The news was announced to all members in an emailed letter on April 30 that was obtained by Golf Digest. “This evening at our Annual Meeting of the Members we made a historic change to Pine Valley’s bylaws,” wrote club president Jim Davis. “The future of golf must move toward inclusion, and I am pleased to report that the Trustees and members of the Pine Valley Golf Club have voted unanimously and with enthusiasm to remove all gender-specific language from our bylaws.

“The club’s policies will now allow all guests to enjoy our club without restrictions and we will begin immediately identifying women candidates for membership with the expectation of having our first women members in the club by the end of this year. As has been our custom, all prospective candidates must be socially compatible, share a deep passion for the game of golf, and be able to play the golf course with the skill level our founder George Crump intended.”

This change follows the lifting of historic gender restrictions at other men’s golf clubs in recent years. Augusta National, host of the Masters, accepted women members for the first time in 2012, almost a decade after the protests of Martha Burk of the National Council of Women’s Organizations. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, holder of the Open Championship, voted to allow women members in 2014 for the first time in its 260-year history. And Muirfield in Scotland, home of The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and host of 16 Opens, voted to accept women members in 2017. All four golf clubs are considered private, but what separates Pine Valley is that it doesn’t hold major championships or “open” events of any kind. Out of 3,670 private golf clubs in the U.S. today, fewer than a dozen remain men’s only.

Women guests at Pine Valley were previously allowed to play the course only on Sunday afternoons. The most noticeable immediate change will be in the presence of women on the course at any time.

Some observers both inside and outside the game will criticize the club for taking too long to include women. In his letter to the membership, Davis took a measured tone in writing: “On a personal note, I have been thinking about this for a long time and, frankly, it’s overdue. Several years ago, I was playing golf in our Spring Members’ weekend with our late fellow member and friend Jack Vardaman. During the round we discussed this very topic and as we were walking through the woods to our tee shots on the 15th hole, Jack said something to me that I have never forgotten. He said, ‘Remember, we don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.’

“We are not changing the things we love most about Pine Valley. We are simply continuing down the path of making our Club more inclusive. We want to be proud of Pine Valley in all respects, and I’m convinced this change puts us on the right side of history.”

When contacted, a spokesman for Pine Valley declined to comment further citing the private nature of the club.

Pine Valley’s course, designed by Crump and Harry Colt, covers more than 600 acres of rugged pine land and is extremely difficult, maybe the hardest course in the country. Golf Digest ranks it not only No. 1 in America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, but it’s also No. 1 in Golf Digest’s criterion known as “Challenge,” with many forced carries, an abundance of sand and severe hazards on every hole.

Dom Furore
Pine Valley 12th hole

The club was founded in 1913 by Crump, a Philadelphia hotelier, with the purpose of creating a challenging test of the area’s best gentlemen golfers and providing competition and practice in all four seasons. The historian Andrew Mutch’s book, Crump’s Dream, details the origins of the club as a training ground for Philadelphia golfers wanting to better compete against amateurs from New York, Boston and Chicago. As early as 1914, the legendary architect Donald Ross was quoted as saying of Pine Valley: “This is the finest golf course in America.”

The club struggled in the early years and, in fact, when Crump died in 1918 was saved from bankruptcy by his sister Helen Crump Street. According to club minutes in 1924, quoted in Mutch’s book, she personally forgave loans that made up “a great part of the heavy burden of debt” and was rewarded with an honorary life membership. So technically, Pine Valley has had a woman member before, but the move to open the club to female members this spring will be more far-reaching and consequential.

The post Pine Valley, No. 1 golf course in the U.S., to allow female members for first time in its 100-plus year history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

17th Hole — Old Course, St. Andrews
In the opening round of the 2015 British Open, the field averaged a bogey (4.8) on the Road Hole. Not sure why. All the 450-yard par 4 requires is a tee shot over a railroad shed/hotel to a blind, dogleg-right fairway surrounded by heather, with an approach to a narrow green guarded by a bunker that’s harder to escape than most prisons and a stone wall lining the back of the hole that garners overrun balls. Nothing to it.

