Of course, narrowing it to just 18 proved to be a difficult feat, particularly when you try to mesh the traditional layouts found in the eastern United States and the desert tracks that are more common in the west. So in this issue, we offer our picks as the “King’s Dream 18” for the eastern U.S. (and coming in the next issue, the Best of the West).

Of course, we readily understand if you don’t agree with all 18 of our picks. Some readers will quibble that he didn’t include any holes from the PGA National Golf & Sports Club in Florida or Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Va. But that’s the fun of parlor games like this. So which holes would you have included? Let us know...

1. BAY CREEK GOLF CLUB, Cape Charles, Va Hole #3 Par 4 460 yards Bay Creek combines two of Palmer’s favorite design elements - doglegs and water. This scenic par 4, bordered by a narrow buffer of trees and beach, requires a stiff uphill shot off the tee. And make sure you take enough club for what is a deceptively long second shot over the hundred yard-wide Allegood Pond that fronts the stone-walled green. If you don’t have the length to go for the green, fear not; there’s a bail-out area to the right that you can take advantage of if you want to take a third shot. Oh, and don’t forget to enjoy the breathtaking scenery along the way.

2. BAY HILL CLUB, Orlando, Fla Hole #6 Par 5 558 yards In his autobiography, A Golfer’s Life, Palmer recalls that the first time he encountered Bay Hill - during an exhibition round in 1965 - he told his wife, Winnie, he was going to buy it. It took Palmer more than a decade to seal the deal, but buy it he did. And in the years since, he and associate Ed Seay have made it their own - turning par 4s into 5s, par 5s into 4s - all with the goal of making this fine course even more challenging. The temptation for golfers on the sixth hole is to cut the corner on this par 5 and go for the generous green in two shots. But there’s risk in doing so: Lee Trevino once recorded an 11, and even long-hitting John Daly took an 18 on this hole in the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational.

3. OLD TABBY LINKS, Okatie, SC No. 17 Par 3 180 yards President Clinton played Old Tabby during one of his infamous “Renaissance” weekends in South Carolina and, given its private status, you’ll need either a Presidential order or member’s invitation to play it. If you do find your way onto this gorgeous links-style course, you’d better bring your “A” game, especially as you step up to the tee of the 17th, a beautiful 180-yarder on a thin spit of land sandwiched in between the golden marshes of the Chechessee River to the right and a spring-fed rookery to the left, and plays to a sloping green sitting on a bluff.

4. THE GOLF CLUB AT NORTH HAMPTON, Yulee, Fla Hole #16 Par 4 460 yards Florida courses are, by reputation, notoriously flat. Not so at North Hampton, where the back nine has more than its share of topographical undulations. The 16th hole at this course is a 460-yard par 4 that demands length and accuracy, especially when the northeast wind is whipping off the nearby Atlantic. This links course can lead one into thinking you are actually in Scotland, when in fact, you are only 30 miles north of the Palmer Course Design office in Ponte Vedra Beach.

5. KING & BEAR, World Golf Village, St Augustine, Fla Hole #12 Par 4 349 yards It’s the ultimate four-man challenge: At the World Golf Village, you’ll find the “Slammer & Squire” - a course designed by Bobby Weed with design consultants Sam "The Slammer" Snead and Gene "The Squire" Sarazen - and the “King & Bear”, the first-ever collaboration between Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. While King & Bear’s front nine has more of a man-made feel, with artificial lakes, mounds and elevations in the terrain - the back nine is far more natural. And it’s here where you’ll find the signature hole, the 349-yard 12th hole, that winds around the lake to a green sitting on a small peninsula.

6. BARTON CREEK LAKESIDE, Tx (Palmer Course) Hole #11 Par 3 197 yards Nestled on a remote hilltop overlooking Lake Travis, the Palmer Course at Lakeside treats golfers to gorgeous panoramic lake views, and the occasional sighting of the native white-tail deer. The Palmer Course is widely considered to have the best greens in Texas, and to be one of the best courses in all of the Lone Star state. The memorable hole here is the 11th, a par 3, 197-yard hole lined with much native flora and a cascading waterfall. All of which makes it hard to concentrate on your tee shot.

7. KING’S NORTH, Myrtle Beach SC Hole #6 Par 5 568 yards The North Course at Myrtle Beach National was always one of the most popular on the Grand Strand, but Arnie’s 1996 makeover retransformed this into a more challenging layout. Palmer moved 400,000 cubic yards of dirt to add mounds and bulkheads, planted 600 hardwood trees and 7,000 azaleas, and reconfigured some of the lakes and greens. The sixth hole is known as “The Gambler” - and for good reason, since it offers the classic “risk-reward” dilemma. From the tips, the hole plays 568 yards, but if you dare to aim your tee shot to a separate island fairway - which at 100 yards long and 50 yards wide is roughly the size of a football field - you can shave nearly 100 yards off the hole and get home in two.

8. THE BLUFFS ON THOMPSON CREEK, La Hole #17 Par 3 239 yards An hour west of New Orleans - and not too far from where John James Audubon painted 80 of his famous Birds of America drawings in the early 1800s - lies The Bluffs, a Palmer course that meanders through bluffs, hollows and thick forests. The most memorable hole must be the 17th, a par 3 that plays as long as 239 yards, and features a drop of nearly sixty feet from the tee to a deep green guarded by water to the right and back. But a low score is do-able here: Palmer shot a 68 here when he christened the course back in 1991.

