Kinloch----real-life Doak rating needed

[Lester George]

Tom Doak,

You have an open invitation to play Kinloch....I know a member.  

However you want to evaluate it is up to you, including not at all if you don't want to.  Personally, I never go to play a golf course that is new to me with any kind of "rating" in mind.  Maybe we all look at them differently, but I am sure I try to discover the feeling of the place and it's relationship to natural ground before I start "rating" it in my mind against others I have played.

Since I haven't published my book yet I don't know what comes along with having a "George" scale, but I hope it wouldn't corral my thoughts one way or another.  

Lester

[Lester George]

Jud,

None taken.  Have you played Kinloch?  If not, maybe you should.  You might then include it as one of the "deserving".

Lester

[Jud_T]

I haven't, and it sounds like it's worth the effort.  My sister lives in the general vicinity so hopefully I'll get out there one of these days!

[Jeff_Brauer]

Mike N,

I think I need to revise my math for the 10-80-10 bell curve.  There are 17,000 courses in 39 categories, (10 to presumably -10 in .5 increments, if a 1 is really a 5 and since many courses get rated as, say .5) or 435 per categoy.  

If the Bell Curve played out in the Doak Scale) there would be 870 courses ranked as 10,9.5,9 or 8.5.  I am not sure there are that many courses worth driving out of your way to play, but I also think the numbr is higher than your 70!

[Ken Fry]

Jesus guys, a little levity...

Scales and ratings are subjective and people are splitting hairs.  Is Kinloch good enough to get on a plane and go play it?  Can you afford the money and time?  Then do it.  If I had a little more of both, I'd jump on the opportunity.

A good friend of mine has traveled to and played some great golf courses over the last 5 years:  Cypress Point, Crystal Downs, Sand Hills, Prairie Dunes, etc.  He'd say "go" if you get the opportunity to play any of them however you can.  He's also single with the flexibility to travel.

Last year I played some noteable courses:  Crystal Downs, Kingsley Club, Pilgrim's Run, The Mines, Lost Dunes, Aracadia Bluffs, Tullymore, Irish Course at Whistling Straits, Warren Course at Notre Dame and Sycamore Hills and toured Ballyhack.  For me, this is an impressive list given the constraints on time and money a young family demands.  I'd recommend any of those courses as worthy to travel to and play.

Most courses on any of the lists we discuss here are worth visiting at least once for if nothing else to come away with an experience you didn't have before you arrived.

Ken

[John Mayhugh]

There is, of course, no real Doak rating for the course because I have not been there, and no one else in my family rates golf courses.

If 1948 Heisman Award winner Doak Walker rated golf courses, would this be considered a legitimate Doak rating?

Great question, John.  This has to make it back up to the top. 

I think a first name Doak carries a bit less gravitas.

[Jud_T]

how about one of these Doaks:

http://www.wwdoak.com/adobe/doakfolk.pdf

 

[Mike Nuzzo]

Mike,

As you may recall, TD sort of covered his behind by stating that since he wouldn't go to see a below average course, a 1 was really a 5, a 2 was a 5.5, etc. As a result, your totals should only come up to about 8500 courses.

According to the confidential guide: a 3 is average - mean - median -- whatever

Lester congratulations
It is a very cool course

[Lester George]

\Thanks Mike, kind of you to say.  Hope you are busy.

Lester

[Sean Leary]

I can't think of a modern parkland course that I would travel to play ahead of Kinloch.

(edit. I have not played it)

[Wade Whitehead]

Kinloch is simply fantastic in every regard.  As Sean says, there isn't a better modern parkland golf course.

Make any available effort to play it.

WW

[John Kirk]

I'm biased, too, but on the unnamed 10 point logarithmic scale, it's a 7 or 8, clearly better than your typical championship golf course.

John - Using your scaling system a log 7 of 10 means there are 1000 better courses than Kinloch.  Using an 8 there are 100 better.

Hi Jonathan,

Remember that the logarithmic scale can be applied using different bases.  You are assuming a base 10 logarithm.

[Jordan Wall]

I've heard lots of great things about Kinloch from people.  If I had the time and money, and the invitation, I would do the trip.

[Brad Wilbur]

Thanks for all the comments.  Our trip last fall was delayed because of the inherent difficulty of getting three schedules to coincide.  This fall may be our best option (during overseeding here in Las Vegas).  Somehow, my first trip to Scotland in May-June of this year takes precedence!!  From what i have gathered, the course is worth the trip, plus the experience there is equal to the course (this does help for the golfers who aren't as concerned about the difference between a Redan and a Biarritz.

[Jonathan Cummings]

John - that's one of the more funny (and ridiculous) responses I've heard.  I'm a research engineer and know well mathematical bases for logrithms.  Were you impling a base 9, base 8, base 7.46532, base e???  Of course not, you were using a classic Richter Scale based on 10 where each unti of increase is equivalent to an increase in order of magnitude.  Anything else implied would be ludicrous.

JC

[Jim Nugent]

John - that's one of the more funny (and ridiculous) responses I've heard.  I'm a research engineer and know well mathematical bases for logrithms.  Were you impling a base 9, base 8, base 7.46532, base e???  Of course not, you were using a classic Richter Scale based on 10 where each unti of increase is equivalent to an increase in order of magnitude.  Anything else implied would be ludicrous.

JC

So Jonathan, do you think John was saying 100,000 courses are better than the Doak 5's?  A million better than the Doak 4's?   

I think the ludicrous part is to assume John meant a true base ten logarithm.  He called it an "unnamed logarithmic scale."  Which it would have to be, considerning there are only around 26,000 courses in the world, and Doak has given more than ten courses a ten.   

[Carl Nichols]

If I had the time and money, and the invitation, I would do the trip.

Indeed.  But assuming you don't have unlimited amounts of time or money, how much would you spend on Kinloch?  I really like it, but I wouldn't make a cross-country trip to play only it -- but I'd definitely make a cross-country trip to play 4 courses with Kinloch as the #1 seed.