Tony,
Your observations of nine hole courses compared to eighteen hole courses are spot on:
1. If a golf course is limited to nine holes there is a much better chance of having great holes rather than mundane ones;
2. The overall quality of a nine hole course ought to be higher because the average of the holes is less likely to be detrimentally affected by the filler holes which most 18 hole courses always seem to have;
3. A nine hole courses is easier to maintain and condition to a higher level than an eighteen hole course.
But I’m left wondering if your conclusion is offered tongue in cheek, i.e., that nine hole courses should not be compared to eighteen hole courses because they have such an inherently unfair advantage over eighteen holes. Isn’t that a bit like saying it is unfair to compare a Coore/Crenshaw or Pete Dye or Tom Doak course with a (pick any number of other GCAs) because they limit themselves to a couple courses at a time, get choice sites to work with and are able to devote more time on site to get the routing and construction detail just right?
Without a doubt, there is a definite stigma associated with nine hole courses in America. Many were designed and built in the golden age by virtually all the greats from Ross (literally dozens to his credit) to Thomas to Maxwell, Raynor and MacKenzie. But as Anthony Pioppi writes in his recent, To the Nines, “In the modern era (after 1959), very few stellar nine-hole designs have been created”. In fact, Tony is only able to mention one, The Dunes Club.
Of interest, Pioppi is of the view that Ross’s Wittinsville Golf Club is the number one nine-holer in America, ranking ahead of The Dunes Club, but in the GW rankings, it doesn’t even crack the top ten in Massachusetts!
The one observation about nine-holers that I must take issue with is perpetuation of the notion that nine-holers are no more than wannabe’s, and are more comparable to executive courses or par-3 courses than eighteen hole courses. True, even most of the courses profiled in To the Nines have “graduated” to eighteen holes (e.g., Myopia Hunt Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Prairie Dunes Country Club and Rolling Rock Golf Club) but tell me: what similarities do any of these (or The Dunes Club or Wittinsville Golf Club) have to executive or par-3 courses? In fact, the goal of having eighteen holes I would argue has had the unfortunate result of creating many executive, par-3 and scrawny eighteen-holers when a brawny nine-holer was there waiting to be brought to life.