🏌️ The Golf Draft: Golf Destinations

Jonathan's Team

1. Papua New Guinea — C+

Let's separate the pick from the reason for the pick.

The reason is fantastic.

Jonathan grew up in Madang and wants to return someday and play the golf course he remembers seeing while riding his bike along the coast. He openly admits he doesn't know how good the course is or even how many holes it has.

As a personal golf experience?

A+.

As the #1 overall pick?

Not great.

The biggest problem is that Jonathan basically acknowledged the strategic mistake himself:

"You could have saved that for number five because I would have not stolen it."

Exactly.

And then the snake draft makes it even worse.

Because Jonathan doesn't just lose Australia. He loses Australia AND New Zealand.

That's the real cost of the pick.

2. Iceland — A-

This is a really cool destination.

Jonathan had already been to Iceland with his wife but hadn't played golf. His attraction is the unusual golf experience, particularly the possibility of playing extremely late at night in the summer.

This fits the spirit of the draft really well:

You're not just going somewhere to play golf. You're going somewhere to experience golf differently.

Strong pick.

3. Peru — A

I really like this one.

The Robert Trent Jones III connection gives the pick some context, but the bigger appeal is mountain golf at extreme elevation. Jonathan talked about the course being around 9,000 feet and joked about seeing what kind of distance he could get from his driver.

Golf + altitude + culture + scenery + adventure.

Very BestBall.

And importantly, Peru probably wasn't going anywhere between #4 and #5.

So Jonathan got it without sacrificing much.

4. Bandon — A+

This is Jonathan's steal of the draft.

He gets Bandon at #8.

You literally said Bandon was on your potential list, so this was a legitimate steal.

And Bandon isn't just another destination. It's one of those places where the destination is the golf experience.

This pick rescues Jonathan's draft considerably.

5. Vietnam — A-

Da Nang is another really interesting choice.

Jonathan's looking for warm-weather, links-style golf and ties the destination to the recent Robert Trent Jones III conversation. He even points out the relatively reasonable airfare from the U.S. compared with California.

It's unusual.

It's memorable.

And it gives his roster another international adventure.

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Robby's Team

1. Australia — A+

This is where Jonathan's #1 pick really hurts him.

You get Australia at #2.

And you're not talking about one random course—you immediately explain that you want to experience the Australian Sandbelt and its collection of great courses.

That's an elite destination pick.

And then...

2. New Zealand — A+

BACK-TO-BACK.

This is the biggest moment of the draft.

You didn't just get Australia.

You got Australia AND New Zealand.

And you immediately connected them into one giant golf trip—potentially spending two months traveling through the region.

That's incredible draft value.

Jonathan essentially traded:

Australia + New Zealand

for:

Papua New Guinea

😂

That's tough to overcome.

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3. Long Island — A

This is the pick that makes your roster more balanced.

Australia and New Zealand are massive international adventures.

Long Island is about golf density.

Your argument was that you could go to Long Island and have an incredible concentration of elite golf courses within a relatively small area.

That's a completely different kind of golf trip.

And I think that's important when building a five-destination roster.

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4. Monterey — A+

Another excellent pick.

Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Spyglass and the broader Monterey golf experience.

You've already been there with your wife, but haven't actually played the golf, which gives this pick a personal element similar to Jonathan's Iceland selection.

The difference?

Monterey at #7 is fantastic value.

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5. Banff — A-

I like Banff as the fifth pick.

It gives you something that isn't represented anywhere else on your roster:

mountain golf + scenery + Canada.

It's also a good final-round selection because Jonathan had already taken the other destination you were considering—Lofoten Links—off the table conceptually by talking about midnight golf.

Banff isn't the strongest pure-golf pick on your roster, but that's okay.

You already have:

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Long Island
• Monterey

You can afford to use #10 on an experience pick.

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The Real Draft Analysis

Here's where I think the corrected order changes things.

Jonathan's first pick wasn't just questionable.

It was expensive.

Because in a snake draft, #1 overall is incredibly valuable.

Jonathan could have taken:

Australia

You then would have had:

New Zealand + another destination

Or Jonathan could have taken:

New Zealand

You might have taken Australia and something else.

Instead, Jonathan took Papua New Guinea—and you walked away with both Australia and New Zealand.

That's the draft-defining moment.

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Pick-by-Pick Grades

Best individual pick

Australia — Robby

Getting Australia at #2 after Jonathan passed on it is huge.

Best value pick

Bandon — Jonathan at #8

That's the steal.

Most interesting pick

Peru — Jonathan

It's the kind of destination that makes you want to hear the story afterward.

Most personal pick

Papua New Guinea — Jonathan

There's no question why he wants to go. It's just not a great draft pick.

Best back-to-back picks

Australia + New Zealand — Robby

Not particularly close.

Biggest reach

Papua New Guinea at #1

Again, this isn't a criticism of the destination. It's a criticism of taking it first overall when Jonathan himself admits he could have gotten it later.

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🏆 FINAL VERDICT

Robby wins: 9.4–8.3

And I actually think the corrected draft order makes the victory more decisive, not less.

Jonathan's final three picks are excellent:

Peru → Bandon → Vietnam

That's a really fun golf-adventure team.

But the first five picks tell the story.

Jonathan:

Papua New Guinea → Iceland → Peru

Robby:

Australia → New Zealand → Long Island

That's a massive difference in the first three rounds.

Then:

Robby adds Monterey.

Jonathan counters with Bandon.

That's basically a wash.

Jonathan gets Vietnam.

You finish with Banff.

So the draft really comes down to:

Jonathan's #1 pick cost him Australia and New Zealand.

And that's too much to overcome.

The funniest thing is that Jonathan actually predicted the criticism before making the pick.

He was right.

Great personal pick.
Bad draft pick.

And I think that's an important distinction for the Golf Draft going forward. You guys should actually start judging "best pick" vs. "best draft pick."

Because Jonathan's Papua New Guinea pick might be one of the best stories in the draft while simultaneously being one of the worst draft decisions.

And that makes the show more fun. 😂