Courses that live up to the hype

[Cory Lewis]

More than lived up to the hype:

Dornoch
County Down
Myopia Hunt
TPC Sawgrass

Did not live up to the hype:

Oak Hill
Olympic
Mayacama
Eugene

[Jeff Evagues]

Bethpage Black doesn't live up to any hype. All you do is hit it as far as you can for 6 hours.

[Roger Tufts]

More than lived up to the hype:
Myopia Hunt

Absolutely. I'm spoiled that I got to play there so much in Inter-club matches.

[Kyle Harris]

More than lived up to the hype:
Myopia Hunt

Absolutely. I'm spoiled that I got to play there so much in Inter-club matches.

True.

[mark chalfant]

Im not sure that Prairie Dunes gets tons of publicity/hype. However I will say that this great Maxwell course has exceeded the expectations, of more of my knowledgable golf friends, than any other American course by far !!



ps    ten plays... Prairie Dunes 8,   Pebble beach 2

[Jamey Bryan]

I have to go along with Charlie Dusic (and I'm a strong Mike Stranz enthusiast) and say that Caladonia LEAST lived up.  It's beautiful, but it's not a very good golf course.  On the other hand, Bulls Bay more than made up for it.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

I felt Tobacco Road, in terms of the overall experience, lived up to any hype it may have received, as did Pine Needles.  
Tobacco Road is a very good golf course, if one knows where to place the ball--there's a lot visually going on, but you have hit shots.  Pine Needles presented a good diversity of holes, a playing challenge and an easy walk.  

[Lloyd_Cole]

Royal County Down
Royal Dornoch
TOC
Ganton
Alwoodley
Maidstone
Garden City
Royal Melbourne West
Kingston Heath
I could play any of these courses the rest of my life, and no other, and still be quite content (and probably a better golfer).

[Richard Choi]

Don't:

Caledonia, Any TPC course I have played (I haven't played Sawgrass), most Vegas courses

I agree with you about Vegas courses. I haven't played Shadow Creek and some of the new courses, but "top" Vegas courses like Reflection Bay, Rio Secco, and TPC left me less than impressed.

[Brian Cenci]

"Lived up":
*Dunes Club
*Whistling Strats
*Bandon (all 3 courses)

"Didn't live up":
*Pinehurst No. 2
*Hazeltine National
*Black Lake

[Dan Boerger]

For me, courses that lived up to the hype include:

Pine Valley (I was overwhelmed at how nearly every hole would have been a signature hole on just about any course I've played.)

Winged Foot (What struck me here, was how well the course played relative to its routing.)

Bethpage Black (The QPR [quality price relationship] put this over the top for me. That and a stupendous finish.)

[Tim Leahy]

Olympic, Riviera, and Pebble all lived up to the hype.

[Jim Colton]

Lived up to the hype for me:
Pacific Dunes
Blackwolf Run River
The Old Course

Chuck D'd ("Don't Believe the Hype"):
Rich Harvest Farms
The Glen Club

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Merion..Pine Valley and Cypress Point..outweighed my expectations which were already very very high..all three blew me away.
Of the three probably Merion most of all, the day was just so perfect.
One that certainly did not live up to the hype was Whistling Straits which to this day I just do not understand...way too much of everything!
Hazeltine was also a big dissapointment, but I really cant explain why, something was just missing.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Lived up

Whitinsville
Northwood
Marion
Fenwick
Highland Links
Sewanee
Midway
Wawona

Didn't live up to the hype... meaning it's not a 10.
Pacific Dunes

Exceeded the hype
Yale
Fishers
Fenway (thank you Geoffrey Childs)

[Matt_Ward]

Gents:

Concur with what's been said by a few others on Ballyneal -- unfortunately, the shadow cast by Sand Hills can obscure what is there in Holyoke.

Tony P: Concur with you thoughts / re: Pac Dunes. Yes, it's very good but not at the rarified high altitude of the very select elite layouts.

[Chris Cupit]

I know many of the changes have been bashed (and I think rightly so) but for this Ga. boy ANGC was the best golf experience I've ever had.  More excited and nervous there than anywhere I've been including competitions.

Also lived up to expectations were:
TOC
Winged Foot (East and West)
Camargo
N. Berwick
NGLA
Shinnecock
RCD (to be fair, I knew nothing about it beforehand but it is awesome)
 and
Muirfield Village--I was playing in the US Junior and I had never seen bentgrass fairways before.  And, they were being mowed with "greens mowers" (tri-plex units)!  It was 1986 and Jack came and did a clinic for all of us on the range one day.  Really a great experience.

I still think it was one of the most beautifully manicured golf courses I've ever seen and other than #18 (even as a junior it felt like you ran out of room left and the trees in the right buners seemed silly) I like the course.  

[Michael Ryan]

Lived up to they hype-

Shinnecock Hills, Pine Valley, Winged Foot West

Fell short of the hype-

Murifield Village-I enjoyed it, but thought it fell short of the hype

Baltusrol Lower-subsequent rounds have increased my affection, as well as caddying in the 2005 PGA and seeing it in tournament conditions.

[Tim Bert]

Lived up to or exceeded great hype:
Pacific Dunes
Sand Hills
Ballyneal
Banff Springs
Pinehurst #2

Fell short of the hype:
Whistling Straits (really liked the course, but the hype was huge)
River Course (just didn't get this one)
Reflection Bay
Sugarloaf (Maine)
Balsams Panorama

[Jim Nugent]

Fell short of the hype-

Baltusrol Lower-subsequent rounds have increased my affection, as well as caddying in the 2005 PGA and seeing it in tournament conditions.

Who did you carry for?  Any interesting things to tell us, about the course, players or tournament?  

[Andrew Mitchell]

Lived up to the hype:
Royal Dornoch
Muirfield
Royal Liverpool
Alwoodley
Kingsbarns

Exceeded my expectations:
St Enodoc
Silloth on Solway
Shiskine
Notts

[Michael Hayes]

Just a couple of weeks ago I played Chambers Bay and Doaks Tumble Creek Club courses.  Chambers Bay was outstanding, I am a little pissed that I moved away from the Seattle area now that it is there.  It played pretty much exactly like bandon did the first summer it was open.  Tumble Creek was mind blowing because of the setting, conditioning and playability.  On only one hole the 15th did we wish that we could play it again because of a semi-blind creek dividing the fairway, we did!  To me these are the two most hyped new courses in the PNW over the last year and they both greatly exceeded expectations...

Michael Hayes