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Ira Fishman

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Most Fun
« on: January 12, 2019, 04:02:37 PM »
Picking up on the Augusta post, what are the courses you think are the most fun to play?


For me, Golspie and Mid Pines. I might cheat and throw in Bandon Preserve.


Ira
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Peter Flory

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2019, 04:09:01 PM »
Old Mac in the wind would be my choice. 


Lawsonia, Mid Pines, Cypress, Medinah #2, Old Elm. 
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Eric Smith

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2019, 04:30:10 PM »
Old Mac for sure.


I'd add:


WolF Point
Royal CinqUe Ports
National Golf Links of America
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Paul Carey

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2019, 04:44:03 PM »
Wolf Point
Old Mac
Bulls Bay
Castle Stuart
Lulu Temple

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A.G._Crockett

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2019, 05:14:38 PM »
Tobacco Road, and nothing else is close.
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"Golf...is usually played with the outward appearance of great dignity.  It is, nevertheless, a game of considerable passion, either of the explosive type, or that which burns inwardly and sears the soul."      Bobby Jones

Jaeger Kovich

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2019, 05:41:50 PM »
NGLA, North Berwick, Ballyneal.
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Steve_ Shaffer

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2019, 06:22:48 PM »
LuLu


Merion West


Lakota Canyon


Ocean Course, Palm Beach


Short Course @ Mountain Shadows
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Jim Tang

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2019, 06:27:38 PM »
Ballyneal
Royal Dornoch
Friar's Head
Kingsley Club
Black Mesa
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Daryl David

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2019, 06:33:30 PM »
Arrowtown



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Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2019, 06:36:08 PM »
We've done that list for each volume of The Confidential Guide.


For Volume 1, it was:


North Berwick
Machrihanish
Cruden Bay
Shiskine
Dooks
Gullane #3
Lahinch


I don't have any idea why we stopped at seven courses, in the UK of all places!
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Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2019, 06:38:13 PM »
Volume 2:


Bulls Bay
The Valley Club of Montecito
Cypress Point
Sweetens Cove
Black Creek
Cal Club
Mid Pines
Wolf Point
Aetna Springs  :'(
La Cumbre, Argentina
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Kalen Braley

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2019, 06:42:48 PM »
Put me down for:


Black Rock (Couer D' Alene)
Ballyneal
RCCC



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Peter Flory

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2019, 07:07:07 PM »
Oh yeah, forgot about Ballyneal... and Scotland. 
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Mike Sweeney

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2019, 08:04:23 PM »
Quote from: Steve_ Shaffer on January 12, 2019, 06:22:48 PM

Merion West



Agreed and I would add:
  • Newport CC (caddy legacy, and dinner in town post-18)
  • Shennecossett (not great, but always fun)
  • Cape Arundel (post round Maine lobsters are being pulled from the ocean when you are on the back 9)
  • Mountain Lake (shorts in February on a Raynor is fun)
  • NGLA (flown in Maine lobsters after a Macdonald 18 day!!)
  • Goat Hill - (you are in California hanging with surfers)
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Peter Pallotta

Re: Most Fun
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2019, 08:16:23 PM »

Would any of you have the same list if the question was about the 'best' courses you've ever played?

And if not, why not?

If I had a dollar for every time I've read here that it's 'all about fun' I wouldn't even be here.

So please do explain why your best courses aren't exactly the same ones as your most fun?
« Last Edit: January 12, 2019, 08:18:01 PM by Peter Pallotta »
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John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2019, 08:31:12 PM »
Quote from: A.G._Crockett on January 12, 2019, 05:14:38 PM
Tobacco Road, and nothing else is close.


Wow, what percentage of the time do you play the course firm?
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Erik J. Barzeski

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2019, 10:52:52 PM »
Oh goodness. Some of the courses I've had the most fun on have far too much to do with the people I play those courses with and/or the circumstances of when I played them than the course itself.

So I'm going to say that there's no real way I can list courses. I'm not aware enough of my company/situation biases to make a true list.

But gun to my head, I've had fun playing the Old Course, North Berwick, Kiawah Island Ocean, Oakmont… all for different reasons. Oakmont, specifically, has always been the "complete grind" type of fun, and will likely make nobody else's list.
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Erik J. Barzeski @iacas
Author, Lowest Score Wins, Instructor/Coach, and Lifetime Student of the Game.

I generally ignore Rob, Tim, Garland, and Chris.

Tim Leahy

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #17 on: January 12, 2019, 11:34:02 PM »
Spyglass
Bayonet
Rustic
Kapalua Plantation
Stone Eagle
Cabo Del Sol Ocean
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Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2019, 12:06:30 AM »
North Berwick.........Immediately popped into my head before looking at other responses...... I'm still thinking as others were fun, but not in the same class. 

