An Architecture Enthusiast's Ten Year Plan

[Mike Hendren]

Do you ever view a thread with stunning photographs of places you'd like to go before your time on this earth is up?  And get an almost physical ache to go one day? 

I've been fortunate beyond my wildest dreams, but then Sean Arble posts a few pictures of a relatively obscure Colt course.  Then Stan Mountain or Mark Saltzman profiles a course in western New York.  Or, Joe Bausch weighs in.  Soon I'm consumed with greed and envy.

So, at the age of 54 I'm going to construct a tens year agenda to experience the widest possible range of good to great golf course architeccture.  Not trophy hunting but an annual area/regional sampling for no more than one week at a time. 

Fortunately, I've experienced the following:

1.  Sand hills region
2.  Monterrey Peninsula
3.  Pacific Dunes
4.  Pinehurst
5.  Arizona desert
6.  Long Island
7.  St. Andrews / East Lothian

I've got my sights on the Erie Canal trail in 2013, then what?
You tell me.  Life's too short.

Bogey

[John Kavanaugh]

I would love to see you take your sticks to Israel.

[Jason Topp]

Mike:

You must make the trip to Melbourne as a part of any ten year plan.

Get yourself to the Buda - fantastic courses usually off the beaten track.

You are always welcome in Minnesota.  While there are not many trophy courses, there is an outstanding sampling of golden age architecture including Ross, Raynor, Thompson, Tillinghast, Watson, Bendelow, Tom Vardon and others.  August or September is the best time to visit.  Don't make the mistake Mayhugh made and come in July unless you want heat and humidity reminicent of home. 

[Dan Kelly]

You are always welcome in Minnesota.  While there are not many trophy courses, there is an outstanding sampling of golden age architecture including Ross, Raynor, Thompson, Tillinghast, Watson, Bendelow, Tom Vardon and others.  August or September is the best time to visit.  Don't make the mistake Mayhugh made and come in July unless you want heat and humidity reminicent of home. 

Fully agree, except:

In terms of heat and humidity, September in the Twin Cities (or even October) is light-years better than August, if you ask me.

Among mid-September to mid-October's virtues: Most non-fanatics have stowed the clubs in favor of ... what? Vikings games? And the greens have all recovered from aerification.

[Shane Wright]

Bogey -

Great topic.  I will echo Dan and Jason, Minnesota is awesome.  Come on up. 

About ten years ago, I put together a similar schedule which was completely blown to bits by the fantastic new courses that have been built since then. 

But seriously, you HAVE to go to Ireland.  It is about so much more than just golf.  That needs to be somewhere near the top.

Shane

[Brad Tufts]

Here's my "forever" wish list, in order of ease/likelihood:

1.  England links
2.  Play the LI favorites I haven't seen
3.  Wales
4.  Tour of SF, only been to Olympic
5.  Back to Bandon
6.  Minny with Topp!
7.  Sand Hills
8.  Netherlands/Belgium
9.  London faves
10.  Australia/New Zealand, for 6 weeks.
11.  Japan
12.  China, the minimalist/maximist tour
13.  Wild card.....Iceland?  South Africa?

[Joe Bausch]

Bogey, my area, the Delaware Valley, is pretty darn good.

[Mike Hendren]

Bogey, my area, the Delaware Valley, is pretty darn good.

Joe, I've played LuLu.  Doesn't that about cover it?

Bogey

[Tom_Doak]

Mike:

1. Australia - Sand Belt, Sydney and Barnbougle
2. Japan / South Korea
3. London Heathlands / Kent links courses
4. Lancashire coast links courses
5. The Highlands of Scotland
6. The West Coast of Ireland then on to RCD and Portrush
7. South Carolina / North Carolina (suspect you have done many of these)
8. Bandon (again to see the others)
9. Best of Holland and France
10. Midwest tour

How does that sound??

Michael:

The top two should be the sand belt of Australia and the heathlands of England. 

