There are a few golf journalists whose articles I immediately click on when I see them pop up on my Twitter timeline and Eamon Lynch is most definitely one of them. His writing has an elegance which is rare to find, no doubt his background writing for publications such as Vanity Fair have helped him stand out from the crowd.
If you are looking for a piece by way of introduction to Lynch’s writing then this one, on playing a round with Donald Trump, will do the trick. You will find his regular golf columns at Golf Week and eamonlynch.com and he is a great Twitter follow @eamonlynch.
Eamon has played some fantastic courses around the world as the list below testifies and has a keen understanding for their place in the game. He also seems to like the same courses I do! Those on his list I have played are among my favourites, and those I haven’t are high up on my bucket list!
THE OLD COURSE, SCOTLAND
To those who get it, no explanation is necessary. To those who don’t, no explanation is possible.
UK Golf Guy Review, Scottishgolfhistory.org
NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND
It’s a reminder of what golf should be: sometimes quirky, occasionally maddening, always fun. The last six holes alone might be the most beguiling loop on the planet.
UK Golf Guy review, Scottish Golf History, Planet Golf
NATIONAL GOLF LINKS, USA
The gene from which every great American course is descended.
UK Golf Guy Review, 1968 Sports Illustrated Article, Golf Course Gurus
PINE VALLEY GOLF CLUB, USA
Relentlessly demanding, as much on the mind as on the swing.
UK Golf Guy Review, Golf Digest Flyover, Golf Club Atlas
SHOREACRES, USA
I stood in the locker room looking at a routing map and wondering why the course was laid out away from the lake shore. It quickly became clear that Raynor didn’t need the waterfront. Despite flattish land it has tremendous variety and terrific green complexes.
Golf Club Atlas, Fried Egg
SUNNINGDALE (OLD), ENGLAND
Beautifully artful bunkering and the rare inland course that plays like a links.
UK Golf Guy Review, Golf Club Atlas
CYPRESS POINT, USA
The 15th gets my vote as the prettiest little hole in the world.
Graylyn Loomis, Golf Digest, Playing the Top 100
TOBACCO ROAD, USA
I think of it as a thoroughly modern, American version of North Berwick. Flush with stuff you just won’t see anywhere else. Probably the most polarizing course in the country.
Tobacco Road, Graylyn Loomis, Breaking Eighty
SHANQIN BAY, CHINA
The most challenging routing Coore & Crenshaw ever authored, on terrain that is even less hospitable than Kapalua. Wide, rumpled, quirky in places, compromised in others, it’s just a fun round. If only the government would stop screwing with it.
Shanqin Bay, Top100golfcourses, Planet Golf
CABOT CLIFFS, CANADA
The clifftop holes get all the love, but the inland tests are every bit as good. The 2nd is an all-world short four.
Cabot Links, top100golfcourse.com, The Dapper Drive
I know that’s 10 courses, but every golfer’s favorite 10 should exceed the limit, so…
MERION, USA
Short par 4s stir me, and there are bushel of them here. As Lee Trevino said, ‘Merion I love you, and I don’t even know your last name.’
SEMINOLE, USA
If there’s a better routing in golf I haven’t seen it.
PACIFIC DUNES, USA
My favorite destination to play west of St. Andrews, and Tom Doak’s design is the standout in an incredibly strong lineup.
WANNAMOISETT, USA
It’s short and has only one par 5 (at the 17th), but it remains one of golf’s most charming walks.
DIAMANTE DUNES, MEXICO
The rapid construction of homes and a hotel has robbed Diamante of the remote charm it had in the early years of my visits, but there are a bunch of hugely entertaining holes.
CAPE KIDNAPPERS, NEW ZEALAND
I played it months before it opened, with Doak. We used borrowed clubs and we didn’t even have a tee, so we perched the ball on rough at the front of the tee boxes. It feels like golf at the end of the world
ROYAL COUNTY DOWN, NORTHERN IRELAND
He who complains about blind shots has no imagination. RCD exposes such a fool and saves us having to spend time in their company to realize that.
Many thanks to Eamon for his picks. You can see others in the ‘Favourite Courses’ series here.