TOC when I played in 35-45 mph winds was very cool and enjoyable, as the weather really made it that much more fun to me.
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"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
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John Crowley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2019, 12:56:39 AM »
RDGC
Ballyneal
Bandon Preserve
Old Mac
Rustic

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James Reader

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #20 on: January 13, 2019, 07:20:46 AM »
I was thinking about this question while reading some of the comments about today’s match at Silloth, where the winds are forecast to be gusting at 45mph.  I’ve had great fun at a lot of courses (Swinley, Prestwick and North Berwick would be high on the lost) but the rounds that come immediately to mind are those i’ve played on links in winds that would have been considered to be virtually unplayable by some.


Deal a couple of years ago in a 30-40mph cross-wind from the sea, with almost no-one else on the course, was an absolute blast.  I can still remember really clearly a round on the New Course in a student competition nearly 30 years ago. A guy from Stirling and I were playing with a young scratch golfer from Japan on his first trip outside of the country. It was so windy that we couldn’t use tees on several holes, and I can even now picture his bag blowing off the 9th tee.  We spent the round telling him that it was always like this in the UK and we didn’t know what he was worried about. By the end of the round i think he was enjoying it almost as much as we were.


And then only a couple of weeks ago, a round on the Eden with winds that it was difficult to stand up in.  Lots of people walking off the course or not even bothering starting, nowhere on the 4th green where a ball would stop, but I loved it. Driver, 3 wood, 5 iron into a 420 yard hole going out but driving the 18th green to 2 feet and holing my last putt of 2018 for a second eagle of the round (not sure I’ve ever done that before in nearly 40 years of playing).  Not the greatest course by any means but for sheer fun in those conditions (except for the horrible holes round the pond) it did it for me.


I’m sure many would see this as having an element of masochism in it - and on a thick rough/tree-lined course I’d be inclined to agree.  But on a links course created and set up with those conditions in mind, the creativity and variety of shots required is at a different level.  So I’m sitting at home today very jealous of the guys up at Silloth.  Wish I was there!
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Ruediger Meyer

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #21 on: January 13, 2019, 07:39:20 AM »
For me:


Bandon Preserve
Barnbougle Dunes
Durness
Kilspindie
North Berwick West's Back 9
The Island on a stormy day



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Conley Hurst

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #22 on: January 13, 2019, 08:42:34 AM »
Of courses I've played in the US:


Cypress Point
Tobacco Road
Ballyhack (despite being unwalkable)
Homestead Cascades


Of courses I've played in the UK:


North Berwick (immediately came to mind)
TOC
Sunningdale Old
Swinley Forest
Brancaster
« Last Edit: January 13, 2019, 08:45:01 AM by Conley Hurst »
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MLevesque

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Re: Most Fun
« Reply #23 on: January 13, 2019, 08:53:39 AM »
Quote from: Erik J. Barzeski on January 12, 2019, 10:52:52 PM
Oh goodness. Some of the courses I've had the most fun on have far too much to do with the people I play those courses with and/or the circumstances of when I played them than the course itself.

Erik, I agree.  The most "fun" and memorable experience I had was a weeklong trip to Bandon with my pal Peely.  We encountered the most hellacious weather (driving rain with near-hurricane force winds) but played all the Bandon tracks and had the time of our lives with stories for a lifetime.
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Ira Fishman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Most Fun
« Reply #24 on: January 13, 2019, 09:43:25 AM »
Quote from: Peter Pallotta on January 12, 2019, 08:16:23 PM

Would any of you have the same list if the question was about the 'best' courses you've ever played?

And if not, why not?

If I had a dollar for every time I've read here that it's 'all about fun' I wouldn't even be here.

So please do explain why your best courses aren't exactly the same ones as your most fun?


Peter,


A very interesting question especially given that the Confidential Guide has my top two “best” courses—Lahinch and Cypress Point—on its most fun list. Why didn’t I list them on my most fun OP? Certainly not because they are not fun—they certainly are a ton of fun.


But for me, they go even beyond fun. I judge courses by how mentally exhilarating and exhausting they are. Golspie and Mid Pines are both but the exhilarating aspect comes in a higher ratio. Lahinch and CPC have a very high quotient of both but in near perfect balance.


The best analogy I can give of my thinking is once again Jazz. Al Jarreau’s version of Take Five is great fun. The original by Brubeck transcends fun.


Ira

« Last Edit: January 14, 2019, 06:15:35 PM by Ira Fishman »
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