open to us “peons”.

I’m not sure what the greens fees for these courses are now but when I played #2 right before the Coore/Crenshaw restoration it was $175 and I’ve heard that the Ocean Course is ~ $275. Oh well, it’s only money! — Steve · Thursday July 3, 2014 · Great list of some of America’s greatest courses. I’ve played Kiawah and Pinehurst and walked Augusta several times. They certainly deserve their status. However, given that this the country was founded on liberty for all, it would be interesting to see the same list based on public courses. — R Martin · Thursday July 3, 2014 · In Worcester, MA. Donald Ross’s Worcester Country Club, home of the FIRST RYDER CUP, 1925 US Open and many others. Use every club in your bag. I know from caddying there; my grandson does now. — Bob Bartholomew · Thursday July 3, 2014 · I’ve played 10 of these 13…will have to get to Wilmington, Baker Hill & Kiawah someday in my travels…Happy 4th! — B.M.

· Friday July 4, 2014 · .. the fee for Pine Valley is a small portion of your soul — MJR · Monday September 15, 2014 · Name The United States of Golf: All 50 States Ranked By Their Golfiness | Golf.com The United States of Golf: All 50 States Ranked By Their Golfiness Posted: Mon Jun. 29, 2015 Updated: Fri Dec. 23, 2016 Install App What determines a state’s golfiness? Lots of factors. Having more than a quarter of your residents who regularly peg it helps your cause (take a bow, Minnesota). Hosting 18 national championships puts you in good stead (nicely done, New York). Spawning Donald Ross, A.W. Tillinghast and Tom Doak does not go unnoticed (props, Pennsylvania). And staging a PGA Tour event that attracts half a million fans? You da man, Arizona. But how does California stack up against North Carolina? Is North Dakota golfier than South Dakota? And which state is the golfiest of them all? You deserve answers, America, and we’ve delivered them.

Pairing National Golf Foundation data with some subjective analysis from yours truly (I've played golf in all 50 states and at more than 1,500 U.S. courses), we calculated a golfiness rating for every state in the union. Did we undervalue your state? Did we rank another state too high? Stand up and be heard! Hit us up on Facebook or Twitter, or plead your case in the comments section below. HOW WE DID IT We rated each state on a 0-50 scale in the following four categories. The combined score for each state determined its overall “golfiness.” 1. AVIDNESS OF GOLFERS. Using data supplied by the National Golf Foundation (NGF), we factored in Household Participation Rate (the percentage of a state’s population that plays golf) and Rounds Per Golfer (the frequency of rounds among regular players). Combining those two metrics, each state emerged with a point value of 1 to 50. 2. QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF COURSES. We gave equal emphasis to two statistics: (1) Total number of courses, and (2) Number of GOLF Magazine Top 100 courses (private and public). 3.

LEGACY/VIBE. This category accounts for the caliber of a state’s native players and the prestige of its tournaments, plus its overall golf “vibe”—admittedly somewhat subjective metrics, but important nonetheless. 4. TRAVELIN’ JOE’S RATING. The final judgment was left up to me and my golf experiences in all 50 states. When I holed out at Hot Springs (Ark.) Country Club’s Park course in October 2011, I completed my quest to play golf in every state. Having now crisscrossed the country countless times, I’ve developed my own opinions of each state’s golfiness. 50. ALASKA Photo: northstargolf.com You might have company on the tee at North Star Golf Club, America's northernmost course. Five-time PGA Tour winner Danny Edwards was born in Ketchikan and President Eisenhower once played golf in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Still, its last-place numbers in Avidness, Courses and Legacy establish Alaska as the weakest state for golfers. On my summer visit to Alaska, I teed it up with moose and caribou on astroturf greens.

I also pegged it at midnight, at America’s northernmost course: North Star Golf Club (above), in Fairbanks. There’s no other state in the union where you can do that, at least not without glow-in-the-dark balls. Total: 6 49. DELAWARE Photo: Augusta National/Getty Images Ed 'Porky' Oliver with his father during a 1940s Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. A puny Courses rating—second from last—hurts the First State’s overall ranking, but its golf cupboard is hardly bare. The Rehoboth Beach/Delaware shore area just north of Maryland’s Ocean City has some wonderful tracks, including Baywood Greens, with its dazzling flower arrangements, and Bayside, a rugged Jack Nicklaus design. Wilmington’s Ed “Porky” Oliver was the Blue Hen State’s finest golfer, with eight PGA Tour wins in the 1940s and ’50s, plus runner-up finishes at the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. From 1994-2004, a women’s major, the LPGA Championship, was contested in Delaware.

