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Tiger_Bernhardt

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Best entrances to a Club.
« on: May 26, 2012, 10:12:19 PM »
I have always loved driving into any of the clubs I have been a Member at. There is something special about the arrival at a golf club. I have been thinking about the best of the best. I must confess given my southern roots and west coast mindset the last place you would expect me to call the best of the best is The National golf Links of America. I mean that drive down the hill and you first see the windmill and then turn in the gate well you know you are somewhere very special indeed. I always had Cypress in that club. The drive down John Daley where one turns onto the ocean road and then into the Olympic gates is at the top of the world  places  too. As soon as I left the gate house at Mountain Lake in incredible. The drive into MPCC is something else for me. I love to see Champions on the right as I scan for a parking place after seeing 17 and 18 on jack. My home course in Lafayette is weak but seeing the driving range and parking lot with 1 in the background still make the juices flow. It all started as a child at Bayou DeSaird Cc in Monroe.  One rides down a beautiful bayou then crosses a bridge to turn into the parking lot. The 10th hole on my right and by then, I was so ready for golf I would bust with excitement just to be there.  Some of the kids would drive their boats to play. what a great way to arrive. What is your favorite entrance to a golf club.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2012, 01:46:28 AM by Tiger_Bernhardt »
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Malcolm Mckinnon

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2012, 10:20:56 PM »
How about the drive into Myopia Hunt with the polo fields on the right and the huge mature trees lining the half mile in to the clubhouse.

Aaahh!

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Ash Towe

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2012, 10:22:41 PM »
The drive to Cape Kidnappers takes some beating.  It's quite a way from the entrance to the clubhouse and is a magnificent feat of engineering in its own right.  However the scenery starts after a while and you see the course and the farm and this wets the appetite for what is to come.
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Malcolm Mckinnon

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2012, 10:30:01 PM »
Another joy is passing through the attended gatehouse that subliminally says "get lost ye unworthy vermin undesirables and don't come back".

Examples:....

Pine Valley
Oyster Harbors
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Michael Whitaker

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2012, 10:32:56 PM »
Ash,

From the simple entrance...



it is quite a journey...


to the simple clubhouse...


the anticipation is palpable!
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"Solving the paradox of proportionality is the heart of golf architecture."  - Tom Doak (11/20/05)

Michael Whitaker

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2012, 10:37:17 PM »
One of my favorite entrances is Yeamans Hall. From the tiny one lane gatehouse opening, followed by driving down the moss draped sand road, crossing over the first fairway where you get a glance at the clubhouse, it is like taking a time machine back 100 years. Magical!
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"Solving the paradox of proportionality is the heart of golf architecture."  - Tom Doak (11/20/05)

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2012, 10:39:49 PM »
The Creek
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Joe Fairey

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2012, 10:42:49 PM »
My favorite....The Honors Course....serene and peaceful.....
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Michael Whitaker

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2012, 11:00:30 PM »
My favorite public course entrance is Caledonia Golf and Fish Club.

The main drive passes between the first and tenth holes under a canopy of live oaks...


at the end of this drive you take a 90 degree turn to the right around the par three ninth hole where you are are greeted by the beautiful main clubhouse...


Wow!


If this entrance doesn't get your heart racing you need to take up tennis!
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"Solving the paradox of proportionality is the heart of golf architecture."  - Tom Doak (11/20/05)

cary lichtenstein

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2012, 11:06:12 PM »
Augusta National is tops in my book
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Live Jupiter, Fl, was  4 handicap, played top 100 US, top 75 World. Great memories, no longer play, 4 back surgeries. I don't miss a lot of things about golf, life is simpler with out it. I miss my 60 degree wedge shots, don't miss nasty weather, icing, back spasms. Last course I played was Augusta

RJ_Daley

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2012, 12:09:42 AM »
Yeamans Hall and New Caledonia Golf and Fish club are dripping w/southern charm.  I loved those. 

But, it is hard to beat Dismal River for a long, desolately beautiful drive that prolongs the anticipation for almost a half hour or so.  And, you have to balance the allure of the long views through the huge sand hills, valleys, and draws, with the fact that the road is about one stage coach wide, or you can drive yourself into a ditch admiring the views. 
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No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Sam Morrow

Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2012, 12:13:38 AM »
Quote from: RJ_Daley on May 27, 2012, 12:09:42 AM
Yeamans Hall and New Caledonia Golf and Fish club are dripping w/southern charm.  I loved those. 