9. TPC AT RIVERS BEND, Cincinnati, OH Hole # 9 Par 4 447 yards Palmer was once asked what his choice would be for the signature hole at this course, and he replied that Rivers Bend might well have 18 such holes. While Rivers Bend has many trademark Palmer features, it also has so many undulations the course has an almost Scottish feel. But if there’s one hole that’s extra special it’s the 9th, a hole that plays right and is somewhat derivative of the 18th hole at Bay Hill. And it can be just as much a killer: In the 2002 Kroger Senior Classic, Palmer recorded a nine on this hole. “I don’t swear,” Palmer told a reporter as he came off the green. “But I exhaled all right.”

10. LA CANTERA, San Antonio, Tx Hole #18 Par 4 490 yards The terrain here was discounted as “hilly, rocky and valueless” back in 1840, when Horace Beall, a private and a doctor in the Texas army, was gifted the land for his military contributions. But today many golfers consider the Palmer course at the Westin La Cantera Resort to be the “Pebble Beach” of Texas, given its breathtaking views. Palmer’s personal favorite here is the 18th, a par 4 that plays to nearly 500 yards from the back tees. The tee shot is partially blind, but seasoned players know to aim for the bell at the top of the mission-styled clubhouse. The approach shot has a near 100-foot drop, with waterfalls and a lake serving as hazards to the right.

11. GENEVA NATIONAL, Lake Geneva, Wi Hole #17 Par 5 579 yards The Palmer course at Geneva National twists and winds through forests, rolling meadows and ravines carved out by the glaciers that moved through Wisconsin many years ago. Save your strength for the 17th - a magnificent par 5 of 579 yards from the tips, but a more manageable 536 from the gold tees - that skirts Lake Como the entire length of the hole. Aim your tee shot to the right of the grove trees and you’re left with a wide-open second shot and a short iron to the green that slopes toward the lake. You won’t forget about that lake now, will you?

12. TOURNAMENT PLAYERS CLUB OF BOSTON, Hole # 16 Par 3 211 yards The host course for the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship, the TPC of Boston, is known for its beautiful - and difficult - par 3s, which from the back tees play at an average of nearly 210 yards. The 16th hole, which is defined by the gorgeous rock outcroppings, is an example of where beauty meets beast: The hole measures 211 yards from the furthest tees and requires a tee shot over water to a two-tiered green that slopes right to left.

13. TOURNAMENT CLUB OF IOWA, Hole #12 Par 4 442 yards This course sits on 500 acres beneath the Big Creek Dam on land that was once the domain of turkey hunters. It winds through hills, two large lakes and heavy wooded bluffs with elevation changes of up to 90 feet. And while there are only a handful of traditional sand bunkers, golfers must still navigate around the five acres of waste bunkering. The 12th stands as the toughest challenge. It requires a long drive on a dogleg left and an equally long second shot to make it over a large ravine to the green.

14. DEACON’S LODGE, Nisswa, Mn Hole #17 Par 3 200 yards This course has been hailed as one of Palmer’s best designs, and one that must be played several times to understand the proper landing areas. Here you’ll find a natural golf haven curling around three wilderness lakes, wetlands and forests, that, combined with the meandering waste bunkers, has the feel of Pine Valley. The most devilish hole is No. 17, a 200-yard par 3. From an elevated tee, you look down to a green surrounded by marsh on three sides. With sand bunkers to the left and a lake to the back, it’s critically important to land the green.

15. RIVER’S EDGE, Shallotte NC Hole #9 Par 5 570 yards From the day River’s Edge opened in 1999, the course developed a reputation as one of the most challenging in the Myrtle Beach region (and with a slope rating of 149, it’s easy to see why). And the most diabolical hole here - the one by which most golfers singularly measure their success for the day - is the 570- yard 9th. Your tee shot runs downhill to a generous landing area, but your second shot must carry a marshy part of the Shallotte River to a relatively small landing area. If you get this far, you’re rewarded with an approach shot to a peninsular green that’s nearly 50 yards deep - but as narrow as can be. Pack plenty of balls.

16. TARTAN FIELDS GOLF CLUB, Dublin, Oh Hole #5 Par 4 462 yards If you need further evidence of the friendly competition that continued between Arnie and Jack, even after their best playing days were over, consider that the first Palmer-designed golf course in central Ohio is, yup, just a stone’s throw from Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin. Lore has it that when approached by a developer about building a course in Dublin, Palmer himself told his team of architects: “I don’t want to do this unless we can compete.” But after surveying the landscape, design partner Ed Seay assured him, “Boss, we can compete.” And did they ever. It’s on the fifth hole that Palmer throws down the gauntlet to golfers: This par 4 plays as long as 462 yards from the tips, and with the pond hugging the left side of the green, your best option is to lay up and take your bogey like a man.

17. MUSGROVE MILL GOLF CLUB, Clinton, SC Hole #7 Par 3 189 yards You’d better come ready for combat when you play Musgrove Mill, which was constructed on a Revolutionary War battlefield. It’s a challenging course, what with thick Bermuda rough and well-placed hazards that are certain to devour any ill-planned shots. The very quick, multi-tiered greens make putting a challenge as well. The most memorable - and bewitching - hole here is the 7th, a 189-yard par 3 that requires a well-placed long iron across the curving Enoree River to make the green.

18. BAY HILL CLUB, Orlando, Fla Hole #18 Par 4 456 yards Without question, this is one of the toughest finishing holes on the PGA Tour. This par 4 requires a long, straight drive and then a precise shot across the lake - particularly on days when the pin is cut into the front of the crescent-shaped green. Many aspirants have come to the 18th only to see their dreams disappear into the lake, but not Robert Gamez. Battling Greg Norman down the homestretch of the 1990 Nestle Invitational, Gamez holed out a seven-iron from 176 yards to best Norman by one stroke-and win PGA Rookie of the Year honors.