Is TOC the ultimate golf experience?

[Mac Plumart]

Mark...

I don't want to come off as being negative on TOC.  As I said multiple times already, I was blown away by my experience there. I'm simply trying to have a discussion about magical/amazing golf experiences.  I think those are fun things to think about.

[David Davis]

Mark,

I want to believe it is. In order for this to happen I personally need to make a few more visits. I've only played once. My first ever foreign golf trip and I arranged our round there mainly for one of my best friends fathers from Chicago area. It was his dream, I at the time didn't know much about it at all, had never watched an Open round there, didn't know I would later develop a keen interest in GCA and didn't know what to expect. We couldn't get on through the ballet so I woke up at 5 am on a cold night and waited while my friend's father who had just retired slept like a baby in a suite at the Old Course Hotel. I put both our names into the draw and was told to come back at 10:30. Then I went back to the lovely B&B in town I was staying in, went back to bed but couldn't sleep, had breakfast and showed up on time. He went out right away and I ended up waiting another 1.5 hours. I was cold and stiff and overwhelmed by the huge crowd at the start and really struggled the entire day with the 3 members I played with who were all extremely nice but I have to admit the wind was up, afterward I couldn't remember anything except hitting a fade on 17 instead of a draw and seeing my ball inside the hotel on the floor. No joke! Good thing they were insured for that and my ball was not the only hole up on top in the glass. The members laughed and I dropped "illegally" and we played on.

Sharing the story that night with the owner of the hostel who was an (ex) British actress and her daughter, she showed her sympathy for me after a couple glasses of wine and called her friend who was a member at the R&A. He arranged for us to have lunch in the R&A and for a tour which brought tears to my friend's fathers eyes. I didn't realize what the place could mean to people until I experienced it first hand.

I guess I almost get it. That's why I need to return. I want to believe...

[Carson Pilcher]

Mark...

I don't want to come off as being negative on TOC.  As I said multiple times already, I was blown away by my experience there. I'm simply trying to have a discussion about magical/amazing golf experiences.  I think those are fun things to think about.

Agree those are good ones to compare it to, but I think TOC is different as it's where all these other places are derived. It is the home of golf and connected with the community in a way that nowhere else is (although granted Sand Hills and Mullen have a symbiotic relationship). It needs to be the one you see ahead of all others in my book. But I guess that doesn't mean it's the ultimate experience per se...

I agree.  TOC is, by far, one of the greatest golfing experiences on this Earth.  If you allow yourself to think of the history of the course, how it set the standard for golf as we now know it, the countless players that have walked those grounds playing golf for over 400 years...on and on....it is quite awe-inspiring.  That alone is enough.  However, the architecture is genius.  There are countless routes to holes, and they change with the blowing winds.  Lastly, the town and the people surround the course and become an extension of it.  It is so fantastic that it bleeds into the psyche of the townsfolk.  Everyone is genuinely nice and eager to talk about golf and the game.  I am on high just walking the streets, let alone the course.

I have been very blessed to have a moment in my life where I could spend a good deal of time in St. Andrews and have gotten to know the town and the people.  The Old Course is my favorite golf course bar none.  If you did not feel the need to get in 8 other courses during your one trip, I could easily go to St. Andrews and stay there the entire time - and be more than satisfied (might jaunt down to Gullane or North Berwick for a round with the hickories..Ha!).

[Bob_Huntley]

It may well be an acquired taste but just having complete strangers standing by the 18th hole and clapping
a good shot or putt  is fairly unique in my experience.

Bob        

[Mark Chaplin]

Bob your golf is clearly of a different class to mine, my audiences shuffled uncomfortably and avoided eye contact!!

[Bob_Huntley]

Again, I was blown away by the experience at The Old Course.  But to say across the board it is THE ULTIMATE GOLF EXPERIENCE, is simply too broad a statement.

What about these?

A couple days at Augusta National;
Church 9 at Sand Hills;
Overnight at Pine Valley;
A day at Cypress Point;
Dornoch at dusk;
the full day at Muirfield.

[Bob_Huntley]

Mac,

Oops, I am sorry I pushed the wrong button.

I have played the courses you have mentioned and every one of them is  probably more attractive than TOC. However, not one of them has a four hundred year old history. I think that the ghosts of the past add decidedly to its allure.

Bob

[Ed Brzezowski]

I believed the history goes back almost , or just over , 600 years. Was what I read incorrect? I am going to reach MHM for an answer.

[Cristian]

Enjoying target golf is more of an acquired taste than enjoying TOC.....

[Brent Hutto]

In terms of "experience" surely the comparison isn't between TOC and "target golf" on some overwatered parkland track in Illinois. For TOC to be the "ultimate" it has to be clearly above and beyond the experience at, for instance, Royal Cinque Ports or Royal Dornoch.

I've not yet visited St. Andrews but truthfully, as high as my expectations are for the TOC "experience" my suspicion is it is superior to those two example (which I have played) or quite a few other links courses only because of the history and with knock-on atmosphere bonus points for part of the entire St. Andrews scene.

