Best grouping of courses

[Scott Warren]

Just looking at a map of Surrey, and it seems impossible there is a better concentration of golf courses anywhere in such a small area.

In a patch of Surrey/Berkshire countryside measuring 5 miles by 5 miles, there is:

Berkshire Red
Berkshire Blue
Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
Swinley Forest
Wentworth West
Wentworth East
Walton Heath Old
Walton Heath New
Woking
Worplesdon
West Hill
New Zealand

13 of the top 100 courses in GB&I in such a small space... I know Long Island, Monterey and Bandon might have courses that are ranked and rated higher, but that seems to be an unmatchable embarrassment of riches!

[john_stiles]

Agreed.   The area is amazing,  and is is easily a winner given the number in this small area.

Long Island has a greater number but covers a vast area, 1400 sq mi,  by comparison.

Should be a short thread then unless we find out Hugh Wilson routed one of the mentioned courses.

[Mark Pearce]

That's 25 square miles.  How many good courses would there be in a 50 miles long, half mile wide strip of coast in Fife, or even around Liverpool, I wonder?

Off the top of my head:

Old, New, Jubilee, Eden, Castle, Kingsbarns, Balcomie, Craighead, Elie, Lundin, Leven

Hoylake, Wallasey, Formby, Birkdale, Hillside, West Lancs, Southport and Ainsdale

There may be others in those (I don't know whether 50 miles gets you up to Lytham, for instance but suspect it doesn't.

Probably cheating to go with a 50 x 0.5 strip and I'm not sure either has the same sustainable quality of that bit of Surrey (though the highs in each case are higher), but at least it gives us a debate.

[Jason McNamara]

If we're going to get down to that level, we're going to need a more accurate number.  It's really an 8 x 6 mile box for the London courses (8 x 7 if you want to include Worplesdon).  Still, amazing.

A few others to consider:

5 x 3:
Pebble
Cypress
MPCC
Spyglass Hill
Poppy Hills
Spanish Bay
Pacific Grove

7 x 4:
HCEG
Gullane
N Berwick
N Berwick E
Luffness New
Kilspindie
plus the new Renaissance course

5 x 6:
Winged Foot
Quaker Ridge
Wykagyl
Fenway
Century
Apawamis
Fenway

5 x 6  (best challenge!)
Royal Melbourne
Kingston Heath
Victoria
Metro
Capital
Yarra Yarra
Huntingdale
Commonwealth
Victoria

10 x 3
Irvine
Glasgow Gailes
Western Gailes
Troon
Prestwick
Prestwick St. Nick
Dundonald
Kilmarnock

10 x 5:
Minneapolis
Minikahda
Interlachen
Wayzata
Woodhill
Golden Valley
Oak Ridge

4 x 14:
Shoreacres
Onwentsia
Old Elm
Exmoor
Skokie
Glen View

[Tyler Kearns]

The Melbourne Sandbelt offers an impressive list of courses;

Royal Melbourne - East
Royal Melbourne - West
Kingston Heath
Metropolitan
Commonwealth
Yarra Yarra
Victoria
Huntingdale
Woodlands
Peninsula - North
Peninsula - South

Not sure about the quality of Sandhurst, Long Island, Kingswood or Capital, but they may add even more depth to the roster.

TK

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I would think Long Island would be the tops with London circle a close second. However Long Island is seasonal and London while better has issues in that area as well. I think that is why Monterey/SF always seems to get most of the love in this discussion. All of us would be thrilled to have any of them as our playground though.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Oh the Sandbelt, what golf, what women, what a life, WHAT A HUGE FLY that is attacking me.

[Harwell Palmer]

I would suggest the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area:

1. Pinehurst No. 2
2. Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
3. Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood)
4. Forest Creek Golf Club (South)
5. Pinehurst No. 4
6. Pinehurst No. 8
7. Forest Creek Golf Club (North)
8. Country Club of North Carolina (Cardinal)
9. National Golf Club
10. Pinehurst No. 7
11. Mid South Club
12. Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club

[Patrick Kiser]

SF belongs somewhere on this list I'd say...

[Jason McNamara]

I would suggest the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area:

Good call there.  You can add Southern Pines, The Pit, Whispering Woods, and the Plantation, as well as a certain Dormie Club in a box that's 7 x 7.

Personally I'd drop (Pinehurst) National, but that's me.

Nice idea, Dave.
<connery>
"He draws a nice neat tidy quadrilateral around his courses, you draw a meandering piece of a fractal on yours.  That's the Chicago way."
</connery>

[Bill_McBride]

I would push for Fife's coast line as there is such a great concentration of LINKS courses there.

