Canyon Springs Golf Course

For much of golf’s history, the idea of a hole measuring 700 yards or more would have seemed excessive. Today, such distances are no longer quite so extraordinary. The world’s longest holes are an eclectic group, spread across very different landscapes and created for very different reasons. Some belong to expansive resort courses, others to championship layouts, while a handful have become famous largely because of the sheer scale of the challenge they present. From a former world-record holder in North Carolina to an extraordinary par 7 measuring over 1km in South Korea, these are the 10 longest golf holes in the world. 10. Black Mountain Golf Club (North Carolina, USA) Hole 17 | 747 yards (683m) | Par 6 The 17th at Black Mountain is one of the survivors from an era when exceptionally long golf holes were still something of a novelty. At 747 yards, the par six was once recognised as the longest golf hole in the world - a distinction that helped put this small North Carolina club on the golfing map. The hole is part of Black Mountain's older nine-hole layout, which dates back to the 1960s, and its extraordinary length was a deliberate feature rather than an accident of modern championship-course design. From the back tees, the fairway climbs and falls through the foothills, with the green sitting far enough away that it disappears from view for much of the hole. For a course that otherwise has a relatively modest footprint, the 17th is an impressive piece of real estate. Its 747 yards are now exceeded by several holes built in the decades since, but the hole retains its place in golf's long-hole folklore. It is also a reminder of how quickly perceptions of distance have changed. What was once a world record is now the shortest hole in this particular top ten. 9. TPC Colorado (Colorado, USA) Hole 13 | 773 yards (707m) | Par 5 TPC Colorado opened in 2018 at Heron Lakes near Berthoud, with Arthur Schaupeter’s design set against open Colorado terrain and views towards the Front Range. The 7,991-yard course was built with tournament golf in mind and has since become a regular Korn Ferry Tour venue. The 13th, named “Longer Still”, is its defining hole. At 773 yards from the TOUR tees, it is the longest hole on a PGA TOUR course and the longest par five in PGA TOUR golf. Its principal feature is the enormous 108-yard Hell Bunker, which runs along the left side of the fairway and creates the key decision after the drive: challenge it to gain ground or lay back and accept a longer approach. At altitude, the hole does not play quite as severely as the yardage suggests, but its scale remains remarkable. More importantly, the length is integrated into the design rather than simply added as a spectacle, giving No. 13 a strategic identity that has made it one of the most recognisable holes in modern American golf. 8. The Reserve at Moonlight Basin (Montana, USA) Hole 17 | 777 yards (710m) | Par 5 Set at 7,500 feet above Big Sky in the Rocky Mountains, The Reserve at Moonlight Basin is one of Jack Nicklaus’ most dramatic mountain courses. Built across the former Moonlight Basin ski area, the 8,000-yard layout moves through forest and open mountain terrain, with more than 1,000 feet of elevation change across the property. The 17th is the signature expression of that setting. At 777 yards, it is already extraordinary on the card, but the hole plunges downhill towards the green, with the change in elevation and thin mountain air making the distance considerably less daunting than it first appears. A large fairway bunker sits around 370 yards from the back tee, beyond which the fairway reveals the full scale of the descent towards the green. It is a fittingly theatrical hole for a course where elevation is central to the experience. The 17th was also one of the holes that came to wider attention when Moonlight Basin hosted The Match in 2021 – when Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers defeated Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady – putting its spectacular setting and remarkable yardage on national television. 7. Penati Golf Resort - Legend course (Trnava Region, Slovakia) Hole 15 | 783 yards (716m) | Par 6 Opened in 2012, the Legend Course at Penati occupies a sandy, pine-covered site near Senica, with Nicklaus Design using the natural character of the property to create wide, undulating fairways and extensive waste areas. The course forms part of Slovakia’s largest golf resort and was the first Nicklaus Design course in the country. The 15th is the course’s defining feature. It has 11 teeing positions, allowing it to be played at very different lengths, but from the back tees, it stretches to 783 yards and becomes a par 6. The fairway is split by a large waste bunker, with further bunkering framing the second landing area before the hole finally turns towards the green. The hole gained international attention when the European Challenge Tour used the full 783-yard version