Your Top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises

[Ari Techner]

Lookout Mountain  -  I ended up joining after playing as an out of town member and then moved to Chattanooga.   I love this place and was not expecting much.  Only played it to see another Raynor.

Indianwood Old  - Grew up not far from here but never heard much about it and never played there.   Went a couple years ago and was shocked how much I like it.  Very old school feel to the course and great varied greens.  

Kirtland  -  Had absolutely no expectations, just killing a day in Cleveland with a friend who was playing in a tournament there the following week.  The back 9 is just incredible.   One of my favorite 9s anywhere and very unique.  

Lawsonia Links  -  Had seen some pics but WOW this course is good in person.   The pics cannot do the terrain and some of the push up greens justice.  Played 72 holes in one day there and cannot wait to go back.  

Elkhorn Valley  (first 16 Don Cutler designed holes)  -  This course was build by hand pretty much by one man, Don Cutler.  He owned the land and planned to build the course and run it after.   It look 20+ years I believe for him to build the front 9.  It was one of the USAs top rated 9 hole courses while he finished the back 9.  Unfortunately Don passed away after finishing the 16th hole and never got to see his masterpiece finished.   Also unfortunately whoever built 17 and 18 (his son I believe) were not nearly as talented as Don and 17 and 18 are not great holes.  But the first 16 are just incredible natural use of the land forms with very interesting features, huge trees, a bunch of natural streams, wetlands etc.  It's in the middle of nowhere in Oregon so it's mostly played by locals and not at all well known but very worth seeing for any GCA fan.  

[Mike Sweeney]

Hi all,

I've been a close follower of the site for about a year and I'm happy to make some contributions of my own.

2. The Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links - Edgartown, MA

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks for posting this as they have a Facebook page now:

https://www.facebook.com/royalandancientchappaquiddicklinks

[Mark Johnson]

my top 5 surprises  (in no particular order)   Most of them good not great, but much better than I expected

1.  Spring Creek , Charlottesville
2.  Apawabis Club, White Plains (I think)
3.  Medina,  Wayata, MN
4.  Bull Valley,  Woodstock, IL
5.  Oregon Golf Club

[Lou_Duran]

With this site and the internet, it is hard to be surprised, but here are five in no particular order.

SAND CREEK STATION, Newton, KS- I have always thought that Wild Horse was probably the best value in golf and a perfect warm-up for world-class Sand Hills.  SCS is in the same mold for nearby Prairie Dunes, though the variance with is neighbor may be smaller (than WH to SH).

WILD HORSE, Gothenburg, NE- see above; loved the story and the people behind it.

AIKEN GC- Aiken, SC- value in spades, nice topography, more on the fun than challenging side, but plenty there to keep one's interest.

WEXFORD PLANATATION- Hilton Head Island, SC- no expectations- thought about skipping it- fantastic redo of the greens by the Palmer organization and a very enjoyable routing (had to be because I suffered through a historic back 9 choke job to lose my match on 18 in the DC).

DISMAL RIVER- NICKLAUS- again, partially due to low expectations mainly created by comments appearing on this site.  Instead, I found a course with a lot of variety, quirk, challenge, and just plain fun.  It is cart golf, but perfect for a fantastic destination club with a very complimentary sister course where most golfers will want to play at least 36 holes each day.

[Ronald Montesano]

The first time a flatlander plays a mountain course, or an inlander plays a links, or a muni kid plays a country club, it's a pleasant surprise.

I'm going to tweak this a bit and call it my five most recent surprises.

1. The welcomes to photograph courses that i've received the last four years. Much comes from folks on this site, so thanks for your beneficence.

2. The restoration work that is currently being done, that has resulted from undying efforts of champions of original architectural intent. To the Gene Grecos of GCA and gca, who never let their dreams die, and live to give the victory speech of their campaigns.

3. The openness of emotion for golf course architecture found on this site and across the golfing world. Be it supportive or dismissive, it's never bland, banal, without seasoning.

