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Ben Stephens

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Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #25 on: March 04, 2019, 05:14:42 AM »
Thorpe Wood in Peterborough used to be a monster at 7000 plus yards by Alliss and Thomas. They have changed the course slightly to accommodate a driving range however there is a better course out there. Its sister Orton Meadows has a cracking front nine that you would have thought you were in Florida the back nine is the opposite and rather short.


There is Priors Hall in Corby which I have not played but others have said it would be a lot better with course improvements.


Dundee - there is Harry Colt's Caird Park and the other one at Camperdown which are challenging inland courses.


Leicester - Western Park had very good potential to be even better now that has gone. Oadby Municipal closed down a few years ago and it has been reborn as a Driving Range and 9 hole course - the inner racecourse holes are no longer. Humberstone is the last remaining municipal and it is a challenging course 




Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #26 on: March 04, 2019, 06:18:53 AM »
Thorpe Wood in Peterborough used to be a monster at 7000 plus yards by Alliss and Thomas. They have changed the course slightly to accommodate a driving range however there is a better course out there. Its sister Orton Meadows has a cracking front nine that you would have thought you were in Florida the back nine is the opposite and rather short.

There is Priors Hall in Corby which I have not played but others have said it would be a lot better with course improvements.

Dundee - there is Harry Colt's Caird Park and the other one at Camperdown which are challenging inland courses.

Leicester - Western Park had very good potential to be even better now that has gone. Oadby Municipal closed down a few years ago and it has been reborn as a Driving Range and 9 hole course - the inner racecourse holes are no longer. Humberstone is the last remaining municipal and it is a challenging course


It's probably wrong of me but I am SERIOUSLY uninterested in 7,000 yard monsters by Alliss and Thomas  :)
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #27 on: March 04, 2019, 07:35:44 AM »
Hazelhead has two 18-hole courses plus a 9-holer. In Aberdeen there are also the likes of Kings Links and Balnagask. Gets slightly awkward though in definition/categorisation terms when local authority/muni owned courses have private clubs playing over the courses as well, just like at St Andrews, Carnoustie, Montrose etc.
Same issue in England as well, ie Cleeve Cloud/Hill.

In many ways full size 18-hole muni’s have been replaced by private enterprise pay-n-play ventures.

To me the strength of mini golf in the U.K. was always pitch-n-putts and putting greens in many/most town/city parks. Alas such facilities seem to have pretty much disappeared these days.

Atb
« Last Edit: March 04, 2019, 07:37:41 AM by Thomas Dai »

Niall C

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #28 on: March 04, 2019, 07:39:13 AM »
Adam,

I've got a fair bit on Hazelhead including minutes from Council Committee meetings etc that I got out of the Council archives but I'm sorry to say I've never actually seen the course. Neil Crafter thought I should write something up on it but I had too much else going on at the time and to be honest I couldn't get that excited about it.

When they had there grand rebranding exercise a year or two back they approached the Mac society to see if we could field someone to say a few words. I was lined up to do it but the original date got cancelled and I then couldn't make the rearranged date so in the end no one from the Mac society was present. I did send them some quotes but they decided to use Geoff Shacklefords quotes instead.............I'm not bitter, honest  :D

Happy to share all info but others would need to advise whether the course is any good or could be made better. I do recall it was partially rerouted soon after MacK's involvement.

Niall

Jon Wiggett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #29 on: March 04, 2019, 07:54:19 AM »

Adam,


in Leeds, Middleton Park in its original format was a great 9 holer that is alas no more. You can still see the course in its entirety as they just stopped maintaining it. I believe it was a Mackenzie but am not 100% certain.


Jon

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #30 on: March 04, 2019, 09:38:33 AM »
Bowden Golf Club in Macon Ga is a very good one if the city were behind it.  We began a restoration this past year but the group that started it found out quickly that we had upset the apple cart for what had been going on there for years and not sure it will ever reach where it needs to be.  Incompetence and corruption can be tough to overcome in some cities.