Total: 31 Photo: USGA/Larry Lambrecht The 13th hole at the Golf Club of New England in Stratham, New Hampshire. The Granite State’s amateur championship dates to 1901, but overall this is a relatively un-golfy state. Covered bridges and fall foliage are among the highlights I’ve enjoyed on courses here, and Donald Ross designed or redesigned 14 New Hampshire tracks in all, so there’s definitely golf to be explored. Oddest bit of trivia? South African Bobby Locke, a four-time British Open winner, captured the New Hampshire Open in 1959. Total: 40 47. LOUISIANA Photo: Darren Carroll/SI David Toms samples Acme Oyster House's speciality near the first tee at the 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. A bottom five rating in Avidness keeps the Pelican State from a higher overall ranking. (“Sportsman’s Paradise” apparently doesn’t apply to golf.) Still, New Orleans has hosted the PGA Tour since the 1930s and native son David Toms continues to wave the “Geaux LSU” flag wherever he travels.

Tommy Bolt and Hal Sutton are Shreveport natives, and the Louisiana-bred Hebert brothers, Jay and Lionel, both won the PGA Championship. Total: 43 Photo: AP/Mark Humphrey Fabian Gomez won this year's FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis. The Volunteer State has hosted the PGA Tour in Memphis since 1958, where winners include Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Gary Player, and it has produced stars such as Dr. Cary Middlecoff, Lou Graham and Loren Roberts. And let’s not forget its most famous stick of all: Justin Timberlake, who bought a Memphis course, Mirimichi, in 2009. (He has since sold it.) Tiger Woods won the 1996 NCAA Championship at the Pete Dye-designed Honors Course, in suburban Chattanooga, despite a final-round 80. Total: 53 44. NEW MEXICO Photo: Getty Images Nancy Lopez, who won the New Mexico women's amateur twice, won five consecutive events during her rookie year on the LPGA Tour. Any state that produced a talent like Nancy Lopez gets golfiness points right off the bat.

She won the New Mexico Women’s Amateur at age 12, then tagged on two more. Alas, its Household Participation Percentage is low, and the folks who do play don’t play often. They should. The Land of Enchantment delights with two regions of superb high-altitude courses in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, along with some of the nation’s best bargain tracks. Total: 55 Photo: Troon Golf The 18th hole at The Golf Club at the Equinox. Any discussion of Vermont’s golfiness has to start with Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion who grew up in Woodstock, enjoying a life as a ski racer before he fully committed to golf. Woodstock is one of many completely charming towns in the Green Mountain State that has wonderful resort golf amid the birches, maples and rushing brooks. Manchester is another, with the historic Equinox offering classic New England golf since the 1920s. Francis Ouimet won the 1914 U.S. Amateur at Ekwanok, a club where Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s only son, once served as president.

Total: 58 Photo: Courtesy suttonbay.com Sutton Bay, designed by Graham Marsh, is the state’s top course. South Dakota is tops in the land in the Avidness category (it’s a wonder they don’t add a golfer to Mt. Rushmore). Sutton Bay is the state’s best course, a Graham Marsh design that recently replaced its Top 100 predecessor, which succumbed to a series of landslides. Brothers Tom and Curt Byrum were born and raised in Onida. Each won a PGA Tour event, oddly enough in the same year, 1989. My only experience with paying via an honor box and putting on sand greens came on a South Dakota nine-holer, Wall Community Golf Course. Total: 75 Photo: Courtesy hawktree.com Hawktree in Bismark, North Dakota, is one of the best public tracks in the state. Astonishingly, the Peace Garden State finished second in the U.S. in the Avidness category. There aren’t many residents in North Dakota, but those who reside there seemingly all play golf — and a lot of it.