during the Slovakia Challenge in 2015, 2016 and 2019. In regular play, however, it is generally shortened and played as a par 5 - a useful reminder that the extraordinary version seen on the professional circuit is only one interpretation of Central Europe’s longest hole. 6. Theodora Golf Club (Transylvania, Romania) Hole 18 | 804 yards (735m) | Par 6 Theodora Golf Club sits outside Alba Iulia on the banks of the Mureș, occupying a remarkably flat 56-hectare site. Opened in 2018, the resort was created around an 18-hole championship course, with a large lake excavated in front of the clubhouse providing material to shape the otherwise level ground. That lake is central to the character of the closing hole. The 18th stretches over 800 yards from the back tees, with the approach eventually leading to an island green shared with the 9th. The arrangement gives what might otherwise be a straightforwardly expansive hole a much more distinctive finish. Theodora itself describes the 18th as the longest par 6 in Europe, and it has become the defining feature of a relatively young Romanian resort that has steadily established itself on the European golf map. 5. The Links at Kahite Golf Club (Tennessee, USA) Hole 9 | 808 yards (739m) | Par 6 The Links at Kahite opened in 2002 as the third course in Tellico Village, occupying a natural setting between Tellico Lake and the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The links-style layout has six sets of tees, stretches to 7,170 yards and is notable for its 93 bunkers and tall fescue framing some of the fairways. The 9th is the course's defining hole: an 739-metre par 6 that runs in a notably direct line across the landscape. From the back tees it measures 808 yards, while the blue tees bring it down to 721, making the hole a very different proposition depending on where it is played from. The course's own guide describes it simply as a unique hole, with the fairway rewarding players who can keep successive shots in play. Its position at the turn also gives Kahite an unusual rhythm. After eight holes that establish the character of the course, the 9th opens out into one of the most distinctive holes in Tennessee golf before the back nine heads back towards the mountains. 4. Meadows Farms Golf Course (Virginia, USA) Hole 12 | 841 yards (769m) | Par 6 Meadows Farms is very much the product of its founder, Bill “Farmer” Meadows, who built the course on former farmland after taking up golf later in life. It opened in 1993 with an intentionally unconventional character: the 27-hole layout includes a baseball-themed hole, a waterfall green and an island green, alongside the hole that became its calling card. The 12th stretches to 841 yards from the championship tees, running downhill before turning right, crossing two lakes and climbing towards a large elevated green. A three-leaf-clover-shaped bunker guards the approach. The sequence gives the hole considerably more shape and interest than its raw length might suggest. For decades it was promoted as the longest golf hole in the United States, a distinction that helped make this eccentric Virginia course a destination in its own right. The current course still describes No. 12 as its signature hole and the longest in the country, as recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records. 3. The Links Golf Club (Idaho, USA) Hole 9 | 842 yards (770m) | Par 6 The Links Golf Club in Post Falls opened in 1999 on the broad, open Rathdrum Prairie, with owner and designer Emmett Burley shaping the course in the tradition of Scottish links golf. There are few trees or water hazards to interrupt the prairie landscape, leaving wind, wide fairways, deep bunkers and rough to define its character. The 9th has been the course's signature hole from the beginning. It was originally measured at 738 yards from the black tees, but subsequent changes have transformed it into an 842-yard par 6, now the longest hole on the course and one of the longest in America. That extra distance has only amplified the hole's original links character. With no trees or water to dictate the route, the scale of the prairie is laid bare, while the wind can have a considerable influence on successive shots. The green itself has two distinct levels, adding another layer to a hole that has evolved from an unusual feature into the defining landmark of The Links. 