Courses without lost balls

[Marc Haring]

Tying in with the education of pace of play thread, are there any "good" courses where there is as the good doctor suggested "a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls"?

I'm thinking ANGC back in the day but that's about it.

[jeffwarne]

Augusta CC right next door

[Greg Holland]

Mid Pines and No. 2 are such courses in Pinehurst.

It is hard to lose a ball at Greensboro CC Farm course as well. 

[HarryBrinkerhoffDoyleIV_aka_Barry]

Pretty difficult to lose a ball at Olympic or San Francisco.

[Marc Haring]

Blimey, quick positive responses. Anything in the UK/Europe?

[Mark Pritchett]

Tying in with the education of pace of play thread, are there any "good" courses where there is as the good doctor suggested "a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls"?

I'm thinking ANGC back in the day but that's about it.

This holds true at ANGC today as well. 

[Mark Pearce]

Pretty difficult to lose a ball at Crail Balcomie, though knocking one OOB is easy.  Perhaps on the 16th you could lose a ball in the gorse short and left of the green, though I wouldn't bother looking if I hit a ball in there!

[Jon Wiggett]

TOC used to be an example but not anymore. Also with the distance the ball flies these days I doubt anything less than 150 yard wide playing corridors would do.

Jon

[jeffwarne]

Gweedore-WIDTH and sheep
Mulranny-Sheep
Northwest
Dunfanaghy

[Jud_T]

It's pretty common to have to switch balls at Kingsley because they're worn out.  You can lose one occasionally if you hit a very poor shot or are overly aggressive, but it's not the norm.

[Jim Tang]

Ballyneal.  There is a ton of width out there and you have to hit one pretty far off line to lose one.

[Matt Bielawa]

Sand Hills

[Jim Sherma]

Hershey's East Course is a 1970 George Fazio where it is almost impossible to lose a ball. It's a very challenging course to score on because of the preponderance of elevated green complexes. Off of the tee however it has water on only one tee shot and very open driving corridors. The angles and slopes reward well thought out and executed driving. Sloppy drives should not be penalized with a lost ball. Even where there is OOB it is only on one side with no pinching or walls of trees on the other side. Not a top 100 course at all but a very credible course that meets the criteria.

[Marc Haring]

Sand Hills

Are you sure?

[Jim Sherma]

Ballyneal.  There is a ton of width out there and you have to hit one pretty far off line to lose one.

Not sure if this holds for a year as wet as this past one. Getting off of the fairway corridors back in August resulted in some lost balls and a high percentage of unplayable lies within our groups. I could easily see this being true in a drier year though.

[Matt Bielawa]

Sand Hills

Are you sure?

Yes, I'm sure.  Balls are very findable in the tall grass, and there is plenty of width.  I lost one ball in 129 holes and don't remember witnessing many lost balls from my playing partners either.

[Bill_McBride]

Gweedore-WIDTH and sheep
Mulranny-Sheep
Northwest
Dunfanaghy

Do the sheep fetch?

[Marc Haring]

I'm good with that Matt. Sounds like a perfect maintenance meld.

[David_Tepper]

As long as you stay out of the burns that come into play on 4 holes, it is hard to lose a ball at Brora. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Old Mac.

[Thomas Dai]

Echo Jeff's call on Dunfanaghy.
Minchinhampton Old would be another.
atb

[Bill_McBride]

The Talking Stick courses.

[Jim Tang]

Jim S -

Good point.  It's been a few years since I've been to Ballyneal.  I've mostly seen it in very dry conditions when the yucca is sparse.  I've heard in the intervening years the yucca and scrub have become more invasive.  

I have played multiple rounds at Ballyneal with just one ball, which is something I've always appreciated about the club.

[Craig Sweet]

Rock Creek

[Paul Gray]

What if you go REALLY wide at Pinehurst?