How good is the course.......

[mike_beene]

"The Country Club of..." drives me crazy.

[Matthew Rose]

I'll go with state.  Colorado Golf Club (Parker, CO) - Mr. Coore and Mr. Crenshaw (2007).  It's pretty darn good 

My brother is caddying there right now, and raves about it on a daily basis. I hope to check it out soon.

Denver CC is pretty good, I understand.

Other places I have lived:

Country Club of Lincoln (NE) - never seen it.

Janesville (WI) CC - really interesting old, old layout with tiny holes and tiny greens. Club dates to 1894. Not sure who designed it or if any original holes exist; It was expanded to 18 holes in the 20s on top of the original 9. Only 6300 yards but it used to turn some of the best high school players in Madison to water.

Oneida (WI) Golf and Riding Club - widely regarded as the best private club in the Green Bay area, though I have not seen it. Many Packers were members there. There is a Green Bay CC which is a newish Killian or Nugent that hosted an event for a nascent senior LPGA tour which I don't think took off.

Royal Melbourne - I think this one explains itself.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Nigel,

In many cases, the course named after the residence city was the "first" course in that city.

[Jim Nugent]

St. Louis CC -- a CBM./Raynor original (1914).  Held U.S. Open in 1947: Sam Snead missed a 30" putt on the 18th green of the playoff, to come in 2nd to Lew Worsham.  Also held at least one U.S. Amateur (1960) and one U.S. Women's Am (1971?).  Full of templates, though I personally used to like some of the originals more, in particular 9, 11, 12 and 17. 

[Phil McDade]

Milwaukee CC, originally in the city but moved to the village of River Hills, is awfully good (Alison; see Ran's GCA review).

Ozaukee CC, in the county of Ozaukee in the northern Milwaukee suburbs, is a Langford-Moreau that's pretty darn good with a very good set of greens and some great use of the land.

Maple Bluff CC, in the bedroom community of its name next to Madison, is certainly the best (and only!) course in the village of some 1,400 residents. Tweedie originally with lots of redo's over the years. (Interestingly, although a private club, MBCC sits on land owned by the village, and thus village residents can utilize club facilities at certain times, including three rounds of golf annually.)

Sparta, a real mecca for bicycling in these parts, and a town about 30 miles east of LaCrosse, operates one of the better muni's in western Wisconsin.

My nine-hole home course, oddly enough, is part of the Madison muni golf system, and in the city limits, but is named for the suburb where I live and to which it is adjacent: Monona GC.

Erin Hills, host of the U.S. Open in 2017, is technically in the town of Erin and is quite hilly -- does that count?

[Anthony Butler]

Royal Sydney - slightly underrated IMHO. more fun to play than the second tier of Sandbelt courses.
New South Wales - that Tom Doak doesn't know what the hell he's talking about...   Unless, of course, he's a clairvoyant and could predict what Greg Norman's plans were 20 years ago.

That could be the only benefit of the Shark replacing Johnny Miller  on the Fox US Open broadcast BTW... He has less time for other things.

Current domicile-Concord Country Club, MA. Apparently a Ross... The land is not unlike that found at Essex County Club. That's pretty much where the similarity ends...

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

St. Louis CC -- a CBM./Raynor original (1914).  Held U.S. Open in 1947: Sam Snead missed a 30" putt on the 18th green of the playoff, to come in 2nd to Lew Worsham.  Also held at least one U.S. Amateur (1960) and one U.S. Women's Am (1971?).  Full of templates, though I personally used to like some of the originals more, in particular 9, 11, 12 and 17. 

Ditto. St Louis CC is the most prestigious and architecturally significant course in town. Also having the Curtis Cup there the first week of June.

The same can be said about Kansas City. Kansas City Country Club is a Tillinghast and the hardest "in" in KC. This is where Tom Watson grew up up playing and I believe is a member again - after resigning years ago following the decline of membership to Henry Bloch or HR Block fame.