100% true
That and some people want shit cheap golf so the course remains empty
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Gary Sato

Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #31 on: March 04, 2019, 09:53:17 AM »
Lincoln Park in San Francisco.


Completely neglected by the city. A short, hilly course with a few holes including the iconic 17th that plays along the ocean.

Clyde Johnson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #32 on: March 04, 2019, 09:53:31 AM »
I've got a fair bit on Hazelhead including minutes from Council Committee meetings etc that I got out of the Council archives but I'm sorry to say I've never actually seen the course.


Not sure you missed much to be honest, Niall...I found about two or three holes of interest. But perhaps that's because MacKenzie's original fourth through ninth now belongs to the (apparently) more popular “No.2”.


I'm with Sean on Meyrick Park, though I think the council now franchises the running of that to a private organisation? I'd love to help that place out, as I'm sure a few others would.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2019, 09:56:03 AM by Clyde Johnson »

Chris_Blakely

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #33 on: March 04, 2019, 09:54:40 AM »
Pelham Bay Park - Pelham Course (already mentioned and agree)
Pelham Bay Park - Splitrock Course (already mentioned and agree)


Another two courses in the NYC Parks system that if restored would shine are:


South Shore CC (old Mayflower Country Club) Devereux Emmet course
La Tourette GC  David Rees course


Eisenhower Park - Red (Devereux Emmet course)


Chris

Matthew Petersen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #34 on: March 04, 2019, 10:29:33 AM »
Wailua GC on Kauai. Oceanfront muni golf where you can walk and play cheap. Good stuff.


I'll second the vote for Encanto, in Phoenix AZ, which has a good routing and could be quite good with a little TLC and a restoration (of the bunkers, mostly). My understanding from some limited research is that the course actually used to be a bit more interesting than it is now. Including (from what I've read anyway) an island green on the front nine. (I often wish the money that went to Maryvale/GCU had gone to Encanto, which had so much more interest to start with.)

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #35 on: March 04, 2019, 12:14:24 PM »
Adam

A very cool muni to explore is Case de Campo Villa de Madrid...not just the course, but the entire park.  Its incredible what is on offer and how many members there are.  The concept is awesome.  The history with Franco and the war ramps up the interest quite a bit.

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Joe Zucker

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #36 on: March 04, 2019, 12:21:13 PM »
Sleepy Hollow in Cleveland, OH. Stanley Thomson Gem that could really shine.


Bethpage Black still has a long way to go before it reaches its full potential.


A second vote for Sleepy Hollow here.  It's a really good course with some severe greens by today's standard.  I would also nominate Manikiki in Cleveland.  It's a Ross design that was formerly a private club.  It has a lot of terrible cart paths, but several really interesting holes.

Lyndell Young

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #37 on: March 04, 2019, 01:33:22 PM »
Charleston Muni x 1,000,000
I Hear a 3mill redo is in the works!

MCirba

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #38 on: March 04, 2019, 02:11:53 PM »
Another vote for Triggs Memorial...

Also going to add three dark horses - Dyker Meadow (Brooklyn), Bonneville (Salt Lake City) and Balboa Park  (San Diego).
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Ben Lovett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #39 on: March 04, 2019, 02:45:17 PM »
Would El Saler or Malaga Parador Golf count as municipal?

JC Urbina

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #40 on: March 04, 2019, 03:38:32 PM »
Adam,


It sounds like you have enough U.S. courses but for my money Riverdale Dunes, a Pete and Perry Dye design in Brighton Colorado is a really enjoyabe course to play, its run by the local county and its a lot of Fun to play!

Guy Nicholson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #41 on: March 04, 2019, 04:00:38 PM »
Adam -
Lakeview, City of Mississauga Ontario.
Herbert Strong.
Hosted the Canadian Open a few times in the 20s
Won by Silver Scot Tommy Armour
Elegant greens
P


+1

SL_Solow

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #42 on: March 04, 2019, 04:54:47 PM »
Adam,  Reporting in from Chicago, i'll leave out Muni's that were recently renovated,e.g Mount Prospect and Sunset Valley.  Chicago has at least a couple worthy of note in the city limits.  Jackson Park is currently the subject of much discussion with a contemplated redo involving some of the land from the old South Shore Country Club.  Tiger Woods is the proposed "architect" and the new routing would be right up against the lake.  The Marovitz Course, formerly Waveland, when opened during the golden age, was hailed for its architecture and still has some interesting "bones".  It too is riparian.

