[Rick Sides]

I was just wondering, what course was your favorite course?  I dont mean what course you would rank highest or what course is the best, but what is your personal favorite you played and why?  I'm talking about finishing a round, getting in your car, and saying to yourself, "that was a hell of a course."

[PCCraig]

Besides the obvious big names that are well discussed on here, and in rephrasing your question to "which course do I most enjoy playing and could play everyday without getting sick of." I would pick Shoreacres. Great greens, not hard or easy, but a perfect test of golf, perfect atmosphere, and a great way to spend a day.

And they have the best driving range in the world 

[Peter Ferlicca]

Wolf Run Golf Club in Indiana, every time I play here I am amazed at the quality of golf holes.  It was the first course I played that made me what to learn about golf course architecture.

[Anthony Gray]

  Cruden Bay....variety and playability.......scenic and secluded.

   Anthony

[Kalen Braley]

Excluding the big name places, I'd have to go with Indian Canyon in Spokane, WA.

It just may have the best of set of greens over any course I've played.

[Anthony Gray]

  Cruden Bay....variety and playability.......scenic and secluded.

   Anthony

  OR the course that Garland is playing.


  Anthony

[Ben Sims]

Excluding Sheep Ranch and all other Bandon courses...

Sentimental favorite is both the Blue and Silver courses at Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs.  It's where I took up the game, learned the etiquette, agronomy and architecture that would keep me interested until this day.  And "everything breaks away from the Rocky's" was only half the equation.

 

[Rick Sides]

Ben,
Isn't it interesting how our home course or one of our first courses is usually one of our favorites? 

[Ben Sims]

Rick,

I'll agree with you and here's why.

1) Familiarity
2) Suspense, meaning you see things for the first time.  Good shots, chip in's, long putts for your first par.

I've played the closest course to my house here in Davis, CA--Wildhorse--over 35 times.  I love it!! But many don't agree with me.  Generally I don't like forced carries on the approach or tee, and I despise overuse of internal water.  Wildhorse---one could argue--does both of these.  But I love playing there because I know it so well and broke 85 for the first time last summer there.

[Ken Moum]

Brora Golf Club...

As Euan Grant, then head greenkeeper at TOC, and now Macrihanish Dunes, said, "It's golf as it should be."

I cannot think of a more glorius place to play. It is challenging, but the sheep make sure you can at least find your ball on nearly every shot.

The green complexes are sublime.

And the aura is amazing.

Ken

[Tom Huckaby]

I am quite confused as to what you are looking for here.

If the standard is finishing and saying "that was a hell of a course", why would favorite be different from best?  What makes the difference?

Favorite/best in terms of that is indeed Sand Hills GC for me.  It's one hell of a course, one does finish 18 and immediately want to go back to 1, and it is also the best course on this planet, IMO.

Or are you asking what course gives us the most sentimental value?

If so, well... put me down for what is now called "Weddington Golf and Tennis", in Studio City, CA. I have waxed poetic about it many times in here.. it's a fairly non-descript par three 9 holer... it does have very nice greens... but the longest hole is 134, shortest about 80... it's just where I learned the game and where I play most with my Dad to this very day.  He calls it his country club.. and it a real way it is.. my is he a known regular there.

I'd just only come off of that and say it was a hell of a course if I was temporarily insane....

[Tony_Chapman]

Much like Huck, I'll always say that my favorite course is York Country Club where I grew up playing and still play with my dad all the time. There is nothing like playing with your dad and brother anywhere, but at your home course it's better.

After that, I don't really think it matters.

So I flip the coin—best to part on a cheerful note—and ask him for the best moment of his golf life, certain he will either say his famous shot-making duel against Nicklaus at Turnberry in '77 or his "miracle" chip-in at Pebble Beach in '82 to win the U.S. Open.

"It's funny," he says, pausing again, "the greatest thrill I had may have been the day my father invited me to join him and a couple of his regular golf buddies at his club. I was so excited, really aching to show him what I could do. I guess I was maybe eleven or twelve."

Watson, the former Stanford psychology student, studies me with those eyes that always look as if he's been out walking in a linksland wind. "Even now I think about that. It was a very powerful moment. My father means so much to me. I can always hear his voice in my head, telling me to keep my head still or make a good swing. I don't know if I ever felt that way again, you know?"

He smiles somewhat wistfully, revealing the boyish gaps in his teeth. Turning off the tape recorder, I admit that I know what he means because I hear my father's voice, too. -- James Dobson, in a conversation with Tom Watson from the forward of Final Rounds

[Mark Pritchett]

I have played several courses that I left saying "Wow that was a great course".  However, in many cases I have only played those courses once or twice.  It is really hard to know if you would still feel the same way if you played there on a regular basis.

[Dan Herrmann]

Pacific Dunes.

It's WAY beyond a golf course - it's a spiritual journey.

[Philippe Binette]

North Berwick... remind me not to take the game and its architecture too seriously

[Kenny Baer]

 
Augusta Country Club; a fun golf course that gives you multiple options on almost every tee.

I haven't had the opportunity to play many "famous" courses yet but I love a course that is challenging yet does not beat you up; a place that gives you an opportunity to score and hit some fun shots.  Even pro's would find plenty of Challenge with Augusta CC but the weekend hacker will always have a great time and rarely lose a ball.  (Except on the 1st tee)...inside joke)

I also loved the Pete Dye course at Colleton River although I have only played it one time.  The sheer beauty of the back nine keeps me trying to arrange a game their.