But, it is hard to beat Dismal River for a long, desolately beautiful drive that prolongs the anticipation for almost a half hour or so.  And, you have to balance the allure of the long views through the huge sand hills, valleys, and draws, with the fact that the road is about one stage coach wide, or you can drive yourself into a ditch admiring the views. 

I am looking forward to that one in about a month. My favorite drives in are the places where you know something special is coming but looking around you don't believe it.
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PThomas

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2012, 12:18:33 AM »
Hi Tiger, hope you are feeling better and better!!!

so far not mentioned

The Preserve

Rock Creek

NGLA

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199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

Ronald Montesano

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #13 on: May 27, 2012, 12:50:46 AM »
Coal Car


Coal Tunnel


Waterfall


Clubhouse view from first tee


Pete Dye Golf Club in West Virginia
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Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
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~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

Ash Towe

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2012, 02:15:48 AM »
Michael,
Thanks for the pics.  The worst part about the drive at CK is the amount of time it takes to leave and wondering when you will get back.
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Sean_A

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #15 on: May 27, 2012, 02:28:05 AM »
I kind of like those courses where there is no entrance per se, when you enter the grounds you more or less enter the course.  No fanfare, no gimmicks, the course does all the talking.  TOC and North Berwick come to mind.  

Little Aston has an interesting entrance.  After driving through a busy city and turning into a leafy and exclusive neighbourhood, the club just appears - one would never guess it exists.

Ciao
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New plays planned for 2024:Winterfield, Alnmouth, Camden, Palmetto Bluff Crossroads Course, Colleton River Dye Course  & Old Barnwell

Scott Warren

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #16 on: May 27, 2012, 02:44:58 AM »
Mike Whitaker,

In that case, I'm going to have to ask you to avoid Caledonia -- the last thing we need is your heart racing unnecessarily!

Sean, I agree the "no-entry entry" is great. Dornoch comes to mind. By the time you "enter," you're on the first tee!

I do like an all-of-a-sudden "there it is!" like you get at Fishers Island, where you are driving down a nondescript road, turn a corner and it's all right there on top of you.
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J_ Crisham

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #17 on: May 27, 2012, 09:09:19 AM »
A few of my favorites are Brookline, you feel it is 1900 again, Shoreacres,and simple but special Chicago Golf Club.
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Carson Pilcher

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #18 on: May 27, 2012, 09:51:16 AM »
Quote from: Joe Fairey on May 26, 2012, 10:42:49 PM
My favorite....The Honors Course....serene and peaceful.....

Agreed.  No sign, just natural wildlife.
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Joe Stansell

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #19 on: May 27, 2012, 09:57:51 AM »
Not necessarily my favorite, and probably far from the best, but I would nominate The Coeur d'Alene Resort Course for its "unique" entrance. If you are a guest of the hotel, you will board a wooden power boat and they will take you around Tubbs Hill and arrive at a dock adjacent to the floating green in about 10 minutes or so. On a nice day, the ride and view is great.
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Dan Herrmann

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #20 on: May 27, 2012, 10:03:29 AM »
I'm with RJ - The long (20 miles?), single lane drive to Dismal River is tough to beat.

Pine Valley is unique, though - you need to get across railroad tracks, a police station, and a guard to get to the property.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2012, 10:31:42 AM by Dan Herrmann »
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George Freeman

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #21 on: May 27, 2012, 10:06:50 AM »
Creek Club and NGLA are two of the best I've seen.
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Mayhugh is my hero!!

"I love creating great golf courses.  I love shaping earth...it's a canvas." - Donald J. Trump

Scott Stambaugh

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #22 on: May 27, 2012, 11:35:14 AM »


This is still one of my favorites.  Unique in the fact that you typically have to open/shut the gate to let yourself in/out.  Also, probably zero concern that the word "tresspassing" is misspelled...

Scott
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JMEvensky

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #23 on: May 27, 2012, 12:12:55 PM »
Quote from: Joe Fairey on May 26, 2012, 10:42:49 PM

My favorite....The Honors Course....serene and peaceful.....


Plus,what other club uses a neighbor's propane tank for directions?
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Dan Herrmann

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Re: Best entrances to a Club.
« Reply #24 on: May 27, 2012, 02:58:40 PM »
Scott - Ah yes, another favorite!
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