Unrated Courses you plan to play and why ?

[Sean_A]

Diamond Springs,  I've only played it once and it's such a great course.  Hope to tee it when the course is firmer and to walk it.  It's a shame this course gets overlooked, it's Michigan Top 25 material!

I have long been intrigued by this course.  Do you have any pix?


Ciao

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Duncan,


Holywell is mostly wonderful. It's so natural with sheep roaming the course. A couple of makeweight holes by the A55 are rather a letdown but mostly the course is full of mischief.


I can't really recommend Abersoch, unless you can confine play only to the original 9-hole course, which is a cracker.


I'm sure you've played Bull Bay - it's the pick of the Anglesey courses, ahead of Holyhead, I think, but maybe that's because I know Bull Bay rather better.

[BCowan]

Diamond Springs,  I've only played it once and it's such a great course.  Hope to tee it when the course is firmer and to walk it.  It's a shame this course gets overlooked, it's Michigan Top 25 material!

I have long been intrigued by this course.  Do you have any pix?


Ciao

No, but I hope to correct that this summer!  Very good public options in Grand Rapids

[Eric Smith]

Lake Tansi GC (Tennessee)
A Bob Renaud design. This is the course I grew up on. It was also our high school team's home course. I guess its been around 12-13 years since I last played there. Will be nice to take it all in and remember the good ol' days when I could would hit a wedge in the air.


Tyrone Hills GC (Michigan)
A Bruce Matthews design. I played it about 10 years ago and liked the course a lot. One of my best friends is a teaching professional there.

[Sean_A]

Eric

Yes, Tyrone is alright.  I used to play it quite often as part of a public course rotation of courses that allowed walking on the weekend. Dunham Hills, Green Acres, Leslie Park, Brae Burn, Hilltop, Salem Hills, Huron Hills and a few others were on the list.  Good times. 

Ciao

[Duncan Cheslett]

Duncan,


Holywell is mostly wonderful. It's so natural with sheep roaming the course. A couple of makeweight holes by the A55 are rather a letdown but mostly the course is full of mischief.


I can't really recommend Abersoch, unless you can confine play only to the original 9-hole course, which is a cracker.


I'm sure you've played Bull Bay - it's the pick of the Anglesey courses, ahead of Holyhead, I think, but maybe that's because I know Bull Bay rather better.

Funnily enough, I have played Abersoch, but it was 40 years ago -  30 years before I took up golf and long before the club extended the course to 18 holes.  I vaguely remember a links course with lots of sandhills. A good friend at RV reports that it is the best 13 hole course he's played.


I suspect that Holywell could become another GCA favourite in the vein of Kington  and Painswick. I will definitely get there this year.


I've not made it to Bull Bay or Holyhead yet. They are both courses well loved by Stockport golfers but I suggested Holyhead because I assumed that Bull Bay was rather too well known to be classed as "unrated". My grandfather was a country member there for several years in the 1970s.

[Thomas Dai]

There are a few others, links too apparently, dotted amongst the caravan sites along the N Wales coast, the likes of Prestatyn, Rhyl and Angelsey GC next to Valley. Anyone played them? James Braid seems to have been particularly active in the area over the decades.
Atb

[Scott Whitley]

There are a few others, links too apparently, dotted amongst the caravan sites along the N Wales coast, the likes of Prestatyn, Rhyl and Angelsey GC next to Valley. Anyone played them? James Braid seems to have been particularly active in the area over the decades.
Atb

I played Prestatyn once, about 15 years ago now.  Was a bit underwhelmed, to be honest. 


On the other hand (in reply to a different post further up the list) I can recommend Peterhead highly.


As for me, plan to play Fortrose & Rosemarkie this spring on a trip otherwise devoted to some of the bigger names.  Not exactly sure why.  Looks like an intriguing piece of linksland surrounded by water on three sides.  Have always had good luck with courses with "and" in the name (Laytown & Bettystown, Nefyn & District, Narin & Portnoo, etc.).  Reports of a very good pub in Fortrose.