My home course Atlanta CC is very fun as well even though it can be pretty difficult if you are not really golfing your ball.  A 144 slope does that to you.

Mr. 76

[Roger Wolfe]

Augustine Golf Club, Stafford, VA.  The first club I managed... still one of the best designs I have ever set foot on. 

[Chris Ord]

Rustic Canyon, hands down.  I can't get enough of that place.  Different every time, challenging without being frustrating, and an out-right blast to play.

And despite it's so-so reputation on this site, I had a great day at Royal Troon. 

[Tim Gavrich]

I'd ordinarily say Yale but the more I think about it, I think Shelter Harbor may be my favorite golfing place.  Above all others, I think I could play i every day for 20 years and not really tire of it.  It has every kind of hole, from driveable par 4s to ball-busters to splendid three-shotters, as well as perhaps the best set of greens--both in terms of contours and playing perfection--I have ever seen.

[Sean_A]

There is only one course I have seen which combines my personally important elements so well:

Beautiful
Challenging, but not so much that a 9 capper can't hit par once in a while
Flat enough to be a GREAT walk, but not so flat as to be boring
A few memorable features
A bit of history
Cool clubhouse
Location in a decent town and close enough to a nice large population centre
Affordable

NORTH BERWICK.  I don't think its the greatest or best course, but its my favourite.  The great thing about this sort of thing is that one can always hope to find a new favourite coruse. 

Ciao   

[Brian Phillips]

North Berwick... remind me not to take the game and its architecture too seriously

Philippe,

When I studied at Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh we tried to get out there a lot.  It is the perfect place to get away from it all and such a great matchplay course that everyone can have fun on.

Sand Hills is the course that I would put down as my course that I love the most.  Never have I enjoyed myself so much than at that place.  It was truly sad to leave there after a weekend of golf with people that have now become good friends and colleagues.

[James Boon]

There is only one course I have seen which combines my personally important elements so well:

Beautiful
Challenging, but not so much that a 9 capper can't hit par once in a while
Flat enough to be a GREAT walk, but not so flat as to be boring
A few memorable features
A bit of history
Cool clubhouse
Location in a decent town and close enough to a nice large population centre
Affordable

NORTH BERWICK.  I don't think its the greatest or best course, but its my favourite.  The great thing about this sort of thing is that one can always hope to find a new favourite coruse. 

Ciao   

Sean, having recently had to pay £95 for a round at North Berwick, its perhaps not as affordable as it should be? Maybe its the insurance policy you get in with the green fee that is proving costly?  

I like your criteria, though some aren't so important to me. I'm not bothered about it being flat enough as some of my candidates are bordering on mountain goat country? And the location is good idea if I've travelled, but then if the course were in the middle of nowhere but with a great B&B or dormey house, that wouldn't hinder it for me. Above all, a smile on my face when I get there, while playing and then for quite some time afterwards are what seals it for me. And I think that a favourite is something that your heart tells you rather than your head? So North Berwick is close, and for all its madness Painswick always makes me happy, but my favourite probably has quite a bit to do with familiarity, as Ben and Rick have suggested.

And so with apologies to Cavendish, Burnham and Brora, its NOTTS GC for me, or Hollinwell as most know it. I was lucky enough to get a few rounds there as a kid and it was a huge step up in quality that really opened my eyes. Even now I am lucky enough to get to play it several times a year, and yet every time I play I always come away with a big smile, and wanting to get back there asap! I also have memories of some great rounds and for caddying for my brother in an Open regional qualifier there, so for all my love of the links, I can't wait to get back up there... on Thursday!!!  

Cheers,

James

[Mark Pearce]

There is only one course I have seen which combines my personally important elements so well:

Beautiful
Challenging, but not so much that a 9 capper can't hit par once in a while
Flat enough to be a GREAT walk, but not so flat as to be boring
A few memorable features
A bit of history
Cool clubhouse
Location in a decent town and close enough to a nice large population centre
Affordable

NORTH BERWICK.  I don't think its the greatest or best course, but its my favourite.  The great thing about this sort of thing is that one can always hope to find a new favourite coruse. 

Ciao   

For most of the same reasons, adding familiarity and atmosphere, Elie.  I must admit, though, that rather to my surprise it was a hard choice between Elie and Ganton, which I suspect Ganton would have won had it not been for location.

[Jamie Barber]

For me it was County Down. Surperb course and setting, played on a warm sunny day and I played pretty well.

Although it shouldn't, the way I play on a given day can have a huge bearing on my feeling for a course. I had a stinker at Conwy and have no desire to go back. Ever.

[Gary Slatter]

Good question and my answers have changed over the years!  I can't pin point just one favourite course but the following are very special:

overall best experience: Ville d'Este near Como, Italy   superb par threes, the one course my wife felt comfortable wearing pearls while she played. I played well in the Italian Open and returned 30 years later, it was still wonderful.

Rest of Europe: Royal County Down, Dornoch, Elie and the Old Course (on Thursdays)   All great fun to play, sad to finish 18, never a dull moment. Carnoustie is the course to play when looking for your game.

Canada: private, St. George's in Toronto, great test of golf with only a few annoying "improvements". Have not played this century though. Capilano in BC is close second. The National in Toronto in the 1980s.

Resort Courses: Banff, Jasper and the Highlands leave you happy to be a golfer and able to play them. Lucayan CC in the Bahamas and Cinamon Hill in Jamaica are also outstanding golfing experiences.

US: Congressional, Maidstone, Cypress were very memorable and pretty hard to beat.

so many courses and so little time left...

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