[Kyle Harris]

Huntingdon Valley
Philmont North
Manufacturers
Lulu
North Hills
Sandy Run
Whitemarsh Valley
Philadelphia Cricket Club

[R_Paulis]

The grouping of daily fee favorite courses in my area:

Rustic Canyon
Olivas Links
Soule Park

[Carl Nichols]

Just looking at a map of Surrey, and it seems impossible there is a better concentration of golf courses anywhere in such a small area.

In a patch of Surrey/Berkshire countryside measuring 5 miles by 5 miles, there is:

Berkshire Red
Berkshire Blue
Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
Swinley Forest
Wentworth West
Wentworth East
Walton Heath Old
Walton Heath New
Woking
Worplesdon
West Hill
New Zealand

13 of the top 100 courses in GB&I in such a small space... I know Long Island, Monterey and Bandon might have courses that are ranked and rated higher, but that seems to be an unmatchable embarrassment of riches!

What are the (unaccompanied) visitors' fees at these courses? 

[Jason McNamara]

Btw, Walton Heath needs to be dropped from this list, as it considerably expands the area.  St. George's Hill is much closer, though still outside the original box....

As for the original area, it does include West Hill, Foxhills, Camberley Heath, and West Byfleet.

[Michael Whitaker]

"What are the (unaccompanied) visitors' fees at these courses?"

OK... one of you spreadsheet whizkids should do a "bang for your buck" comparision on these 5x5 course lineups. It could be a great marketing story for the area that offers the best overall value.

[Mark_F]

Not sure about the quality of Sandhurst, Long Island, Kingswood or Capital, but they may add even more depth to the roster.

TK

Tyler,

They lower the roster, quite substantially, especially one of them...

[David Kelly]

The grouping of daily fee favorite courses in my area:
Rustic Canyon
Olivas Links
Soule Park

That is stretching it quite a bit. Rustic is 33 miles from Soule Park and about 25 from Olivas.  Quite a bit of a difference from the Sandbelt where you can probably walk from Yarra Yarra to Commonwealth to Huntingdale to Metropolitan and again from RMW to RME to Victoria.

[Jason McNamara]

"What are the (unaccompanied) visitors' fees at these courses?"

OK... one of you spreadsheet whizkids should do a "bang for your buck" comparision on these 5x5 course lineups. It could be a great marketing story for the area that offers the best overall value.

Wentworth - West   285    
Wentworth - East   130
Sunningdale (day)   235
Berkshire (day)      120
Foxhills               95
Swinley Forest      65
Woking               55
Worplesdon         60
West Hill            45
New Zealand         55
West Byfleet         35
Camberley Heath      50

That's 1230 pounds, as of a couple years ago (highest rate assumed), so a shade over $2K - about $145 each for 14 courses.

Not that I think these groupings are competing mostly on price!  Though the E. Lothian group would come in substantially less than 100 pounds each.

[Scott Coan]

Pretty good stretch of tracks here, with champs ranging from Walter Hagen & Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods...

[Patrick_Mucci]

Scott,

In terms of a "tight" grouping, nothing beats Sebonack, National, Shinnecock and Southampton, which are contiguous/adjacent to one another.

[Kevin Pallier]

5 x 6  (best challenge!)
Royal Melbourne
Kingston Heath
Victoria
Metro
Capital
Yarra Yarra
Huntingdale
Commonwealth
Victoria

Jason - one has to add Woodlands in that list (have not seen Capital to comment)

Scott - of all those courses you mentioned in post #1 (I have not seen NZ) but between Summers in two hemispheres from what I've seen you easily flop between it and the Sandbelt and you would have one happy time.

[noonan]

Scott,

In terms of a "tight" grouping, nothing beats Sebonack, National, Shinnecock and Southampton, which are contiguous/adjacent to one another.

Not as good but.....NCR and Moraine touching have both held majors. Dayton, OH

[Matt_Cohn]

Scott where is that?

[Jason McNamara]

Jason - one has to add Woodlands in that list (have not seen Capital to comment)

Kevin, I only left it out because it's another couple miles outside the (admittedly arbitrary*) box, sort of like St. George's Hill.  Certainly not a knock on its quality.

For those wondering about Lancashire, the 50-mile box (4 x 12) includes Birkdale, S&A, Hillside, Formby, West Lancs, and Hesketh.

Pat, they aren't quite contiguous, but another good tight foursome (say, 3 sq mi total) is The Alwoodley/Sand Moor/Moortown/Headingley


* Scott's original box was about 50 sq mi., so I stuck with that.