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #43 on: March 04, 2019, 04:57:04 PM »
My home course for the last 30 years, The Brown County Golf Course, an Ed Lawrence Packard, 1958/60.   While and in-house effort 3 years ago remodeled all 18 greens and partial surrounds with excellent turf sward that retained interesting though soften contours, and some new senior and lady tee placements have taken place over the last 3 years, the course could still stand some more work.
The in-house work was overseen by the super, and contracted to a small company shaper I never heard of. The work was in my view, good.  But, I think we still need some minor re-contouring in fairways, with some tweaking of bunker placement, a few strategic new ones, and some fairway corridor re-definition.  Some of the contouring could aid with strategy and surface drainage, where elsewhere, better underground drainage lines are needed in key places.  Also, a bit of pond redefinition might help.  All of the above has been tweaked in baby steps over the years, but due to budget and scope or the projects, just always the least costly approach that often left falling short the intention to improve.   
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Ben Malach

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #44 on: March 04, 2019, 06:12:51 PM »
Pacific Grove Links, California


Pacific Grove is an interesting course with good architectural heritage with a strong connection to Pebble Bach down the road with them both having been worked on by Jack Neville.



https://www.playpacificgrove.com/contact




Waterton Lakes Golf Course, Alberta


A personal favourite of mine is a Stanley Thompson course in a national park. 


http://golfwaterton.com/




Indian Canyon, Washington

Is a great muni that is currently being worked on by RTJ 2. It was designed by Chandler Egan and has a history of hosting some USGA events.

https://my.spokanecity.org/golf/courses/indian-canyon/
@benmalach on Instagram and Twitter

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #45 on: March 04, 2019, 06:35:23 PM »
I would sure hope to high heaven the back 9 at PG wasn't messed with.  Its practically perfect as is.

Last thing it needs is a bunch of money thrown at it and green fees double or triple...

Tim Leahy

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #46 on: March 04, 2019, 07:06:02 PM »
Sacramento, Ca has 3 muni's[size=78%] that could be good to great with tlc.[/size]

Bing Maloney was built by an associate of MacKenzie and has been ignored but has tree lined fairways and a good layout.
Ancil Hofman is a William Bell layout near the river that has a great layout and some poor decisions changing a great par 3 to a teebox.
Hagin Oaks MacKenzie had a horrible redo 20 years ago but has Mac's original plans in the snack bar and has potential.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2019, 09:26:21 PM by Tim Leahy »
I love golf, the fightin irish, and beautiful women depending on the season and availability.

Erik J. Barzeski

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #47 on: March 04, 2019, 07:48:26 PM »
Sleepy Hollow in Cleveland, OH. Stanley Thomson Gem that could really shine.
I second this one.
Erik J. Barzeski @iacas
Author, Lowest Score Wins, Instructor/Coach, and Lifetime Student of the Game.

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

Mike Sweeney

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #48 on: March 04, 2019, 08:04:10 PM »
Made famous by former poster Jon S, San Clemente Muni, California (Billy Bell?):



http://www.san-clemente.org/recreation-community/golf





and on the opposite side is Riverside GC in Portland, Maine (Wayne Stiles), home of our own Michael Moore:


http://www.riversidegolfcourseme.com

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us."

Dr. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Gary Sato

Re: Cool Munis
« Reply #49 on: March 04, 2019, 08:41:15 PM »
Adam,


It sounds like you have enough U.S. courses but for my money Riverdale Dunes, a Pete and Perry Dye design in Brighton Colorado is a really enjoyabe course to play, its run by the local county and its a lot of Fun to play!


Does it makes sense to rebuild a course built in 1985 when there are dozens of classics that deserve attention?