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18th Hole — Blue Monster Course, Doral
For years, the Blue Monster’s finishing holes lived up to its namesake. However, following a $250 million renovation to the course, the 18th has made players tremble in even greater fear. Specifically, a tightened fairway has correlated to an uptick in balls in the lake. During Thursday-Friday play at the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Championship, there were four birdies in 145 attempts against 69 bogey-or-higher scores.

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12th Hole — Augusta National
Many a green jacket dream has drowned in Rae’s Creek at Augusta National’s 12th hole, which Lloyd Mangrum once called “the meanest little par 3 in the world.” Swirling winds and the whirlpool effect wreak havoc, not only on players’ shots, but their mindset. Two-time Masters winner Ben Crenshaw blames the hole’s location on an old Indian burial ground. “Sometimes it comes down to superstition. When the wind comes up while the ball is in the air and knocks it into the water, the local caddies will say, ‘The spirits got it.’ “

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Fourth Hole — Bethpage Black
How can this 517-yard par 5 at Bethpage Black — one of the hardest layouts in America — be the course’s second-handicapped hole? For one, add 100 yards to that distance, because the hole makes a severe track uphill. The view from the tee will make the most courageous individual seek shelter– go left, you’re in a cavernous bunker; right, in thick rough. Traversing up the hill requires a long shot over a deep wall of sand, with the green surrounded by, you guessed it, more beach.

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17th Hole — TPC Sawgrass
“It’s like having a 3 o’clock appointment for a root canal,” Mark Calcavecchia once said of the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. “You’re thinking about it all morning and you feel bad all day. You kind of know, sooner or later, you’ve got to get to it.”

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17th Hole — Ocean Course, Kiawah Island
In compiling Golf Digest’s 20 Toughest Golf Courses in America, one of our panellists said, “I think the 17th hole is the toughest par 3 in the world. If the wind blows, watch out.” Tipping out at 231 yards, the 17th will bring those of weak demeanours to their knees.

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Photo By: Stephen Szurlej

18th Hole — Carnoustie
Jean van de Velde. Enough said.

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13th Hole — Whistling Straits
Thanks to a strong Sunday gust at the 2015 PGA Championship, Bubba Watson overdrove the 409-yard hole. However, don’t let Bubba’s feat fool you: The hole known as “Cliff Hanger” is one of the most arduous challenges in championship golf. Anything less than an accurate tee shot will find the sand. Same sentiment applies to the approach, with shots off to the right falling towards Lake Michigan.

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First Hole — Oakmont Country Club
Hitting off the first tee is hard enough. When the opening hole is a 482-yard par 4 with eight bunkers off the fairway and two more by the green? It can be a downright dream-killer

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Photo By: Stephen Szurlej

Eighth Hole — Pebble Beach
The Pacific Ocean hugging the cliffs is breathtaking…until you put your tee in the ground, and in that case, the view becomes breathtaking in a different manner. A well-hit drive can overrun the fairway and into the drink, and the green, which runs front to back, is guarded by four traps. Forget making par; not losing a ball is the real goal.

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Photo By: Dom Furore

14th Hole — Coeur d’Alene Golf Resort
Fact: 80 percent of scary movies take place near a remote lake. Throw in a 218-yard shot to the floating island, along with a boat ride to the green, and we’re staying far away from this Idaho resort.

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Fifth Hole — Pine Valley
While many of Pine Valley Golf Club’s holes don’t leave much room for error, the par-3 fifth does not suffer fools. The 220-yard hole requires an uphill shot over water and bunkers to a narrow, sloped green. Bogey is your friend.

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Extreme 19th — Legend Golf & Safari
The longest par 3 in the world at 395 yards, a shot from the top of Hanglip Mountain takes close to 20 seconds to land at this South African course. Players have to take a helicopter to reach the tee. God forbid if you bring the wrong club.

The post The 13 most terrifying, frightening, fear-inducing holes in golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.