Elite Traveler January-February 2018

INSPIRE TOP GOLF COURSES

Cypress Point PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA, USA

Designed by Alister Mackenzie in 1928, Cypress Point is consistently rated as of one the top three golf courses by major golf publications (no 2 in Golf 2011). Mackenzie let the natural environment shape this stunning course — positioned at the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula, it winds through jagged coastline and sand dunes, then heads into the Del Monte forest during the front nine. It remerges along the coastline for the finishing holes, notably the signature hole, number 16, which requires a 231-yard tee shot over the Pacific to a mid-sized green guarded by strategically placed bunkers. Membership is incredibly exclusive — it’s rumored that even JFK was once refused entry to the restaurant. Par 72 Tournaments hosted AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Walker Cup Notable members Bob Hope, Clint Eastwood, Charles Schwab

Muirfield EAST LOTHIAN, SCOTLAND, UK

Home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Muirfield is one of the oldest clubs in golf and actually holds the accolade of being the oldest verifiable organized golf club in the world (even though the game itself is centuries older). Traditionally, Links courses run along the coast before turning players back in the opposite direction, so they will have the same wind conditions for nine holes in a row. Muirfield, however, was one of the first courses to shake things up with its design of two loops, the first clockwise, the second roughly counterclockwise. This creates a diverse round of golf with no more than three consecutive holes following the same direction. The Open Championship was first held here in 1892 (back then, the winner’s share was around $40; in 2013 it was $1.3m), and Muirfield has hosted the championship 16 times since. In March 2017 the club made headlines as it voted to admit female members for the first time in its history. Par 71 Tournaments hosted The Open Championship, Ryder Cup, The Amateur Championship, Senior British Open

Photos Shutterstock.com, Stephen Szurlej, Pebble Beach