[Norbert P]

 Mr. Kmetz's Genie theme brought up an old wish of mine to play or replay some great golf courses as a better player. Wo is me with my higher handicap and ever/over tweeked swing mechanics and endless experimentations.

  Of the courses I'd love to RE-play as a "Stick".

  Royal Dornoch (Easily # 1)
  Sand Hills
  Mid Pines

 Places I've not played would be . . .

 Pinehurst #2
 The Old Course at St. Andrews
 Augusta


Obviously, I'd like to be a better golfer at all venues but these are the ones that make me ache with lack of worthiness for the tests.

Where are your dream plays as a better golfer?

 
" Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?"     
 "Yes," said Heifetz. "Practice!"

[Mac Plumart]

These aren't my 'dream plays' as a better golfer...but I could see where players right at scratch would love these more than double digit handicaps...

Ansley Settindowm
Atlanta Athletic Club Highlands
Bears Club

[Charlie Gallagher]

Two courses come immediately to mind that I would love to get a replay on as a scratch who could get it out there about 300+, Merion and Boston Golf Club.
   Merion is not long, but it is both strategic and penal. Every indifferent, not necessarily poor, shot costs you at least a 1/2 stroke at Merion. I would love to be a superior iron player and take a crack at it. I have played it 15 times and know it quite well. My best score there is 84. Right now I am a USGA 9.1 and that is not good enough for getting much below 90 on the East course.
   Boston Golf Club is the others course I would love to be able to play as a scratch who can get it out there. The 7th hole at Boston requires length to play it from the back tee, there is just no way around it. The 15th, a phenomenal par 5, also demands  a big uphill drive if one wants to try for the green in two. The 2nd shot is all carry over sand for about 240 if you can hit driver about 300 down the left side of the fairway. I would love to be able to do it, but my best goes about 250 and that dictates a layup. You also get a big advantage at Boston on 16 and 17 if you can hit it far with a little draw. The 16th hole has a small area of fairway beyond its Principal's nose bunker on the left side that sets up an easy short pitch from a favorable angle.  It gives a great driver of the ball an advantage if he has the courage and skill to pull the shot off. 

[jeffwarne]

Without a doubt Augusta National. Only a scratch golfer would possess the short game necessary to shoot a low score there and those firm, slick greens are not going to treat miss hits kindly. It must be incredibly satisfying to break par there from the back tees.

Ironically, for years ,ANGC was held up as the standard for an enjoyable round for higher handicappers, with the challenge for elite players being in the angles they approached from and the undulations on the greens.
I'd say though that modern DAILY high green speed disease has probably made these greens just about unplayable for a higher handicapper

[Jaeger Kovich]

Mr. Kmetz's Genie theme brought up an old wish of mine to play or replay some great golf courses as a better player. Wo is me with my higher handicap and ever/over tweeked swing mechanics and endless experimentations.

  Of the courses I'd love to RE-play as a "Stick".

  Royal Dornoch (Easily # 1)
  Sand Hills
  Mid Pines

 Places I've not played would be . . .

 Pinehurst #2
 The Old Course at St. Andrews
 Augusta


Obviously, I'd like to be a better golfer at all venues but these are the ones that make me ache with lack of worthiness for the tests.

Where are your dream plays as a better golfer?

 
" Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?"     
 "Yes," said Heifetz. "Practice!"

Slag - Please explain your choice in Mid-Pines!


PS - Did you see in our other thread someone asked what The Desmond Murihead Masterpiece was, as if it wasn't obvious enough!

[Jeb Bearer]

Muirfield comes to my mind. It's often mentioned as among the best courses in the world, and yet, when I played it last summer I spent most of the round scouring the hay for balls. Not a whole lot of fun.

[Garland Bayley]

Juniper. I love'd it, but it proved too narrow for my skills.

[Carl Rogers]

Lester George's Ballyhack outside of Roanoke VA.  Tons of elevation change, lots of long uphill approaches, wild ultra hard fast greens, super high slope from any tee.

[David Lott]

Play Oakmont in some wind with tournament pins. That will cure you of the desire.

[jeffwarne]

Muirfield comes to my mind. It's often mentioned as among the best courses in the world, and yet, when I played it last summer I spent most of the round scouring the hay for balls. Not a whole lot of fun.

Good players don't enjoy that either.....