2. Satsuki Golf Club - Sano course (Kanto Region, Japan) Hole 7 | 964 yards (881m) | Par 7 Satsuki Golf Club’s Sano Course opened in 1979 in the hills of Tochigi Prefecture, with broad fairways laid through a landscape of trees and gentle elevation changes. The 18-hole course measures more than 7,200 yards from the back tees, but it is the seventh hole on the outward nine that has made the club internationally known. At 964 yards, the seventh was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s longest golf hole and remains the defining feature of the course. It is not simply a long, open stretch: the hole has trees crowding the tee shot, OB on both sides and a relatively narrow fairway, creating pressure from the outset. There are two greens, with the left measuring the full 964 yards and the right 924. The club’s own playing strategy reflects the scale of the hole: rather than simply attacking distance on every shot, the objective is to keep successive balls in play and leave the final approach within comfortable range. For many years, Satsuki’s seventh was the benchmark by which the world’s longest holes were measured. Gunsan Country Club has since surpassed it in sheer yardage, but the Japanese par-7 remains the more established name in the record books. 1. Gunsan Country Club - Jeongeup course (Jeonbuk State, South Korea) Hole 3 | 1,098 yards (1,004m) | Par 7 Gunsan Country Club is an extraordinary property in its own right. Built on a former salt field on Korea’s west coast, the sprawling complex now has 81 holes across more than 1,000 acres, with lakes accounting for roughly 380 acres of the site and 26 bridges linking the courses. The third on the Jeongeup Course is the hole that gives Gunsan its international reputation. At 1,004 metres from the black tees, it is a par 7 and the longest hole in this ranking. The hole is also the No. 1 handicap on its nine, with water running along the left and bunkers placed to complicate the long sequence of shots required to reach the green. Its scale is matched by an unusual sense of place. The hole emerged from the transformation of the old salt works into one of Asia’s largest golf complexes, and its local nickname, the “1004 Hole”, is a play on the 1,004-metre length. Gunsan has built much of its identity around these extreme holes, with a 661-metre par 6 elsewhere on the property, but the Jeongeup third remains the defining feature. At 1,098 yards, it is comfortably longer than Satsuki’s 964-yard seventh and takes the top spot here by distance. Guinness World Records, however, has historically recognised Satsuki’s hole, so the distinction between the longest hole by yardage and the Guinness record is worth keeping in mind.

US Mountain Division Best in State Rankings 2020 We recently embarked on the biennial exercise to revise the rankings for all of our US Best in State charts, starting with updates for the five Pacific Division states. We’ve now moved away from the west coast to the Mountain Division, where we’ve refreshed the numbers for two hundred and twenty courses in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. In an area encompassing around 856,000 square miles, this region enjoys some of the most diverse natural terrain imaginable, ranging from towering mountain peaks to large desert waste lands and flat rolling plains, so many of the golf courses are laid out on fantastic landscapes that you’ll not find anywhere else in the entire country, with wonderful panoramic views thrown in for free. We’ve added another ten courses to Arizona to create a Top 60 and that chart, taken in combination with the Top 50 for Colorado, comprises half of all the golfing layouts which are ranked in our Mountain Division. Looking across the board, eighteen courses appear as new entries in our refurbished tables, with five of the top tier tracks in those eight states also residing in our national Top 100. Arizona The top four courses remain in the same place as last time, which means the Canyon course at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff retains its #1 status, a position it has held since our revision in 2014. Designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, it’s been in operation now for more than thirty years, having first opened for play in 1988. Our regular contributor M. James Ward had this to say about it a while back: “Morrish and Weiskopf did a fine job in creating a fun course meant for the day-to-day audience of seasonal property owning members and their guests. The Canyon course has often been touted as being one of the best courses in Arizona and for a time a member of various top 100 courses of America. I don’t doubt the merits of the course and salute what the architects did with the final routing.” Forest Highlands Canyon course All of the courses at the Desert Mountain Club make impressive positional gains – Chiricahua is up three to #9; Geronimo is up four to #11; Renegade is up six to #12; and Outlaw is up seven to #18 – but the biggest leap forward is made by the Cochise layout (up ten to #38) which, although the shortest of the six courses at this gargantuan golf complex, formerly hosted the Tradition Championship between 1989 and 2001 on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. Desert Mountain Club - Renegade course The highest of our ten new entries appears at No. 17 and it’s The Other Course at Scottsdale National Golf Club. The Jackson Khan design team spent months on site overseeing the construction of this layout, shifting many tons of material to transform a rather flat and featureless landscape into the