Great course - one of several Tillinghasts in the area

[Cliff Walston]

My childhood home, Beaumont Country Club (Texas), is decent.  Original 9 holes were laid out by Alex Findlay, opening in 1907.  Later expanded to 18 and recently (2004) renovated by Baxter Spann, with assistance from our own Mike Nuzzo.  Contemporaneous with the renovation, a massive tree removal program was instituted by Hurricane Rita.  The new course is much improved, with very small, interesting greens.  It has a few dud holes, but is generally an enjoyable walk in the pines.  A round in the summer does invoke Lou Doran's description of Texas golf as "an intense, sweaty, physical struggle against the golf course and, often, a pissed-off Mother Nature," except that pissed off Mother Nature often comes in the form of humming bird sized mosquitos bred along the Neches River.  If you are ever in the area, they are generally welcoming of outside play and its not a bad way to spend a few hours in SE Texas.    

[Nigel Islam]

St. Louis CC -- a CBM./Raynor original (1914).  Held U.S. Open in 1947: Sam Snead missed a 30" putt on the 18th green of the playoff, to come in 2nd to Lew Worsham.  Also held at least one U.S. Amateur (1960) and one U.S. Women's Am (1971?).  Full of templates, though I personally used to like some of the originals more, in particular 9, 11, 12 and 17. 

What about 6? I loved that hole and 13 the non template par 3. What a terrific course.

[Matthew MacKay]

Toronto Golf Club. Outstanding golf course. Outside of St. George's, the best in the city.

[Jim Nugent]

Nigel, 6 is the short par 4.  Back when I caddied/played it -- late 1960s -- it was not one of my favorites.  I was 16 years old at the time.

13 actually is the long par 5.  1 think you mean 12, which I always liked a lot.

Of the templates, I especially liked 8 (Cape)... 3 (Eden)... 4 (Road, though I think it's a very loose interpretation)... and 5 (currently Punch Bowl: but they moved the green some 30 or 40 yards forward.  In my day it didn't have a punchbowl green).

I thought the reverse Redan (16) was the weakest of the templates.  #1 was probably the most mundane hole on the course.   

[Nigel Islam]

5 was such a cool hole. I did mean 12, I added wrong.  I liked the reverse redan, but I hit a 40 footer for birdie so I am not an impartial judge

[Phil McDade]

Any of the Minnesota GCAers play Rochester CC? A Tillie with some renovations at one time that may have been restored? Said to be overly treed; I imagine the membership could help with locker-room conversations about your latest medical/health ailment.

[jeffwarne]

Augusta National (aka The National)
Augusta CC (aka The Country Club)
Augusta Golf Club (aka The Patch)

[Jim Franklin]

Baltimore Country Club. The best in the state. And one of Tillie's top 5.

[Josh Tarble]

Nigel,
What do you think of Country Club of Indianapolis?  I have only play the front 9 plus 10 - 12 (got rained out).  I thought it was decently interesting, but seemed to me that trees took a lot of the intent out of the course.

[BHoover]

Kirtland CC, a CH Alison design, is BY FAR the best course named for the City of Kirtland, Ohio (and one of the best in the state).  It's worth noting, however, that Kirtland CC is actually located within the boundaries of Willoughby.  

Springfield CC in Springfield, Ohio, is a Ross design and is easily the best course in town. In fact, I think it's one of the better Ross courses that I've played in the state.

[Nigel Islam]

Nigel,
What do you think of Country Club of Indianapolis?  I have only play the front 9 plus 10 - 12 (got rained out).  I thought it was decently interesting, but seemed to me that trees took a lot of the intent out of the course.

I have never even driven close to CCI. I was not exactly country club material (see poor) when I lived in Indy, and for some reason I never really ventured to that part of town.

[Josh Tarble]

It is in a strange area...I just look to you as resident Indiana expert  so figured you'd played it.  Probably not any real reason to search it out though.

[Tim Leahy]

Sacramento doesnt have one but Stockton CC is a Mac course and although I may never play it I hear San Francisco CC is quite good.