Which Architects Designed the Most Top 100 Golf Courses?

Who has designed the most courses on Golf Digest's America's 100 Greatest ranking? We cross-referenced our architect database with the current GD Top 100 list. The winner by a wide margin might surprise you — or might not.

The methodology

We pulled every course in our database currently ranked on Golf Digest's America's 100 Greatest list, grouped by credited architect, and counted. Courses credited to multiple architects count for each.

Top 15 architects by GD Top 100 count

1. #1 — Donald Ross — 7 Top 100 courses

   Seminole Golf Club, Oak Hill Country Club, Inverness Club, Essex County Club, Scioto Country Club…

2. #2 — A. W. Tillinghast — 5 Top 100 courses

   San Francisco Golf Club, Lower Course at Baltusrol Golf Club, Somerset Hills Country Club, Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Upper Course at Baltusrol Golf Club

3. #3 — Pete Dye — 5 Top 100 courses

   Whistling Straits, The Honors Course, The Golf Club, Pete Dye Golf Club, Crooked Stick Golf Club

4. #4 — Jack Nicklaus — 4 Top 100 courses

   Muirfield Village Golf Club, Kiawah Island Golf Resort - The Ocean Course, Castle Pines Golf Club, Valhalla Golf Club

5. #5 — Tom Fazio — 4 Top 100 courses

   Victoria National Golf Club, The Estancia Club, Ladera Golf Club, Hudson National Golf Club

6. #6 — Charles Macdonald — 3 Top 100 courses

   National Golf Links of America, Chicago Golf Club, Piping Rock Club

7. #7 — Alister MacKenzie — 2 Top 100 courses

   Cypress Point Club, The Valley Club of Montecito

8. #8 — Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw — 2 Top 100 courses

   Sand Hills Golf Club, Southern Hills Country Club

9. #9 — Perry Maxwell — 2 Top 100 courses

   Prairie Dunes Country Club, Old Town Country Club

10. #10 — Robert Trent Jones, Sr. — 2 Top 100 courses

    Peachtree Golf Club, Spyglass Hill Golf Course

11. #11 — Seth Raynor — 2 Top 100 courses

    Shoreacres, Camargo Golf Club

12. #12 — Tom Bendelow — 2 Top 100 courses

    Medinah Country Club, Dallas National Golf Club

13. #13 — Tom Doak — 2 Top 100 courses

    Pacific Dunes Course at Bandon Dunes, Rock Creek Cattle Company

14. #14 — Alister Mackenzie — 1 Top 100 course

    Pasatiempo Golf Course

15. #15 — Alister Mackenzie & Perry Maxwell — 1 Top 100 course

    Crystal Downs Country Club

What the list reveals

Donald Ross leads with 7 ranked courses. That's a remarkable concentration given the Top 100 includes over a century's worth of course design — the classical-era Golden Age architects still dominate modern rankings.

Want to browse every course an architect designed? See the full directory.