National Golf Links of America Review

Charles Blair Macdonald learned the game at St Andrews, and after five summers studying the finest holes in Britain he set out to build a course to rival them on Sebonac Neck, rolling ground between Shinnecock Hills and Peconic Bay. Seth Raynor, a local engineer, oversaw construction. Play began in 1909 and the club opened formally in 1911, named for founding members who lived all over the country. Macdonald is credited with coining the phrase golf architect, and this is the course that earned it.

Many holes adapt a British original rather than copying it. The 2nd, Sahara, borrows from Royal St George's; the 3rd, Alps, sends a blind approach over a hill in the manner of Prestwick; the 4th is a Redan after North Berwick; the 7th takes the Road hole at St Andrews and the 13th its Eden. Others are Macdonald's own, notably the 14th, Cape. The greens are enormous and wildly contoured, the routing zigzags so the wind changes on almost every tee, and a windmill that Macdonald bought in Europe, and billed to the member who suggested it, still stands between the 2nd and the 16th.

Architects treat it as a textbook, and it sits high in every major American ranking. It staged the first Walker Cup in 1922 and the match returned in 2013, though it has never held a professional major. The rolling ground above the bay makes the setting nearly as memorable as the holes.

The value grade reflects access alone. The National is private, famously so, and the only way onto it is through a member.