Bread And Butter Golf Courses

[Mike Hendren]

We're rightly wowed by heaving terrain, vast vistas, rugged bunkers, remote locations and undulating putting surfaces.  Our fancies are tickled by quirk.   We're immensely satisfied by a well prepared prime strip of beef and linger over a tasty blackberry cobbler - so much so that the bread and butter, perhaps prepared by a skillfull Amish artisan, is no more than an afterthought.  

What are a few of your favorite bread and butter golf courses?  Belvedere?  Mid-Pines?  Turtle Point Yacht & Country Club?  Pajaro Valley?  Fircrest?  Memphis CC? Kilspindie?

Mike

[Chip Gaskins]

Wilmington Municipal, Wilmington NC
Crystal Springs, San Mateo, CA
New Bern Country Club, New Bern, NC
Browns Mill Golf Club, Atlanta, GA

[Jud_T]

Shepherd's Crook, Zion, IL

[Eric Smith]

Spanish Wells - HHI, SC

[JC Jones]

You stole my thunder, Bogey.

Belvedere.

[Tom Huckaby]

I disagree with the local NorCal choices so far... Pajaro Valley has greens too brilliant for this; Crystal Springs has scenic beauty people seek out from all parts, and quirk to the max.... a better local choice is indeed my beleagured home course, Santa Teresa... there is nothing obviously great about it, but there's a lot more there than people know... and the more one plays, the more "there" one understands.

Great topic.

[Joel Zuckerman]

Crestview CC in Agawam. MA---a classic Geoff Cornish design from the 1950s

[Bill_McBride]

I disagree with the local NorCal choices so far... Pajaro Valley has greens too brilliant for this; Crystal Springs has scenic beauty people seek out from all parts, and quirk to the max.... a better local choice is indeed my beleagured home course, Santa Teresa... there is nothing obviously great about it, but there's a lot more there than people know... and the more one plays, the more "there" one understands.

Great topic.

And perhaps Poplar Creek?

[Tom_Doak]

Most of my favorites of this type are in Scotland.

Heck, even a course like North Berwick is a bread-and-butter course.  It happens to enjoy a tremendous view, but the guys who laid it out were just trying to get some interesting golf out of the ground; they weren't interested in taking photos of the course to market it.

In fact, not only did they not have golf magazines in those days, they didn't even have CAMERAS yet.

[Carl Nichols]

Simsbury Farms (muni), Simsbury, CT:  good but not great course, interesting mix of holes, nice but not spectacular location, terrific fall foliage, reasonable but not terrific conditioning .... and a great deal.

[PCCraig]

Shepherd's Crook, Zion, IL

Jud...can you explain why you think Shepherd's Crook is a "Bread and Butter" course?


To me "bread and butter" is something that is great in it's blandness. Shepard's Crook (from my memory) is on a bland site but has some bold features. But I could be wrong.

[Jud_T]

Pat,

You're probably right.  It's not a subtle, under-the-radar gem...But it is one of the best muni's in the area if not the country.  Good value and not done by one of the big names usually bandied about here....

[PCCraig]

Pat,

You're probably right.  It's not a subtle, under-the-radar gem...But it is one of the best muni's in the area if not the country.  Good value and not done by one of the big names usually bandied about here....

It's a nice place to play for sure. (Depending on the wind pattern  )

I think a better nearby example of "Bread and Butter" would be Glencoe GC. Best golf course in the area? Nope. Too short for today's golfer? Yep. Some nice holes that are playable by most golfers but still keep the interest of better golfers...all while in low key surroundings? Yep.

IMO Glencoe would remind me more of a place like Mid-Pines than someplace like Shepards Crook, Thunderhawk, or the other 100 North Shore Muni's.

[Jud_T]

Pat,

I would agree that Glencoe is certainly Bread & Butter, but it's certainly not one of my favorites...16 & 17 are problematic IMHO.  Of course for someone who can actually hit their driver straight consistently, it's a fun little course....I've never been able to figure out who actually designed the course...Joe Roseman?

[PCCraig]

Pat,

I would agree that Glencoe is certainly Bread & Butter, but it's certainly not one of my favorites...16 & 17 are problematic IMHO.  Of course for someone who can actually hit their driver straight consistently, it's a fun little course....I've never been able to figure out who actually designed the course...Joe Roseman?

Yep...I agree 16 and 17 aren't great. But I love the 7th, the par-3 with nice bunkering heading back toward the clubhouse, and #1 and esp. #2 are fun holes using that natural ridge coming off Green Bay Road.