finished article. Anybody now playing the course that isn’t aware of the property’s former topography might well think the architects were fortunate to have had such great natural contours to work with. The Other Course at Scottsdale National Golf Club Rank/ Click the link to see full details of our latest Arizona Best in State rankings Colorado The No. 1 course in the state is still Tom Doak’s design at Ballyneal Golf Club in the chop hills of north eastern Colorado. Not only does it occupy a place in the US Top 100, it’s also ranked highly (currently #47) in our World Top 100, which tells you everything you really need to know about this remarkable inland links. Reviewers this year have passed comment such as: “I feel extremely blessed and lucky to have played Ballyneal. It’s a place where you want to head right back to the first tee after your initial round and play until dark… fun shots abound when using the slopes in the fairways and around the greens… I have travelled the globe playing this game and, without failure, no matter what corner of the world I find myself in, it doesn’t take long for people to identify Ballyneal as one of the most sensational golf courses they’ve played.” Ballyneal Golf Club The biggest climber in the top half of the new table is the Jack Nicklaus Signature course at The Country Club at Castle Pines in Castle Rock, rising twelve places to No. 15. Jim Lipe, senior design consultant at Nicklaus Design, has worked at the club for more than thirty years, carrying out various improvements. His latest project involved a four-hole renovation, with a new greenside pond and waterfall installed on the 16th hole and mountain streams realigned on both the 9th and 14th holes. The Country Club at Castle Pines The first of five new entries arrives at #20 and it’s the course at the Cornerstone Club in Montrose. Opened in 2008, this mountain layout closed just a few years later due to ownership issues but it’s been revived again, thanks to the renovation efforts of architect Matt Dusenberry (who worked on the original build when he was with Greg Norman Design) and Jason Stroehlein, the club’s former superintendent who was called back in to help bring the course back to life. Cornerstone Club Click the link to see full details of our latest Colorado Best in State rankings Idaho The course at Gozzer Ranch Golf & Lake Club in Coeur d’Alene held off a strong challenge for the No.1 spot from David McLay Kidd’s 18-hole layout at Tributary (formerly Huntsman Springs) when we last updated the listings for the Gem State and it’s done the same again this time. It’s probably the most non-typical Tom Fazio course you’re ever likely to play, which came as something of a surprise for our US Correspondent Fergal O’Leary when he last visited: “It is far and away the best Tom Fazio track I have ever played. It doesn’t look like a Fazio, feel like a Fazio, or play like a Fazio. Without question or debate, Gozzer Ranch looked, felt and played so much like a Coore & Crenshaw with its ragged edges to bunkering, wonderful use of fescue, holes perfectly placed on the land and fitting together beautifully… the course definitely grows on you through the round while you try to convince yourself that Ben Crenshaw didn’t sneak in after dark and cut out a few bunkers with his shovel before the sun came up again.” Gozzer Ranch Five courses make upward moves in the new standings and the biggest of these is Canyon Springs Golf Course in Twin Falls, a new entry two years ago and now easing up from No. 14 to No.10. Situated on the banks of the Snake River, it was described in a review last month as a “fun, albeit quirky course” where “the scenery is titillating.” In addition, “bunkers are few and far between, the layout is a bit choppy [so] pay attention to the course map.” Canyon Springs Click the link to see full details of our latest Idaho Best in State rankings Montana The Rock Creek Cattle Company course in Deer Lodge was our first No.1 for the Treasure State back in 2012 and it’s still top dog in our Top 20 for Montana. Texan owner Bill Foley was the man who engaged Tom Doak to design the layout and it opened for play in 2008, competing for attention with the spectacular Flint Creek Mountain Range setting. As Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design website states: “the sheer scale of Montana is beyond the scope of a mere golf course, but our 18 holes alongside the rugged mountain stream give a small preview of the natural beauty and variety of this part of the world.” Rock Creek Cattle Company Advancing four places to the #6 slot, the 18-hole layout at Yellowstone Country Club in Billings is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design dating back to 1959, when the Billings Club as it was known then sold its old property and moved to a new site. A bunker renovation was carried out in the early 1990s and a number of other course improvements have since occurred, including the complete replacement of the