Eager anticipation

[Mark_Rowlinson]

In a conversation with a non-golfer the other day I found myself saying that the thing which sets the Old Course apart for me is that there is an extraordinary sense of anticipation about the round.  I am already excited (and thinking) about playing the 11th, 14th and 17th while I am still on the early holes.  

I don't think I get a similar sense of thinking ahead on any other of the great UK courses.  That doesn't imply that TOC only has three interesting holes, nor does it imply that there aren't outstanding holes to come on the other courses, simply that I wish my life away at St A's while I enjoy the present more elsewhere.  Are there other courses which have this effect?

[Scott_Burroughs]

Mark,

Are you sure it isn't just that the holes you look forward to playing most on TOC are simply on the back nine?  Think most Americans and Augusta....

The opposite is true at Spyglass Hill (as has been relayed by many here - I haven't played it), once you get past #6, the best is done with.

[NAF]

Mark,

I anticipate playing Deal every day.. the 3rd, the 6th, the 15th, 16th and 17th..I think Deal is the closest course in spirit and ethos to St. Andrews..Yes, it does not play in and out of town like TOC but the 1st holes are cousins, the routing and the loop around the end are very similar and the back 9s are very challenging.

At St. Enodoc, same thing, 1st, 4th, 6th, 10th, 16-18th..
with the corresponding stop at the church.. no matter how bad my round goes, the church stop is a joy..

[JESII]

I have not been to St. Andrews, but I can imagine from seeing the course enough on TV that the three you mention create anticipation for anyone there for a return trip. Tell me something, do wind conditions affect your anticipation at St Andrews? The eager anticipation course for me is Shinnecock, as well as my home course (Huntingdon Valley). I stand on the first tee and try to figure out how each hole will play, but invariably my thought are drawn to my favorites (#7, #9, #10, #11, #16). After figuring the conditions I really anticipate playing one or two of those holes.

Jim

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Jim,

I don't think the wind affects my anticipation at St A's, though it greatly affects my play!  Thnere are other great moments to which one looks forward, such as climbing up onto the 7th green and having the Eden estuary at your feet, or even such knee-knocking experiences as having the Starter call, 'Play Away, Mr So-and-so!'

Scott,

There is something in what you say, of course, and an obvious example of something similar to Spyglass on the anticipation scale is Royal Porthcawl where the opening three holes are just so exciting playing along the edge of the beach.  There are, I readily accept, lots of good and strong holes to come but those first three have a different atmosphere.

Noel,

I'll revisit Deal on the GCA outing, I hope, later this year.  St Enodoc is, I readily agree, full of fascinating holes and these are spaced out well throughout the round, but I suppose it's one thing I particuarly anticipate there and that's the monster bunker on the 6th.  Sure, I recite a little Joan Hunter Dunn as I get to the churchyard and there are many joys, but I don't anticpate them in such a fashion, almost ignoring the hole I'm currently playing because I'm already thinking about another.

[Sean_A]

Mark

Yes, I have great anticipation of playing #s 2, 5, 9, 13, 14, 15 and 18 at Burnham & Berrow as soon as I hit the 1st tee.

The same for #s 5, 7, 9, 11, 16 and 18 at Pennard.  Except for the feeling hits as soon as I get past Swansea.

However, The Old Course is something apart from all others.

Thanks again for the Sandwell suggestion.  It's a cracking little course.

Ciao

Sean

[Scott_Burroughs]

I apologize to Dan Kelly for splitting my infinitive in my previous post.  Thanks, Dan, for not chiding me and correcting it.  I corrected it for you, although it still doesn't read all that well.

 

[NAF]

Mark-

There is no greater anticipation or theater than the 16th at Cypress Point.

One shot, all death or glory (unless you layup left).. In my one round all I could think about was #16..  When I finally got there I could literally hear my heart beat.  But you have to play the whole 15 holes before (which are obviously incredible)..Still the walk through the cypress forest and dead trees on the way to 16, gives one goosepimples..

There is no other place I've played that does that.. Though others come close.

[JESII]

How about the 8th at Pebble. I have only been there once for two rounds, but I can vividly remember thinking about that hole well in advance. Being that it is the second shot that causes the adrenaline rush, are there other instances of a two or three-shot hole in which only one of the shots causes the degree of anticipation Mark is referring to?

Jim

[Tommy Williamsen]

The Old Course at Sunningdale
Westward Ho!
Musgrove Mill
Cypress Point
Royal County Down
I usually can't sleep the night before I play these.  I just can't wait til morning.

[JESII]

But Tommy, are there one or two shots or holes that dominate your thoughts during the round prior to reaching them?

[JESII]

By the way, as the only one I have played, RCD would be on my list as well.

#4
Tee shot on #9
Approach to #13
#16 (prior to alteraton, I've not been there since)

Those are the shots that will dominate my thinking prior to and during the round when I am playing other holes.

