MT III's EXCLUSIVE COLLECTABILITY RATINGS

Among the many qualities that make golf unique, none stand out further than the limitess variety of its playing fields.  Indeed, for most any avid golfer, the chance to experience the game’s endless array of courses – layouts built by all sorts of designers, in all manner of styles and geographic settings – represents the lynchpin of golf’s visceral, lifelong appeal.

In this light, we are all, in effect, collectors of golf courses, hoping to add as many significant facilities to our personal portfolios as time and circumstance will allow.  It is with this acquisitive sense in mind that  MT III guidebooks provide their exclusive Collectability Ratings, a unique one- to five-diamond evaluation of each profiled club assessing its relative importance to one’s personal collection, based upon the following criteria:

1) The general perception of a course’s overall quality as determined by various published rankings and commentaries, both national and regional.

2) A course’s historical significance, measured primarily in terms of major competitions held, but also in period or social prominence/prestige, famous professionals or members, etc.

3) A course’s architectural significance, both within a particular designer’s portfolio and, for older courses,  with regard to how much of their original layout has been retained.

4) An especially high (or low) degree of scenery or golfing ambience.

The rating assigned to each club appears in the initial line of its entry, and can be defined as follows:

♦♦♦♦♦    
One of the game’s absolute elite.  A must-see.

♦♦♦♦½
An internationally prominent facility.  Well worth a special visit.

♦♦♦♦  
A nationally prominent facility.  First-class design and/or major history.

♦♦♦½
A regionally prominent facility, often worth traveling for.

♦♦♦
A significant facility worth finding…should one be in the neighborhood.

♦♦½
A mid-range layout showing occasional flashes of notable design or history.

♦♦
A basic design, perhaps standing out in a narrow market.

♦½
A limited design, but one rated somewhat above the mundane.

♦
It beats a driving range.