[Tom Yost]

While the course is not going to make anyone's list of top courses, I was surprised by the quality of Santa Anita, the inexpensive Arcadia CA muni we played as a warmup for the 2009 KP.

No expectations at all going in, I had never read any review of the course, and it certainly doesn't have any sort of pedigree architecturally.  It is a very well done course with interesting greens/surrounds.  A core routing and easily walked.  No frills, but fun golf.

[Gary Slatter]

Downfield in Dundee - we were supposed to play elsewhere and ended up at Downfield.  A very good parkland course indeed, some superb holes.  A James Braid course mostly, very pleasant surprise.  Panmore is a close second, for most punters it is more enjoyable than Carnoustie.

[Richard Choi]

The University of Michigan course.

Easy for me as that is where I learned to play and had no clue on GCA or what to expect. I didn't even know it was a MacKenzie course until much later. I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I should when I played it almost every day either, but I do believe it led me to the path of appreciating quality GCA later in my golfing life.

[Steve Lapper]

A tie:

Moray, Murcar, and Ardglass....all of them last minute trip fillers and all of them charming with architectural interest and sporty playing characterisitics.

The 18th at Moray may well be one of the best par 4 closers in all of the Scottish and Irish Isles.

[JSlonis]

A tie:

Moray, Murcar, and Ardglass....all of them last minute trip fillers and all of them charming with architectural interest and sporty playing characterisitics.

The 18th at Moray may well be one of the best par 4 closers in all of the Scottish and Irish Isles.

Steve,

The 18th at Moray is a cool hole.

Were the jet fighters out for training when you played Moray?  I had heard about them and thought we'd catch a day where they weren't flying, but then on our 8th hole the ground started rumbling and then they there were for the rest of the round.  It amazing how close they fly to the course.  I have a few photos of them buzzing overhead and you can see the pilot in the cockpit.

[Anthony Butler]

Winged Foot East and Quaker Ridge.
Hard to believe two other world-class golf courses lie so closely to one of the top 5 non-seaside courses in the world.

[Tom_Doak]

Mark Arata's mention of Leatherstocking brings back fond memories ... I just drove by it on the way into town and said "What's this?" and went out to play.  (That was while I was still in college, c. 1980.)

The only other course I've ever discovered while just driving past was Harrison Hills in Indiana.  Oh, and Arrowtown ... but I didn't get to play it, because somebody else was driving.

[Tim Nugent]

Wildfire Faldo - wasn't expecting much as a Faldo resort course but liked it so much I played it on a subsequent visit to the Valley.  It all made sense when I found out that Schmidt/Curley actually did the design work.

[Steven Smith]

West Sussex (Pulborough).  Invited down from London 25 years ago for a "social" weekend and found a heathland heaven. the scorecard looked like a joke - par 68 - until I looked more closely at the yardages.  Starts gently then builds and builds.

[Mike Cirba]

Tim Nugent,

I was similarly impressed with Wildfire Faldo.   

Almost the perfect resort course, and a real departure from much of the ofttimes penal desert golf in the area.

[Steve Lapper]

A tie:

Moray, Murcar, and Ardglass....all of them last minute trip fillers and all of them charming with architectural interest and sporty playing characterisitics.

The 18th at Moray may well be one of the best par 4 closers in all of the Scottish and Irish Isles.

Steve,

The 18th at Moray is a cool hole.

Were the jet fighters out for training when you played Moray?  I had heard about them and thought we'd catch a day where they weren't flying, but then on our 8th hole the ground started rumbling and then they there were for the rest of the round.  It amazing how close they fly to the course.  I have a few photos of them buzzing overhead and you can see the pilot in the cockpit.

Jaime,

The RAF was out in force that day (and for the remaining week just over the Firth of Dornoch). I think it was the 14th or 15th hole where the green is literally at the edge of the northern side of the runway? They were screaming overhead and coming one after another. Like your experience, the ground was shaking for us. My partner was wondering whether or not an approach wedge might hit the underbelly of a fighter-bomber? We also could see the pilot and cockpit pretty clearly.

Funny story was that we liked it so much, we went back the next day for a late round and were paired with two fighter jocks who mentioned that they love to buzz the course and request flybys during Tuesday women's am play and try to wave at them. These guys were the English version of Maverick and Goose! We beat them at match play and were annihilated by them on the 19th hole!

[Tim Leahy]

Stone Eagle CC in Palm Desert. Kind of expected another desert style course, but wow! The sight was amazing and it felt like playing a round on the Moon. Kept shaking my head trying imagine designing a course on that sight.

http://www.stoneeagleclub.com/html/flash.html

Also, Salinas Golf & CC outside Monterey, CA. Front side designed by Jack Flemming has a great feel to it with windswept rolling fairways including Cypress trees and changes in elevation including a great drop shot par 3. Didn't expect to enjoy it that much.

http://db.stellamedia.com/dunbar/?flash=travels/clip83

[Brian Laurent]

Maxwelton in Syracuse, IN.

I was not expecting anything aside from your standard small town public course...boy was I wrong.  While speaking with the owner after my round, I found out that it was a William Langford design.  Nothing overly difficult about the course...it's not long, but the green complexes are among my favorite of any public course that I have played and there was only one hole that I would consider to be a "bad" hole (blind tee shot on a par 5, climb to the top of the hill and find a pond right in the middle of the landing area!  ).  I try to play it every time I make a trip to the lake!