irrigation system in 2007. A multi-million dollar new clubhouse was also built just a couple of years ago. Yellowstone Country Club Click the link to see full details of our latest Montana Best in State rankings Nevada Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas remains the No. 1 layout in Nevada. Constructed from scratch in the late 1980s at a reputed cost of sixty million dollars, it was once the preserve of only a select few but now you can pay and play – for a pretty price – if you really want to follow in the footsteps of golfers like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who served up their contribution to growing the game of golf here a while back with their winner-takes-all match play challenge in November 2018. Shadow Creek Heading six places in the right direction as they move up to #19 in the new listings, the Desert Hawk and Coyote Run nines at the 27-hole Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City are well worth the half-hour drive from the Las Vegas strip to play. M. James Ward was here last year and his verdict was “if you’re seeking an exceptional golf experience and don’t want to spend much cash to do so then a visit to Boulder Creek should be explored… it amazes me how so few people – even those who play in the Vegas area frequently – fail to mention it.” There’s one re-entry in our Nevada chart, reappearing at No.13, and it’s the course at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, which owner Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio co-designed twenty years ago. It closed for renovation in December 2017, re-opening only last October after an extensive makeover from the original architect and his son Logan Fazio. Now reduced in length to 6,722 yards and playing to a par of 70, the course presents players with “topography that was reimagined to offer significant elevation changes, set against water features and mature trees” according to the Wynn Las Vegas publicity material. Wynn Golf Club Las Vegas Click the link to see full details of our latest Nevada Best in State rankings New Mexico The 1st & 2nd nines at the 27-hole Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club in Sandia Park maintain their grip on the No. 1 spot in the New Mexico chart. A new millennium design from Ken Dye, the course is routed around rocky outcrops, arroyos and a variety of native vegetation, with holes set out in wooded surroundings at elevations of between 6,500 and 7,000 feet above sea level. New owners took over at the start of 2018, leading to a revitalization that was termed by a recent reviewer as a “hard scrape, clearing and re-seeding” of the layout. Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club Only five courses make any sort of chart progress and the biggest move is made by the Scott Miller-designed course at Sandia Golf Club (up three to #9) outside Albuquerque. Operated by the Pueblo of Sandia Tribe, this 18-hole layout is part of a huge hotel and casino complex located in rugged high desert territory, where the scale of the course somehow manages to match the enormity of the backdrop. The Land of Enchantment's only newcomer is the Albuquerque Country Club course at No.13. It was designed by John Van Kleek in the late 1920s when the club moved to its present location, and it’s been renovated several times since then, most notably when the greens were rebuilt to USGA specification in the late 1990s by an in-house team using plans drawn up by Ron Fream. It’s been called “the most western course associated with Stiles and Van Kleek and decidedly different from any other course the architects produced”. Albuquerque Country Club Click the link to see full details of our latest New Mexico Best in State rankings Utah It’s a case of “as you were” with the top four positions in the Beehive State listings so the Championship course at the Sand Hollow Resort near Hurricane continues to hold sway as the #1 in Utah. Constructed entirely out of native red sand by architect John Fought, this 18-hole layout is complemented by a delightful 9-hole Links course at an entertaining 27-hole golf complex. A 5.5-ball post from three months ago concluded with this comment: “I have driven past Sand Hollow for 15 years heading for ‘other’ golf courses. That will never happen again…” Sand Hollow Championship course All the notable chart activity for Utah takes place in the bottom half of the new standings, with a couple of courses both making 4-place upward moves: the Mountain course at Wasatch Mountain State Park (up to #14) in Midway is the newer of two 18-hole layouts at a superior public golf facility, while the Pointe and Woodbridge nines at Sunbrook Golf Club (up to #15) provide pay and play golfers with a very enticing 18-hole municipal offering in St George. Wasatch Mountain - Mountain course Click the link to see full details of our latest Utah Best in State rankings Wyoming Shooting Star in Jackson Hole took over as the No.1 course in in our Wyoming