[Frank Kim]

I once heard someone make the comment that the best course he had ever played was Shinnecock Hills but his favorite course ever was National Golf Links of America.  Shouldn't the best and favorite course be the same or not?

[Sean_A]

Frank


For me, there is a big difference between best and favourite courses.  Often times I can see a course is well designed, yet it doesn't register with me in terms of what I enjoy most.  Usually, the best courses are more difficult and demanding than my favourites. 


Ciao

[John McCarthy]

Favorite could wrap in a bunch of stuff, like the friendliness of the place, the history, the food at the turn etc.  How many times have you played a high priced resort course, loved it architecturally but thought it too expensibe or penal for a round every week?  The resort course may be best, but the local with good friends and good beer may be favorite.

[David_Tepper]

Michael Bamberger wrote about NGLA (more fun to play) vs. Shinnecock (better course) in one of his first books. Tom Doak contrasted San Francisco GC (more fun) vs. Olympic Lake (better course) in one edition of his Confidential Guide. From my own experience I agree with Tom Doak's opinion on those two courses.

It all depends upon how one defines "better/best" when evaluating a golf course. I think it is human nature to enjoy playing a course where we feel like we play or can play reasonably well. I think most of us realize some of the "best" courses at times demand golf shots that are beyond our abilities.   

[Jason Way]

For me, there is a big difference between best and favourite courses.  Often times I can see a course is well designed, yet it doesn't register with me in terms of what I enjoy most.  Usually, the best courses are more difficult and demanding than my favourites. 

+1


The courses that I put on my list of favorites are heavily weighted in favor of the "play only one course for the rest of my life" standard.  Since I'm not a masochist, and I wouldn't want to get my ass kicked every day, some really great-but-hard courses (perhaps even the best ones I have played) wouldn't make my list of favorites.

[Jud_T]

All I care about these days is favorites.  Why anyone cares about best is beyond me.

[Ben Jarvis]

I once heard someone make the comment that the best course he had ever played was Shinnecock Hills but his favorite course ever was National Golf Links of America.  Shouldn't the best and favorite course be the same or not?

There is absolutely a difference between "best" and "favourite". I'm currently in a three week trip around the USA. This notion has truly been highlighted to me over the last couple of weeks.

[JStewart]

Old Head is probably a good example for me of one of my favorites, but not anywhere close to the best necessarily.

[Terry Lavin]

I recognize the difference but at the end of the analysis, one is left with a list or two. And lists aren't good for much but arguing. So I'd venture that the best course I've ever played would be Cypress Point while my favorite would likely be Sand Hills. Second best might be Oakmont while second favorite would be Pacific Dunes. Throw in another gem, say LACC North and you'd have a mish-mash Top Five.

[Gib_Papazian]

Muirfield is probably still the best golf course in Scotland, but my favorite is still a tie between Prestwick and North Berwick.

Ballybunnion is the best course in Ireland (not Ulster), but my favorite is still Lahinch.

Shinnecock is certainly a better course than NGLA, but the thought of Shinnecock does not make me hyperventilate in anticipation.

Sunningdale is probably a better golf course, but Swinley Forest is still my favorite.

It occurs to me a good apples-to-apples comparison between muscular heavyweights would be charmless Wentworth and statuesque Woodhall Spa. It is not even close.

Dunluce is perhaps a better golf course (no flaws really), but County Down is more magical.

Anybody who tries to pick the best of the four courses at Bandon is crazy. It is like trying to pick the hottest redhead between Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Angie Everhart.   

 

[Dave McCollum]

I trend toward those that have multiple lists.  Off the top of my head, with some crossovers, from a not particularly well-traveled golfer (and not a very good one at that).  Best included some that were challenging, but were also fun.  Same goes for favorites.  At the end of the day, it is just a game and any list is completely subjective based a wide range of factors, conditions, matches, and so many variables as to render any ranking not really worth the bother.  Yesterday, for example, I played a couple of average courses (very badly) with a member of this group that I could say was one of my best experiences as a golfer.  I could also argue that I played some of my worst golf in years.   Enjoyment is where we find it.           

Best in no particular order (and for different reasons):
RCD, Portrush, Dornoch, TOC, Ballybunion Old, Pac Dunes, Desert Forest…   

Favorites in no particular order (also varied reasons):
TOC, Pac Dunes, Old Mac, Ballybunion Old, Cruden, Aberdeen, N Berwick WL, Dornoch, RCD, Rock Creek CC, Machrihanish, Brora, Elie, Bandon Trails, St. Andrews New, We-Ko-Pa Saguaro, Clear Creek Tahoe, and many other lesser lights that I enjoyed playing and would love to play again, especially with good mates. 

Most mind-blowing:  Stone Eagle.

[Jon Wiggett]

The best course I have played in Scotland is Muirfield but my favourite is just down the road, Kilspindie.

[cary lichtenstein]

Best v Favorite v Hardest?


I think perhaps you should replace best with hardest, or maybe best is your favorite. My favorite was always Pebble Beach, not the hardest but the most fun and enjoyable. The hardest was Oakmont, one that beat me up and left me for dead


 Probably the same can be said about women, is best the one you married (or thought you married early on) and most beautiful, the one b_t_h that...(fillin the blanks)

[Steve Lapper]

Although I firmly believe "best" and "favorite" rarely go hand in hand are usually distinctly different, my personal favorite is also my best: Royal Melbourne West. Nowhere else does the quality of the golf better match my personal choice.

