In 2019, Australian Lukas Michel was the first ever international winner of the US Mid-Am, a USGA event open to the top Amateur golfers over the age of 25. Like the U.S. Amateur, the Mid-Am consists of two days of stroke play, with the leading 64 competitors then playing a knockout match play to decide the champion.

With it came not only the prestige of winning this top amateur title but also a place in the Masters and US Open. Those events are postponed for now, but Lukas has a good idea what he will face when the tournaments are played as he has already played several rounds at Augusta and is well-acquainted with Winged Foot.

Lukas is a great golfer and a student of golf architecture who has played many of the best courses in the world. Lukas is based in Melbourne and studied at St Andrews, so he has had the opportunity to see the world’s best!

If you want to hear more from Lukas then I recommend his recent appearances on the Cookie Jar podcast which covers, among other topics, his Mid Am-win and first impressions of Augusta.

Thanks so much to Lukas - I just love his choices and several of these would make my own favourites list. Good luck for the Masters and US Open when the time comes!

Here are Lukas’s favourite courses -

LAHINCH GOLF CLUB
I played Lahinch as part of a trip to play the North of Ireland Amateur (Royal Portrush). An Irish lad I met down-under the year before was kind enough to arrange several rounds of golf at the best courses in Ireland, but this one stood out for its wildly fun routing.
UK Golf Guy Review, Graylyn Loomis

THE OLD COURSE, ST ANDREWS
The town of St Andrews will forever hold a place in my heart for the 5 months I spent there studying abroad. As a student and “links ticket” holder I had rights to play this famous course as many times as I wanted for the annual cost of £200. It’s a shame most visitors only get to play it once, as you only start to appreciate it after several plays in variable conditions.
UK Golf Guy Review

NORTH BERWICK
Outside of Melbourne, Edinburgh is the first town I could see myself living; and my first choice of club to be a member would be North Berwick. A classic “out and back” routing over fairly subtle ground, but its design features like the centre-line bunkers on 9, the green nestled behind a wall on 13, the famous Redan on 15, and Gate green on 16 that make this place so special.
UK Golf Guy review, Scottish Golf History, Planet Golf

WALTON HEATH - OLD COURSE
I’ve played a couple of tournaments here and always enjoyed the challenge the layout presents. Fairways are lined with some of the densest heather, which puts a premium on driving the ball well, while the same heather makes for some of the most beautifully crafted and vegetated bunkers in the world. Holes like the 2nd, 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 16th prove there’s more than just pretty bunkers and tough heather here.
UK Golf Guy review, Walton Heath Website, Top 100 Website

TOBACCO ROAD
One of the most exciting and drama filled rounds of golf you’ll play anywhere. Stranz has a way of making shots look much more difficult than they really are, so the sense of achievement and pleasure when you execute well is second to none.
Tobacco Road, Graylyn Loomis, Breaking Eighty

PINE VALLEY
As the number one golf course in the world, I went into my round at Pine Valley with the highest expectations and fully ready to be let down. Pine Valley still managed to exceed that and then some.
UK Golf Guy Review, Golf Digest Flyover, Golf Club Atlas

CAL CLUB
If it’s not the best course in San Francisco, it’s definitely the most enjoyable to play, mainly for its superb fescue surfaces which allow the ball to bounce and run like the best courses of Great Britain and Ireland. Artistic and cleverly placed bunkers make this course a pretty and forever interesting place to play golf.
California Golf Club, the fried egg, LINKS magazine

MORFONTAINE (VALLIERE)
Following one of the best driveways in golf, which winds its way through stunning heathland scattered with golf holes, you’re met by the elegant vine covered clubhouse. 5 holes in to my “warm-up” round at the 9 hole Valliere course, I was convinced I’d just played the best 5 hole stretch of golf holes in my life. Although seen as an accompaniment of sorts, the Valliere is not to be missed and might have 6 or 7 of the best holes on the entire 27 hole property.
Geoffshackleford.com, Planet Golf

LAKE KARRINYUP
The course I learnt to play at, starting at an age of 9 to 18. Built on fairly hilly terrain, tee shots demand aggressive lines and specific shapes to catch the right slopes and to gain significant advantage. These tee shots often set up dramatic down hill approach shots to holes such as the 2nd, 7th, 13th, and 18th.
Lake Karrinyup Website, Aussie Golf Quest

ROYAL MELBOURNE (WEST)
Alister MacKenzie’s routing here is the best in the land, and Morcom and Russell were successfully able to build his vision. The legacy of this trio lives on through the quality of Melbourne and Australian golf. The West course asks you to think, to be creative, and to execute better than any other golf course anywhere, and for that it’s one of the most fun and interesting golf courses in the world.
UK Golf Guy Review, No Laying Up Tourist Sauce, Golf Channel Analysis