Derek Duncan

2 weeks ago | golfdigest.com | Derek Duncan

Selecting a single hole at Oakmont Country Club to break down for our “The Hole at…” video series is challenging. Most courses have two or three candidates that are especially compelling for their history, architectural variety or beauty, so the choice is narrower. Others, like Augusta National, have a dozen or more, complicating matters, though as host of the Masters we can do a new one each year. Oakmont falls into the latter category.

2 weeks ago | golfdigest.com | Derek Duncan

Of all golf course architects, Alister MacKenzie, who died in 1934, is the most entertaining to study. The courses he left behind, from Cypress Point to Crystal Downs to Royal Melbourne and beyond, are consistently creative, engrossing and visually explosive. He pioneered a flamboyant style of bunkers and green shapes, the boldness of which still exists on the extreme even 90 years later. He was also a prolific writer and essayist, full of wit, anecdotes and strong opinions.

3 weeks ago | golfdigest.com | Derek Duncan

Lee Trevino once said that Oakmont Country Club was so tough that it was the only course in the country that could host the U.S. Open on demand, without advance notice. The members, who play in quasi-Open conditions daily, are slightly more modest—they say they need two weeks to get ready. What happens at Oakmont during those two weeks? Not much. It’s more about what doesn’t happen: The rough isn’t mowed, and the greens are barely watered, making them even firmer than usual.

1 month ago | golfdigest.com | Derek Duncan

Texas golf underperforms in terms of greatness against the other best golf states. Though The Covey at Big Easy Ranch debuted inside our America’s 100 Greatest ranking this year, Texas still has only six venues inside our top 200 in the country—tracking severely behind its competitors, like California, New York, Florida, North and South Carolina, etc.

1 month ago | golfdigest.com | Derek Duncan

Greenwich, Conn., is essentially an extension of Westchester County, N.Y., one of the country's richest concentrations of golf, physically and economically. Three of the state's top six courses are located there, including the perennial No. 1, The Stanwich Club. The state is top-heavy in private golf (only two public-access courses make our ranking, including Keney Park near Hartford).