Golf Digest’s New Rankings Highlight Lester George’s Designs in the Virginias

Ballyhack Golf Club - Image by Jon Cavalier

(RELEASE) - Kinloch Golf Club - in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, just outside of Richmond – has been once again ranked the #1 golf course in Virginia by Golf Digest. Kinloch was also listed #56 nationally in their list of the Top 100 Courses.  Kinloch was honored as Golf Digest’s Best New Course of 2001 when it opened and has consistently ranked highly on the magazine’s Top 100 lists for over a decade, as well as regularly being ranked in the top 25 on GolfWeek’s Top 100 Modern Courses list.

Two of Lester George’s other designs in Virginia were also mentioned in the 2015 Golf Digest Virginia rankings.  Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke was ranked #6 in the state - and also recently placed among Golfweek’s Top 200 Residential Courses. The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course, which was honored among Golf Digest’s Best Renovations of 2005 after Lester George’s renovation, was listed #13 in Virginia this year.

Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Virginia, recently redesigned by Lester George, was selected as one of Golf Digest's prestigious "2014 Best New Courses," a list that includes both new designs and renovations.

Nestled in the mountains of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier was recently named #29 on Golf Digest’s list of 100 Best Public Courses.  This is the course’s highest ranking in this category. In describing the course, Golf Digest touted, “C.B. Macdonald's nearly 100-year-old design of the Old White at The Greenbrier was always respected, but after Lester George's restoration (re-establishing such things as a Principal's Nose bunker and Dragon's Teeth mounds), Golf Digest panelists rediscovered its pleasures and ranked it the Best New Public Remodel of 2007. It now hosts The Greenbrier Classic, an annual event on the PGA Tour.”

The Old White TPC was also ranked on Golf Digest’s Top 200 Courses at #141. This is the first time The Old White has appeared on this list, which includes both public and private courses. When the list of Top Courses was broken down by state, The Old White was rated the #3 course in West Virginia.  Golfweek has also included The Old White TPC among their top 200 Resort, Casino, and Classic Courses lists.