Classic vs. Modern Courses: Golfweek's Best celebrates the differences and similarities
Why does the Golfweek's Best rating program split courses into two categories, Modern and Classic? The simple answer is the vast differences in building techniques available to architects of different eras. Golfweek's Best uses 1960 as a break point, because it was around that time that technology changed almost everything.
As written in our Golfweek's Best rater's handbook, the Classic style of architecture was basically natural with intimate routings that enabled holes to cling to native landforms. Designers were not afraid to utilize dramatic slopes or to sculpt bunkers into artistic shapes utilizing the given features of land. Earth scraping was minimal, as opposed to Modern courses that utilize heavy machinery. Greens were built from native soil that was pushed up and shaped, giving Classic designers enormous freedom to build oddly shaped putting surfaces with more contour than typically seen in the Modern era, when green speeds became much greater. The greater abundance of buildable land in those days also gave architects tremendous creative freedom.
Design and construction techniques for courses shifted fundamentally after 1960. Mechanized earth-moving became the norm, and the USGA developed sophisticated methods to build sand-based greens. Most courses required extensive planning, documentation and meticulous excavation. And while the advent of new, high-performance grasses meant better conditions, the quicker putting speeds meant greens could not be built with the same dramatic slope as with many classic courses designed before 1960. The skills required to build a great course became those of professionally trained landscape architects, not just creative golf visionaries. The industry had changed dramatically.
In the past several decades, several top architects have combined the two eras in many ways. Design firms helmed by the likes of Gil Hanse, Tom Doak, David McLay Kidd and the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have created golf courses focused on Golden Age sensibilities, strategies and simulations while utilizing modern earth-moving equipment to achieve their goals. The ground game again is in vogue, as is a frequent emphasis on playability.
With all that in mind, Golfweek has in recent weeks published our rankings of the best courses from both eras. We hope you enjoy them as a starting point for discussion and as a reference in choosing your next destination. Click here for the 2025 Golfweek's Best ranking of the top 200 Classic courses, and click here for our ranking of Modern Courses.
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Classic vs. Modern Courses: Golfweek's Best celebrates the differences and similarities
Why does the Golfweek's Best rating program split courses into two categories, Modern and Classic? The simple answer is the vast differences in building techniques available to architects of different eras. Golfweek's Best uses 1960 as a break point, because it was around that time that technology changed almost everything. As written in our Golfweek's Best rater's handbook, the Classic style of architecture was basically natural with intimate routings that enabled holes to cling to native landforms. Designers were not afraid to utilize dramatic slopes or to sculpt bunkers into artistic shapes utilizing the given features of land. Earth scraping was minimal, as opposed to Modern courses that utilize heavy machinery. Greens were built from native soil that was pushed up and shaped, giving Classic designers enormous freedom to build oddly shaped putting surfaces with more contour than typically seen in the Modern era, when green speeds became much greater. The greater abundance of buildable land in those days also gave architects tremendous creative freedom. Design and construction techniques for courses shifted fundamentally after 1960. Mechanized earth-moving became the norm, and the USGA developed sophisticated methods to build sand-based greens. Most courses required extensive planning, documentation and meticulous excavation. And while the advent of new, high-performance grasses meant better conditions, the quicker putting speeds meant greens could not be built with the same dramatic slope as with many classic courses designed before 1960. The skills required to build a great course became those of professionally trained landscape architects, not just creative golf visionaries. The industry had changed dramatically. In the past several decades, several top architects have combined the two eras in many ways. Design firms helmed by the likes of Gil Hanse, Tom Doak, David McLay Kidd and the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have created golf courses focused on Golden Age sensibilities, strategies and simulations while utilizing modern earth-moving equipment to achieve their goals. The ground game again is in vogue, as is a frequent emphasis on playability. With all that in mind, Golfweek has in recent weeks published our rankings of the best courses from both eras. We hope you enjoy them as a starting point for discussion and as a reference in choosing your next destination. Click here for the 2025 Golfweek's Best ranking of the top 200 Classic courses, and click here for our ranking of Modern Courses.
