The Most Fun Course

[Yannick Pilon]

Prestwick and North Berwick are the first two that come to my mind.

YP

[Gary Slatter]

Just finished the Old Course at 4:00 pm, it ties with Dornoch and Prestwick as my most fun courses to play.

[Jason Topp]

Anthony:

It's not a 10 by your standards, or someone else's?

And if Cruden Bay is the most fun course you can play, why ISN'T it a 10?

Conversely, if other 10's are not as fun, should they really be ranked higher than Cruden Bay?

We've battled this many times before in here.  I do understand the distinctions.  I just don't believe in them.

TH

Tom - The only difference I can identify between fun and a high quality course is the need to accomodate all levels of player. In other words, what is fun for one player may be boring or torture to others.

 A 6500 yard course is plenty fun for me but could be a repetitive layup/wedge round for a long hitter.  By contrast, most desert courses are fun if one has reasonable control over the ball but absolute torture for someone who hits it all over the place or cannot dependably get the ball in the air.

This partial list of Mackenzie's 13 ideals all relate to fun (except number 2):

1. The greens and fairways should be undulating, but without steep hills for the golfer to climb.
2. There should be a minimum of blind approach shots
3. The emphasis should be on natural beauty and not artificial features
4. There must be a complete absence of annoyance caused by searching for lost balls.
5. Course conditioning must remain consistently outstanding.
6. Every hole should have a different character.
7. There should be a sufficient number of heroic carries from the tee, but for the weaker player, with the loss of a stroke, they shall always have an alternative route.
8. There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes.
9. The course should be so interesting that even the high handicapper shall be stimulated to attempt shots he has previously been unable to play.
10. The course should be arranged so that the low handicap player or absolute beginner should be able to enjoy their round, in spite of the fact they are piling up a big score.

[Anthony Gray]

Anthony Gray:

To me a whole lot of the fun factor on most golf courses pretty much revolves around the degree of firm and fast there is. Unfortunately, on some of the more modern essentially aerial-designed type golf courses that can get pretty limited or frustrating simply because it mostly doesn't work that well in a risk/reward context.

  TE,

  I strongly agree with this. A FUN course gives you options. Whether if it is risk/reward off the tee or high/low around the greens. I HATE target golf.

                      Thanks,

                            Anthony

[Greg Chambers]

I have to say that Ballyneal this spring was the most fun I've ever had on a golf course.  We played the week before it opened (thanks to Mr Hensley) and we had the place to ourselves.  The poker match in the lodge later that evening was pretty fun, too. 

[Patrick Boyd]

Lookout Mountain: it's always firm and fast.  If you're there right time of year, you have the place to yourself....I've also never seen another Raynor with greens kept quite as speedy.

Not to pee on everyone's parade, but wasn't the Sheep Ranch closed the end of June/early July of this summer with plans unknown?

[Mitchell Schneringer]

I agree, for most fun: 
1)  Cruden Bay
2)  North Berwick

[Charlie Goerges]

Can anyone name a great course that is not fun?

[Anthony Gray]

I agree, for most fun: 
1)  Cruden Bay
2)  North Berwick

   Mitchell,

          Welcome. I would like to introduce you to my friend Melvyn Morrow.

                           Anthony

[Mitchell Schneringer]

Anthony:


 

[Tim Leahy]

Spyglass Hill is always fun to play and kind of like playing two courses in one.
Santa Maria CC was my first and only private club membership and every round I played there over the year I was a member was extremely fun. Just a great feeling and course experience.

[Michael Blake]

Can anyone name a great course that is not fun?

Bethpage Black

[hhuffines]

North Berwick will always be my first answer for fun but I would also throw in Bandon Dunes as well.

Locally, I would add Cape Fear in Wilmington and CCNC Cardinal.  The Cardinal is a great place to play with your friends and enjoy a few "cleansing ales" in a relaxed atmosphere.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Golf & fun, it’s what golf is all about. If I am not enjoying myself, I would walk off the course (having said that I can’t remember ever walking off), unless it was one I had not previously played then I would preserver just in case I missed some fun holes.

Courses I consider fun are Cullen, certainly agree with TOC,  Cruden Bay and I would also say The New Course, in fact I have enjoyed most courses and it is unfair to leave out their names but the list is just too long. 

Mood plays a major factor in my game as does the weather, but one thing I will say is that a round in the morning and another in the afternoon is the only way to experience a golf course. I understand time is a factor to our overseas visitors but quality should also be thrown into the equation. After all IMHO the point is to enjoy and experience the courses, not a pub crawl, i.e. a little taster then move on, it just does not do justice to you or the course.

Other posts have discussed squeezing as many courses in as is possiblein 10-14 days, but this is really just false economy and bloody tiring. 

Hi Mitchell, glad you are onboard.

[Bruce Katona]

Yale & Somerset Hills in the summer.....Lyford Cay & Kapalua from November thru Easter...... 78 degrees with a slight breeze in the Winet I'll take every time, living in the Northeast.

[Tom Huckaby]

Can anyone name a great course that is not fun?

ALL golf is fun to some degree for me.

So therefore all golf courses will be fun to some extent.

But I can name a great course that is less fun than some others....

SPYGLASS HILL (sorry Tim Leahy).

The first six holes are great fun.  Thereafter it becomes damn hard work.  Still fun, yes... but less fun than all of its neighbors, for example.

TH

[Jed Peters]

Can anyone name a great course that is not fun?

Bethpage Black

Olympic Club Lakeside

Spyglass

[Jon Wiggett]

TOC or Kilspindie

[Anthony Gray]

    I played a course in north Georgia named Barnsley Gardens. After the round I just felt beat up. It was too hard. 

[Charlie Goerges]

For those who could come up with a great course that isn't fun, what makes it/them great?

[Tom Huckaby]

Charlie:

First, I must clarify that I said less fun than others.  When you look at it like that, it should be easy to see why some can still be considered "great."  They are that because they challenge the best players mightily, or have some other values besides providing fun for all golfers.

But if you want to look at it very literally, then no, no course can be great and NO fun at all.

TH

[Jeff Fortson]

For fun...

#1 Cruden Bay
#2 NGLA
#3 CPC
#4 TOC


Jeff F.

[Mark Smolens]

We played two rounds at Ballyneal a year ago last October.  I thought that was the most fun I'd ever had in the States. . . until my first visit to Bandon.  I could go around Shorty's par-3 course 50 times.  I could play Pacific Dunes or Bandon Dunes twice a day for a month (Trails was great, but I thought much more penal for misses).  I've been across the pond 3 times to play links golf, and any one of those courses, f&f, is as much fun as you can have.

[Ash Towe]

Arrowtown in the South island of New Zealand for me.  Hard and fast conditions, unbelievable scenary, length not an issue, perfect greens at a reasonable speed all added up to a great fun day.

[David_Elvins]

Barnbougle Dunes for me by the length of the straight.  I have always thought it looked similar to Ballyneal so I am not surprised that got a mention as well.