[Jerry Kluger]

I greatly anticipated playing Wild Horse but I had not idea what to expect - I wound up with a grin on my face the entire round.

Sea Oaks in NJ was recommended to me by Matt Ward and I really had very little in the way of expectations when I learned ahead of time that it was in a 55 and over community but the course was really good with some very unexpected features including a double green and really good risk/reward holes.   

[Tim Pitner]

Royal Dublin.

It doesn't get much love here (certainly not from Doug Wright) but I played it as a total afterthought; I squeezed it in on an afternoon and took a city bus to play it.  On the way out, through the city, toward the docks, I'm thinking "how the heck can there be a good course here?"  Well, there is.  It's not among Ireland's very finest, but it's a genuine, worthy links.  

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

Omaha CC

This East Coaster (translplanted to SF) thought all things in Nebraka were flat and boring.  WRONG!!!  Lots of elevation change, and the course fits nicely upon the hills and valleys.  Really like what K. Foster did with redo of the course, especially liked the look of the bunkers... basic, roundish well-placed hazards.

[Niall C]

A tie:

Moray, Murcar, and Ardglass....all of them last minute trip fillers and all of them charming with architectural interest and sporty playing characterisitics.

The 18th at Moray may well be one of the best par 4 closers in all of the Scottish and Irish Isles.

Steve

Great answer. I'm proud that people come to visit this wee country just for a game of golf althoguh I do get hacked off, even with the knowledgible crowd you get on here, when they go from Dornock to St Andrews to Muirfield to North Berwick with barely a thought of anything else in between. First visit to the country maybe but surely second time around folks can go off piste a bit. Even living here I come across courses that I've not really heard any vibes about and then I'm surprised at how good they are. The latest is Elgin which is 7 miles from Moray which you mentioned above. Cracking course with a bit og aheathland feel to it.

Niall 

[Dave McCollum]

Old Works in Anaconda, MT

Of course I knew it was a Nicklaus Sig job, but didn’t really expect much more than eye candy.  I was really interested to play it because it was built to cover up a Superfund site and because it might be considered an example of a golf course saving an old dying western mining town.   I was smitten by how fun the golf was, especially the front nine built below the remains of the old smelters.  Associate John Olenoski did a magnificent job with a site out of the Simpsons.

Maybe this has come up in another thread, but for what it’s worth, I don’t know of a more contrasting pair of nearby courses than Old Works and Rock Creek CC (20 miles away near Dear Lodge).  OW was built on one of the largest EPA Superfund sites that had evolved into the toxic town dump; while RCCC sits in its landscape more naturally and beautifully than any modern course that I’ve seen.  Both are great fun to play, but it hard to imagine two more different sites in such close proximity.

[Dan Boerger]

Three come to mind:

1 - Dooks -- Great local flavor, and my expectations were at an all time low on the beat up practice green beforehand.

2 - Tot Hill Farm - The first Strantz I played, and what a fun ride that was.

3 - Yahnundasis - Although I played it decades ago as a youth, playing it last year was like playing it for the first time. Some really special holes out there.

[Jim Franklin]

Northland CC. I had heard nothing on this course and had never been to Minnesota. When I could not play White Bear, it was suggested I try Northland since I was going to play The Quarry at Giants Ridge. Northland was firm, fast, and brown. I loved it.

[Anthony Butler]

Mark Arata's mention of Leatherstocking brings back fond memories ... I just drove by it on the way into town and said "What's this?" and went out to play.  (That was while I was still in college, c. 1980.)

The drive into town for the first time is interesting... you're thinking 100% baseball and you go past the Glimmerglass Opera, that really cool-looking old hotel and Leatherstocking in short order–and quickly realize there's more to Cooperstown than the Hall of Fame.

[Bob Jenkins]

Two courses we stumbled across in a trip to Scotland several years ago. Firstly, Longniddry. I recall no par 5s, some of the few trees we encountered in two weeks on Scottish links and a pretty good layout, although I recall much of the course was on a hillside and not true links.

Secondly, after failing to get onto Western Gailes on the same trip, we went next door to Kilmarnock Barrassie. A very fine links course, super friendly staff and the whole day was a treat.

[Scott McWethy]

For me, it was Kittansett.  I knew some about the course when I headed out east to play it.  Tied it in with The Country Club and thought that would be the real treasure.  Turned out I liked Kittansett much better.  The setting was spectacular and the golf course magnificent.  One of the more strategic courses I've played when it comes to bunkering, and if the wind kicks up a little it can be quite interesting.  A real shot makers course.  I was so engrossed with the thought of playing The Country Club that I didn't expect much and I was really surprised at how wonderful a place Kittansett is.

[Jason Topp]

Western Gailes - we played it at the last minute in 2000 after flying into Glasgow and deciding to try and play golf on the first evening of the trip.  I did not know anything about it other than it was a links course.  It was magical on a beautiful evening.

Pasatiempo - I went there to save money on a trip to Monterrey in 1993.  Boy was I surprised.

It would be tough to have such a surprise now with this website. 

[Ronald Montesano]

Since I modified this, I thought I would repost it later in the thread...

Webhannet in Kennebunk Beach, Maine (http://www.webhannetgolfclub.com/) and Putterham Meadows (which I guess has had a name change...http://www.brooklinegolf.com/) in Brookline, Massachusetts.

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