Golf Channel analyst ranks Harbour Town among top public courses in America

Not only did Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella showcase Harbour Town Golf Links among the top 15 on his list of the nation's top public courses, the network’s travel expert punctuated it by labeling the Sea Pines gem "one of the most important golf courses in America."

The 1969 Pete Dye/Jack Nicklaus creation ranks No. 13 on Ginella's list, which he unveiled Monday during the network's "Morning Drive" program.

"This is really where we start emerging into what is the modern era of architecture," Ginella said. "It's certainly one of the best of the modern era, this collaboration between two of the biggest names in golf course architecture."

Both were just getting their hands into the design business at the time. It was Nicklaus who convinced Sea Pines founder Charles Fraser to consider Dye, who made a splash a few years earlier with Crooked Stick in Indiana but still was relatively unknown.

Harbour Town became known for its shotmaking demands, bedeviling golfers with its small greens, pot bunkers and waste areas in play. The 18th is one of the game's most iconic holes, with the red-and-white striped lighthouse rising above Calibogue Sound.

"I love the buildup toward what is the finish on Calibogue Sound," Ginella said. "You don't necessarily have to be very long to play this golf course, but you've got to be smart."

Harbour Town is one of three South Carolina courses in Ginella's top 20, flanked on each side by No.14 Caledonia Golf & Fish Club on Pawley's Island and Kiawah Island's Ocean Course at No.12.

No.1 belongs to Pebble Beach, perhaps not surprisingly, followed by Oregon's Pacific Dunes and the revamped Pinehurst No.2.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Golf Channel analyst ranks Harbour Town among top public courses in America."