Also hope to visit Fraserburgh and Moray Old on this trip but those are hardly lesser known to this group.

[Jon Wiggett]

Scott,


Fortrose is about 15 minutes from my course so have played it a few times and it is worth playing though a little tight in high season. If you fancy company let me know.


Jon

[BCowan]

Lake Tansi GC (Tennessee)
A Bob Renaud design. This is the course I grew up on. It was also our high school team's home course. I guess its been around 12-13 years since I last played there. Will be nice to take it all in and remember the good ol' days when I could would hit a wedge in the air.


Tyrone Hills GC (Michigan)
A Bruce Matthews design. I played it about 10 years ago and liked the course a lot. One of my best friends is a teaching professional there.

Playing Tyrone Hills on Sat as a matter of fact.  Played it earlier this summer.  Gotta love the Church Pews on the 1st hole  .  Good land movement too.

[Garland Bayley]

Church pew bunkers are stupid.
Don't any of these architects copying them have any original ideas?

[Duncan Cheslett]

I played Prestatyn once, about 15 years ago now.  Was a bit underwhelmed, to be honest. 

As the most accessible links course to the South Manchester area - around an hour away and less than twenty quid - Prestatyn is a popular winter choice.


The front nine is a little underwhelming, being on very flat land in the lee of the sea wall. This is unfortunately compounded by a rather  strange routing which incorporates large tracts of internal OOB to accommodate the practice area. The turf is good however, and the greens excellent. Waterlogged Manchester golfers are grateful merely for that.


The back nine - ironically away from the sea - really comes alive with some lovely holes on more interesting terrain while retaining the springy links turf.


Prestatyn was on the brink of going under a few years ago but seems to have revived itself. A second club membership deal costing a bargain £220 pa has brought in a lot of new blood from down the M56 and from the many thousands of people with caravans in the area.


Prestatyn will never be among the great links courses but is a very worthwhile visit.

[Richard Fisher]

Not sure that a regular venue for national championships (as Prestatyn is) really qualifies as 'unrated' but very pleased to see the coverage. For the benefit of non-Brit readers of GCA, Prestatyn forms part of a quintet of Welsh courses (along with Ashburnham, Conwy (where the Curtis Cup is headed), Pyle and Kenfig, and Southerndown) that the Golfing Union of Wales regularly use for both men's match-play and mens' stroke-play championships: they also use Aberdovey (the permanent home of the Welsh Seniors' Championship, and the venue for the Welsh Amateur this year) and Tenby and Machynys from time-to-time. Porthcawl and Harlech also of course form a core part of this informal rota, but both are emphatically 'rated'. Pennard, interestingly, has never been part of this cohort, which may change with the new blue tees installed there, but as I have said before on GCA, the latter's reputation and appeal within the Principality can be a rather Marmite one.

Anyway, in writing this I am very conscious of stepping on to Mark Rowlinson's turf, and on the 20th anniversary of the publication of Golf Courses of North Wales by messrs Rowlinson and Lees, would only flag that Rhyl GC was (prior to World War II, and the sad loss of half of its land and holes) likewise once a regular Welsh championship venue.

[Simon Holt]

Princes.


Most people don't seem to rave about it but I need to scratch the itch in terms of playing all the Open courses. 


I know it's not the layout it once was but it's a closure thing for me.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Davenport CC - mainly because of the great write ups here and Tom Doak's listing it as a Gourmets Choice

Belvedere - taking a family vacation to northern Michigan and intrigued by Ben Cowan's praise of it

Naples Beach Golf & Hotel - had played it many times and disappointed by how average of a course it was, in the heart of high end Naples and across the street from the beach. So much potential.  Interested to see how the renovation turned out

Old Hawthorn in Columbia, MO - new addition to the Club Corp portfolio and can play it for  a cart fee. Home course of the Mizzou Tigers golf team

[Scott Whitley]