Jim

[Tommy Williamsen]

Three and RCD is the single most difficul hole I have ever played in the wind--17 at the Old Course not withstanding.
Four make my heart pound and nine is simply glorious.
Four, nine, ten, eleven and 17 and 18 at Westward Ho! get my heart rate up

The short par fours, the par threes and 18 at Musgrove mill.  I can't wait to get to them.

the Opening drive on One, six and seven and nine and fifteen , sixteen and seventeen at Cypress.

Standing on the tee at Sunningdle does almost the same thing for me as one at the OLD course.  Don't top it or slice it.   Hit the ball as though you know how to play the game.  And for goodness sake don't get excited if you stripe it down the middle.

[JESII]

Standing on the tee at Sunningdle does almost the same thing for me as one at the OLD course.  Don't top it or slice it.   Hit the ball as though you know how to play the game.  And for goodness sake don't get excited if you stripe it down the middle.

That's what we're looking for. Agree 100% on those which I have played; Royal County Down and Sunningdale.

The one time I played Sunningdale I had a bad case of topping the ball off the tee so it is quite ammusing that you bring that up. I was a high school senior just trying to learn how to play golf after a couple of drinks and I must have been aiming for the wrong ball . I guess it is a testament to the course considering I remember it as fondly as I do.

Jim

[Mark_Rowlinson]

The difference for me between RCD and TOC is that it is a different kind of anticipation.  For instance, at Newcastle I'm not thinking about the 3rd (one of my favourites) while playing the 2nd, whereas at TOC I tend to overlook holes such as the 8th, 9th and 10th because my mind is already on the 11th (usually to my detriment as I probably mess them up by not concentrating properly).  Similarly I tend to take 15th and 16th for granted at TOC because I am already thinking about 17th and probably go out of bounds on both!

[Mark_F]

Mark, I'm surprised at you.  After all, according to one Michael Clayton, there are around sixty courses in the UK that are most excellent, equal to our top 15.

I think there are several wonderful courses in the UK where one is in a high state of anticipation once they know what is out there.  

Playing 5,6 13,14, 17 and 18 (at least) at West Sussex. I even look forward to entering West Sussex's carpark.

The drive to Macrihanish,and whilst 3,4 and 5 on the front in particular, I really look forward to the drive at 10, as well as 12, 13 and 14, too.

And what about Carnoustie?  There's many a hole there to look forward too, and because the town just doesn't have quite the same attraction, the thrill of the golf ahead is more focused.

And Dornoch?  Again, the drive to the town and course is something you wish wouls go quicker than it does, because of 2,3,4,6,14 and 17 at least.  

The Old Course does have some fine holes, but there are plenty of other places in the UK where one's heart skips a beat as you begin to plan your trip.

And they all have bakeries that make a far, far better sausage roll, too...

[Jason Topp]

In 1992, I spent a week in St. Andrews with my father and woke up the first morning at something like 4:30 in the morning and walked the entire Old Course.  We sat on the ballot the entire week and finally got on the final day.  I cannot imagine more eagerly anticipating a round of golf or having a more memorable experience.  I don't think that experience could be replicated anywhere else in the world.

I also have video of a person who had joined up with us, wiffed on the first tee twice and was kicked off the course by the third hole for not playing well enough.  I don't think his memories were as fond.  I know my caddie had no sympathy for him.  In front of the assembled crowd near the first tee, he loudly inquired "Sir, Do you play golf??!!!  I would have preferred that that happen after I teed off.

[Philip Gawith]

I agree with Mark re Dornoch. I always worry whether I will hit the 2nd green, whether I will do my usual trick of leaking my tee-shot on the 6th and - more positively - whether I might hit Foxy in two and get a Par. In between, for those of us who lose our tee shots on both sides of the course, there is also the challenge of the tee shots on the 9th and 11th. Much food for thought! But the worry that some of these holes presents is but the flip side of the anticipation - If you DO hit the green on 2 and 6 and Foxy, you are a very happy man!

[James Edwards]

Cliff Stanfield (from this forum and the guy who introduced me to it) and myself went on an East Coast Tour in 2002 from Seminole, FL up to CCB, Boston.  During that tour, we had many nights of eager anticipation.  Some of the highlights were:

Seminole and Jupiter Hills in the same day
Playing Sawgrass and Old Marsh in the same day
Playing East Lake and Peachtree in the same day.
Augusta National and Cuscowilla in the same day.
Pinehurst #2 and Tobacco Road in the same day.
Long Cove and Harbour Town in the same day.
Kiawah Island Resort
Charleston CC and Bulls Bay in the same day.
Oakmont and staying in the gate house for 3 nights.
Pine Valley and Merion in the same day
Playing Shinnecock Hills and NGLA in the same day.
Maidstone and Atlantic in the same day
Both courses at Winged Foot
Playing The Country Club to conclude the tour....

James

[TEPaul]

Mark:

I've had a sense of eager anticipation about playing the 4th hole at NGLA and the odd thing is I was in my car on the NJ Turnpike about 100 miles from NGLA.