Favorite Courses

[T_MacWood]

What are some favorite courses that will never make any 'greatest' lists. Sleepy Hollow in Cleveland is one of my favorites. Another one was Sea Scape on the Outer Banks...unfortunately it has been changed.

[Gene Greco]

Bethpage Green, Yellow

Will always be overshadowed by mighty Black and the formidable Red but have always enjoyed these golf courses despite the conditioning and pace of play.

I believe the Red HAS a chance to make the top 100 which is why I didn't select it outright.

[Tom_Doak]

Pennard.
St. Enodoc.
Royal West Norfolk.
The Creek.
The back nine at Pacific Grove.
Royal Worlington & Newmarket.
Ekwanok.
The old nine at Rolling Rock.
Whitinsville.
North Berwick (West).

All of these have some support for the top-100 lists because they're such cool places, but they are unlikely to ever make the list because either they have some weak holes, or they're too short in toto (including nine-holers).

Then again, I used to think Cruden Bay was in the same category, so what do I know?

[Ken_Cotner]

The Island, near Dublin.  Dunes like the west coast; fair amount of quirk; loads of fun.

Ken

[mike_malone]

Gulph Mills--not looking for recognition i guess-but worthy of it.

[Mike Hendren]

Beverly CC
Shalimar Pointe (FL)
Memphis CC
Jackson (TN) CC (Maybe Langford?)
Rolling Hills CC (TN stomping grounds)

Regards,

Mike

[egundeck]

Springdale in Princeton, NJ
Hole-In-the-Wall in Naples, FL

[SPDB]

Eastward Ho!
Ekwanok
John's Island West

Agree with Tom on The Creek, but it is on the GW Classic List

[Tim_Weiman]

Tom MacWood:

Bernham and Berrow might be my favorite that doesn't make any lists.......especially with Russell Talley as a playing partner.

As for Sleepy Hollow, the past couple decades have seen some changes to the overall facility (e.g., new clubhouse, driving range and tones of league play that makes walking on as a single very difficult), but the course has been pretty much left alone. The only exception to that has been green speeds. They were wicked in Charlie Sifford's day, but the maintenance approach has been far more conservative in recent years.

FYI, in case you missed, I think Geoff Shackelford mentions Sleepy Hollow in his latest book as a course the USGA should consider putting some money into.

[Lou_Duran]

Scarlet (should be top 100)
Great Southwest Golf Club prior to mid 80s changes
Meadow Club
Brookhollow


MikeH-

What do you like about Shalimar Pt.?  I played it last summer and was extremely disappointed.  What did I miss?

[THuckaby2]

Lou - you really were taken with Meadow Club, eh?  That is very cool... damn right it gets very little press, very few people take the time to see it or can get access to see it, and when DeVries gets done with the restoration, maybe it will make some list!  It is a hell of a golf course.

Another fave of mine that's never gonna make any list is Mare Island GC in Vallejo, CA.  Quirky to the max, new nine added a few years ago blends damn well with the old nine, very hard to find, very fun to play.  It's kinda the Pacific Grove Muni of the north bay....

TH

[Mike Hendren]

Lou,

I doubt you missed anything.  Shalimar stands out from the typical Emerald Coast layouts.  Some interesting green complexes (the short 11th?) and inverted sand pile bunkers (inside the dogleg of the first or tenth hole? and in the middle of the fairway at the 7th? not unlike DJR's mounds on the 15th at Holston Hills.

It's been ten years since I played the course, hence the question marks.  It was relatively low profile.  I just looked at its web-site and it looks like it's been gussied up.  

I guess I really liked the sand pile bunkers.  No clean lines, unraked with native vegetation (i.e., weeds) growing here and there.  This should be used more often in the area as opposed to the well manicured CCFAD's.

Regards,

Mike

[Dave_Miller]

Sakonnet in Rhode Island
Gulph Mills
Rolling Green (Little known outside of Phiily)
LongMeadow (Mass.)
Hyannisport
Sequoia - Calif. (except for the one hole where the fairway intersects another but still a really cool course)
Point Judith - Rhode Island

Could probably name 50 more that I really enjoy and that get little recognition but that's enough for now.
Cheers,
Dave

[THuckaby2]

Dave - great call also re Sequoyah and shame on me for missing that great club, which rests a mere 5 miles from my office here.  Oh yeah, that is a heck of a fine course also... I actually kinda like the intersecting holes, it makes for interesting conversation... Lots of great stuff there in any case.

The infamous Jeff Stettner is a member there....

TH

ps - thanks for the "sincerity" thought in the other thread - I truly do appreciate that.