Which are certainly two fine things. But surely it depends on how much one likes the town of St. Andrews and how much one is into the whole history-of-the-game dimension. As a course per se I would not expect it to stand head and shoulders above any of quite a list of other links. Although maybe even just the actual 18 holes themselves are that much of an "ultimate". I'll find out one of these days.

[Jon Wiggett]

I have played many of the worlds top courses but after plying TOC over 40 times I can say it just gets better with each play. Each time it shows you something new on 'EVERY SHOT' and so is for me the ultimate example of golfing challenge. Having said that it is now over priced and I doubt I will play it again

Jon

[Michael Felton]

I played the Old Course twice back in 1998 in the Boyd Quaich. Only time I've had the pleasure. Even back then as a scruffy student, I felt something pretty special walking over the bridge on 18. I had to pause for a moment and think of everyone who had been over that bridge before. It was a wonderful experience and I played half way decently too, which helped (finished 4, 3 both rounds - nice). Playing in that event, we were also afforded the opportunity to use the R&A clubhouse, which only added to the whole thing.

Was it the ultimate experience? I'd be hard-pressed to say yes. It has things about it that you just won't get anywhere else. The history and the sheer feeling of age of the place. And it's the home of golf. It's up there for sure. I can think of better golfing experiences that I've had though. Pine Valley I think was the peak for me. That and RSG/Deal at the Halford Hewitt. And Notts at the BUSA finals. Those are different (the latter two anyway), but I don't think I could say TOC is the ultimate for that reason.

[Bill_McBride]

In terms of "experience" surely the comparison isn't between TOC and "target golf" on some overwatered parkland track in Illinois. For TOC to be the "ultimate" it has to be clearly above and beyond the experience at, for instance, Royal Cinque Ports or Royal Dornoch.

I've not yet visited St. Andrews but truthfully, as high as my expectations are for the TOC "experience" my suspicion is it is superior to those two example (which I have played) or quite a few other links courses only because of the history and with knock-on atmosphere bonus points for part of the entire St. Andrews scene.

Which are certainly two fine things. But surely it depends on how much one likes the town of St. Andrews and how much one is into the whole history-of-the-game dimension. As a course per se I would not expect it to stand head and shoulders above any of quite a list of other links. Although maybe even just the actual 18 holes themselves are that much of an "ultimate". I'll find out one of these days.

I forgot you left us after Dornoch en route to St Andrews.   Too bad, we played New, Old, Lundin Links x2 and Elie x2.  Great trip. 

[Dave McCollum]

Perhaps mentioned, but I doubt very few play TOC without pre-conceived expectations and without a certain familiarity from watching The Open on TV.  As for the town and history, as a reader, I had also read quite a few books before setting foot in SA.  Although I certainly felt like I was visiting some sort of spiritual home, I was unprepared for how the entire town is immersed in golf.  In my limited experience, and perhaps because of my own biases (AKA golf addiction), I think the experience is unique and extraordinary.

[Eric Smith]

Yes.

Mr. Huntley I believe mentioned ghosts in his post earlier and I agree they are most certainly there. At St Andrews there was a connection to the game of golf unlike any I had previously experienced. Being that it is accessible to all, in my opinion, makes the Old Course that much more special.

[Jim Lipstate]

I'm a new member to the forum but have enjoyed (and learned much) reading posts here for many years. My St. Andrews experience remains etched in memory. We had a 4:30 p.m. tee time and all that morning and early afternoon the rain came in horizontal and I saw many players struggling off the course looking rather more like drowned rats than golfers. Shortly before tee time the clouds parted and the rain stopped. One feature of the course I found astounding was that despite the torrent of rain earlier in the day the course played fast and firm. Drives would scuttle down the fairways as though it had been fair and dry for days.

Our wives joined us as we made our way to the 18th tee. The sun hung low in the late summer evening bathing the town and the R&A clubhouse in spectacular golden hues. We hit our tee shots and stopped for the obligatory photo on the Swilcan bridge before making our way to the 18th green.  As the final putts were made and congratulatory hands shaken, the moment seemed almost spiritual. The storied history of the course and its one of a kind setting will forever make it number one among my golfing experiences.

[John Sabino]

Mark - I would say not. There are some great moments, particularly on the 1st and 18th holes and walking over the Swilcan Bridge, but a lot in the middle is not as exciting or long-term memorable. I tend toward Mac's list:

A couple days at Augusta National;
Church 9 at Sand Hills;
Overnight at Pine Valley;
A day at Cypress Point;
Dornoch at dusk;
the full day at Muirfield.

Or actually, the ultimate golf experience is a morning round at Shinnecock, the lobster lunch at National followed by a round of golf, cocktails and an overnight stay at the clubhouse with a game of cards thrown in!

John

[Ed Brzezowski]

John, Did your ultimate trip a few years ago and it really was memorable. However a walk through the old town, a stop for a chat with the Morris clan and Mister Robertson. Lunch at the Dunvegan followed by a round on TOC followed by a visit inside the R & A was as close to heaven as I will ever get, according to my wife.

That lobster lunch is a killer, almost took a nap afterward.