By the time you get those done, I will have the revised Confidential Guide ready to go, and you will be able to use Doak ratings to weigh all of the other options.  Some of the suggestions above (not just Brian's) are quite overrated as destinations, and some very good ones have not been mentioned yet.  But I'm not quite ready to rank them all, I've got a few more trips to make myself. 

P.S.  If you want to do the Canadian Rockies someday, I am going to go there sometime next summer.

[Dan Kelly]

[Potential thread-jack averted!]

[Josh Tarble]

I would think a New Zealand/Australia tour would be incredible.  Although you'd likely need minimum 4 weeks to do both properly in the same trip.

In my mind New Zealand is one of the great underrated golfing countries in the world and just an absolutely fantastic country.

[Mark Saltzman]

Mike:

1. Australia - Sand Belt, Sydney and Barnbougle
2. Japan / South Korea
3. London Heathlands / Kent links courses
4. Lancashire coast links courses
5. The Highlands of Scotland
6. The West Coast of Ireland then on to RCD and Portrush
7. South Carolina / North Carolina (suspect you have done many of these)
8. Bandon (again to see the others)
9. Best of Holland and France
10. Midwest tour

How does that sound??

Sounds like you're never coming to visit me.

It's a nice list, but what will you do when you finish it next year?

[Phil McDade]

Bogey:

Greater Chicago.

You can get your Raynor fix at either Chicago GC or Shoreacres (or both!).

You can hit south-side classic stalwarts like Beverly, Flossmoor, and both courses at Olympia Fields, plus the newly public Ravisloe.

Some great old northside clubs like Exmoor, Skokie and Old Elm, plus a newly renovated Medinah #1 by Doak (and #3 if you want to test your game on the big course).

Some of the better modern (post WWII) work of note, such as Butler and Black Sheep.

Plus a bunch of courses that no one around here ever talks about, but are held in solid repute, like North Shore, Briarwood, and Idlewild.

Best part: No shortage of local hosts.

[Sean_A]

Bogey

How bout an epic drive through the gut of America?  Bogeyland to Toronto, back across northern MI and the UP and down the western side of Lake Michigan then following the Mississippish until you need to turn left (I think you live east of the Miss?).  That sort of trip would appeal to me for all sorts of reasons and golf would be one of them. 

Hell, I would settle for Detroit/Toronto/Northern MI/UP/WIS/Chicago back to MI.  Maybe even take the ferry across lake Michigan. 

Ciao

[Sven Nilsen]

I'd throw in a trip to Maine.  You'll find a bunch of courses that haven't changed that much from when they were first built during the first wave of U.S. golf course construction.

[Jim Sherma]

Given the appropriate access and my personal preferences, spending 10 years really learning the courses between Westchester County, NY and Chester County, PA (including Long Island) would make me very happy indeed. If I could spend 30 incremental rounds a year pursuing this and asssuming it takes 4 or so rounds on a course to get a good sense of it, the math works out to 75 courses, I might need more than 10 years.

[Mike Sweeney]

I'd throw in a trip to Maine.  You'll find a bunch of courses that haven't changed that much from when they were first built during the first wave of U.S. golf course construction.

I can set you up with the Tom Doak of Maine:

[Bill_McBride]

You can neasily play some of the best you'll ever play during a 10 day to two week trip to Southeast England which is so easy to reach, from the links of the Kent and East Sussex coast to the marvelous heathland courses running across the south side of London.   Those great courses are easy to reach and easy to access with a little planning.   And quite few GCAers with whom to play.

Hell, I may have talked myself into that trip!

[Tim_Weiman]

Mike,

Add me to the list of those recommending Melbourne. Be sure to spend some time down on the Mornington Peninsula and, if you can, get down to Tasmania.

My only regret is not going up to see New South Wales, which along with Hirono in Japan may be the course I would most like to add to my list of experiences.

[Jason Topp]

Having played at Kawana in Japan and having done some exploration of golf options there, I would probably keep Japan off your list.  Kawana was fantastic but I was there for other reasons and tacked it onto my trip.  For pure golf architecture experiences, I think other destinations will get you more for less effort.  Japan will require a tour operator or connections to get on the gems other than Kawana.