[Greg Gilson]

At least for me, there is a substantial difference between "what I like" (my favorite courses) versus the standard lists of "Best Courses". That said, most of my Favorite 50 usually appear somewhere on those lists....albeit in a substantially different order. I gave up trying to rate (even for myself) the "best courses" I had played but found it easy enough to do up a list of my favorites. I even wrote down a pretty rubbery set of criteria to help keep me straight:
      -50% - Quality of the course architecture (especially variety, challenge & quirk)
      -25% - Quality of atmosphere, history, conditions, clubhouse
      -25% - How much fun I had, desire to return, “if I had 1 last round”

[astavrides]

Anybody who tries to pick the best of the four courses at Bandon is crazy. It is like trying to pick the hottest redhead between Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Angie Everhart.

Angie Everhart and Pacific Dunes, and yes, I am a bit crazy.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom Doak contrasted San Francisco GC (more fun) vs. Olympic Lake (better course) in one edition of his Confidential Guide. From my own experience I agree with Tom Doak's opinion on those two courses.
 

Did I really do that [even twenty years ago]?  If so, I am ashamed.  San Francisco is better as well as more fun.


If you asked me for my list of "favorite" courses, and then asked me for my list of "best" courses, they'd be a bit different, but they are converging as time goes by.  Most of the lists of "best" courses listed here for contrast contain a number of courses that are either there because the respondent doesn't want to stick his neck out too far against conventional wisdom, or because he has been brainwashed into believing that the magical ability to host tournaments and test the best players is an essential part of being a great course.


I used to believe the latter, too, but I don't much anymore.  Nearly all good courses could host a tournament and produce an exciting event and a proper champion ... though at some the winning score might be much lower.  If the governing bodies could just get over that bit, they'd discover those smaller courses are great courses, too ... maybe even more fun to play [and more fun to watch] than the long championship slogs they serve us now.

[Sean_A]

Tom


I wouldn't necessarily say being able to hold a championship is a criteria for "best".  But I am impressed by championship courses which are very playable for the average marker.  Thankfully, there are many good examples in GB&I, but none better than Sandwich and TOC....both of which would make my top 5 best in GB&I, but neither would sniff my top 50 favourites. 


Ciao 


 

[Bob Montle]

I liked what Gib and David wrote.  Do you agree that it is sometimes easier to define what makes a course 'good' than it does to explain why a course is a favorite?

Of the courses I've played in Scotland, Ladybank and Carnoustie were two that I did not enjoy playing although they are undeniably  very good courses.  Gullane was another that I have no desire to return to, while I'm already saving so I can go back to Brora and Machrinish!

For pure enjoyment I could play Fraserburgh or N. Berwick every day. 

[Thomas Dai]

'Best' can also be interpreted as 'hardest' whereas 'favourite' can be much more all embracing.
atb

[Tom_Doak]

I wouldn't necessarily say being able to hold a championship is a criteria for "best".  But I am impressed by championship courses which are very playable for the average marker.  Thankfully, there are many good examples in GB&I, but none better than Sandwich and TOC....both of which would make my top 5 best in GB&I, but neither would sniff my top 50 favourites. 

Doesn't sound like you were all that impressed if they could not make your top 50 favo(u)rites!

[Sean_A]

I wouldn't necessarily say being able to hold a championship is a criteria for "best".  But I am impressed by championship courses which are very playable for the average marker.  Thankfully, there are many good examples in GB&I, but none better than Sandwich and TOC....both of which would make my top 5 best in GB&I, but neither would sniff my top 50 favourites. 

Doesn't sound like you were all that impressed if they could not make your top 50 favo(u)rites!

Not so, both are very impressive courses and ones I would certainly like to see again.  But I usually go for the smaller courses which don't require so much planning, money and avoidance of touristas  [size=78%].[/size]


Ciao 

[Brent Hutto]

I'll give a couple examples of my personal favorite vs. best differences.


I spent a week in Dornoch in 2008. Played three rounds at Brora and four at Royal Dornoch (also played at Golspie and the Struie). I can't even attempt an objective argument to make in favor of Brora as the better of the two courses. Hole for hole, shot for shot any any analytical approach would come up with RDGC as hitting in an entirely different weight class than Brora. Heck ask anyone and they'll tell you Dornoch is the class of the Highlands (even people who've never been there!).


But my favorite is Brora. I think back to playing Brora all the time. I felt totally at home the first time I stepped onto the first tee and at the finish of every round I was dying to go around again. Can't explain it any more than I can say why I like one piece of music or flavor of ice cream more than another. I look forward to another visit to Royal Dornoch but I look forward to my next trip to Brora even more. Go figure.




I've had that sort of "love at the first tee" experience a few other times. Last year I played at Delamere Forest on the day of my arrival in Manchester on a transatlantic flight. That's my only round there but it's already a favorite course of mine. Can't wait to return. I can't give any analysis to support a statement such as "one of the very best golf courses I've ever played". But I liked it better than all but a scant handful of courses I've ever played.


So I'm a believer in "favorite" courses often being the ones that seemed to have a special frisson during ones initial encounter. Sometimes that right-at-home feeling of being in the exact spot where you belong can trump any concepts like "shot values" or "challenge" or "quirk" or whatever pseudo-objective criteria we seem to want everyone to agree on.

[David_Tepper]

This reminds me of an attempt here not too long ago to justify Bude & North Cornwall as being a "better" course than Saunton East. Someone confused favorite with better.    

[Carl Rogers]

...
Anybody who tries to pick the best of the four courses at Bandon is crazy. It is like trying to pick the hottest redhead between Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Angie Everhart.

which one applies to which course?

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