4. The revelation that a course designed by architects who were not necessarily fans of subtlety, the ground game and all that is revered herein, can be retrofitted bit by bit, piece by piece, by professionals and superintendents who remain committed to a cause (a kissing cousin of #2 above.)

5. The notion that a William Harries course is about to undergo a restoration. I can't imagine the original features, so I will be very curious as to the outcome.

As far as golf courses go, they would be

The Bridge
Southampton
Fenway
Sleepy Hollow
Sebonack
(best part is, I came to these five without hitting a single shot, as I've said elsewhere.)

[Bart Bradley]

In Ireland at the moment and was blown away by Ballyliffin Old.  Sometimes I play a course that is highly regarded and feel I somehow " missed it".  But this was just the opposite.  What am I seeing that others missed? or what big flaws did I miss?  The course has wonderful fairway rumples and lots of grade level greens.  The walk in the park is fantastic.

For those of you who have played there since the 2006 era work, what did you find lacking? 

Bart

[Adam Lawrence]

The Palmerston course at Brocket Hall, north of London. I expected an identikit modern course and found a really lovely piece of land and a nice, mostly quite subtle and thoughtful golf course.

But the biggest surprise of all was Wolf Point. I knew it was going to be good, but I had no idea how good.

[Bill_McBride]

Adam, the original Peter Allis course at Brocket Hall was one of the first courses I played in the UK, likely 1994.   Loved the ferry and bridge, but the routing was a puzzle!   My sidekick and I were baffled by the location of the fourth (?) green for a couple of minutes until we saw it across the river.  Turns out two long par fours cross each other with greens on the opposite sides of the broad river.  Daunting to say the least, especially as a light rain was turning into sleet!

How do the courses at Brocket Hall compare?

[Adam Lawrence]

Bill, I haven't played the Melbourne, but as you say it's on the land around the lake, which has less in the way of interesting contour, and I'm not a great fan of the Alliss/Thomas work from that era. But the Palmerston I thought was very nice - the third, in particular, is a super short par four.

[Kyle Henderson]

1. Portsea
2. St. George's (Long Island)
3. Murcar
4. Peninsula - North
5. Panmure

[Doug Wright]

Seaview Playland Pitch & Putt (Cape Cod) 1963
Leatherstocking 1967
The Island 1990
Dooks 1994
Wild Horse 2002
Cruden Bay 2005

[Jonathan Sirois]

Hi all,

I've been a close follower of the site for about a year and I'm happy to make some contributions of my own.

2. The Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links - Edgartown, MA

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks for posting this as they have a Facebook page now:

https://www.facebook.com/royalandancientchappaquiddicklinks

I documented my last round out the and will soon post a photo tour of that quirky, special place.

What a final day at the Open!

Jon

[ed_getka]

As Lou pointed out it is hard to be surprised with all the information at our disposal here.
Wild Horse
Winged Foot (not as brutal as I expected it to be)
National Moonah (Australia)
Upper Course at Baltusrol (the middle section)
Pacific Grove

[Tim_Weiman]

Can't imagine a more pleasant surprise than Dooks. The place is heaven.

[Dan Herrmann]

In no particular order:

a)  Dismal River Nicklaus - Mullen, NE
b)  Lehigh (Flynn) - Allentown, PA
c)  Monroe (Ross) - Rochester, NY
d)  Sand Hills (C&C) - Mullen, NE  (OK - I knew it was amazing before I got there, but it still blew me away)
e)  Le Portage - Cheticamp, NS Canada 

[Joe_Tucholski]

1. Portsea
2. St. George's (Long Island)
3. Murcar
4. Peninsula - North
5. Panmure

Murcar Links was one of the unpleasant surprises I had during my recent month long trip.  Still a good course but...the fairways were tight and the rough usually meant lost or nearly unplayable.  Very different than your photo tour from a few years ago.

I'm going to give my most pleasant surprises of the last month to make it easier for me and also in order I played them.
1)  Borth and Ynyslas - I played the course because they had an open event (low cost) the day before I was playing Royal St. Davids.  Sean Arbles partial photo tour says good things about the course but I was unimpressed with the look of the photos.(http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43575.0.html)  The course was great fun.

