Tobacco Road took every idea that Strantz had been developing to that point (1999) and put it all in one place, specifically an old mining site of sand and pine 25 miles north of Pinehurst. The property is the secret star—yes, there are Strantzian trademarks like boomerang-shaped par 5s, greens and fairways notched blindly behind dunes, dramatic risk/reward shots played over deep chasms and putting surfaces stretched into stringy silly putty shapes. But without the elevation changes, depressions and contrasting textures of the rugged sand barrens, this would be True Blue 2.0. It's much more than that: A master class in decision-making and composition that sits among the top 50 on Golf Digest's ranking of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses, a placement that's at least 20 spots too low, at least in the mind of these editors. (A reminder: Our rankings are the results of our panelists' evaluations with no say from our editorial staff.)