Native son Jim Engh designed one of the state’s best public courses, Hawktree, in Bismark, and coming in 2015 is a completely new layout for Minot Country Club. Total: 80 T34. MAINE Photo: Getty Images You might see the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, tee it up at the semi-private Cape Arundel, a classic Walter Travis design in Kennebunkport. The Pine Tree State stands tall in the Legacy category, thanks to two presidents who summer there: George H.W. Bush (41) and his son, W. (43). They frequently teed it up at semi-private Cape Arundel, a classic Walter Travis design in Kennebunkport. Another president, 350-pound William Howard Taft, once took 27 strokes on Kebo Valley’s 17th hole in Bar Harbor. Samoset in Rockport serves up scenic seaside golf, but mostly, Maine appeals to leaf-peepers. Sugarloaf and Sunday River sport the best fall colors in the U.S. Total: 80 T32.

IDAHO Photo: Josh Noel/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images The most famous hole at the Coeur d'Alene Resort is the 14th for its floating green. Solid numbers in Household Participation Percentage and amazing natural beauty fortify the Gem State’s golfiness. But it’s one of golf’s greatest gimmicks that steals the show — the par-3 14th at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, a 1991 Scott Miller design. The hole features a movable, floating island green, accessible only by boat. Total: 84 T32. ALABAMA Photo: Courtesy rtjgolf.com Capitol Hill in Prattville, Alabama, might be the most well known course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Home to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the first and still best golf trail in the nation, Alabama brought country club quality to the masses, in terms of conditioning, aesthetics and challenge, at venues in all four corners of the state. Its premier private club, Shoal Creek, in Birmingham, has played host to two PGA Championships and currently hosts the Regions Tradition, a Champions tour major.

Jerry Pate (Alabama), Jason Dufner (Auburn) and Graeme McDowell (UA-Birmingham) are among the state’s collegians who have won majors. Total: 84 Photo: Courtesy ironhorsemt.com Discovery Land’s Iron Horse is one of the top destinations in Montana. The name of Big Sky Country’s top-ranked public course, The Wilderness Club, a Brian Curley/Nick Faldo design, sums up the state’s frontier-like golf attractions perfectly. The state merges exclusive, big-money retreats such as Discovery Land’s Iron Horse and Charles Schwab’s Stock Farm — both Tom Fazio designs — with handsome, modestly priced public courses in the Kalispell/Whitefish region. A lofty Household Participation Percentage and phenomenal scenery place Montana in a surprisingly high spot. Total: 85 30. KANSAS Photo: Getty Gary Woodland waits on the tenth hole during the first round of the 115th U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay on June 18, 2015 in University Place, Washington. In yet another border war rivalry between the Jayhawk State and the Show-Me State (see No. 29), Kansas loses out by a single point.

Tom Watson has lived in Kansas for years. Long-bomber Gary Woodland is a proud Kansas University Jayhawk, and past Kansas State stars include Robert Streb and Jim Colbert, who co-designed the rugged campus golf course called Colbert Hills. The state’s top tournament track is linksy Prairie Dunes, site of the 2002 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2006 U.S. Senior Open and the 2014 Men’s NCAA Championship. TOTAL: 86 Photo: Getty Tom Watson speaks before the U.S. Senior Open. Tom Watson is the Show-Me State’s most famous golf export. He won four Missouri Amateur titles from 1968-71. Close behind him is Payne Stewart, who has a course named for him in the Branson area, one of the state’s great destinations. Lake of the Ozarks is another golf-rich vacation spot. One of Robert Trent Jones’ most heroic par-3s is the over-the-water shot at the Lodge of Four Seasons’ Cove course. Gary Player and Nick Price both won majors at Bellerive in suburban St. Louis.

And few remember that the 1971 Ryder Cup took place at Old Warson, in the St. Louis area, when Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were the two top point-getters for the victorious U.S. squad. TOTAL: 87 28. WASHINGTON Photo: Getty Images Jordan Spieth watches his tee shot on the 15th hole during the final round of the 115th U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay on June 21, 2015 in University Place, Washington. The Seattle-Tacoma region basked in the spotlight earlier this year, when public-access, county-owned Chambers Bay welcomed the U.S. Open (it earned mixed reviews from the pros, but the Puget Sound views were stunning). Fred Couples grew up playing Seattle’s public tracks and Ryan Moore is another card-carrying member of the Evergreen State. Seattle’s other championship layout is Sahalee, where Vijay Singh won the 1998 PGA.