Not sure that a regular venue for national championships (as Prestatyn is) really qualifies as 'unrated' but very pleased to see the coverage. For the benefit of non-Brit readers of GCA, Prestatyn forms part of a quintet of Welsh courses (along with Ashburnham, Conwy (where the Curtis Cup is headed), Pyle and Kenfig, and Southerndown) that the Golfing Union of Wales regularly use for both men's match-play and mens' stroke-play championships: they also use Aberdovey (the permanent home of the Welsh Seniors' Championship, and the venue for the Welsh Amateur this year) and Tenby and Machynys from time-to-time. Porthcawl and Harlech also of course form a core part of this informal rota, but both are emphatically 'rated'. Pennard, interestingly, has never been part of this cohort, which may change with the new blue tees installed there, but as I have said before on GCA, the latter's reputation and appeal within the Principality can be a rather Marmite one.

Anyway, in writing this I am very conscious of stepping on to Mark Rowlinson's turf, and on the 20th anniversary of the publication of Golf Courses of North Wales by messrs Rowlinson and Lees, would only flag that Rhyl GC was (prior to World War II, and the sad loss of half of its land and holes) likewise once a regular Welsh championship venue.

Just to clarify, I agree that a week in Wales makes for a fantastic golf trip for a North American, and still has the virtue of being somewhat off the beaten path when compared to SW Ireland, Fife, etc.


We thoroughly enjoyed Southerndown, Porthcawl, Pennard, Tenby, Aberdovey, Harlech, Nefyn and Conwy, and were also able to fit in Hoylake, before it returned to the Rota.  Just found Prestatyn a bit dull in comparison - especially the front nine which is aptly described above.

[Criss Titschinger]

If we've heard about it, you probably shouldn't be mentioning it. And, we've heard of these.

Hmmm. The topic was to discuss unrated courses we plan to play in 2017. Yet, we're not supposed to talk about any we (the GCA community) have heard of. 

Well, in that case, I won't mention anywhere I plan to play in 2017. My home course is probably the only one that fits that criteria (unrated, not really heard of).

I don't get to travel and play nearly as much as a lot on this forum. Let's just say I have two rounds planned in South Carolina (Myrtle Beach, Charleston), the Iowa Mashie (Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, maybe Des Moines) for sure. Still hoping for one or two in NE Ohio depending on how many visits to the in-laws I make. Hopefully a round or two in Dayton, OH. But again, I don't want to mention any names because all of these courses are known on this forum.

[Buck Wolter]

Davenport CC - mainly because of the great write ups here and Tom Doak's listing it as a Gourmets Choice

Belvedere - taking a family vacation to northern Michigan and intrigued by Ben Cowan's praise of it

Naples Beach Golf & Hotel - had played it many times and disappointed by how average of a course it was, in the heart of high end Naples and across the street from the beach. So much potential.  Interested to see how the renovation turned out

Old Hawthorn in Columbia, MO - new addition to the Club Corp portfolio and can play it for  a cart fee. Home course of the Mizzou Tigers golf team

I always wanted to play Old Hawthorn when I lived in St Louis --former Keith Foster Associate Art Schaupeter designed it I believe. He posted here for a while and was involved with Foster at Gateway National in St Louis that I really like.

[MCirba]

The Links at Poland Spring in Maine.  An early Ross design (1913) that is around 6100 from the back tees with a bunch of short Par 4s.  I have driven by it many times when visiting our daughter at school, but never got a chance to play.  It supposed to be great fun.

Poland Spring is also high on my list when I make it out for a trip in the northeast.  However, as I understand it, there's a lot of Travis out there, too. 


From the Travis Society page:


1913 – Donald Ross, redesign and expansion to 18-holes, opened for play in 1915; July 14, 1917 issue of Poland Spring paper, The Hilltop, announced golf course changes “under the direction of Professional A.H. Fenn and Walter J. Travis” consisting of rebuilt or new greens on 10 holes, addition of 10 new bunkers, and new tees on 12 holes.

Playing there tomorrow along with an old, lost Alex Findlay 9-holer.

