Bohannan: Golf Digest Neglecting The Desert's Many Mediocre Courses

Larry Bohannan wonders why the Golf Digest's list of top 100 courses in America only includes one Palm Springs area course, The Quarry at La Quinta.

And certainly it's easy to understand the competition for the top 100 list considering there are about 16,000 golf courses in the country, according to the National Golf Foundation. That means one in every 160 golf courses makes the list. Even a prolific golf mecca like the Coachella Valley can't boast 160 golf courses, so statistically, maybe the desert only deserves one course on the list.

I like that argument. Sure beats pointing out that about 90 of them are Ted Robinson masterpieces.

But with such famous courses as the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills, the Stadium Course at PGA West, the Canyons Course at Bighorn and lesser-known but strong courses like Tradition and Classic Club, it still seems strange that only the Quarry makes the magazine's top 100.

Britney Spears is famous too, but that doesn't make her a great singer.