Top 10 Reviewer has posted between 10 and 19 reviews
Top 20 Reviewer has posted between 20 and 49 reviews
Top 50 Reviewer has posted between 50 and 99 reviews
Top 100 Reviewer has posted 100 or more reviews
M. James Ward
The 30+ year golf journalist is a member of the Golf Writer's Association of America (GWAA) and a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writer's Association (MGWA). Has played over 2,000 courses globally and has covered the various major golf championships since 1980 for several different outlets. For 17 years served as national course rating panelist for Golf Digest and served for roughly three years in a similar capacity with Golfweek. Lives in the greater New York City metro area. Plays to a 3 handicap and has played in USGA Championships. Favorite motto: "You can print money but you can't print time. Once time is gone it's gone." Make the most of every opportunity to play whenever possible.
Much of the attention often focuses on the short par-3 3rd hole which features a green engulfed with desert. Unquestionably, it's a fine hole but the stature of the cours...
The layout checks the boxes but hardly stirs the inner fires. There's nothing inherently bad about the design but there's also nothing truly inspirational that mandates a...
When people think of New York they often view things from the perspective of the New York City metro area which encompasses the immediate surrounding counties and all of...
The best way to truly appreciate municipal golf is having a close involvement with it. Mine came early on when I was in my early teens -- playing the oldest such course i...
The most lasting element of SouthShore is how the design works within the heaving and rolling nature of the property and the stunning eye vistas you see when playing. It'...
When one arrives at Pelham you come to a course that is clearly connected to its neighborhood. Interestingly, that "neighborhood" hems in the facility on all sides -- inc...
The immediate Bend area has some of the finest summer weather in all of the United States. Golf course development clearly became a hot topic during the 1990s and the ove...
My initial visit to Florence Golf Links -- I personally dislike the tagline of "links" thrown into the new name for the layout. At least the former Sand Pines was a bit m...
Zachary has provided a clear and detailed overview of the layout. It's been a joy to have played the course several times over the years.To use a boxing analogy -- the Do...
Municipal golf can be a very tough assignment for most architects. Trying to provide a challenging layout for the broadest level of handicap ranges and doing so within a...
One of the toughest architectural assignments is routing a course in close proximity to wetlands and being able to pull things together so that forced carries are kept at...
One of the real virtues when Desert Willow opened in 1997 is that it provided a legitimate quality daily fee option for those in the greater Coachella Valley to enjoy. Sa...
When Cochiti first opened in the early 80s the playing field for "destination" public courses was in its infancy and having a New Mexico address clearly added to the fanf...
When assessing courses the number one element that I look for is how good is the terrain the layout occupies? Dallas National is not for the faint of heart. One has to go...
Much of what Colin added I am in agreement with. The main issue I have regarding the Rees Jones layout is how it fails to break away from the same design style Rees has u...
This is the first layout architect Jim Engh created in Arizona and it surprises me how little attention it generates for those not from the Valley of the Sun area.Engh ha...
It was a shame when Butler National abdicated its host role for the Western Open (1974-1990) because the club was adamant in not opening its doors to women for membership...
A number of years ago I was provided a tip from a golf writer in the Sacramento area who wondered why so much of my golf travels featured courses just within the major me...
One of the more underrated architects is Keith Foster. His work has clearly showed first-rate results -- both on the private and public side. And he has done exemplary wo...
It's hard to square the reality that as charismatic as Arnold Palmer was as a golfer -- his foray into course design often produced vapid designs with little more than fo...
