Must-play Courses: August edition

Featuring the work of players who became designers.

Some of golf’s most celebrated champions didn’t just leave their mark in the record book — they left it on the landscape, with course designs that test and inspire the next generation.

Tiger Woods, Tom Weiskopf and Jack Nicklaus harnessed their shotmaking instincts to dream up courses that mix beauty, challenge and personality. Now you can tee it up on three of their signature creations — each a destination in its own right, and all brought to life in vivid detail in Virtual Golf 3.

This month, we’re heading into the mountain west: a soon-to-open Utah epic that will be one of the longest courses in America, a Scottsdale desert gem built on precision, and a Big Sky layout where the ball soars forever.

Ready to see how the greats design for greatness? Let’s tee off.

Tiger’s highly anticipated mountain course stretches along Jordanelle Ridge with sweeping views of the Uinta Mountains, Deer Valley ski runs, and the Jordanelle Reservoir. Still under construction, the par-72 layout is set to top 8,000 yards from the tips, with holes flowing between exposed ridgelines and sheltered valleys.

In VG3, you’ll get the full panorama — ridge-top tee shots, tightly mown surrounds that demand creativity, and elevation shifts that make club selection interesting. Go for the back tees if you want to see just how far “high country” golf can go.

Set in the McDowell Mountains, Silverleaf is quintessential Weiskopf — strategic bunkering, canyons that frame the line, and risk-reward moments you can’t ignore. The 7,322-yard routing opened in 2002, with a standout stretch that includes the drivable par-4 9th, the water-guarded 13th, and a scenic finishing hole with a long look over the Sonoran Desert.

Thanks to VG3, the details shine: saguaro silhouettes, rocky washes and tight targets that reward precise placement over brute force. The 9th will tempt you every time — and punish you if you get greedy.

Jack Nicklaus designed this alpine giant in 2016, perched at 7,500 feet and stretching close to 8,000 yards. The opening hole sets the tone — a dramatic tee drop into a wide, inviting fairway. The most famous hole is the 777-yard par-5 17th, which plunges downhill toward a green backdropped by the Spanish Peaks.

VG3 captures it all: wildflower meadows, timbered ridges, and views of Lone Peak from tees that feel like balconies over Big Sky country. And best of all, at this altitude, your drives will fly like you’ve always dreamed.