In the drier eastern portion of the state are Wine Valley GC, in Walla Walla; Palouse Ridge, the home course for Washington State University; and hilly Indian Canyon, in Spokane, where avid golfer/actor Craig T. Nelson spent his youth. TOTAL: 89 27. VIRGINIA Photo: Getty Images Curtis Strange of the United States hugs the trophy after winning the US Open Golf Championship held at the Oak Hill Country Club in New York. Only an underwhelming Rounds Per Golfer score keeps the Old Dominion from a higher rung, because it checks every other golfiness box. Superior resorts and public courses dot the landscape, from Williamsburg’s tournament tracks—notably Kingsmill’s River course—to Virginia Beach to the venerable Homestead in the Allegheny, where Sam Snead learned the game. Two of golf’s steeliest competitors, Lanny Wadkins and Curtis Strange, are Virginians. TOTAL: 92 26. OKLAHOMA Photo: PGA/Getty The gallery around No. 13 green during the Final Round of the 89th PGA Championship held at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A major championship stronghold since Babe Zaharias won the 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills, in Tulsa, the Sooner State remains a big-time venue. Three U.S. Opens and four PGAs have been decided at Southern Hills; Oak Tree held the 1988 PGA and the 2014 U.S. Senior Open; and Tulsa Country Club played host to the 2014 NCAA Women’s Championship. It’s best known for its college studs, including Oklahoma State players Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Scott Verplank, among many others. TOTAL: 93 Photo: John and Jeannine Henebry The home hole on the lush design at Shadow Creek, in Las Vegas. Golf in the Silver State is a relatively recent phenomenon, but as Las Vegas boomed, so did affection for a game in which betting is a regular part of the fun. The PGA Tour has called Las Vegas home since the Tournament of Champions in 1953, played for years at the old Desert Inn, where the Wynn course now resides. Vegas also is home to one of golf’s “It” courses: high-roller hangout Shadow Creek.

A host of Tour players call Vegas home, as does the LPGA’s Natalie Gulbis and super-teacher Butch Harmon, who plies his trade at Rio Secco. For a celebrity fix, fans flock to Edgewood Tahoe’s summer bash in Reno. TOTAL: 101 24. IOWA Photo: Getty Zach Johnson poses with the trophy after winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on January 6, 2014 Its No. 2 ranking in the “Avidness” category proves Iowans love their golf. Further evidence was the record attendance set when the U.S. Senior Open landed at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in 1999. More Iowa magic comes from native son Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion who was born in Iowa City, raised in Cedar Rapids and schooled at Drake, in Des Moines. Before Johnson, Jack Fleck was the golfing pride of the Hawkeye State. The Davenport native upset Ben Hogan to win the 1955 U.S. Open. TOTAL: 102 T22.

KENTUCKY Photo: PGA/Getty A view of the 18th hole at the future site of the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on October 31, 2013. Basketball always comes first in Kentucky, but there’s a sneaky-strong golfiness about the Blue Grass State. Most of its best courses, public and private, stay under the radar, but mighty Valhalla pops up every few years. Designed by Jack Nicklaus and owned by the PGA, the course has proven itself as one of the great drama-producing layouts in major championship golf. Kenny Perry, J.B. Holmes, Russ Cochran and Steve Flesch all wave the Kentucky blue flag in their Tour travels. TOTAL: 105 Photo: GAB Archive/Getty Sammy Davis Jr. had a 15-year run with the PGA Tour's Connecticut event. The biggest, most raucous golf tournament crowds east of the Mississippi show up every year at Hartford’s TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship.

Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson have all won there, and locals have fond memories of the 12-year run (through 1984) when Sammy Davis Jr. lent his name to the event. Julius Boros, of Fairfield, is the Nutmeg State’s greatest player, with two U.S. Open titles and a PGA. Connecticut also is home to the country’s best college course, the C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor/Charles Banks gem at Yale University. TOTAL: 105 21. INDIANA Photo: Getty John Daly reacts on the 72nd hole during the US PGA Championship held at the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana, 11th August 1991. Stories have circulated in equal measure over the past 25 years about John Daly, the 9th alternate who improbably won the 1991 PGA at Crooked Stick, in suburban Indianapolis, and the hometown course architect, Pete Dye.

