The Estate Courses

[Michael Chadwick]

A trove of information in this thread. Without having attempted to cross reference listed courses with the Routings, Maps, Plans thread, I'm curious if anyone who has looked closer could comment on which courses may have been among the most architecturally distinguished? Which courses deserve more attention not because of their uniqueness of being an estate design, but on the merit of the design alone?

[Greg Hohman]

Nine holes at "Thornwald" in Carlisle PA. GCA? Owners: Lou (1874-1922) and Mary "Minnie" (1874-1916) Sadler. Thornwald, finished in 1911, was a 20,000 sq. ft. Palladian villa on 53 acres. Minnie's sister "Puss" and husband Horace Sadler inherited Thornwald. In 1924, Puss, "not being aware that Horace was about to swing his mid-weight iron, bent over to pick up her ball and was struck in the right eye by the club. She was taken into the family home and operated on by two eye specialists, who determined that her eye would have to be removed." (source: The Forgotten Faces of the Bedford Springs Hotel (2021) by William V. May)

[Ian Andrew]

There are also modern ones. Frog's Breath in Canada is one of them.
I got flown to the site and back home for the duration of the build.
It's a different world for those who can afford their own course.
It's was a full length nine holes to go with his existing 9 hole par three course.