Some great golf holes are obvious, well-known postcards of perfection. Others rest quietly in their the landscapes, waiting to slap golfers with a realization that might not come until halfway down the fairway or even after the putts are holed – players can look back and realize, wow, what a hole.
But all great golf holes have one thing in common: they make you think, and sometimes they won’t let you think of anything else. Be it strategy, terrain or scenery – hopefully some combination of all three – they create an impression.
Among the criteria utilized by Golfweek’s Best national network of course raters are memorability of par 3s, memorability of par 4s and the same for par 5s. Great holes are not to be judged by length or difficulty, but by how well they burrow into a players’ memory. Mundane and, worse, boring holes are quickly cast aside.
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Here is a sampling of holes on public-access courses that stood out in my travels in 2021, stretching across more than 80 courses from Washington to the Dominican Republic. This list – in no particular order –isn’t meant to be entirely exclusive or definitive, but it does include 10 holes I’ll never forget.