And as always, I welcome anyone to do the same about your own favourites here if you wish to.
Links to the similar threads about courses from:
2020: viewtopic.php?p=8523#p8523
2021: viewtopic.php?p=12835#p12835
2022: viewtopic.php?p=16665#p16665
2023: viewtopic.php?p=20285#p20285
Before we get to the good parts, I feel like you cant summarize 2024 without also mourning the fact that a lot of designers faced technical difficulties with APCD during the year, and many dont seem to have been solved at this point in time. We do have some designers who are doing fine on Win 11, so I dont think it is necessarily about that per se, but whatever the causes are, we should probably be understanding about it if we start seeing less courses from Sage and Glenn going forward, compared to what we previously have been blessed by.
On the other side of the coin, it is wonderful to see how many people nowadays are doing work on a regular basis "behind the scenes" in helping courses being made. I dont have the best insight into who did what and so I might not be fully correct (I would love for anyone who has helped with anything whatsoever to step forward and mention which courses they were involved in, what they did, etc.) but here are some people I would like to shout out for some things they tend to do on at least some occasions, as I understand it: Ron Weel (AKA Weeler) who started doing planting on plenty courses, ChuckH who I think have done Hole Previews for Sage for years (let me shoehorn in a big thank you to everyone who does hole previews with distance markers on them!), Linkster who provides a LOT of highly valuable LIDAR-DEM starting points, Dan DeShaney who often does panoramas, pmgolf who often does pins, Leo Allen who often does testing and perhaps other parts as well, and to go beyond APCD there is also the plentiful add-on resources Big Sexy JC provided. While Im at it, I should also mention the diligent work of mwc0914 with his continued refinement of the Links Virtual Tour. It is difficult to mention everyone, and there might be more people who help with stuff without it being known publicly - please feel free to let us know!
Here are my personal overall favourite courses of 2024 (in no particular order):
Arcadia Bluffs by Sage Vanni
Black Rock by Ian Wells
Arrowhead by Sage Vanni, Ron Weel and Glenn Braden
Bayonet by Sage Vanni and Glenn Braden
PGA West Stadium by Sage Vanni and Glenn Braden
Quintero by Sage Vanni and Ron Weel
TPC Sugarloaf by Ian Wells (I like the Select version best)
Wolf Creek by Sage Vanni, Ron Weel and Leo Allen
Augusta National 2024 by Linkster
Boulder Ridge by Sage Vanni, Leo Allen and Glenn Braden
Hamilton by Glenn Braden
Black Horse by Sage Vanni and Glenn Braden
Gozzer Ranch by Ian Wells
Mauna Kea by Colin Jones
There weren't many updates of previous courses this year, but the Banff Springs update by Colin Jones is excellent.
I will also give an honourable mention to Tot Hill, because even if some aspects about it clashed with my personal preferences, it is quite spectacular - even wild - and I would say it is a must-see.
Thank you so much to everyone involved for these wonderful courses. For anyone who hasnt checked them out - please do! And keep in mind that there were plenty other nice courses from 2024 to check out as well.
And my personal Course Of The Year 2024 award goes to......... Gozzer Ranch!
There were so many wonderful courses this year that I want to mention 3 in the runner-up discussion: Black Rock, Mauna Kea and Arcadia Bluffs
There may not have been a ton of courses coming out in 2024, but the average quality of those that did come out was by far the highest it has ever been. If 2025 turns out to be similar at all, I would be nothing but happy. If I were to wish for any difference, it would be to get to see courses from more parts of the world - every single course released in 2024 was from within North America (2 Canada, 1 Hawaii). I would also, ehem... unlike 2024, like to see at least one course released by myself...
Thank you to all contributors, and that truly includes everyone who is active in the community. Thank you all very, very much for keeping Links alive. Please stick around and see what 2025 brings!