Contrary to what golf fans might think, Pete Dye did not invent the island green. Actually, it wasn’t even his idea (originally) to incorporate the peninsula concept at TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole. The suggestion came from Dye’s wife and design partner, Alice—and since the Players Championship venue opened in 1980, the one-shotter has become one of golf’s most well-known holes.

The island green isn’t a revered “template” like the famous Redan, Biarritz or other designs brought over from iconic Scottish links designs. It was, however, likely first conceived by a Scotsman, George Low, the long-time club pro at Baltusrol Golf Club, who supposedly had the idea ahead of the 1904 US Amateur to create an island green on a par 4 on the club’s now-defunct Old Course (on the site of the current-day 16th hole of the Lower). Not surprisingly, the hole confounded competitors, and after the 1915 US Open, and it was eventually abandoned.

Thankfully for us, initial complaints of TPC Sawgrass and the 17th hole have not only led to an acceptance but also hundreds of iterations of the concept at courses around the world. There are dozens of deserving entries left off this list, so we’ve tried to keep this as a collection of both lesser-known island greens and also important island greens in golf history.

Ponte Vedra (Florida) Inn & Club (Ocean), ninth hole

TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole is not the only island green in Ponte Vedra Beach and it also wasn’t the first. Some 60 years earlier, Herbert Strong’s Ocean course at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club opened with the island-green par-3 ninth hole. After TPC Sawgrass was constructed, Alice Dye admitted she was influenced by Strong’s creation here in recommending the island green to her husband, as Alice had played the Ocean course a number of times in competitions.

PGA West (Stadium), La Quinta, California, 17th hole

Just like TPC Sawgrass when it first opened, PGA West received a healthy amount of criticism from tour pros — so much that the PGA Tour event in Palm Springs moved from Dye’s creation in La Quinta for some time. Now it’s back at the Stadium course, and also just like TPC Sawgrass, the 17th hole at PGA West’s Stadium course has developed a reputation for (fairly) testing the pros down the stretch.

The Creek, Locust Valley, New York, 11th hole

The Creek, Locust Valley

CB Macdonald is widely considered the father of American golf course architecture, bringing many classic design templates from the best courses of the UK to the States. In designing the 11th hole at The Creek, not only did he incorporate a classic Biarritz-style putting surface as he often did, but he and partner Seth Raynor built the green on an island — creating perhaps one of the most underrated putting complexes in the “MacRaynor” portfolio.

Coeur d’Alene (Idaho) Resort, 14th hole

One of the more unique experiences in golf can be found in Coeur d’Alene, where golfers hit their tee shot to a large island-green target at the 14th, which is moved back and forth remotely by the resort each day. Then golfers hop aboard a ferry, which transports them to putt out. The hole is located right out back the clubhouse, creating a fun scene at this course, designed by Scott Miller, a former Jack Nicklaus associate.

Cherry Hills Country Club, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, 17th hole

The island green concept is incorporated into a par 5 at Cherry Hills, the iconic William Flynn and Howard Toomey design perhaps most known for its opening hole, driven by Arnold Palmer in the final round of the 1960 US Open.

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, 15th hole

If Baltusrol was the site of the first island green in the US, East Lake might’ve had the second. Before Donald Ross and Bobby Jones redesigned the course in the 1910s, Tom Bendelow (architect of Medinah No. 3 among others) incorporated an island green into his design of the club’s old par-5 seventh hole. When Ross rerouted the course, he decided to make the green a target for a par 3 (on the old front nine, which is now the back nine today for the Tour Championship). Given that Baltusrol’s hole no longer exists, this very well may be the oldest island green still in use today.

Eagle Eye GC, Bath, Michigan, 17th hole

Long-time Dye associate Chris Lutzke called up his mentor when designing Eagle Eye to seek Dye’s opinion on his new creation. Pete and Alice thought the island-green concept could work, so much so that the exact dimensions were lasered and built exactly to the specs of TPC Sawgrass as it existed when the course opened in 2003 — a proper touch at this layout, one of the top-10 public courses in golf-rich Michigan.

Mission Hills Country Club (Tournament), Rancho Mirage, California, 18th hole

Muirhead also designed the Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club, which has hosted the first women’s major of the year, now the Chevron Championship, since the event started in 1972. The closing hole is a par 5 with an iconic approach to an island green, which now features grandstands behind the green, taking away a bit of the intimidation of hitting the approach to this par 5 with the tournament on the line. This year’s Chevron will be the last time it’s played at Mission Hills, with the tournament moving to a still-to-be-named Houston-area course in 2023.

The Club at Olde Cypress, Naples, Florida, 12th hole

One of Pete’s sons, PB, has developed his own reputation in the design world. And he describes how the 12th hole at Olde Cypress came to be:

“At the time the developer needed a solution for the drainage and pumping from the surrounding agricultural fields,” PB told us. “So, I said, ‘Why don’t we build an island green.’ We moved a tremendous amount of earth up and down, not side to side, on that hole. Looking out at all those rock boulders from the tee box, it’s a sight to see. It’s one of the only holes of its kind that I know of.”

Secession Golf Club, Beaufort, South Carolina, 17th hole

Though Bruce Devlin ended up getting the job at Secession, Pete and PB Dye had originally done a routing for the club before a dispute ended their relationship. The Dyes’ influence is certainly still on property, and the par-3 17th hole is almost straight out of their playbook, with an island green surrounded by bulkheads. Several holes at the ultra-private Secession actually sit on an island, and the 17th hole can be a true test, particularly when the winds pick up.

Apple Tree Resort, Yakima, Washington, 17th hole

Sitting on a 100-plus-year apple orchard about two hours from Seattle, Apple Tree provides an idyllic setting open to the public. The island-green 17th hole is pretty inviting, too—with nine sets of tee boxes and a putting surface measuring nearly 10,000 square feet and, yes, shaped like an apple.