[Philippe Binette]

Just turned the questions upside down...

example: I hate Merion (joking)

[Sean Leary]

Carne

[Mike_Cirba]

Yeaman's Hall
Whistling Straits
Hidden Creek

[Carl Nichols]

Long Cove.  (I must've missed something.)

[David_Elvins]

Hidden Creek

I will second Hidden Creek.  Not that I ddn't like it but there was a fair bit on it that I didn't like.

In Australia, National Old gets a lot of love on GCA, personally, I am not a big fan.   The short fours are a visual dissapointment, it has one of the world's worst water hazards, and lacks subtlety i nthe greens.

[Matt_Cohn]

Rustic Canyon. The ground features were mostly good but I thought the routing/sequencing was highly questionable, and putting from around the greens got extremely repetitive and boring.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Congressional!!! (a hairy beast badly recovering from a botched lobotomy)
Shinnecock (a trudge in a field minus character until the back nine)
Friar's Head (pretty good stuff well short of greatness)
Caves Valley (I've done everything I could to love this place and all fall short)
St Andrews Beach (same league at National...)
Old Sandwich (see Friar's Head)
San Francisco Golf (my ears are still ringing over all the noise)

This is fun.  Wanna try courses you like more than the your brethren gca mavens??

JC

[Andy Troeger]

This is fun.  Wanna try courses you like more than the your brethren gca mavens??

JC

JC,
In case you didn't see...that one's front page too.

I'd put Talking Stick North and Desert Forest.

[Stan Dodd]

Cruden Bay - 9th Blah, 15th a joke

[Sean_A]

I could mention a few.  Carnoustie is certainly one, but I am not sure its a grudging respect as much as a favourite among GCAites.  The next one doesn't beat around any bushes.  Turnberry.  While I enjoys views probably at least as much as the next guy, I can't understand the love for this course.  There are so many holes which can be found at any run of the mill good links that I really struggle to understand why folks love this place.  

I spose Lytham & Troon can be chucked into this pot to some degree.  Other than being championship venues, I don't know what the fuss is about, but then I am nots ure these are favourites.    

Ciao

[J_ Crisham]

Dave,   No harm taken . I would place it roughly 7-9 in Chicago. My love for the place is to a large degree starting here as a caddy and the number of great guys to play with. My list ahead of Beverly would be CGC , Shoreacres, Butler, OFCC N, Medinah 1(not 3) really like this course, Dunes, Bob O Link, Skokie. This being said Shivas you know you are always welcome at Beverly. Dave Miller is coming in next Summer so you will have to join  us.                As always behave,   Jack

[Phil McDade]

Pete Dye's Blackwolf Run River Course in Kohler, WI.

Receives lots of kudos on the board. I've always considered it over-the-top difficult -- and verging on goofy with some of the green contouring.

[Marty Bonnar]

Cue Carmina Burana as the fat balding Scot confesses:

Dum, DUM, DUM, DUM....
Dum, DUM, DUM, DUM....
duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh..

At risk of eternal architectural damnation and excommunication from the High Church of the Sisters of Blessed Revetment, I confess that I find much of TOC to be Dee-You-Double-Ell, dull! (thanks, Craig on Strictly Come Dancing).

1 - hohum drive and pitch over a burn - woooo! too exciting.
2-5 - the same hole repeated again and again...
9 - the dullest of dull holes in Dullsville.

the rest are okay, I guess...

Effers.

[Anthony Gray]

  Kiawah was a disapointment. Did not get Tobacco Road, the greens were very slow.

  Anthony

[Tim Bert]

Pete Dye's Blackwolf Run River Course in Kohler, WI.

Receives lots of kudos on the board. I've always considered it over-the-top difficult -- and verging on goofy with some of the green contouring.

I'll 2nd this one.

[Jay Kirkpatrick]

True Blue... its not even close to Caledonia.

[Kalen Braley]

I don't really know how to say this without torquing off Stan Dodd!! 

Even thought Pacific Grove is a fun little course, the front 9 really lacks and even the 18th, and 10th on back 9 is nothing special

[Matt_Ward]

A great thread ...