[Dan Grossman]

Scotland:
Murcar (I enjoyed it more than Royal Aberdeen and tends to get lost when people speak about R. Aberdeen and Cruden Bay in the area)
Elie (the front nine is fun golf with several drivable par 4s and then the back nine is fairly difficult and a good test)

Ireland:
Island (lots of quirk and sport)
Baltray

US:
Ojai (the front nine is interesting - eventhough the new holes didn't come out well and the back is really fun)
Columbia Edgewater (I thought this was one of the best in Portland and gets overshadowed by Waverly, Pumpkin and Portland GC)
Nags Head GL (short and quirky, but I enjoyed it much more than Rees' Currituck on the outer banks)
Naples Nat'l (not what I was expecting for a recently built Florida course - no homes and very visually striking - check out the below aerial)

[Scott_Burroughs]

Isn't this just basically the same as the old Hidden Gems threads?  Not that plenty of other threads don't get rehashed.....

My rehashed entry:  Deerfield, fka Louviers course at DuPont CC, before they sold it to MBNA.  Sporty, plenty of downhill/uphill/sidehill lies, several holes rated among the toughest in Delaware. First 10 holes are one fun, roller coaster stretch.  14 and 15 are good, too.

Maxwell's Old Town, in Winston-Salem, NC, is certainly underrated, even with greens that are supposedly softer and smaller than the originals, they're one terrific set.

Dave,

Rolling Green is on GW's Top 100 Classic list, but your point is taken.

[Lou_Duran]

TomH-

I am an admitted MacKenzieiac, so my take on Meadow may be "biased".  But despite having one of the worst nights of my life, a terrible back, and an absent mind (lost/left at the course my treasured black Kiawah Island- Ocean Course  windshirt, my caddy sack with my Ashworth watch won in a tournament, and my course notes and documentation), I get a warm feeling every time I think about the course.  I can't wait until Mike DeVries finishes his fine work and make a trip back.

As you know, Meadow is not a course where the PGA Tour would conduct a tournament.  It is, however, one of the quintessential club courses I have played.  I could be very comfortable as a member there, though I think that a big gun like Matt Ward may find the course too short and easy.  Lovely greens, surrounds, bunkers, rolling topography.  The routing, with the exception of one area on the back nine and the location of the driving range, is very pleasant and easy to walk.  And options galore.  While I couldn't get to the ball and was only able to slap it around because of my back, I greatly enjoyed watching David and Tiger competing for drinks.  The banter and gameship was something to behold.  

MikeH-

The course had been allowed to run down, at least it looked that way last June.  We had a nice time there.  It has a number of good holes, but playing it a couple of days after Camp Creek, in comparison, it does not fare well.  I did notice that they're letting the greens get smaller, and in one case, 18, allowing the back portion to grow-in as rough.  The course is also a little shoe-horned in, don't you think?  Nonetheless, there is a lot of golf there, and maybe with some extra $$$ it could be a course of note again.

[mtp]

Metacomet (RI)
Winchester (MA)
Rhode Island (RI)

[Jim_H]

Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa.
This is a great, old course--rolling hills, big, old trees, the best topsoil in the world, great, classic lay-out.  The US Amateur was held there in 1963 (won by Dean Beman).  But because it is in the backwater of the State of Iowa, it gets no recognition, other than being normally named as the best course in Iowa.  

[Doug Wright]

Here are a few, some already mentioned:

Ireland: The Island; Dooks
Scotland: Elie
US: Blueberry Hill (in nowheresville NW Pennsylvania--  Ferdinand Garbin/James Harrison)
--Grandote Peaks, La Veta Colorado(Weiskopf/Morrish)
Canada: Whirlpool GC, Niagara Falls Ont.

All The Best,

[Chris_Blakely]

Balsams Resort-Panorama Course
St. Johnsbury CC, VT
Elks CC, OH (McDermott)
Farm Neck GC, MA
Mink Meadows GC, MA
Cranwell Resort, MA
Mohonk Mountain House GC, NY
Blackhead Mountain Lodge, NY
Green Hills GC, PA

These are some of my favorites that I have played.

[David_Tepper]

My favorites:

Northern California:
-Windsor (north of Santa Rosa) great routing!
-Twelve Bridges (east of Sacramento)
-Sea Ranch

Ireland:
-Narin & Portnoo (County Donegal)

Scotland:
-Golspie

England:
-St. Endoc

[THuckaby2]

David:

Good calls on all those NorCal courses - those are all faves of mine also and none will likely ever make any list.  I REALLY like Sea Ranch...

Have you been to Winchester and Dark Horse (both in Auburn) yet?  I guess those don't qualify as Winchester has made a list or two and Darkhorse likely will... but I played both last Friday and came away very impressed by each.

TH

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Tom,
I guess some of my favourites in Canada do make the top 100, but no real national recognition.
Cataraqui and St. Thomas (Union) both come to mind.

Sagamore, though it may reside in some state list.

[Mike Benham]

Northern California:
-Windsor (north of Santa Rosa) great routing!
-Twelve Bridges (east of Sacramento)
-Sea Ranch

David,

I'll go with Windsor but not Twelve Bridges ... I'll trade it for Winchester which I have heard good things about ...

I'll also nominate Sonoma Mission Inn and one of my all-time favorites (downcast muni category) Ancil Hoffman ...

Mike