Again, not the greatest course, but places like Mid Pines and Glencoe are courses you aren't necessarily "wowed" by, but they never leave you disappointed.

[Sean_A]

Since Bread n Butter is poor boy food I will stick with those outstanding courses which are also very affordable - no that doesn't include £75 North Berwick - far too expensive.  They also need to be just as accessible as bread n butter is in the shop.  Finally, bread n butter has to be a comfortable walking course because bread is flat! 

The first two which come to mind are Kington and Cavendish.  Neither is a great course, but both are great experiences and far better than may meet the eye. 

Strandhill is also fits the bill - its fun, its crazy, its golf.

Others worth mentioning

Musselburgh
Gullane #3
Shiskine
Stonehaven
Leslie Park
Brae Burn

That my first nine.

Ciao

 

[Tom Huckaby]

I disagree with the local NorCal choices so far... Pajaro Valley has greens too brilliant for this; Crystal Springs has scenic beauty people seek out from all parts, and quirk to the max.... a better local choice is indeed my beleagured home course, Santa Teresa... there is nothing obviously great about it, but there's a lot more there than people know... and the more one plays, the more "there" one understands.

Great topic.

And perhaps Poplar Creek?

Interestingly I'd even call that course a bit too flashy for "bread and butter"... it has quite a few bells and whistles as it is now.  But it's close anyway.  To me bread and butter is more Santa Teresa, Palo Alto Muni....

But I may have the concept wrong.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Sean

Have you played the small course called Warkworth Golf Course in the North East near Morpeth & Alnwick (Northumberland Coast)? It was designed and built in 1891 at the same time as The City of Newcastle Course.
See link  http://www.warkworthgolfclub.com/Course.html . It is a 9 hole courses, on my list to play when I can and have has some interesting comments. £15 per round £20 at weekends.

Melvyn

[Anthony Gray]

  Nice thread. I think many of us are jaded.

  ARG

 

[Phil_the_Author]

Red Course at Salisbury Park...

[Brent Hutto]

Granville Golf Course in Granville, OH is my favorite course in that category among the USA courses I've played. It does have one rather spectacularly downhill tee shot but surely we can allow one thrill at the end of a round that is otherwise Bread and Butter...

I'd be interested to see if those who have played at Alwoodley might feel it qualifies. I have a hard time recalling a course that I enjoyed playing (repeatedly) so much without being able to point to any particular aspect that I think would class as thrilling or that makes a casual observer say "Wow". But it does have a nice variety of elevation and contour to work with.

I assume that any course within sight and/or scent of salt water is disqualified from this list.

FWIW my own club has an outstanding Bread and Butter course. Fine routing, some excellent green sites, enough roll in the terrain to add a bit of challenge but basically a place that is thrilling to nobody on first play but immensely satisfying even after 100 or 1,000 rounds.

[Bill_McBride]

Brent, I would agree with both Alwoodley and Columbia CC as "bread and butter" coiurses, but the sheer historical interest of Alwoodley and Mackenzie, plus that second shot on #17    take Alwoodley beyond B&B for me.

[Roger Wolfe]

Glenn Dale Golf Club outside the beltway near Bowie, MD.

Shenandoah Valley Golf Club in Front Royal VA.

Poolesville Golf Club, Poolesville MD.

Meadows Farms Golf Club, Locust Grove, VA.

Four of the golfiest, most "bread and butter" courses I know.

[Brent Hutto]

Ah yes, the seventeenth. On a rainy day I can still feel the effects of the multiple stab wounds on my backside from trying to play a ball that I hit into the whins, right along the brow of the hill. It would have been worth it had I simply made the subsequent shortish putt for par.

[Niall C]

Since Bread n Butter is poor boy food I will stick with those outstanding courses which are also very affordable - no that doesn't include £75 North Berwick - far too expensive.  They also need to be just as accessible as bread n butter is in the shop.  Finally, bread n butter has to be a comfortable walking course.  

The first two which come to mind are Kington and Cavendish.

Strandhill is also fits the bill.

Others worth mentioning

Musselburgh
Gullane #3
Shiskine
Stonehaven
Leslie Park
Brae Burn

That my first nine.

Ciao

  

Sean

Having just played Gullane 3 on Sunday I was reminded how much fun it is even though (or maybe because) its short but it certainly isn't all on the level after all it does play over Gullane hill.

Niall