"Easiest" GREAT courses...

[Gary Slatter]

while non are easy for me anymore, more people play to their handicap on the OLD COURSE than any other - at least that's what they always said as they took my money.  We also heard this from the Perry Golfer types too - it might be because you never get to play from the regular tees upon which the ratings must be based. 

some have mentioned Pinehurst #2, I agree that for average players it is easier than expected.

whatever course Ray Romano breaks 80 on..

[Carl Johnson]

I also have a fairly short list of "great" courses to compare with. Just to take a stab, here are courses I've played which are notable for either hosting PGA Tour events or major champinships or are simply "great" by general acclaim. I will list them in descending order of the difficulty they posed for my game, mostly during a single round of play.

1) Royal Dornoch

2) The Ocean Course

T3) Spyglass Hill
T3) Royal Birkdale

5) Cypress Point Club

Among those the three last are far from "easy" courses but for all three I have certainly played tougher courses that weren't great or notable in any way, just tougher. At the top of the list I did have one decent round at RDGC out of four attempts but even that was played very well yet resulted in a score ten or more strokes above my handicap.

I fully expect Royal St. George's next week to shoulder aside Royal Dornoch on that scale. But as you can see, my commendation of Cypress Point Club on this thread is highly suspect due to limited candidates for comparison.

Brent, do you mean that of the five courses in your list above, you found Royal Dornoch to be the easiest?  My handicap is about the same as yours.  I've played Dornoch a couple of times and found it to be fairly difficult for me.  Given access issues to great courses in the U.S., I've got more experience on great courses in Scotland than here in the homeland.  One I found to be surprisingly easy, but fun, was Turnberry Ailsa, played on a calm, clear day with the temp at about 68F and from a relatively short set of tees.

[Tim Bert]

I also have a fairly short list of "great" courses to compare with. Just to take a stab, here are courses I've played which are notable for either hosting PGA Tour events or major champinships or are simply "great" by general acclaim. I will list them in descending order of the difficulty they posed for my game, mostly during a single round of play.

1) Royal Dornoch

2) The Ocean Course

T3) Spyglass Hill
T3) Royal Birkdale

5) Cypress Point Club

Among those the three last are far from "easy" courses but for all three I have certainly played tougher courses that weren't great or notable in any way, just tougher. At the top of the list I did have one decent round at RDGC out of four attempts but even that was played very well yet resulted in a score ten or more strokes above my handicap.

I fully expect Royal St. George's next week to shoulder aside Royal Dornoch on that scale. But as you can see, my commendation of Cypress Point Club on this thread is highly suspect due to limited candidates for comparison.

Brent, do you mean that of the five courses in your list above, you found Royal Dornoch to be the easiest?  My handicap is about the same as yours.  I've played Dornoch a couple of times and found it to be fairly difficult for me.  Given access issues to great courses in the U.S., I've got more experience on great courses in Scotland than here in the homeland.  One I found to be surprisingly easy, but fun, was Turnberry Ailsa, played on a calm, clear day with the temp at about 68F and from a relatively short set of tees.

He listed them from most difficult to easiest, so he is saying Dornoch was the most challenging for him.

[Brent Hutto]

Dornoch was definitely the hardest of them for me. With 20mph+ wind almost any course is hard so the first day when Mike Whitaker and I each shot a million I figured it was the conditions. In better weather later Mike's score probably improved a stroke a hole, mine did not! And in utterly benign conditions during my last round there a few days later, Bill McBride and I were both hitting it pretty solidly. He scored pretty well (but not lights out) but I still could not find a way to make more than a few pars. It's a tough course.

None of the others I listed are really in that same league, not even the Ocean Course although I must admit that there's more flexibility for moving forward there (which I took advantage of) than on a course with a single set of visitors tees like Royal Dornoch.

[Mike_Clayton]

The West Course at Royal Melbourne at its advertised par of 72 and 3 par fives under 500 yards is the 'easiest' course in Australia to break par.
It is bt far the easiest great course I have played - although the 1990 Open at St Andrews where there was barely any wind for four days was not too difficult.

