Palmer's best course design?

[Tim Leahy]

Not that he needed to be anything more than he was but as a GCA what was his best design? I remember Palmer/Duane designs from the 80's but dont know how hands on he was.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Musgrove Mill and Old Tabby are probably two of his better ones. I also like Tralee. The back nine there is on some very difficult terrain and it was a fun and intriguing routing. I belonged to the CC of Woodmore that opened in the early eighties. It isn't a top 100 course but it was very good and kept you on your toes without beating you up.

[William_G]

Tralee 

[Greg Gilson]

Probably not his best but we recently joined Sanctuary Cove on Australia's Gold Coast. Our Pines course was a true ground breaker back in the 80's when the moniker "Arnold Palmer Signature Design" really rang some bells. Flag is half mast here today.

[Chris Mavros]

The two that stick out for me are Bear Creek in Denver and Silver Rock in La Quinta.  Probably more so Bear Creek because of its use of the terrain.

[Anton]

I haven't played many of his courses, but the two best I've played are Scotch Hall in NC and Laurel Creek in NJ.  Scotch Hall is a beautiful course with great variety.  Currently there are not many homes bordering the course so it is very open and natural.  Laurel Creek is a solid test but unfortunately housing surrounds most fairways.

[BCrosby]

Does anyone know how hands-on AP was with his course designs? I've heard conflicting things.


Bob

[Terry Lavin]

I haven't played all that many but Old Tabby is something special.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

I enjoyed Spencer T Olin in Alton, IL. Supposedly Arnie was fairly hands on there since he and Mr. Olin were close friends.

It hosted the 1999 US Public Links, where a young, and very skinny UNLV kid from Australia named Adam Scott lost in the finals.

[Bart Bradley]

I think Tralee and Old Tabby are head and shoulders the best that I've seen (and I hear Old Tabby has improved since I saw it).





Bart

[Brad Tufts]

Looking at some results for this...

Matt Ginella has a TGC video that the top AP courses you can play (in order?) are The Bog in Wisconsin, Deacon's Lodge in MN, the Bay Course at Kapalua and The Palmer Course at Turtle Bay in Hawaii, and Bay Hill.

Golf.com has a top 10 gallery of Arnie's course at Reunion in FL, Turtle Bay, Hiddenbrooke in CA, the Old at Half Moon Bay, Palmer course at La Cantera, Deacon's Lodge, Bay Creek in VA, Running Y Ranch in OR, Teton Pines in WY, and Tralee.

Links Mag has a Top 10 AP courses you can play, which adds Semiahmoo, Oasis GC (Palmer), Aviara, Stonewall in WV, and the K Club to the discussion...

Among those I have played, I liked Tralee, Bay Hill, Mid-South, GC of New England, Lonnie Poole and Laurel Valley all on some level.  GC of NE is probably the best of the bunch, although Tralee is up there just by where it is located.

Of the other Palmer courses I have played, two were totally re-designed (TPC Boston by Hanse and Broadmoor-Mtn. by Nicklaus), one is NLE (Grenelefe East), and the others are uninspiring (Eagle Ranch and Lost Tree in CO, The Carolina in Pinehurst).

[Ed Brzezowski]

Tralee is simply spectacular, head and shoulders above any of his other courses I have played.

[astavrides]

(Eagle Ranch and Lost Tree in CO).

It's actually called, 'Lone Tree', but your name for it is apropos too.
I enjoyed Eagle Ranch, although it is by no means great.

[Steve Lang]

   The Bluffs on Thompson Creek, St. Francisville, LA is very good test and golf value on the Audubon Trail.

[Paul Jones]

Old Tabby Links is my favorite - that is a truly special place and where I would love to live one day.

[Doug Wright]

Of the other Palmer courses I have played, two were totally re-designed (TPC Boston by Hanse and Broadmoor-Mtn. by Nicklaus), one is NLE (Grenelefe East), and the others are uninspiring (Eagle Ranch and Lost Tree in CO, The Carolina in Pinehurst).

Brad, I'm a bit surprised you didn't like Eagle Ranch in Eagle, CO. It's one of my favorite courses in the Colorado mountains-- a good mixture of hard and playable holes, some interest and variety to the greens, very good use of the terrain, and a strong finish. I suspect Arnold didn't have much to do with Eagle Ranch, which didn't seem at all like other courses with the Palmer name that I've played (e.g. Lone Tree, Bear Creek and the abominable Broadmoor South course), which I agree are either uninspiring or downright bad.

[Wade Whitehead]

Old Tabby

WW

[Brad Tufts]

Of the other Palmer courses I have played, two were totally re-designed (TPC Boston by Hanse and Broadmoor-Mtn. by Nicklaus), one is NLE (Grenelefe East), and the others are uninspiring (Eagle Ranch and Lost Tree in CO, The Carolina in Pinehurst).

Brad, I'm a bit surprised you didn't like Eagle Ranch in Eagle, CO. It's one of my favorite courses in the Colorado mountains-- a good mixture of hard and playable holes, some interest and variety to the greens, very good use of the terrain, and a strong finish. I suspect Arnold didn't have much to do with Eagle Ranch, which didn't seem at all like other courses with the Palmer name that I've played (e.g. Lone Tree, Bear Creek and the abominable Broadmoor South course), which I agree are either uninspiring or downright bad.

To be honest it was one of the first courses I played in CO, so it's been a while.  Comparing it to the mountain courses I've played since doesn't help, as most of these are private and pretty spectacular (Red Sky Norman, Maroon Creek, Aspen Glen, Snowmass, CC of the Rockies), if less than elite.

[Frank Giordano]

As several friends were taking off for a fortnight in Ireland, I decided to paint a couple of views of Tralee.  The photos for the paintings were  provided by a GCA friend from his collection.  It was a complete surprise to me that Mr. Palmer was the course designer of record.  When I read on this website the discussion of his finest designs, shortly after his passing, it seemed appropriate to post the paintings since a number of you rank Tralee very highly among the King’s courses.   The King is dead.  Long live the King.

[Jim Hoak]

Anyone else ever played Dakota Dunes in South Dakota?  Not great but not bad.  Used to have a Web.com event there.

[Brett Wiesley]

I'd second Old Tabby and Tralee.  I think most Palmer/Seay courses are nice, and friendly to play.  There is one in Park City, UT...The Jeremy which has a wonderful routing and variety of holes.


Those paintings are great!!  The back nine at Tralee is something special.  Both those holes, #12 and #16 are very stern tests as well.  I remember the wind blowing so hard when I played Tralee that on #16 we were hitting close to drivers and aiming over the ocean with hope the wind would bring us back to turf and the green.

[Mark Greer]

Cullasaja in Highlands, NC is very good. 

[Mark Greer]

Cullasaja...

[Jason Thurman]

I've only played a handful, but I've enjoyed them all. Palmer's firm gets a bit of a bad rap around here historically, but I've never played a course of his that I wouldn't happily return to if in the area. ArborLinks in Nebraska City is really a lot of fun, and would be better if the native grass on the property wasn't so impenetrably thick. There are some really cool holes out there.

[MCirba]

I've only played 7 of his courses, of which I enjoyed Aviara (CA) the best.