Hello and welcome to the Friday podcast. I'm Garrett Morrison, and today we delve into the world of golf course ratings and rankings.

But first, this episode is brought to you by the Friday Pro Shop.

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So today's episode is all about golf course rankings. And I'm talking about the magazine rankings

that top 100 top 200 lists that are put out every couple of years by golf digest, golf magazine,

golf week, and other golf publications. These lists have been, I think, enormously influential

in shaping tastes about golf course architecture. And frankly, I'm very skeptical about the

impact that they've had. I'm not sure it's been healthy. That said, I've never had a super

clear idea of how these lists are created. And so I was excited when last year, a book came out

that got into the nitty gritty of the golf course rating industry because that's truly what it is

in industry. The book is called the rating game and it's by Jonathan Cummings. John is a long time

golf course raider for golf week and a long time presence in the community of golf course architecture

enthusiasts. He knows everyone. He's seen every course. He is deeply, deeply knowledgeable

about how the rating sausage gets made, so to speak. And hats off to him for coming on the podcast

and talking to me in spite of my avowed skepticism about the whole deal. So without further ado,

here's my conversation with John Cummings. I'm Mr. Green. For example, I'm already upset when I find

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