| Contrary to what golf fans might think, Pete Dye did not invent the island green. Actually, it wasn’t even his idea (originally) to incorporate the peninsula concept at TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole. The suggestion came from Dye’s wife and design partner, Alice—and since the Players Championship venue opened in 1980, the one-shotter has become one of golf’s most well-known holes.
Thankfully for us, initial complaints of TPC Sawgrass and the 17th hole have not only led to an acceptance but also hundreds of iterations of the concept at courses around the world. We’ve narrowed them down to create this collection of golf’s best island greens. There are dozens of deserving entries left off this list, so we’ve tried to keep this as a collection of both lesser-known island greens and important island greens in golf history. |