[Chip Gaskins]

Mike

Did Faldo shot like 20 under that year?  Does anyone remember if the R&A was upset at that score?

[Scott Warren]

Chip, Faldo shot -18 and beat Payne Stewart and one of the African guys (was it McNulty?) by 5.

[Philippe Binette]

Royal Melbourne West (not the composite)... with 4 par 5's under 500 yards, on a firm and fast course, that's almost 3 - 4 free birdies for an elite player on his game... it's a potentially scoreable course... is it easy

[Tim Gavrich]

I'd have to nominate TOC as the relatively easiest great course I've played.  Now, I'd probably say differently if I had played from further than 6,100 yards, but that was the yardage where all guests had to play from that day.

[Phil_the_Author]

Considering many of the courses named so far, is it possible that "Resistance to Scoring" is not as important a standard in defining greatness as some of the magazine rating standards insist?

[Doug Bolls]

Boy, do I disagree about the Old Course being EASY - I have played it 5 times (once reverse) - never did I find it EASY.  The gorse is always in play, the wind is always in your face, the greens are always BIG (and I usually hit to the wrong flag! ).  I never could figure out the quirky bounces or how to stay away from the bunkers.
I'm not sure about the easiest "great courses" - the very idea of them being great may mean they can't be easy.  There is nothing on the "great" list that I would consider easy.

[Jason Topp]

Lahinch in a breeze can be difficult.

I consider it one of the more difficult courses I have played.  We played in strong winds.

[Andy Troeger]

I don't think I've ever seen a great course that was truly "easy." However, places like Shoreacres, Valley Club of Montecito, and probably even Cypress Point certainly go a little easier on the golfer than a number of "championship" layouts.

[jeffwarne]

Phil:

There are some people who discount a course from greatness if it could not host a championship and keep the scores from getting too low ... although, the real truth on that score is that very few courses would qualify under that standard, and most of ones that did are so hard that nobody enjoys them.

Here are a few courses which I think are great, but have heard people dismiss as being too easy:

1.  North Berwick
2.  National Golf Links of America - which I've heard dismissed as "too easy" by everyone from Shinnecock fans to Jack Nicklaus and associates
3.  Royal Dornoch
4.  Lahinch
5.  Pacific Dunes
6.  Ballyneal


I do not mind one of my best courses being at the bottom of this particular list.

That's pretty good company!
I would agree that North Berwick and NGLA are easier than many of the great/famous courses, but not too easy-just the right amount of fun, strategic, interesting, scenic, and playabe i.e. they can be enjoyed on a day when one is not playing their best (and who is 90% of the time)

[Paul Nash]

I thought the old course was easy in comparison to other links I have played - Porthcawl for instance was far more dificult. As ever, wind can totally change things although the old was not totally benign when I played it and, admitedly, it was blowing a hooley in Wales! I shot about 5 under handicap on the old even after a poor last 8 holes - I think Burnham was the only other links I have broken handicap but that certainly seemed a harder course than the old. There are some very easy par 4s on the old.

[Sean_A]

To me, of the courses I like a load and think are great, the easiest are

St Enodoc
Prestwick
Woking
Woodhall Spa
St Georges Hill
Formby
Birkdale
Swinley Forest
Sunny New
Dornoch

Being relatively easy imo is an asset for these courses.  The critical balance of challenge and fun is about as good as it gets for courses that are so famous and for so long.

Ciao
 

[Phil McDade]

Sean:

Two questions:

-- Pennard is harder than all on your list? Interesting -- from your many pictures, I've always viewed Pennard as perhaps more "playable" than pics I've seen of some of the others...

-- Three guys I ran into a decade ago in Scotland had just come off playing Prestwick, and said it was the most confusing course they'd ever played, and thus very difficult to figure out. Confusing, as in -- blindness, odd directions, not being able to discern aiming points or yardages. These weren't stuffy guys used to RTJ Sr. stuff -- they loved Western Gailes and Machrihanish, but though Prestwick kind of goofy hard.

[Sean_A]

Sean:

Two questions:

-- Pennard is harder than all on your list? Interesting -- from your many pictures, I've always viewed Pennard as perhaps more "playable" than pics I've seen of some of the others...