The Indy area boasts some terrific, value-oriented public courses, including Dye’s redesign of Brickyard Crossing, which features four holes inside the oval at the Brickyard, site of the Indianapolis 500. Down south, French Lick Resort features courses by Dye and Donald Ross, plus casino gambling. TOTAL: 110 20. NEBRASKA Photo: David Cannon The sunrise from behind the green on the 367 yard par-4 8th of the Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen, Nebraska. The Cornhusker State was once best known in golf circles for Omaha’s Johnny Goodman, who stunned Bobby Jones at the 1929 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, then won the 1933 U.S. Open. Today the state soars with its top-4 “Avidness” ranking, the superb Coore-Crenshaw collaboration at Sand Hills, and its impressive hosting of the 2013 U.S. Senior Open, a lively sellout at Omaha Country Club. Total: 115 Photo: Peter Wong Photography Hazeltine National Golf Course in Chaska, Minnesota. Pop quiz.

Name the only golfer to win Player of the Year honors on the PGA Tour, Champions tour and Web.com tour. Stumped? It's Tom Lehman, who is Minnesota born and bred and a graduate of the University of Minnesota. The North Star State exudes golfiness in so many other ways, from the nation’s second highest Household Participation Percentage, to its hosting of the U.S. Open, PGA and Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, to Bobby Jones winning the U.S. Open at Interlachen in his Grand Slam year of 1930. Superb, affordable public courses statewide boost Minnesota’s ranking even higher. Total: 118 18. TEXAS Photo: Erich Schlegel/USA Today Sports A general view of the 18th hole during the final round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. Few states are so drenched in golf lore, which offsets the modest Participation and Rounds Per Golfer numbers it chalked up. Tales of Hogan and Nelson, Crenshaw and Kite, Spieth and Chamblee are as rich and colorful as you’ll find.

The tournament pedigree is rock solid, from the Byron Nelson, in Dallas, to the Colonial, in Fort Worth, to old-timey events in Houston and San Antonio. Texas is the only southern state to host the U.S. Open, Ryder Cup and PGA. Total: 124 17. MASSACHUSETTS Photo: Bettmann/Corbis Francis Ouimet was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open in 1913 at Brookline, Massachusetts. A top-15 performer in Household Participation Percentage, the Bay State also boasts a proud golf history. Local boy Francis Ouimet put golf on the map in America when he stunned British stars Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to win the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club, in the Boston suburb of Brookline. Almost as famous is the U.S. Ryder Cup rally in 1999, when Justin Leonard dropped a 45-foot bomb on the 17th. Fans pack TPC Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship, a FedEx Cup playoff event, and tourists flock to Cape Cod for lobstah, chowdah and a banquet of quality of public courses.

Total: 128 Photo: Larry Lambrecht A scenic view of Pine Valley Golf Club in Pine Valley, New Jersey. Any discussion of Garden State golf must begin with Pine Valley, in southern Jersey, the world’s No. 1-ranked course for the last 30 years. Further north, closer to Manhattan, you’ll find plenty more gems, like Somerset Hills; Baltusrol, host to seven U.S. Opens over three of its courses; and Plainfield, the site later this summer of the Barclays. The term “birdie” was coined in 1903 at Atlantic City Country Club on the coast. Sam Snead won a PGA at Seaview in 1942, right before he entered the Navy. And, in 2011, I won a match partnering with Donald Trump at Trump Bedminster’s Old course. God help me if we lost... Total: 132 14. GEORGIA Photo: SCOTT K.BROWN Adam Scott of Australia celebrates winning the 2013 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The greatest amateur of all time, Bobby Jones, grew up playing East Lake, in Atlanta.

After he won the Grand Slam in 1930, he built Augusta National and started the Masters, giving the Peach State a golfing pedigree for the ages. Somewhat low participation rates keep Georgia from the top 10, but resort retreats such as coastal Sea Island and lake-edged Reynolds Plantation draw golfers from near and far. Total: 134 Photo: Getty Images An aerial view of the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Golf Course, Big Island, Kona, Hawaii. Ranking in the top 4 in Rounds Per Golfer, the Aloha State appeals as strongly to locals as it does to tourists, who travel great distances to tee off in paradise. Swaying palms, black lava rough, ocean breezes and waves from the Pacific in view and in play on dozens of courses make for idyllic golfiness. Adding to the mix is a big-time tournament history, from 50 years of PGA Tour events at Waialae, in Honolulu, to Champions tour stops on Maui and the Big Island, to the unforgettable Tiger Woods-Ernie Els duel at Kapalua. Total: 135 12.