One trip I have always wanted to do was to pick one great links course and play there all week - thereby getting to know the course in a variety of moods and picking up more of a feel for the location.   My bucket list includes participating one of the "golf weeks" that many links courses host.   
 
 
 

[Tyler Kearns]

Do you ever view a thread with stunning photographs of places you'd like to go before your time on this earth is up?  And get an almost physical ache to go one day? 

Mike,

Nearly every day I find myself day-dreaming of an epic golf adventure to explore great golf.  That is certainly part of what makes golf great, every course is different from one another, presenting their own unique challenge in their own unique setting.  I never would have been to Mullen, Nebraska or Tasmania were it not for this crazy game, but I have, and they are wonderful places made better by the golf.

TK

[Tom_Doak]

 some very good ones have not been mentioned yet.  But I'm not quite ready to rank them all, I've got a few more trips to make myself.  

Oh come on Tom, what's the worst that could happen - hundreds of internet geeks scrutinise every syllable for time immemorial?  

PS - mine weren't posted in any particular order.

For what it's worth, these are the ten trips I'd like to make before I finish The Confidential Guide:

1.  western Canada (Banff, Jasper, Sagebrush)
2.  Kunming and Nepal  (Stone Forest, Spring City, Gokarna Forest, Himalayan GC) - will do this in December
3.  South Island N.Z. (Arrowtown, Jack's Point, The Hills, Oreti Sands)
4.  central Europe (Sand Valley Poland, Thracian Cliffs, ?others)
5.  Sean Arble's England (Beau Desert, Huntercombe, Kington, Stoneham)
6.  John Bernhardt's South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas)
7.  Ron Montesano's upstate NY (Teugega, Monroe, CC of Buffalo)
8.  Oregon Trail (Astoria, Waverly, Columbia-Edgewater)
9.  Matt Ward bluff (Red Ledges, Promontory, Glenwild, Salt Lake City CC)
10.  gotta leave one open

I've only given myself another two years to finish, so I don't know if I can get all these done or not, but, I can dream!

[Carl Nichols]

Tom:
No DC?  Never a dull moment around here!

[Greg Gilson]

Brian's list is a great starting point IMHO. My comments and builds:

1. Australia - Sand Belt, Sydney and Barnbougle (I live here so it maybe a case of being good friends with a beautiful girl. However i don't think you need 6 weeks like i read somewhere. Melbourne & surrounds in a week if need be & then get to Barnbougle, Adelaide & Sydney for a day or 2 in each)
2. Japan / South Korea (my week playing in Japan was the most unique golf experience of my life - from a cultural & GCA standpoint. Worth all the effort it takes to set up)
3. London Heathlands / Kent links courses (Agreed. Ensure include The Addington for something slightly different & RCP on the coast)
4. Lancashire coast links courses (I would rank this lower down...if this was a ranked list Brian?)
5. The Highlands of Scotland
6. The West Coast of Ireland then on to RCD and Portrush
7. South Carolina / North Carolina (suspect you have done many of these)(MMMMMM....lower down)
8. Bandon (again to see the others)(Please tell me you didn't go to Bandon & only played PD? Make the short detour to Chambers Bay while you are there...It is a short detour when you've come from Melbourne)
9. Best of Holland and France (cannot speak for Holland but lots of good authorities have. If you spend a week in Melbourne, Paris deserves 5 days)
10. Midwest tour (I reckon you can afford to be selective here but Shoreacres & Camargo showed me something i had not experienced before. Can't wait to get to Fisher's Island and back to Yeaman's)
MY ADDS:
11.South Wales
12.New Zealand....but get very selective. There are 4 or 5 gems with challenging commutes in between. Lots of the others flatter to deceive
13. Ayrshire Coast

[Mac Plumart]

Im kind of in the same boat as you...enthusiasts wanting to see it all.

Highlands Links is high on my list for many reasons...the routing being the biggest.

Australian Sandbelt is way up there.

As is the Heathland's courses.  First great inland architecture, right?

Also being around courses being built and worked on has helped me comprehend how it all comes together and what is possible.