-- Three guys I ran into a decade ago in Scotland had just come off playing Prestwick, and said it was the most confusing course they'd ever played, and thus very difficult to figure out. Confusing, as in -- blindness, odd directions, not being able to discern aiming points or yardages. These weren't stuffy guys used to RTJ Sr. stuff -- they loved Western Gailes and Machrihanish, but though Prestwick kind of goofy hard.

Phil

I love Pennard and respect it more than practically every course I have seen, but when I think of greatness I do think of some concensus on the grouping and for too many people Pennard isn't great.  To me, when the animals are allowed to keep the rough down, Pennard is one of the ultimate expressions of very playable, but still thought provoking, challenging and beguiling.  I have long trusted the opinions more of those who think Pennard is great and will continue to do so in the future.

Ciao

[Ian Andrew]

These are the courses where I felt more comfortable:
(Are they easy? I don't think so - but I didn't feel the same pressure that I did feel at the others on the top 100.)

2 Cypress Point Alister Mackenzie, 1928 Pebble Beach, Calif. US
4 St. Andrews (Old Course) Nature, St Andrews Scotland
12 National Golf Links of America C.B. Macdonald, 1911 Southampton, N.Y. US
14 Royal Melbourne (West) Alister Mackenzie, 1926 Melbourne Australia
15 Royal Dornoch Old Tom Morris, 1886 Dornoch Scotland
16 Pacific Dunes Tom Doak, 2001 Bandon, Ore. US
26 San Francisco A. W. Tillinghast, 1918 San Francisco, Calif. US 62.14
29 Royal Birkdale George Lowe Jr., 1889 Fred Hawtree, 1932 Southport England 60.5
30 Riviera George C. Thomas, Jr., Bill Bell Sr., 1926 Pacific Palisades, Calif. US
33 Sunningdale (Old) Willie Park Jr., 1901 H.S. Colt, 1922 Sunningdale England
58 Bandon Dunes David McLay Kidd, 1999 Bandon, Ore. US
61 Kingsbarns Kyle Phillips, 1999 St. Andrews Scotland 48.87
72 Royal Adelaide Alister MacKenzie, 1926 Adelaide Australia
77 Chambers Bay Robert Trent Jones II, 2007 University Place, Wash. US
93 North Berwick (West) David Strath, 1878 North Berwick Scotland

[Tom_Doak]

Another one for that list is Chicago Golf Club.  The first three holes generally dissuade people from saying it is easy, but I have generally been able to post a good score there without too much trouble.

[Chuck Brown]

I particularly like Tom's nominees.  And, although I wouldn't ever put Pinehurst No. 2 on any kind of "easy" list, it nevertheless serves to prove this point: that the two essential features that almost every course mentioned thus far are these --

1.  Modest length, with lots of around-the-green interest.  

2.  No lost golf balls.  (No big forced carries, no relentlessly-surrounding woods, not a lot of water in play.)

(Pinehurst's length alone would take it off any "easy" lists in my book!  But it has the around-the-green interest, and it has the big expanses of pine barrens -- it is hard to think of how anybody might lose a golf ball on Number 2...)

Tom, how much do you think of lost ball problems in terms of slowing up play, etc.?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

NGLA and Shoreacres.  I think they are both fairly easy and they are two of my favorites as well.

[Mike Hendren]

"Easy" is  easily confused with "accomodating."  I don't believe they're the same thing.

Take Ballyneal. It's infininitely accomodating - I only recall missing one fairway, hit all par threes and was never in serious trouble but didn't break 80. 

I did not play well at National Golf Links of America, but found it very accomodating but not inherently easy. 

Cypress Point has to be a front-runner.  I did not play well there but still shot 85.  IMHO it has the easiest set of par fives of any great course in the country and with the exception of the 16th, I didn't consider any hole to be difficult. 

Mike

 

[Robert Emmons]

Another course i would add is Augusta National...played from the members tees with the non tournament green speeds it is very playable...fun too...RHE

[Dan Moore]

Swinley Forest, Portmarnock and Sunningdale Old would qualify in my book.