WISCONSIN Photo: Tim Sloan Golf fans watch a practice round at the 18th and 9th greens at the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Kohler, Wisconsin. Serious golf is spoken here, a cold weather stronghold that somehow ranks in the top 10 for total number of courses. Home to the 2015 PGA Championship, at Kohler’s Whistling Straits, and the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills—both public courses—Wisconsin also has rich pockets of resort golf in other parts of the state. When Mike Keiser completes his intended Sand Valley project near the Wisconsin Dells, the Cheese State will merit top 10 consideration. Total: 140 Photo: Angus Murray Arnold Palmer at his home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. You could confine the Keystone State’s golf attributes solely to the historic events that have unfolded at Oakmont and Merion and it would still be one of our golfiest states. Western PA gave us Arnold Palmer. Eastern PA is a Hall of Fame of golf course design, with Top 100s from Donald Ross, A.W.

Tillinghast, William Flynn, Tom Doak, Gil Hanse and local lads George and Tom Fazio. Earning his start here was George Thomas Jr., who designed Whitemarsh Valley, before relocating to California and crafting L.A.C.C., Riviera and Bel-Air. Total: 141 Photo: Darren Carroll For Sports Illustrated The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado. One of our most consistent performers in all four ranking categories, this heart-of-the-Rockies state wows with the novelty of high-altitude golf in Vail and other mountain towns in the west, along with astonishingly beautiful backdrops. Cherry Hills, in Denver, and the beautiful Broadmoor, in Colorado Springs, offer serious golf history: Arnold Palmer famously made up a seven-stroke deficit to win the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, and at the 1995 U.S. Women's Open at the Broadmoor, Annika Sorenstam won her first of 10 major titles. Denver's public courses offer some of the nation's best values.

Total: 142 Photo: Fred Vuich For Sports Illustrated Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Long Island, New York. The Empire State blends a rich mix of members-only tournament gems (Oak Hill, Winged Foot, National Golf Links, Shinnecock Hills) with public-access standouts like Bethpage Black and newcomer Trump Ferry Point. It also breeds rabid (and rowdy) golf fans, as evidenced by the two "People's Opens" at Bethpage. Speaking of Opens, the Empire State has played host to more of our national championships (18) than any other state. And a Ryder Cup is coming in 2024 to—you guessed it—Bethpage. Hold on to your beer cups. Total: 151 Photo: Getty Images Chicago Golf Club in Illinois. Chicago Golf Club was one of the five founding members of the USGA, in 1894, and the state of Illinois has been considered golf royalty ever since. So many golfy images spring to mind: Mike Ditka and Michael Jordan teeing it up. Bill Murray caddying at Indian Hill.

Just about every great player from Jones, Hogan and Palmer to Nicklaus, Woods and McIlroy winning Illinois-based U.S. Opens, PGA Championships, Western Opens, Ryder Cups and Walker Cups. Metro Chicago has the greatest collection of private and public courses of any city in the U.S. Elsewhere, Top 100 public courses in Galena and Peoria, plus a PGA Tour event in the Quad Cities (the John Deere Classic), make the entire state a golf mecca. Total: 151 Photo: Robert Beck For Sports Illustrated Pinehurst No. 2 during the 2014 U.S. Open. Pinehurst is known as the Home of American golf, and for good reason. Golfers have been spending vacations there since the 1890s, and it became the laboratory of architect Donald Ross, who built more than 40 courses in the Sandhills and elsewhere in the Tar Heel State. Charlotte, Greensboro, Asheville, Raleigh-Durham and the Grand Strand border towns north of Myrtle Beach offer a remarkable menu of golf options. Quail Hollow Club, the Charlotte host of the Wells Fargo Championship, is a favorite among the pros.

So much so that it landed a major, the 2017 PGA Championship. Total: 162 Photo: Fred Vuich For Sports Illustrated Oakland Hills in Michigan. The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is alive and well, as both states battle for golfiest bragging rights. Michigan scored high in every category. It has the fourth-highest course tally in the U.S., many of them stellar tests in the northern part of the state, which earned it the nickname, "America's Summer Golf Capital." Multiple majors and a Ryder Cup at Detroit's Oakland Hills push up the Legacy numbers. And the U.P. (Upper Peninsula), home to superb tracks like Sweetgrass, Greywalls and TimberStone, is one of America's most underrated golf destinations. Total: 162 Photo: Kohjiro Kinno For Sports Illustrated Muirfield Village in Ohio during the 2013 Presidents Cup. It has the shortest playing season among the states in our top five, but Ohio soars with its top-six Household Participation rate, its enviable array of parkland Top 100 tracks, and for spawning the greatest golfer of them all, Jack Nicklaus.

