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We saw a significant uptick in online participation in our annual Readers’ Poll of the best public and private courses for 2011. In fact, it appears there was a major push at the online ballot box for a handful of courses that in the past haven’t gotten as much notice.

Simply put, we can deduce that Arkansas Business and ArkansasSports360.com have a lot of online readers who are big fans of Diamondhead Golf & Country Club, the private course near Lake Catherine and Hot Springs.

Unseating Warren Stephens’ Alotian Club in western Pulaski County, Diamondhead took top honors among the voters in overwhelming fashion. In fact, Alotian, which many feel is the best course in Arkansas, fell to No. 9 among the readers. Fact is, not that many readers get to see, much less play, the ultra-exclusive Alotian Club, the only course in Arkansas designed by the esteemed Tom Fazio. Alotian is manicured along the lines of the cathedral of golf, Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, of which Warren Stephens is a member and which Fazio helped lengthen and renovate earlier in the decade.

The classic design of Fort Smith’s Hardscrabble Country Club, which hosted a Nationwide Tour event through last year, was the second choice among readers, just ahead of another classic, Texarkana Country Club. Rogers’ Pinnacle Country Club, which is the site of an LPGA Tour event in September, rated No. 4 among readers.

The readers once again chose Big Creek in Mountain Home as the top public-access course. Heber Springs’ Red Apple Inn course soared up the standings to take the runner-up spot, and the top 10 of the public-access courses is loaded with representation from the Natural State Golf Trail.

Online voters were allowed to choose up to 10 courses, ranking them 1 through 10, in both the public and private groupings. A point system giving 10 points to first place, 9 to second and so forth, was used for the overall ranking. A total of 58 private courses received votes; 38 public courses received votes.

An interesting note from the list of top 25 public courses of 2011 is that 20 years ago, 14 did not exist. And one course that would have been regularly among the better private courses a generation ago, North Hills Country Club, is now known as the Greens at North Hills and is accessible to the public.

Best Public-Access Courses

1.    Big Creek Golf & CC, Mountain Home
2.    Red Apple Inn & Golf Course, Heber Springs
3.    Hot Springs CC-Arlington, Hot Springs
4.    Greystone Cypress Creek, Cabot
5.    Degray State Park, Bismarck
6.    Hot Springs CC-The Park, Hot Springs
7.    Belvedere CC, Hot Springs
8.    Glenwood CC, Glenwood
9.    Tannenbaum GC, Drasco
10.    Mountain Ranch GC, Fairfield Bay
11.    Cooper’s Hawk GC, Melbourne
12.    Harbor Oaks GC, Pine Bluff
13.    Sage Meadows CC, Jonesboro
14.    Greystone Mountain Springs, Cabot
15.    War Memorial Park, Little Rock
16.    The Course at Eagle Mountain, Batesville
17.    Stonelinks, North Little Rock
18.    Country Club of Arkansas, Maumelle
19.    The Greens at North Hills, Sherwood
20.    Stonebridge Meadows, Fayetteville

Best Private Courses

1.    Diamondhead Golf & CC, Hot Springs
2.    Hardscabble CC, Fort Smith
3.    Texarkana CC, Texarkana
4.    Pinnacle CC, Rogers
5.    Diamante CC, Hot Springs Village
6.    Fianna Hills CC, Fort Smith
7.    Hurricane Golf & CC, Benton
8.    Chenal CC Bear Den Mountain, Little Rock
9.    The Alotian Club, Little Rock
10.    Chamberlyne CC, Danville
11.    Chenal CC Founders Course, Little Rock
12.    Pleasant Valley CC, Little Rock
13.    Fayetteville CC, Fayetteville
14.    Conway CC, Conway
15.    Maumelle CC, Maumelle
16.    RidgePointe CC, Jonesboro
17.    Isabella, Hot Springs Village
18.    Country Club of Little Rock, Little Rock
19.    The Blessings at Clear Creek, Johnson
20.    Bella Vista CC, Bella Vista