2009 was a good year for golf by my standards. Other than my usual staple visits such as Beau Desert, Kington & Huntercombe I became re-acquainted with several lovely courses which included Rye, Portrush, Portstewart, St Enodoc, West Cornwall, Little Aston and Formby. Without question the highlight among these wonderful courses was St Enodoc:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,39199.0/. Though I was very impressed by West Cornwall's
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,39193.msg819987/#msg819987 ability to remain very playable despite some harsh wind, a trait which Portrush is sadly lacking. It still remains a mystery to me as to why Portstewart http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40300.0/ and Formby
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,32146.0/ aren't more highly thought of on this site. I would say Rye
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41494.0/ was a very pleasant surprise as it was better than my memory suggested.
I also played at least 12 new courses this year including a few in the Carolinas. I am not sure how that stacks with previous years, but it seemed a lot. Like St Enodoc stood out as the highlight of re-visits, Cavandish
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41162.0/ stood out as a huge surprise. What a superb course and certainly worthy of far more paraise than it receives. The Governors Club in North Carolina was also a surprise. I didn't have high expectations for this Nicklaus design, but there are several very good holes. Yeamans was my first Raynor and there was a lot to like, but I walked away a little unimpressed by the singular green/bunker complexes. Comfortably, the best course on that Carolina trip was The Ocean Course
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,39442.0/ even though I thought there was room for improvement especially on some of the par 4s.
Back in the GB&II got to play several other good, but not outstanding courses for the first time such as Prestbury, Northamptonshire, Sherwood Forest, Bearwood Lakes and Portrush Valley. I spose The Valley
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40282.0/ was my favourite of this lot in which Colt featured heavily. Northamptonshire
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41336.0/ was neat example of early Colt and very difficult to boot.
Surprisingly, in my list of new plays there were a few clunkers which included Weston S Mare, Stratford and Goring & Streatley. Easily, the most disappointing was G&S because it came recommended. That isn't to say there weren't aspects of these courses which weren't good because there were, but they are not worth a car journey.
In the end, the one course I played this year which I would strongly urge other first timers to see is Cavendish. Its worth a detour from the tourista trail.
Anyway, I don't have all that much lined up for next year, so if folks are interested in get togethers at interesting places like Berkshire, Alwoodley, Notts, West Hill etc let me know.
Happy New Year.
Ciao