Worst Routing and Design Ever?

[Pete_Pittock]

There are two four hole and two five hole loops, which would be good for evening and late afternoon usage.

[Tom Yost]

There is a course in Scottsdale where a long, narrow strip of land connects two larger pieces of property. Four holes occupy this corridor that is only wide enough for a single hole, so the holes alternate out and in.  One plays every other hole in between driving past the entire length of the holes being played in the opposite direction.

[Andy Troeger]

I'm surprised Tom didn't mention Ventana Canyon's Canyon course in Tucson with the "map" with instructions on how to get from the 9th green to the 10th tee. If I remember correctly, its over a mile. It sure looks like they built the Mountain Course first then decided they had some land on each side of it so they put the front nine of the canyon on one side and the back nine on the other. There are some pretty good individual holes, but the routing is really choppy.

The strangest routing I've seen though has to go to Ironbridge GC near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The first hole starts off relatively close to the clubhouse, then you take about a 1/2 mile ride through a neighborhood to #2-8 which are generally close together, then back along the same path to #9 which is a short par three that finishes on the other side of the driving range from the clubhouse.

The fun is only beginning, however, as you take a 1 mile ride up a canyon to reach #10 tee and play four holes of mountain golf before heading back down the same path, then turn right and go for a bit to #14, cross a road to get to #16, and return to the clubhouse at #18. I don't know how much walking would be required to play the entire course, but its not for anyone but avid hikers and would have to be a 5+ hour undertaking if one wanted to actually play golf too.

All that said, its got some pretty cool holes and spectacular views. I think the four hole mountain stretch would seem strangely out of place except that the entire course is choppy so in a twisted way that makes it more logical to go way up the mountain to play a few holes before coming back down. I'm not sure how popular this has been, however, since the course is now advertising for public play on their website.

Here's a link to the routing and hole descriptions: http://www.ironbridgeclub.com/golf/thecourse.php 

[Brian Stewart]

There is a course in Scottsdale where a long, narrow strip of land connects two larger pieces of property. Four holes occupy this corridor that is only wide enough for a single hole, so the holes alternate out and in.  One plays every other hole in between driving past the entire length of the holes being played in the opposite direction.

Silverrado?  I know I've played this course at some point but I can't remember which one it is.

[Tom Yost]

There is a course in Scottsdale where a long, narrow strip of land connects two larger pieces of property. Four holes occupy this corridor that is only wide enough for a single hole, so the holes alternate out and in.  One plays every other hole in between driving past the entire length of the holes being played in the opposite direction.

Silverrado?  I know I've played this course at some point but I can't remember which one it is.

Silverado indeed.

[Matt_Ward]

Mike Cirba:

In my opinion -- Bear Brook in Fredon Twsp -- is a close company to the famous (should I say that word) CC of the Poconos.

Might be nice to gather an all-star gathering of such holes and combine them for all-18 routing.

[Tony Ristola]

I think it should be broken into two categories: Residential and core.

For the Core Category, I think Continental Europe is a place that could offer a whole selection of golfstranomic forms of botulism. Pick a developing country and feast yourself on courses built by people who didn't know golf and were built by those who knew even less. There are a couple architects (no names) from one country that destroyed more land than any other architects living or dead, and they were busy beavers to boot!

[Lester George]

Oakwood Country Club ranks hifg in my mind. 

18 holes on less than 80 acres.  Last time I checked...1 on course death and multiple lost eyes.

Lester

[Anton]

Worst design I have played is Stone Harbor.  Just a nightmare!  Worst layout award goes to CC of Poconos for all the reasons the previous posters pointed out.  Im not totally sure that I 'found' 18 holes on that course.  I think the holes were laid out upon close to 20K acres there. 

2 other layouts that I found a bit odd were Lighthouse Sound in OC and White Clay Creek in Delaware.  Both def require carts to get around.  I understand with Lighthouse that they were trying to utilize the waterfront property to its fullest but man is it ever a difficult track to follow.  You end up every which where!  White Clay Creek winds all around marshlands and has tons of forced carries and tight corridors to negotiate.  Both are fun courses and decent designs but they just had difficult natural terrain to work around. 

[Bruce Katona]

Matt: You may be correct, Bear Brook does deserve a hallowed and honored place on this list, but, the combination of the layout, design and disjointed nature of the reverred CC of the Pococos at Big Ridge has not as yet been matched , IMHO.

BK

[Mike Cirba]

Tony,

Agreed with the strange, ungainly routing of White Clay Creek, Lighthouse Sound, and I'll raise you one Broad Run (formerly Tattersall GC) in PA..   

Still, agree with Bruce's response to Matt about Bear Brook.

These aren't anywhere near Country Club of the Poconos at Big Ridge for sheer, sheer wonderment and unmerciful pain quotient. 

[Chris_Blakely]

Tony,

Agreed with the strange, ungainly routing of White Clay Creek, Lighthouse Sound, and I'll raise you one Broad Run (formerly Tattersall GC) in PA..   

Still, agree with Bruce's response to Matt about Bear Brook.

These aren't anywhere near Country Club of the Poconos at Big Ridge for sheer, sheer wonderment and unmerciful pain quotient. 

Mike,

I always kick myself for having not played this course when I lived out there.  I can only hope to play on a swing back through sometime just so I can have a frame of reference!!

Chris

[Mike Cirba]

Chris,

In that regard, it may be a Doak Scale -10, in that it's worth a special trip to see something architecturally unique to the world of golf.  

If you miss even one hole, you've missed something special.  

[Anton]

Mike,

Oh yeah.....Tattersall (Broad Run) by Rees Jones.  That is an odd routing.  I havent played there in a while....not since it changed names.  Did they add houses all over that spread of land?

Another local (NE) layout that is a bit odd is Gary Player's Old York in Chesterfield NJ.  I am not a fan of GP's designs.  I think that most are a bit over done with the bulldozer.    But this course just has a strange set of holes and a couple spots where I was just lost (especially an odd par 3 on the back that was just kinda stuck in a forest next to the rest of the course).  Overall it is an ok course and I should really love the place since i had my wedding reception there.  But it is a quirky golf course that I dont think I could play over and over again. 

[Anton]

BTW Bryan.....that FL course is insane in its routing.  Not an easy walk at all Im sure.  Thanks for that pic.