[Jeb Bearer]

Muirfield comes to my mind. It's often mentioned as among the best courses in the world, and yet, when I played it last summer I spent most of the round scouring the hay for balls. Not a whole lot of fun.

Good players don't enjoy that either.....

If I was a better player I may have hit more fairways. Hopefully, anyways

[Norbert P]

 

Slag - Please explain your choice in Mid-Pines!


PS - Did you see in our other thread someone asked what The Desmond Murihead Masterpiece was, as if it wasn't obvious enough!

After a few months serruptitiously installing secret kicker landing zones for my own golf game, efforts went for naught as my plans were brutally shattered by the reality of my maladroit ball striking.  All that time theorizin' and for nothin'.  You know how it is when you're working from dawn til dusk.  We only have time to ponder. We can feel real smart on thinking ahead on how to play a hole and its course but without the materialization of  good results, well, frustrations can solidify in one's psyche very deeply.  I know there have been many golf designers that were not proficient golfers. I wonder how each deals/dealt with it.   


THE Muirhead Masterpiece is eclectically everywhere.

BTW, I have some old stories of Desmond - basically eulogies - on file, that I read from time to time.. He was quite a man.  It's really a shame he is not more time honored for his unique character and his idealisms.

[Tim Leahy]

Ollympic Club would be fun to play as a low handicap with a chance to break 80.

[Mike Hendren]

Another way to phrase the question might be:  Which course have you played that made you wish you were a better golfer?

For me, it begins and ends with Shinnecock Hills.  

Honorable mention would be The Honors.

Bogey

[Carl Nichols]

Another way to phrase the question might be:  Which course have you played that made you wish you were a better golfer?

Every course! 

[Gib_Papazian]

Winged Foot West.

Even moreso than Oakmont, because there is no way to quietly sneak around it using more brains than brawn.

You can also think your way around Muirfield by dissecting each hole and figure out how to give yourself a good chance at par.

WF West is what I call an "or else course."

Hit it here, or else. Fly it to here . . . . . or else.

Over and over and over.

By contrast, WF East is 18 challenging, interesting holes - but I did not get the sensation of getting donkey punched 18 times in a row like surviving the West Course.

TRUE scratch players love it, but I was absolutely exhausted both times I played it.

This even assumes playing it at 6600 yards. IMNSHO, the West is far more demanding than even Carnoustie (from rational tees) - which only really demands a straight ball with control.

Shooting mid-70's on WF East, PV or Carnoustie when I was younger was no problem - WF West? It is just too hard for me.      

  

[JMEvensky]

WF West is what I call an "or else course."

Hit it here, or else. Fly it to here . . . . . or else.

Over and over and over.

      

   

Agree completely--and you didn't even mention the greens which have plenty of "or else" themselves.

[Jud_T]

WFW
Carnoustie
Butler
Medinah
Bethpage Black

[William_G]

Where wouldn't you want to play as a stick?

[Tim Passalacqua]

Ollympic Club would be fun to play as a low handicap with a chance to break 80.

Agree.  As a scratch golfer, you would never get bored on the Lake course.  You would look forward to the challenge every time you teed it up.  I can't think of a better place to work on your game. 

[David Ober]

My home course (Bear Creek GC in Murrieta, CA) is a blast to play when you are golfing your ball, but it absolutely destroys the mid and high handicapper from the back or even gold (6,850) tees.

From the black, the course is 7,157/75.7/146. From the gold, it's 6,820/73.8/142. That slope of 142 is very, very high for a course that is only 6800ish.

In the afternoon, I have a standing $100 bet that if your index is 10.0 to 12.0, you can't come out, play the blacks, and break 100 -- and there are no true forced carries on the course. The closest would be our second hole, where you have to carry the ball about 200, but you can lay up short if you desire.

Again, though, the course is a LOT of fun to play as a scratch player. It's by no means the best course in California, but it's a real test and contains some of Jack's earliest, most "severe" greens.

[Rich Goodale]

Yo Slag!  Great to see you on here and well!

As I get older and shorter I find different ways to get to greens and pins on the longer courses that I do play.  I'll probably not play the 14th at Dornoch with a persimmon driver and a putter as I did in 1981, but it's still fun with a melon-headed plutoniumn driver and a 5-iron (and still a "par" 5).

All the very best

Rich

[Norbert P]

 Richard,  it probably didn't help my game to get "Curried" at the Burghfield the night before. Aye, he was a generous gent with the spirits.

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