2) Irvine Bogside - Really I could put any James Braid course I played during the trip.  I'd never played a James Braid course before this trip and I really enjoyed all of them.

(I would have had more courses from the UK portion but read into each of the courses a bit so wasn't all that surprised by the really really high quality of the second/third tier courses there)

3) Eindhovensche - Didn't know anything about any of the Netherlands courses prior to showing up and enjoyed this place a good bit.

4) Royal Hague - My favorite course from the Netherlands

5) Utrecht De Pan - The few photos Donal posted here should show why (http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,56359.0.html)

[Sean Walsh]

County Louth
The Eden
Ganton (suprised this didn't make Tony Muldoon's list)
Port Fairy
Brora - best day I've ever spent on a golf course

Honourable mentions to

Barwon Heads
Enniscrone
Ballyliffin Old (Bart - I was also captivated by the lovely rumpled fairways, quintessential links golf.  Glashedy suffers in comparison)
Royal Zoute (softness of the greens just takes the shine off a bit) From memory the middle of the round is fantastic land for golf.

[Mark Saltzman]

My top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises of 2013:

1. Barton Hills

2. The Olde Farm
3. Mimosa Hills
4. Baltimore
5. Palma Ceia

[BCowan]

My top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises of 2013:

1. Battle Creek CC
2. Kingsley Club
3. Ocala Golf Club
4. Western Golf & CC
5. Washtenaw CC

[jeffwarne]

It's nearly impossible to be pleasantly surprised by a course nowadays if you follow this website,but it has certainly led me to some fantastic places which may well have surprised my companions.
Frankly, when I visit the UK and Ireland I only choose courses I know I'm going to like based on trusted opinions gathered here.
Though I will say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Glen course at North Berwick (based on mainly negative GCA opinion).

Narin and Portnoo was a great find in the 90's from Finnegan-that might take the cake as most pleasant
Stumbled upon Mulranny and Connemara Isles years ago and was pleasantly surprised about them
Portsalon is a favorite not universally loved here, but I'm not sure I was surprised by liking it, maybe by how much I like it.
Dunfanaghy was very difficult to find info and pictures of(they've rectified that) and I really like that

Nearly all of my most pleasant surprises have come in professional events or places I went to work with no knowledge of the course.

Sleepy Hollow-knew nothing of the course-went to work there because of the professional-haven't seen latest version
Long Cove-ran into the professional in the lieu at a bar who needed staff asap
Southampton-joined there years ago because I played regularly there with members and it was inexpensive and loved the simplicity of it -trees and all-New version fantastic
Piping Rock-pro events
Rockaway Hunt-pro event
Apawamis-pro event
Glen Head-pro events
Atlantic worked there 6 years and have watched it improve dramatically

Aiken Golf Club-went there with my high school coach in the 1970's when we couldn't get out on Palmetto for a practice round for an event
Palmetto-see above-very unloved at the time
Goat Hill-what's surprising is in the 17 years I've been playing it it has grown on me every time, despite dirt and crabgrass fairways
wonder if it's coincidence the 3 above had no irrigation when I first encountered

[Ari Techner]

My new #1 biggest surprise is definitely Sequatchie Valley in S Pittsburgh, TN.   I believe that this is easily the best 9 hole course in the USA with all due respect to the Dunes Club.  I'd play SV 8-9 times out of 10 over Dunes Club.  The detail work on the bunkers especially is the best I have ever seen anywhere.  A must play IMO and an incredible debut for Rob Collins and King/Collins design firm.  

[Bill_McBride]

It's nearly impossible to be pleasantly surprised by a course nowadays if you follow this website,but it has certainly led me to some fantastic places which may well have surprised my companions.
Frankly, when I visit the UK and Ireland I only choose courses I know I'm going to like based on trusted opinions gathered here.
Though I will say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Glen course at North Berwick (based on mainly negative GCA opinion).

