Author: Sean Ogle

Every year for 7 years I published my list of my top 100 golf courses. And each year it got more and more difficult. For better or worse, last year was easy: we didn’t update the list. With COVID keeping my travel at bay, I simply didn’t play enough new courses to warrant an update. Fortunately, that’s changed this year. While I’m still not back at pre-COVID (and pre-baby) travel levels, I’ve been able to get out and see a handful of new courses. Can I just tell you how good it feels to travel again? As I began reviewing…

When I visited Reynolds Lake Oconee I was excited to experience all that it had to offer. And for as much as I was looking forward to experiencing the renowned Great Waters course, it was a lesser-known course I was secretly even more excited about. What is it? The Creek Club. The Creek Club is a 2007 Jim Engh design that is the most under-the-radar course at Reynolds Lake Oconee. Why is it under the radar? Because, unlike its five sister courses, The Creek Club is the only course in the Reynolds Lake Oconee community that’s fully private. Because of…

Before my recent trip to Reynolds Lake Oconee, I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about the area. I knew there was a beautiful lake. I knew there was a Ritz-Carlton resort. And I knew they had a golf course that was supposed to be phenomenal called Great Waters. It’s one I’ve wanted to see for a long time, dating back to my original quest on this site of playing the Top 100 public courses in the USA. I was a little disappointed as early on in the trip planning it looked like it might not happen due to a…

When you live in the Pacific Northwest, Reynolds Lake Oconee isn’t generally the first place that comes to mind when you’re thinking of golf destinations. I’ve heard wonderful things about the golf courses and the Ritz Carlton Reynolds Lake Oconee, but to be honest? I really didn’t know much about the Reynolds community until recently. This is too bad, because I’ve clearly been missing out. I recently spent 4 days experiencing all that Reynolds has to offer. Rather than bury the lede, I’m just going to come right out and say it: Reynolds Lake Oconee exceeded all of my admittedly…

Over the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of wearing a bunch of different pairs of TRUE Linkswear golf shoes. From the sexy leather OG Premium, to the svelte summer Knit iis – I’ve always been genuinely impressed. Recently, I took a little gamble though. This past week I took my first flight in 20 months to head down to Georgia for half a dozen rounds at Reynolds Lake Oconee and around Atlanta. I brought the new TRUE Linkswear Lux Sport straight out of the box (er, bag as it were). No break-in period. No warming them up. Straight…

I feel like Breaking Eighty, the blog as we know it now, really started when I took my first real golf trip. Sure I’d played a round or two here and there. But the first proper “golf trip” I ever took was through Wisconsin and Northern Michigan. The goal was to knock off as many Top 100 and Top 100 public courses as possible – I ticked off 14 total on the trip. Well, there was one round on the trip that was effectively a bonus round: The Lake Course at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Yes, I get it, California…

The Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York has quickly become one of those pilgrimages every golfer has to make at some point in their lives. Why? Because it’s unlike any other course in the country. The Tillinghast design that was built in 1936 has always been a great course, but it’s always had kind of a cult status in the golf community. Everything changed in 2002 when Bethpage hosted its first US Open. For a tournament that’s often held at extremely private venues like Medinah, Olympic Club, or Winged Foot it was a big deal to…

When I started Breaking Eighty way back in 2012, I had an idea that I wanted to play the Top 100 public golf courses in America. That goal has since evolved, but I still recall the very first course I played when I made that goal: Cog Hill #4 – also known as Dubsdread. The Cog Hill golf facility is one of the best public facilities in the Chicago area, and their residents are very lucky to have such variety there. Despite it being nearly a decade later since that first round, Cog Hill #4 has continued to remain in both…

Every once in awhile, out the blue a golf course completely surprises and captivates you. During my very first golf road trip, there were a number of courses I was really excited for: Whistling Straits, Blackwolf Run, Medinah, Oakland Hills to name a few… Arcadia Bluffs is one of the best public courses in America, yet for some reason I think my excitement was overshadowed by my previous round at Whistling Straits, which is largely regarded as one of the very best public golf courses in the country. I hadn’t heard much about Arcadia, except that it was difficult, and set…

Second to Merion, Aronimink Golf Club is probably the club I was most familiar with before heading to Philadelphia. It’s always on the back end of some of America’s top 100 courses lists, and it’s widely regarded as one of Donald Ross’ best courses ever. So much so, that upon returning two decades after building it, he said: “I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize I built better than I knew.” Aronimink Golf Club is straight-up one of the toughest golf courses I’ve played. The rough is thick, the holes are long, and…