[Paul Jones]

How do you know that a course is underrated before you play it?

[Tom_Doak]

How do you know that a course is underrated before you play it?

Well, I mean, is it in any top 100 list or not?  The title of the thread was "unrated" not "underrated".


My experience with unrated courses this year includes Anstruther, Iona, The Machrie, Bonar Bridge, Durness, and new courses including Pinehurst #10, High Pointe, Sedge Valley, and Lost Rail.  Every one of those [except possibly Anstruther] was a pleasant surprise to the upside.

[Tony_Muldoon]

How do you know that a course is underrated before you play it?

Well, I mean, is it in any top 100 list or not?  The title of the thread was "unrated" not "underrated".

... Every one of those [except possibly Anstruther] was a pleasant surprise to the upside.

Whilst I can't argue with your definition, I wonder if it's another difference between" two great nations"?  Do American golfers in general  pay more attention to "Lists" than Europeans do?  Is it mainly GCA types (wingnuts) or members of rated Clubs who talk about lists of?  In Europe "reputation" is discussed and that's a more ethereal thing. Most Club golfers in the UK I know don't have a clue what's on the top 100 list. When I saw the title of this thread I was thinking more of  reputation, after all there's more than 100 courses in GB that I've heard good things about, but still  keen to hear counter views and nuanced discussion.


However Amen to your comment on Anstruther. Despite its relatively frequent mentions on GCA, there's not a lot To see, move on to The Himalayas.

[Niall C]

For what it is worth, I'm pretty sure when I wrote the OP that I was thinking of unrated more in the sense that Tony refers to. For instance, James mentioned Southerness. That was definitely a course that that has a pretty good rep elsewhere in Scotland so when I played it I wasn't surprised by how good it was.


On the other hand I recently played Arbroath which I'd not really heard anything about and certainly nothing to suggest it was going to be as good as it was. The reason I did play it was the Willie Fernie connection. Afterwards I checked and it's not even in the Top 100 Scotland which I find astonishing. So from both meanings of unrated, Arbroath falls into the category.


Niall

[Niall C]

I stopped by Whinhill last May, but only managed to walk a few holes as I wanted to take a look at Fereneze too. I was pretty impressed by the finishing four, even if the shaping of the devilish 15th green is rather rudimentary. On a rare sunny day, the view as you approach to the semi-blind/horizon 17th is something!

How about the clubhouse...some heavy security measures!?

Would be tempted to head back there someday for a game.

Clyde


I played Fereneze and was impressed with pretty much the whole course. Unfortunately had to miss out a couple of holes due to time constraints but could see what they were about and they looked good. Again, another course that I'd heard nothing about even though I'm relatively local. The reason for playing it was partly your comment and partly having found an old routing plan in the Mitchell archives a number of years ago. It looks as though it's had a bit of a golden age makeover since it was first laid out.


Didn't have time to try and break in to the clubhouse. Maybe next time.


Niall

[JLahrman]

Diamond Springs,  I've only played it once and it's such a great course.  Hope to tee it when the course is firmer and to walk it.  It's a shame this course gets overlooked, it's Michigan Top 25 material!

I have long been intrigued by this course.  Do you have any pix?

Ciao

Sean, we'll just pick up this discussion as if 7 years hasn't gone by.


Having moved to Grand Rapids in 2022, I'm trying to knock off a few Michigan courses each year in this golf-heavy state. I only play 5 to 10 rounds of golf a year, so it's a slow business for me. But Diamond Springs was on my hit list for 2023. Maybe this is old news, but the NLU guys went there as part of their Michigan series a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrrQNA5X00I


It's a fun course, though the ravine that cuts through the back nine certainly is penal as I found out! The single cut would have been noticeable even had I not watched the video first. I don't remember what I paid for the round which means it was a very reasonable price. I really liked the course, although at about an hour's drive I will probably play there infrequently since The Mines is only about 10 minutes away from my house.


It is rated, or at least listed, here: [size=78%]America's best golf courses for $100 or less[/size]