[Sean Leary]

Sean:

Fair enough ...

suffice to say, I've listed a top 50 metro NY area a short time ago.

My overall listing doesn't vary much from the others who have traveled a good deal.

Although I do have a few surprises ... I'll think about inserting them.

Still waiting.

[John Handley]

1. Royal County Down
2. Cypress Point
3. Muirfield
4. St. Andrews, Old Course
5. Pebble Beach
6. Turnberry Ailsa
7. Royal Portrush
8. Pacific Dunes
9. California Golf Club of San Francisco
10. Pinehurst #2
11. Riviera CC
12. Bandon Dunes
13. Royal Troon (Old)
14. Los Angeles CC (North)
15. Kingsbarns
16. Bandon Trails
17. Loch Lomond
18. San Francisco GC
19. Carnoustie
20. Portmarnock (Old)
21. Olympic Club (Lake Course)
22. Whistling Straits (Straits)
23. Cabo Del Sol (Ocean)
24. Nanea
25. Pumpkin Ridge (Witch Hollow)

Honorable Mentions:
Spyglass Hill
TPC Stadium Course
Blackwolf Run (River Course)
Shadow Creek
Vaquero
Kapalua Plantation
Princeville (Prince Course)
North Berwick
Maidstone
Homestead Cascades
Arcadia Bluffs

[Jeff Spittel]

This is depressing. I need to get out of the office more.

[Phil McDade]

This is depressing. I need to get out of the office more.

Or lower your standards...

[Roger Wolfe]

25 Glenn Dale

All hail mighty Glenn Dale.  Played it 1,000 times in the early 90's.  Loved it and should have put it on my list!  Can you still
hit your tee shot over the driving range on #18?

[Jeff Spittel]

This is depressing. I need to get out of the office more.

Or lower your standards...

I play every weekend thanks to the wonderful winter climate in SE Texas. Not exactly a hot bed of world class tracks though.

[Phil McDade]

This is depressing. I need to get out of the office more.

Or lower your standards...

I play every weekend thanks to the wonderful winter climate in SE Texas. Not exactly a hot bed of world class tracks though.

Jeff:

I'm pretty sure my list has a higher unknown-to-known ratio of any posted on this thread. But I tend to revel in the less-seen, the less-revered, the less-traveled. Listing Pine Valley on this kind of thread is on the order of sun-rising-in-the-East. "Really? I wasn't aware of Pine Valley's virtues as a golf course..."

Tell us about your East Texas courses; I'd love to hear about them. Even played Texarkana? It's a little-known Langford, I believe.

[Jason Topp]

. . .  Even played Texarkana? It's a little-known Langford, I believe.

Phil - I created this thread after I played there

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,17134.msg301447/topicseen/#msg301447

[John Moore II]

ChipRoyce: You have a real good list of courses there, but Pinehurst #1? Given the other really top level courses on your list, can I assume you listing #1 as a top 25 means you haven't played #2?? Because I can't say I'd rate #1 anywhere near #2, and I've played them both.

[Matt MacIver]

Here are mine...loosely grouped...five US privates so not the best list, just the ones that I've played and think IMHO are the best of the bunch and/or I would want to play firstly again:

Kingsbarns (Philips)
Pacific Dunes (Doak)
TOC (nature)
Bandon Trails (Coore & Crenshaw)
Turnberry (MacKenzie, Steele)

Bethpage Black (Tillinghast)
#2 (Ross)
Black Mesa (Spann)
Mid-Pines (Ross)
Prestwick (OTM)

Gleneagles - Kings (Braid)
Musgrove Mill (Palmer/Seay, local)
Pine Needles (Ross)
Tobacco Road (Strantz)
Carnoustie (Braid, OTM, Robertson)

Troon (various)
Ocean Course (Dye)
Mayacama (Nicklaus)
TPC Sawgrass  (Dye)
Harbour Town (Dye)

Bandon Dunes (Kidd)
Cassique (Watson)
Devil's Paintbrush (Hurdzin & Frye)
Quail Hollow (Cobb, Fazio)
Charlotte CC (Ross, Spence)