chart back in 2014 and it prevails in that position after our latest reappraisal exercise. Laid out between the Snake River Ranch and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, this outdoor recreation facility occupies a large 1,300-acre property that was once nothing other than flat pasture land. Tom Fazio is said to have shifted more than one and a half million cubic yards of soil to fashion the fairways here but you’d never know that now, which is a great measure of how well the course now integrates into its environment. Shooting Star The Rochelle Ranch Golf Course in Rawlings rises two places to No.6. It measures an eye-watering 7,925 yards from the back markers, which is pretty extreme, even at an altitude of 6,800 feet above sea level. The course was gifted to the City of Rawlings by a local sheep farming family and even though it operates as a successful municipal recreation outlet there are plans in place to make further improvements to this Ken Kavanaugh design. Click the link to see full details of our latest Wyoming Best in State rankings Next up – the West South Central Division states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

US Mountain Division Best in State Rankings 2018 Eight states in our West Region are updated in the second of nine US regional revisions. We established our Best in State listings for the United States six years ago so this is the fourth biennial review of those classifications. We’re re-ranking now across nine distinct divisions and this is the second of those reappraisals, covering the West region Mountain States of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Two years ago, we increased the number of courses featured in this geographical area by almost 50% and this time we’ve added a few more courses for Colorado and Montana, so we now profile over 200 courses across the eight states. Only half a dozen Mountain courses are ranked in the US Top 100 so, although the region isn’t exactly bristling with golf facilities listed at a national level, it still has lots of exciting layouts worthy of closer inspection. Arizona With the top five courses in Arizona remaining in the same position, it means the Canyon course at Forest Highlands retains its position at the pinnacle of our Grand Canyon State listings. A Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design that was first unveiled in 1988, it’s a fun course which has entertained seasonal property owning members and their guests for the best part of three decades now. Considering the raft of modern courses constructed in Arizona over that period of time, the Canyon course demonstrates remarkable staying power by holding onto its number 1 status. Further down the state rankings, the Outlaw course at Desert Mountain is the highest of four new entries at number 25. Located within a massive 8,000-acre property in the high Sonoran Desert, the Outlaw course was the sixth and final Jack Nicklaus signature design to open at Desert Mountain’s private facility in north Scottsdale. Golf journalist and regular Top 100 contributor M James Ward said of this course just a couple of months ago: “how many have overlooked this course leaves me baffled. Outlaw personifies its name. It is neither conventional in penal alignment with other modern desert courses nor is it predictable. The genius of the layout is the fun factor – shots you relish and holes you wish to play again and again.” Rank/ Click the link to see full details of our 2018 Arizona Best in State courses Colorado We’ve added another ten courses to our Centennial State listings to create a Top 50 chart and Tom Doak’s links-like layout at Ballyneal in Holyoke continues to head the standings. Described by recent reviewers as “a course that is always fun to play” and “a real thinker’s course (with) blind tee shots, blind second shots and challenging greens,” Ballyneal is the only course in our Mountain Division to occupy a position within both our national Top 100 and global Top 100 charts. A significant climber in the Colorado state list is the century-old layout at Denver Country Club (up five to number 5), where Gil Hanse has been renovating bunkers and selectively removing trees. A couple of exciting new millennium designs by Jim Engh also make prodigious leaps up the state rankings: The Club at Pradera near Parker (up eleven to number 14) and Four Mile Ranch, just outside Cañon City (up fourteen to number 23). Click this link to see full details of our 2018 Colorado Best in State courses Idaho Tom Fazio’s layout at Gozzer Ranch Golf & Lake Club near Coeur d’Alene holds off a strong challenge from David McLay Kidd’s course at Huntsman Springs in Driggs (up one to number 2) to maintain a firm grip on the number 1 berth in the Gem State. The Gozzer Ranch drivable par fours are outstanding and three of its four short holes are carved through magnificent rock formations, with a jagged-edged bunker style not quite what might be expected from a Fazio design. The