The Golden Bear grew up here, starred for Ohio State and established the prestigious Memorial Tournament at the state's best course, Muirfield Village (yep, a Nicklaus design). Add Firestone's rich PGA Tour history and Tiger Woods's incredible success there (eight wins!) and the Buckeye State is worthy of its lofty ranking. Total: 164 Photo: David Walberg For Sports Illustrated The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island during the 2012 PGA Championship. Myrtle Beach, S.C., the supermarket of golf, invented—and perfected—the golf package. Today the Grand Strand boasts more than 100 public-access courses, with nearly every top-name modern architect having left his imprint. LPGA Hall of Famer Beth Daniel honed her game in Charleston, a golf-mad city that played host to one of history's most memorable Ryder Cups, the 1991 "War By the Shore" at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort. The Ocean Course also staged one of the most dominating performances in a major, when Rory McIlroy blitzed the field at the 2012 PGA to win by eight.

Near the state's southern border is Hilton Head Island, where Harbour Town and its candy cane-striped lighthouse have entertained the Tour since 1969. A dozen other solid public tracks and a bevy of private beauties make Hilton Head one of the elite golf destinations. Greenville, S.C., is home to Jay and Bill Haas and also 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover. Total: 169 Photo: Mike Ehrmann For Sports Illustrated Cypress Point in California. With 916 courses, the Golden State trails only Florida in total number of tracks and blows away every state with a whopping 20 Top 100 designs—one-fifth of our list! (Tops among them, at No. 2, is glorious Cypress Point.) With public-access U.S. Open tracks such as Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines, plus all the history at fabled spreads like Riviera and the Olympic Club, California has something for all golfers. Oh, and this achievement gets big bonus points: Tiger Woods (L.A. area) and Phil Mickelson (San Diego area) were both born and raised in Cally. Total: 171 History front and center at U.S.

Amateur History front and center at U.S. Amateur 09 Aug 2013 SHARE: (USGA Museum Photo) It’s no coincidence that the 2013 U.S. Amateur Championship will take place on the course the Francis Oiumet infamously won the U.S. Open as an amateur. It’s also no coincidence that the national championship is heading back to The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. exactly 100 years after the amazing feat. Indeed, the centennial celebration of Ouimet’s improbable victory continues next week at the site it all happened. A fitting tribute, no doubt, as the world’s top amateur golfers take aim at one of the game’s most coveted titles. History will be a large portion of the itinerary, according to Mike Trostel, curator and historian with the USGA. “Part of the reason we’re going back to The Country Club is to celebrate arguably the biggest event in American golf history,” Trostel said. The USGA will have on hand some of the clubs and balls Ouimet used to defeat Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in the playoff.

According to Trostel, the USGA will have a Cleek (2-iron), Mashie (5-iron) and a Mashie Niblick (7-iron). The Mashie helped Ouimet make a late birdie in the playoff. “It will be a pretty neat thing,” Trostel said. “We hope they players realize the gravity of the moment when they hear about Francis Ouimet beating the top two players of the time.” The Country Club, of course, is one of the USGA’s five founding clubs. Along with Saint Andrews in New York, Newport Country Club, Chicago Golf Club and Shinnecock Hills, The Country Club holds some of the game’s loftiest history as the oldest in the U.S. The Country Club will be hosting its 16th USGA Championship and it will be the sixth U.S. Amateur at the course, which has hosted pretty much every other USGA national championship. The Country Club has hosted 10 Massachusetts Amateur Championships, three Walker Cups, three U.S. Women’s Amateurs, the Junior Amateur and Junior Girls Amateur. Not bad for a country club founded in 1882 and was developed for outdoor activities not including golf.

Horse racing was a big past time at The Country Club before golf came around in 1893. In fact, on Nos. 1, 15 and 18, you can still see the horse tracks. ABOUT THE U.S. Amateur The U.S. Amateur, the oldest USGA championship, was first played in 1895 at Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island. The event, which has no age restriction, is open to those with a Handicap Index of 2.4 or lower. It is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs. It is the pre-eminent amateur competition in the world. Applications are typically placed online, starting the third week in April at

Question: In which American state is the Newport Country Club that hosted Golf's first US Open in 1895?
Answer: RHODE ISLAND