Maidstone -- get's plenty of hype because of the neighborhood. Love the par-4 9th and a few other holes -- but has way too many so-so holes to merit such a lofty position. Take the Hampton zip code out of the place and things would likely be far different.

Shoreacres -- For the Raynor fan club it's a must but they often forget the wide number of so-so holes that offer little really compelling architecture. I'm not saying there's nothing special but not that special to be acclaimed in the same light as other Raynor gems like Fisher's Island and Camargo.

Bandon Trails -- Has it's moment in the first third and final third sequence of holes. But the middle third has C&C really straining for anything that is really first class stuff. Gets mentioned highly in most modern listing of courses because of the fanfare tied to the facility and the past successes C&VC have had with the likes of Sand Hills and Friar's Head.

Oak Hill / East -- No doubt it's a bear to play on occasions (see this past year's Sr. PGA event) but the layout is more about grind and more grind. The best hole still for me is the Ross gem with the short uphill par-4 14th hole. The course proves the adage that tough does not necessarily translate out to compelling architecture.

Bethpage / Black -- I have a love / hate with the place. I actually loved plenty about the place before it became morphed into the 24/7 version of US Open preparations -- especially since the '02 event. The course has overdosed on simply being longer and longer and continues with fairway widths that are far too narrow for everyday play. Like OH / East the Black personifies the rush to provide extreme conditions and think that quality architecture stems from such an effort. It doesn't.

Doral / Blue -- I've seen plenty of people rave about the place but I have never understood much of what people claims is there. No doubt the presence of the Tour has been the annual validation point for those who champion the place. Candidly, PGA National with its Champ Course is a good bit better but has only generated a small amount of applause to date.

We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro) -- The C&C fan club hypes the place to no end and more than likely it's tied only to the fact that C&C designed the place. Until you get to the ending third of the course does anything really jump forward to grab one's attention. C&C have done better work beforehand -- the fan club seems to believe if you attach their names then it must be that good. It isn't. Saguaro and Hidden Creek could be joined at the hip in my mind.

Sanctuary -- Andy T mentioned the layout on the flip side of this thread. No doubt the facility provided Jim Engh with a starting point for his blossoming career to hit the faster track. Getting noticed certainly happened for him there but the site is way too severe -- the routing must make significant compromises in order to fit holes that would be more natural for ski slopes than golf holes. Engh overcame nature and there are a few holes of note but the sum total of the golf is more engineering accomplishment than vintage golf.

Shadow Creek -- No doubt too many people think this IS the course that best personifies man's hand in creating off the most bleakest of landscapes. I've never seen what the fuss is about Shadow Creek -- the story is simply about the building of such a place in the no man's land of bleak desert terrain. You never see much, if any discussion, of specific holes at the place. The reason is what I stated originally.

I've got others for sure but that's a starting point for now ...

[Mike_Cirba]

Tullymore

[Jay Flemma]

Bethpage Red.

[John Moore II]

Tobacco Road.  I think its a good course, but it has some real doofy holes. 13 is a flat joke. 2 iron-4 iron-PW or if you have balls of steel, Driver-PW. Some of the holes out there give great options for all players, 2 has a few, 4 and 5 have loads of options. But 9, 12, 13, and 16 are silly. And 17 looks like they got done with the design and said "oh shit, we only made 17 holes. where can we put another one?" I like Tobacco Road and play it whenever I have chance (and I've also said if I had only one course to play for the rest of my life, it might be at TR), but I still don't think its as awesome as many on this site seem to think.

[Matt_Cohn]

San Francisco Golf (my ears are still ringing over all the noise)

JC

Wha?

[Brian_Ewen]

Loch Lomond GC .

[Ed Oden]

Pete Dye's Blackwolf Run River Course in Kohler, WI.

Receives lots of kudos on the board. I've always considered it over-the-top difficult -- and verging on goofy with some of the green contouring.

I'll 2nd this one.

I'll 3rd it.  I just don't see any meat to the hype.  And I generally like Pete Dye courses.

Ed

[Rob Rigg]

I'll second Bethpage Black - although I cannot recall if it gets a ton of love of the site

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