Number 9: Seminole Golf Club

Ceiling: 95

Rating: 92.5

Trend over Time: 7.5

Seminole Golf Club is perhaps the most resolute golf course in my entire top 25 list. Its difficulty, its geographic dislocation from other top courses, its unique clubhouse, amazing locker room, and finally robust overall nature. That’s the word I use when I describe Seminole. Robust. It is not a place for the passive golfer to go see what they’ve got. If you don’t have the ability to hit shots in the wind, putt and chip on firm and glassy greens, and realize you simply will make a double or two purely on or around the greens, then Seminole isn’t your experience. This is why it isn’t rated as highly in my lists as I have it. Its genius is subdued, and most people receive a good old-fashioned ass whipping by it, and this usually isn’t as well received as a slider on the 9th and hot towel on the 18th, but that’s not what I’m here to evaluate.

Culture:

Seminole is Seminole. It is kind of its own beast altogether. I don’t have a long list of places to really compare it to because there aren’t many other places like it. While there would be a few comps in terms of playing culture, those courses would come from such different geographies that it doesn’t feel proper to compare them. Pine Valley, Shinnecock, and Oakmont would come to mind. Seminole, to my understanding, takes pride in a few things. One, competition. There are many USGA Champions and frequent competitors in the membership. Two, appreciation for competitive level conditions daily. Both in terms of the course presentation and the way it is played (don’t scoop that 3-footer on the first…). And three, FAST PLAY. Sub 4, if not faster, is the non-negotiable standard at Seminole. Don’t want to comply? All good. The greater West Palm area is absolutely littered with other golf courses.

Competition:

While Seminole has hosted the Coleman Invitational, an annual Mid and Senior Amateur event, for years, the club has traditionally not hosted many outside events. The 2021 Walker Cup was a very pleasant surprise for all of us GCA hardos that love the chance to see a course like Seminole as the site for an event as cool as The Walker Cup, and particularly given that the hard playing conditions I have harped on were cranked to 9.9(999). Seminole is a wonderful golf course for competition as it can literally give you all you want and then some in difficulty even though it isn’t crazy long, but that just hasn’t been the club’s purpose. I think of Seminole as a “competitors retreat” where those who cherish and partake in competition go to hone their craft and play in a competitive sort of environment on a daily basis, just without having an actual pencil in hand.

Architecture:

I feel as if people think of Donald Ross having a lot of “good” golf courses but not a ton of “great” ones. To some extent, I would agree, but let’s not forget that he has at least a few (3 in my ranking) top 20ish courses, and for my money, 2 in the top 10. Seminole being the first of the pair. Growing up in the Carolinas, I’ve played a D Ross or two in my day. If you are a fan and haven’t played his home course, Royal Dornoch, things can’t be full circle just yet. People talk about the upside down saucers of Pinehurst No. 2, his love for false fronts, and par 3’s guarded by bunkers everywhere you look. Well, Seminole exhibits all of those things in their best forms. Some of the flatter parcels of land on which holes are situated have greens that are popped up just enough where wind, firmness, and short grass make them hard and then some. Holes built into ridges and slopes that exhibit large false fronts that can make anyone cry should you see your ball trickle 50 yards back down them. Finally, there are multiple par 3’s where anything but a perfect shot will have you visiting a bunker, or two, or three. The more great courses I see, the more I am reminded that simple always has and always will win. Use of the land and conditions it gives way to is the recipe for great golf and to me, that’s what Seminole gets right.