For Immediate Release November 15, 2011
The Western Golf Alliance releases 2012 golf course rankings
"Where You Can Rip It" 2012 identifies best courses for public access golf
LONG BEACH, California. The Western Golf Alliance today published its biennial ranking of golf courses. Designated as the "Where You Can Rip It" rankings, this effort identifies the best public access golf courses in the western United States.
The Where You Can Rip It rankings identify 100 great golf courses. The courses were evaluated within the nine regions of the WGA, with members subjectively assessing the quality, playability, and overall value of each course. Members then nominated courses and discussed the merits of each. Finally, within each region they selected and ranked the 11 best courses.
"As a regional golf club, we play thousands of rounds every year at public access golf courses," explained Brian Gray, WGA president. "As a golf club without real estate, and thus no affiliation with any course, we are uniquely positioned to assess golf courses in the western U.S."
In some cases, the Where You Can Rip It rankings have changed significantly since 2010. These changes include several new courses making the 2012 rankings. "While the last few years have not been a boom-time for golf course construction, the courses that have been built or renovated are just fantastic and worthy of the risk their owners undertook," said Mark Taylor, chairman of the course ranking task force. "Our members have been thrilled to discover these tracks, and are excited to advise others about the quality of these tracks," continued Taylor.
The new courses in the 2012 rankings are all over the west coast. Some of the most highly regarded that broke into the top five of their respective regions include the Crossings at Carlsbad (San Diego area), Salish Cliffs (near Olympia Washington), and Conestoga (Mesquite Nevada). Additionally, some other courses were either renovated or rediscovered by Western Golf Alliance members. Such examples include Saddle Creek (south of Sacramento), Diamond Woods (near Portland), Lakeridge Golf Course (Reno), Vistoso Golf Club (Tucson area), and Quail Run (Bend Oregon). Overall, there were substantial changes between the 2010 and 2012 rankings, as trends and practices in course conditioning and services have also changed at specific locations.
In the past, the "Where You Can Rip It" golf course rankings have been quoted by The Golf Channel, and referenced on numerous industry websites including Worldgolf.com, Golf.com, GolfDigest.com. The 2010 rankings we viewed by tens of thousands of golfers, and have been quoted in at least two dozen news articles. Multiple realtors have used the rankings to promote the quality of homes on or near ranked courses, and at least one golf course cited the rankings in documents used to establish the financial value of their business.
"We are very confident that our rankings provide great insight that golfers will appreciate when deciding where to play" concluded Gray. "As part of our mission to promote the great game of golf, we hope this public service is well received by all."
The Western Golf Alliance updates the Where You Can Rip It rankings biennially. The 2012 rankings are available at this web site.
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About the Western Golf Alliance: The Western Golf Alliance is the premier golf organization in the United States. The WGA exists to further the greatness of this grand sport of golf through the improvement of golf play by its members, the promotion of golf rules, etiquette, and tradition, and the ability to gather together from time to time for golf events and tournaments. The regional organization spans five western states, and is organized into nine geographic regions. Further information is available at http://www.westerngolf.org/.
© Copyright 2011, Western Golf Alliance, LLC. All rights reserved