Just missed:
#4 (Ross)
Western Gailes (Morris et al)
Red Sky - Norman
The River Course (Fazio)
Paa-Ko Ridge (Ken Dye)
Old North State (Fazio)
Bulle Rock (Fazio)
Secession (Dye, Devlin)
Arrowhead (RTJ Jr)
PB Dye (PB Dye)
Paiute - Sun (Dye)

[ChipRoyce]

ChipRoyce: You have a real good list of courses there, but Pinehurst #1? Given the other really top level courses on your list, can I assume you listing #1 as a top 25 means you haven't played #2?? Because I can't say I'd rate #1 anywhere near #2, and I've played them both.

Thanks John for pointing that out - was certainly a typo - meant #2

[Matt_Ward]

Chip:

Curious to know if you have played Shinnecock ... didn't see it listed.

Why the love for Baltusrol ?

Have you played Plainfield or Ridgewood or either of the two at Winged Foot ?

[Sven Nilsen]

First time poster, thought this would be an appropriate way to jump into the mess.

RCD
Ballybunion
Lahinch
Portmarnock
Pebble Beach
Spyglass
Yale
Sleepy Hollow
East Lake
Harbour Town
Butler
Beverly
Skokie
Olympia Fields (North)
Pac Dunes
Bandon Dunes
Bandon Trails
Whistling Straits
Blackwolf Run (River)
The Ocean Course
Erin Hills
Kingsley Club
Wild Horse
Glen Mills
Thunderhawk

Honorable Mention:  Doonbeg, Cog Hill, Arcadia Bluffs, Kiawah River, Warren Course, Lakota Canyon, Bayside, Teddy Rhodes (Nashville)

Would love to be able to add Chicagoland's most exclusive course to the list, but am not quite sure how access to the RJ is obtained.

[Ed Oden]

Matt Ward, why the fixation with Baltusrol?  Is it not reasonable that either or both of the Lower and/or Upper would be on someone's top 25 courses played?  Did you see any list where you felt Baltusrol was grossly misplaced in the context of the other courses listed?

[Steve Lang]

  in no particular order other than temporal

before 2001 (gca.com)

Ottawa Park
Inverness
TOC
Ganton
The Elks at Southern Pines
Pine Needles
Tobacco Road
Black Forest
High Pointe
Oak Tree

post 2001 gca.com
Whispering Pines (Trinity, TX)
Blaketree (when it was sweet)
Black Mesa
Tot Hill
Kingsley
Paa-Ko Ridge
Banff Springs
Jasper
Rustic Canyon
Bakersfield CC
Barona Creek
Greywalls
Champions
Wild Horse
Ballyneal

[Jim Colton]

Sven,
Welcome to the board. Are you referring to Rich Harvest?  I doubt it'd make your top 25.

First time poster, thought this would be an appropriate way to jump into the mess.

RCD
Ballybunion
Lahinch
Portmarnock
Pebble Beach
Spyglass
Yale
Sleepy Hollow
East Lake
Harbour Town
Butler
Beverly
Skokie
Olympia Fields (North)
Pac Dunes
Bandon Dunes
Bandon Trails
Whistling Straits
Blackwolf Run (River)
The Ocean Course
Erin Hills
Kingsley Club
Wild Horse
Glen Mills
Thunderhawk

Honorable Mention:  Doonbeg, Cog Hill, Arcadia Bluffs, Kiawah River, Warren Course, Lakota Canyon, Bayside, Teddy Rhodes (Nashville)

Would love to be able to add Chicagoland's most exclusive course to the list, but am not quite sure how access to the RJ is obtained.

[Sean Leary]

Sven,
Welcome to the board. Are you referring to Rich Harvest?  I doubt it'd make your top 25.

First time poster, thought this would be an appropriate way to jump into the mess.

