Are U.S. golf courses too green? (4/4ページ)

Dye agreed, and he sees hope. He noted that Golf Digest has adjusted the criteria by which it determines its prestigious biennial listing of "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses." The magazine's "conditioning" category now rewards courses for fast, firm fairways and firm yet receptive greens.

"Brown is beautiful," Dye said. "I think it's going to have to happen. Because of the escalating cost of maintenance, the daily course fee goes from $35 to $50. That takes too many people out of the game of golf."

Links golf, links-inspired golf, works with nature, Liddy said, not against it. It's time, he believes, for American golf to come home.

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