back nine in particular, in the words of a reviewer, is “nothing short of jaw-dropping”. Click the link to see full details of our 2018 Idaho Best in State courses Montana We’ve added another five courses to the Treasure State listings, expanding the table to a Top 20. Tom Doak’s Rock Creek Cattle Company layout is still the top track, a position it’s held since we first established our Best in State rankings in 2012. The eighteen holes are laid out across an expansive, rugged landscape where generously proportioned fairways offer all manner of approach options to heavily-contoured greens. Straight in at number 4, The Reserve at Moonlight Basin is the highest of our five new entries in the Montana chart. Opened in 2016, it’s a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course that’s draped across a dramatic landscape to the north of Sphinx Mountain in the Madison Range. Set at an altitude of 7,500 feet above sea level and measuring 8,000 yards from the back tees, this course is geared up to having the game of golf played out on an epic scale. Click this link to see full details of our 2018 Montana Best in State courses Nevada The Tom Fazio-designed course at Shadow Creek retains its position as the number 1 layout in the Silver State. Built for casino magnate Steve Wynn in the late 1980s, this completely artificial track was once regarded by some as the eighth wonder of the modern golfing world and M James Ward had this to say about it only last month: “Shadow Creek is a testament of man’s desire to build something on the grandest of scales. The pyramids of golf. How appropriate such a course would reside in the most fantasy related communities such as Las Vegas.” The highest of three Nevadan new entries appears at number 11 and it’s The Summit, another Tom Fazio layout developed in partnership with the Discovery Land Company. The course is situated less than ten miles from the Las Vegas Strip and it’s the centrepiece of a large residential development near the Red Rock National Conservation Area. There’s also a par three 19th hole next to the practice area, where the clubhouse will be built, and this extra hole is perfect for settling bets or tied matches. Click this link to see full details of our 2018 Nevada Best in State courses New Mexico The top eight places in our New Mexico chart remain exactly as they were when we last re-ranked two years ago so that means the Paa-Ko Ridge(1st & 2nd) layout in Sandia Park is still our number 1 course in the Land of Enchantment. A new millennium track designed by architect Ken Dye of the Texas-based company Finger Dye Spann Inc., the original 18-hole course at Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club had another 9-hole layout added to it in 2005 to fashion a fabulous 27-hole facility that’s conveniently located less than a half an hour’s drive from downtown Albuquerque. Click this link to see full details of our 2018 New Mexico Best in State courses Utah The Beehive State’s new number 1 is the Championship course at the Sand Hollow Resort near Hurricane. It jumped an impressive six places up to the runner-up position two years ago and it has now gone one step further by replacing Tom Fazio’s Glenwild Golf Club and Spa at the top of the table. A John Fought design, the fairways are routed around steep ridge lines and deep canyons, with thrilling elevation changes and spectacular views offering golfers one of the most entertaining golf experiences in the state. The Championship layout is complemented by the 9-hole Links course, a 3,600-yard par 36 layout that is the perfect companion for its bigger sibling. Click this link to see full details of our 2018 Utah Best in State courses Wyoming Tom Fazio’s 18-hole layout at Shooting Star in Jackson Hole retains the top spot in our Top 10 chart for the Equality State. Set between the Snake River Ranch, a working cattle operation for the last eighty years, and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Shooting Star is a first class skiing and outdoor recreation facility set within 1,300 acres of protected property in the shadow of three mountain ranges. Designed to resemble the glacial moraine landscape of nearby Grand Teton National Park, the layout occupies land that was once nothing other than flat pasture before its transformation into a distinctive 18-hole golf course. Click the link to see full details of our 2018 Wyoming Best in State courses We welcome feedback when we re-rank our state listings so please let us know what you think if you have a strong opinion about any one of these eight newly refreshed US Best in State charts. Which course have we inadvertently left out or perhaps we’ve included one that really doesn’t deserve to be listed? Maybe there’s one placed too high or positioned too low? Whatever your thoughts are, by all means click the “Respond to this article” link at the top or bottom of this page to share your views with us. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses