The Best Worst Hole

[Jason Thurman]

Which course has it?

I played Pinehurst No. 2 for the first time recently, and it gets my vote. I'm not even sure I can pick a worst hole there.

[JESII]

Pine Valley for me.

Shinnecock is good, I love all their holes but PV's worst (whichever you think it is) is still a great hole.

[Pat Burke]

Which course has it?

I played Pinehurst No. 2 for the first time recently, and it gets my vote. I'm not even sure I can pick a worst hole there.

Royal Melbourne strikes me the same.  Can't remember a hole I thought ughhh

[Jeff_Brauer]

I love the Mel, but thought their famous 6th hole was not great - blind shot, right angle dogleg?  I also was dissapointed in 17 (composite) with it being just too narrow and close to the road to really pull it off.  I would guess you could assign a worst hole to nearly any course.  Starting with the top 25 (golf digest version)

(1) AUGUSTA NATIONAL G.C. - Uphill 17th or 14th.
(2) PINE VALLEY G.C. - Hmm....Maybe the first
(3) SHINNECOCK HILLS G.C. - 6, split fw doesn't work
(4) CYPRESS POINT CLUB - 8 or 9, too short
(5) OAKMONT C.C. - Some of the new Art Hills greens don't fit in (13? the par 3)
(6) PEBBLE BEACH G. LINKS - many non ocean front holes, 15 springs to mind
(7) MERION G.C. (East) - Think 10 shoehorns in awkwardly, but like a similar hole at RM
( WINGED FOOT G.C. (West) - 11th or 12th leave an awkward hanging lie
9.  SAND HILLS G.C. - Hmm, 9 seems awkward dogleg right, fw bunker is a sliver 
10.  NATIONAL G. LINKS OF AMERICA - 1-3 too similar for my tastes
11. FISHERS ISLAND CLUB - Haven't played
12.  CRYSTAL DOWNS C.C. - the 12th, modeled after Melrose with reverse slope green (may be 13, no time to look all these up)
13. SEMINOLE G.C. - Really like course.  Maybe the split fw 14th (?) good concept, too short now.
14. (New) THE ALOTIAN CLUB -Haven't played
15. PACIFIC DUNES - The split fw hole doesn't truly work (9?)
16. THE COUNTRY CLUB (Clyde/Squirrel) Pretty bland all the way around.
T17. CHICAGO G.C. - Thought the fw on 9 was a little too twisty to hit.
T17.  WHISTLING STRAITS (Straits) - the dogleg right fifth (18 green a close second)
19. MUIRFIELD VILLAGE G.C. - first par 3 (4th) just so so haven't seen the changes made since 2004
20. WADE HAMPTON G.C. - Haven't played
21. OAK HILL C.C. (East) - haven't seen it since Ryder Cup, the fazio holes look squeezed in
22.  RIVIERA C.C. - 12
23. MEDINAH C.C. (No. 3) - sharp dogleg 11th
24. OAKLAND HILLS C.C. (South) - like TCC, holes run together for me.  Seems like par 5 7th (8th) had some tee shot issues.
25. PRAIRIE DUNES C.C. - only complaint is 2 and 4 are pretty similar holes.

[Kalen Braley]

Jeff,

8 or 9 at CPC as the "worst holes"??  Surely you jest my man.

I can think of 4 other holes that were "lesser" than those two.

[Mac Plumart]

Can't think of a bad one at Shinnecock or #2.

But per my taste, NGLA has the best worst hole.  I love them all.

[David Bartman]

Jeff,

What don't you like about #12 at Riv?   

[Alex Lagowitz]

for the man who chose sand hills 9th as the worst hole, i say to you its darn good hole, in fact is a great hole.

Sand Hills has to be in the mix for the win here.

[Scott Warren]

Jeff B,

On all counts:

2. PINE VALLEY G.C. - Hmm....Maybe the first
9.  SAND HILLS G.C. - Hmm, 9 seems awkward dogleg right, fw bunker is a sliver  
10.  NATIONAL G. LINKS OF AMERICA - 1-3 too similar for my tastes
25. PRAIRIE DUNES C.C. - only complaint is 2 and 4 are pretty similar holes.

I could not disagree more.

The 1st at PV the worst on the course?

1-3 at NGLA are similar?

2 and 4 at Prairie Dunes are similar?

[David_Elvins]

Jeff,

8 or 9 at CPC as the "worst holes"??  Surely you jest my man.

I can think of 4 other holes that were "lesser" than those two.

I played with a guy a few weeks ago who said "I could quite happily spend the rest of my life playing 8 and 9 at Cypress and no other holes."

[JeffTodd]

IMO, #12 at Pine Valley is far and away the worst hole on the course, and it is a very good hole.

[Alex Miller]

Jeff,

ANGC's 14th has to be one of the great bunkerless holes out there. No way is it even in the bottom half for me!

17, 7, and 4 are the only holes that I less than love there. 7 is my least favorite or weakest.

[Matthew Sander]

I agree with Alex regarding Augusta's 14th. Seeing it in person (that green) was quite a surprise. My candidates for ANGC's weakest link are probably the current iteration of 7 or 17.

[Will Lozier]

Jeff,

ANGC's 14th has to be one of the great bunkerless holes out there.

Ditto Alex!  The hole with the best green on a course with great greens cannot be it's weak link. 

CPC 8 or 9 is nearly as ridiculous!

[Tyler Kearns]

I love the Mel, but thought their famous 6th hole was not great - blind shot, right angle dogleg?  I also was dissapointed in 17 (composite) with it being just too narrow and close to the road to really pull it off.  I would guess you could assign a worst hole to nearly any course.  Starting with the top 25 (golf digest version)

Jeff,

I too was surprised out how sharp the dogleg at #6 on RMW was. The corner bunkering is not really on much of a diagonal to the line from the tee, making the carry a more defined distance and not as strategic a decision.

TK

[John Kirk]

Prairie Dunes is strong in this respect, and I agree with Jeff Brauer that the only weakness is the similarity of #2 and #4.

Ballyneal's weakest hole is #3, and it is a good golf hole.

I played Old Macdonald and Bandon Trails today in calm, cloudy conditions.  The weak holes at OM are #8, #10 and #12.  At BT, they are #1, #14 and #18.

Pac Dunes always scores high with me when I compare it on a hole-by-hole basis.  #1 stands out as being weakest.

Shinnecock Hills and Merion appeared near flawless to me.  Least favorite at Merion was the famous #11.

[Sean_A]

What about Swinley Forest?  Can we come up with any sort of consensus? 

Ciao

[Scott Warren]

Jeff,

Also, where is the blind shot on 6 at RMW?


Sean,

At Swinley, my vote would be for 1 or 6.

[Mark Pearce]

I can't see how 8 or 9 at CPC can possibly be in the discussion.  Two candidates for best hole on the course, IMHO.

At Swinley, isn't 5 in the conversation?  A worse hole than 1 or 6 in my book.  But it's not the best worst hole because it's not that good.

Relating to another recent conversation, I'm struggling to identify a "worst" hole at Muirfield and would think that whichever it is should be in this conversation.  Perhaps 14?

[Sean Leary]

Pine Valley for me.

Shinnecock is good, I love all their holes but PV's worst (whichever you think it is) is still a great hole.

Sully,

If you had to pick a worst at PV?

[JESII]

Probably 14. Least interesting green!

But as Pat has laid out, it's also incredibly difficult, especially at that point in a round/match. Anything can happen and if they cleared 200 trees might be the most attractive hole on the course...

[Kalen Braley]

John K,

Interesting comments on Ballyneal.  I thought #3 was the best par 3 on the course.

If I had to pick a "worst" and its still a good hole, I'd have to go with #4.

[John Mayhugh]

(4) CYPRESS POINT CLUB - 8 or 9, too short
10.  NATIONAL G. LINKS OF AMERICA - 1-3 too similar for my tastes

Please tell me you're joking.

[Kalen Braley]

In retrospect, I think we should all cut Jeff some slack.

Clearly his original post on this thread is another great example of why you shouldn't do drunk posting at 2 AM!   

[Tim Gavrich]

The best worst hole on any course I've played is probably a tie between the 5th and 16th holes at Yale, holes that are better than many courses' best holes.