Narin and Portnoo was a great find in the 90's from Finnegan-that might take the cake as most pleasant
Stumbled upon Mulranny and Connemara Isles years ago and was pleasantly surprised about them
Portsalon is a favorite not universally loved here, but I'm not sure I was surprised by liking it, maybe by how much I like it.
Dunfanaghy was very difficult to find info and pictures of(they've rectified that) and I really like that

Nearly all of my most pleasant surprises have come in professional events or places I went to work with no knowledge of the course.

Sleepy Hollow-knew nothing of the course-went to work there because of the professional-haven't seen latest version
Long Cove-ran into the professional in the lieu at a bar who needed staff asap
Southampton-joined there years ago because I played regularly there with members and it was inexpensive and loved the simplicity of it -trees and all-New version fantastic
Piping Rock-pro events
Rockaway Hunt-pro event
Apawamis-pro event
Glen Head-pro events
Atlantic worked there 6 years and have watched it improve dramatically

Aiken Golf Club-went there with my high school coach in the 1970's when we couldn't get out on Palmetto for a practice round for an event
Palmetto-see above-very unloved at the time
Goat Hill-what's surprising is in the 17 years I've been playing it it has grown on me every time, despite dirt and crabgrass fairways
wonder if it's coincidence the 3 above had no irrigation when I first encountered

Jeff, the Glen's biggest problem is the difference between it and its neighbor.  There are half a dozen very good holes and a dozen pretty mundane.  I did like the precipitous 18th, felt like I could drive a par 4 again.  

[Jeff Shelman]

Five that have surprised me over the past few years. I didn't know a whole lot about these before playing them and left very impressed.

Kirtland CC, Willoughby, OH
Idle Hour CC, Lexington, KY
Blue Mound Golf and Country Club, Wauwatosa, WI
Greensboro Country Club (Farm), Greensboro, NC
The Club at Carlton Woods (Fazio), The Woodlands, TX

[Pete_Pittock]

in chronological order
Prestwick (Old) 1975
North Berwick (West) 1975
Pennard 1997
Wine Valley 2009
Sagebrush 2010

[Sean_A]

It's nearly impossible to be pleasantly surprised by a course nowadays if you follow this website,but it has certainly led me to some fantastic places which may well have surprised my companions.
Frankly, when I visit the UK and Ireland I only choose courses I know I'm going to like based on trusted opinions gathered here.
Though I will say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Glen course at North Berwick (based on mainly negative GCA opinion).

Narin and Portnoo was a great find in the 90's from Finnegan-that might take the cake as most pleasant
Stumbled upon Mulranny and Connemara Isles years ago and was pleasantly surprised about them
Portsalon is a favorite not universally loved here, but I'm not sure I was surprised by liking it, maybe by how much I like it.
Dunfanaghy was very difficult to find info and pictures of(they've rectified that) and I really like that

Nearly all of my most pleasant surprises have come in professional events or places I went to work with no knowledge of the course.

Sleepy Hollow-knew nothing of the course-went to work there because of the professional-haven't seen latest version
Long Cove-ran into the professional in the lieu at a bar who needed staff asap
Southampton-joined there years ago because I played regularly there with members and it was inexpensive and loved the simplicity of it -trees and all-New version fantastic
Piping Rock-pro events
Rockaway Hunt-pro event
Apawamis-pro event
Glen Head-pro events
Atlantic worked there 6 years and have watched it improve dramatically

Aiken Golf Club-went there with my high school coach in the 1970's when we couldn't get out on Palmetto for a practice round for an event
Palmetto-see above-very unloved at the time
Goat Hill-what's surprising is in the 17 years I've been playing it it has grown on me every time, despite dirt and crabgrass fairways
wonder if it's coincidence the 3 above had no irrigation when I first encountered

Jeff, the Glen's biggest problem is the difference between it and its neighbor.  There are half a dozen very good holes and a dozen pretty mundane.  I did like the precipitous 18th, felt like I could drive a par 4 again.  

The Glen is another classic case of should have left well enough alone.  This could be an awesome 9ish holer that has been severely compromised by standardization.  St Andrews has a lot to answer for  .  

Ciao