Nominations for the "Goodale 30 Funkiest"

[James Bennett]

Lakeside in LA?  There are some funky elements there.  Good funky though.

[Tom_Doak]

I'll second Prestwick, Devil's Paintbrush (even though I only saw it half finished), and especially Nefyn & District, which is almost as funky as Painswick is.

Cullen, in the north of Scotland, is another must-include.

[Brad Tufts]

Couldn't resist looking this up after the shoutout on the Shiskine thread....here's my New England division, where there are SO many candiates for this...

Northeast Harbor, ME...5600 yards of coolness, very old-school.

Cape Arundel's greens.

Va-Jo-Wa Golf Course in Aroostook County, ME

Hanover CC, NH...some wacky shots mainly surrounding the gully that passes through the course.

President's in Quincy, MA

[Gib_Papazian]

I shall steel myself for the vicious beating I'm certain to absorb after this post, but the pursuit of truth (my truth) is always my highest objective.

Pacific Dunes warrants inclusion on the list for its eccentric routing with only two par-4's on the back nine. There, I said it. Let the accusations of heresy commence.

Bodega Harbour GL certainly deserves a mention in the top 20 at least. The front nine is a nutty climb into the mountain fog, followed by a terrifying luge ride down narrow chutes, delivering the same kind of nausea-inducing sensation as that split second transition between the top of the roller coaster track and projectile vomiting. 

[Tom Huckaby]

Gib - nah, I doubt you receive any beating for that - the eccentricity of the routing at PD has been mentioned many times in here.  Most would agree with you.. but again most do see this as a GOOD thing. 

And right on re Bodega as well.

[Will MacEwen]

I shall steel myself for the vicious beating I'm certain to absorb after this post, but the pursuit of truth (my truth) is always my highest objective.

Pacific Dunes warrants inclusion on the list for its eccentric routing with only two par-4's on the back nine. There, I said it. Let the accusations of heresy commence.

The funny thing - to me - is that I didn't notice the eccentric routing as I played - it was only afterward, looking over the card in the pub.  I guess that means it works for me.  I think that was when I first tweaked to the idea that 36-36 two 3s/5s on each side was not the rigid standard.

It probably helps that I score best on 3s and 5s so an absence of 4s isn't going to be something that concerns me.

[Doug Wright]

As Slag Bandoon will recall, The Mad Russian in Milliken, Colorado is one funky course. Designed by a farmer (The Mad Russian himself) who owned the property, nearly every par 4 is driveable, many crossing fairways and greens the size and shape of VW bug roofs. Positively Painswickian!

I'd also nominate Dooks.

[Gib_Papazian]

Will,

I take your post to disclose that (a.) the pin was on the lower green at #9 and (b.) the wind was not blowing off the water.

The idea of standing on the lower back tee and trying to thread a three wood through that gun barrel into the teeth of the wind gives me shivers. After tapping in your hard fought double bogey, Doak rewards you with a four-iron to a thimble of sand and dirt clinging precariously to the edge of perdition.

I've not quite been able to muster the courage to start the ball towards Japan and hope it finds its way back to America. 

[Bill_McBride]

What's the little old nine hole course on the north end of Lake Otsego (Cooperstown is on the south end)?  I took my son out there to play years ago when we spent a  week in Cooperstown, after finding out how much it would cost the two of us to play the Leatherstocking course. 

Now I remember - it's Otsego Golf Club.

This little antique course was fun to play and really was a 19th Century golf course.  The funk was prevalent and pervasive.

[Anthony Gray]

  Only two par 4's at Pac Dunes is easy to overlook because the course does not play as two seperate 9's. It does not return to the clubhouse at 9 and the back to back 3's are at the ocean which gets your attention.

  Anthony

[Will MacEwen]

Will,

I take your post to disclose that (a.) the pin was on the lower green at #9 and (b.) the wind was not blowing off the water.

The idea of standing on the lower back tee and trying to thread a three wood through that gun barrel into the teeth of the wind gives me shivers. After tapping in your hard fought double bogey, Doak rewards you with a four-iron to a thimble of sand and dirt clinging precariously to the edge of perdition.

I've not quite been able to muster the courage to start the ball towards Japan and hope it finds its way back to America. 

Gib,

The more I think about it, the conditions were tough and the course may have beaten me up to a point where I didn't really care what the pars were.  I almost always catch 9 with the high green, and almost always botch it.

[John Foley]

Little Marion in Marion MA - on the road to Kittansett - stone walls - crowned greens - Capt Thomas first endeavour.

Great way to spend a summer evening chasing daylight.

Bill - Otsega is pretty cool -

Gib - good to see you back.

[Carl Nichols]

I'll second Hanover CC, although it doesn't have the ski jump anymore.   

[David_Tepper]

Gib & other Nor Cal Golfers -

I would certainly consider De Laveaga, the muni in Santa Cruz, to be a contender for a funkiest list. The course used to be a par-72, measure less than 6,000 yards and have a slope over 130. There are red and/or white stakes VERY much in play on every hole.

I see the course is now a par-70, but the slopes from both the blue & white tees are still over 130. Distance from the blues is 6,100 yards and, from the whites, it is still under 5,800 yards.

DT 

[Tom Huckaby]

David - Delaveaga remains deliciously funky.  But it's positively normal compared to Spring Hills in Watsonville... that place is absoutely funkadelic.

 

[Ben Sims]

Nice NorCal collection here guys.  Makes me want to move back.

I second--or third--the opinion on PD.  Awesome that it's not apparent until you look back at the card.  7 two shotters on the front, 2 on the back.  Back to back par 3's to start the home nine.  Alternating greens on one hole.  40 foot tall dunes framing a couple holes.  A 440 yard par 4 that plays like 550 (number 13).  A 540 yard par 5 that can play 450 (number 15).  Quirky indeed.  And the best public golf course in the country.

Bodega is very quirky.  And, IMO, the worst excuse for a links course on the West Coast.  Houses encroach, a par 5 that requires a mid iron off the tee and then a fairway wood to the layup area.  Bunkers in front of greens that prevent ground game that it suggests by even calling itself links.  Don't even bring up the 16-18 stretch, which might be the worst stretch of three holes in the Bay Area.  They are proof that just being on the ocean isn't enough to make a course good.

De Laveaga was an interesting comparison to it's neighbor Pasatiempo in the same weekend.  I actually thought it was one of the cooler muni's I have ever played.  In fact, I think a great way to spend my retirement would be to have a share at Pasatiempo and play there during the week, and letting the daily fee players have it on the weekend while I go hit quirky De La.