so a couple years ago I wrote here when I heard the rumblings of a gem carved out in Southampton--Sebonack Golf Club, a Nicklaus design that seemed to hold its own against neighbors National and Shinnecock. Given the fact that I don't even like the vast majority of Nicklaus designs, I was still not at all surprised when the September Golf Magazine showed up at my doorstep with the annual rankings showing Sebonack at #76 in the US.
On a tangent, some other notables I can speak for included; Fishers Island (20),The Black (21), Torrey Pines South (74), Myopia Hunt Club (86), and Ridgewood (West/East) (87). Kinda surprising that all of them fell several slots with the exception of Ridgewood. As a looper there for a couple years, i find it even more ironic, since West/East isn't even the best 18 combo at the course. Goes to show the arbitrary and subjective nature of these rankings I suppose.
So that swings me in to Erin Hills. The next 'big thing.' I'm going up there at some point before the season ends, and I don't doubt that it will be one of the better experiences I've had in this sport. Since others have said it better, I'll give you just a few snippets from what I've read--
"The green complexes are tremendous, with as much movement as the putting surfaces at Augusta National or Oakmont Country Club. The fearsome, shaggy-edged bunkers have "U.S. Open" written all over them."
"Located three miles west of Holy Hill in the scenic Kettle Moraine, the 600-acre site is so perfectly suited for a golf course that on 14 of the 18 holes not a single shovel of dirt is being turned. The holes were just. . there.
"It's one of the great natural sites anybody's ever had to work with," said Dana Fry, one of three course architects involved in the project. Fry and others have drawn comparisons with Shinnecock Hills and Prairie Dunes, both of which are perennially ranked among the top courses in the U.S."
"I've been doing this since 1983, I've been everywhere. I've played all of the top 100 courses in the U.S. and 97 of the top 100 in the world. There are not many sites this natural for golf.""To make something one of the truly great golf courses, it's got to be a truly unique site. The natural contouring here is unbelievable. That's what gets golf people so pumped up. You never, ever see things like this."
"I'd like this to be considered the Midwest's Bethpage," said [co-designer] Whitten, referring to the public course in New York that played host to the 2002 U.S. Open. "We want it to be a championship course everyone can play."
"It will be all about golf at Erin Hills. No tennis courts or swimming pool, no home sites, no power lines, no holes bordering roads."
not too often a place like this comes around. its nice to be within 100 miles of it. 