RCD
Ballybunion
Lahinch
Portmarnock
Pebble Beach
Spyglass
Yale
Sleepy Hollow
East Lake
Harbour Town
Butler
Beverly
Skokie
Olympia Fields (North)
Pac Dunes
Bandon Dunes
Bandon Trails
Whistling Straits
Blackwolf Run (River)
The Ocean Course
Erin Hills
Kingsley Club
Wild Horse
Glen Mills
Thunderhawk

Honorable Mention:  Doonbeg, Cog Hill, Arcadia Bluffs, Kiawah River, Warren Course, Lakota Canyon, Bayside, Teddy Rhodes (Nashville)

Would love to be able to add Chicagoland's most exclusive course to the list, but am not quite sure how access to the RJ is obtained.

The Reverse Jans of course.

Jim did you see that you made Jason Sobels column on ESPN about best courses played in 2009? Assuming you did, but if you didn't.....

[Jim Colton]

Sean,

Ahh. reverse Jans. Completely over my head.

I did see Sobel's column. Pretty cool.

[Kevin Cahoon]

First time poster.

Shore Acres
Prairie Dunes
Muirfield
Old Course
Prestwick
Austin Golf Club
Loch Lomond
Flossmoor Country Club
Bandon Trails
Lawsonia Links Course
Western Gailes
Pacific Dunes
Leven Links
Medinah #3
Bandon Dunes
Harrison Hills
Kittansett
Olympia Fields North
Cumaquid
Blackwolf Run River
Kingsbarns
Royal Troon
Turnberry Ailsa
North Shore CC Glenview IL
The Fort Indianapolis

 

[Sven Nilsen]

Sean,

Ahh. reverse Jans. Completely over my head.

I did see Sobel's column. Pretty cool.

Jim:

Thanks for the welcome.  As Sean deciphered, I was referring to the course in Evanston that appears to be open only one day a year.  Although RHF does appear to be a wonderful course, the RJ may stand alone in the world of golf as a singular experience.

Sven

[Jeff Spittel]

This is depressing. I need to get out of the office more.

Or lower your standards...

I play every weekend thanks to the wonderful winter climate in SE Texas. Not exactly a hot bed of world class tracks though.

Jeff:

I'm pretty sure my list has a higher unknown-to-known ratio of any posted on this thread. But I tend to revel in the less-seen, the less-revered, the less-traveled. Listing Pine Valley on this kind of thread is on the order of sun-rising-in-the-East. "Really? I wasn't aware of Pine Valley's virtues as a golf course..."

Tell us about your East Texas courses; I'd love to hear about them. Even played Texarkana? It's a little-known Langford, I believe.

Phil,

I live in Houston, which has some pretty respectable, under the radar courses. There aren't many golden age designs, but there are some fun tracks.

My home club is BraeBurn, which was originally a Bredemus design. From what I understand, the Carlton Gipson reworked the course fairly dramatically during the 1991 redesign.

Another local favorite is Westwood, which is an amalgam of Bredemus, Plummer and Keith Foster work. Memorial Park is another great place to play and apparently much of Bredemus' original work is fairly intact.

I've never made it up to Texarkana but I've heard good things.

[Mark Chaplin]

Welcome Kevin! I'll be interested to see if your list is different this time next year.

[ChipRoyce]

Chip:

Curious to know if you have played Shinnecock ... didn't see it listed.

Why the love for Baltusrol ?

Have you played Plainfield or Ridgewood or either of the two at Winged Foot ?

Hi Matt;
I marshalled at the '94 open @ Shinnecock, but didn't play it (and left it off the list). Not having played, I don't want to venture a place on the list. As for the 4 courses you listed, no haven't played but would love to. I grew up @ Southward Ho (nice Tillinghast) on Long Island and always enjoyed his designs - wish I saw more of them.
As for Baltusrol - was one of my first GCA tracks - liked it a lot but just doesn't sit as high as some of the others. Are you surprised I have it lower down my list?

[Jud_T]

So when is the much mythologized 2010 RJ Open?

[Kevin Cahoon]

Welcome Kevin! I'll be interested to see if your list is different this time next year.

Mark,

Thanks for the welcome. I am sure my list will look differently in a years time. One of the joys of golf, for me, is exploring an array of courses.

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