Best holes in Europe (past 50 years)

[Adam Lawrence]

I am nominating Frank Pont's eleventh at Swinkelsche (the short four that is about as wide as it is long). I'm not totally sure whether it is a great hole or not, but it's certainly very very interesting.


http://www.golfbaandeswinkelsche.nl/gasten/baan-layout/hole-11

[Tom_Doak]

Ally:


I've not been there yet myself, and maybe no one here has, either so I don't know how it makes your list, but a couple of friends have said that the 16th hole at Sperone on Corsica, by Mr. Jones, is one of the most dramatic holes they have ever seen.

[Scott Champion]

Hi Ally,


For what its worth, here are a couple of my favourite holes from some of the new UK courses that I've seen.


Kingsbarns - 6, 12
Castle Stuart - 3, 9
Machrihanish Dunes - 10, 4
Trump Aberdeen - 7, 12
Renaissance - 10, 8


Not many would have played Ardfin, and I come from a biased position, but I believe there are at least half a dozen holes there that might be considered in this discussion.

[James Reader]

[size=78%]If I could add to the nominations I'd add a couple of holes at Covesea, the nine hole course up at Moray. A funky uphill short par 3 to a blind green which might not be great architecture but is great fun (possibly the 3rd ?). The other hole there is a also a short par 3 playing to a small saddle shaped green (possibly the 7th). [/size]

I played Covesea yesterday and “funky” and “great fun” can describe the whole course, not just one hole. 


The uphill par 3 is the 5th and must be a serious contender for the most difficult sub-100 yard par 3 in golf (maybe sub-150 yard!). It’s 90 yards, blind, up a steep hill to a raised, crescent-shaped green that can’t be much more than 5-6 yards wide at any point and with drop offs on all sides.  Makes the Postage Stamp green look positively welcoming! 


The other hole Niall mentions is the 9th.  Only 104 yards again from a tee tucked in at the bottom of a sandstone cliff to a tiny green sitting in a saddle on top of a dune. 

[Niall C]

James


Glad you enjoyed Covesea. Let me ask you, how many balls did you lose ?


Niall

[James Reader]

Just one Niall - a hook into the maintenance shed on the second!


Actually I didn’t think there were that many opportunities to lose balls; the fairways and green surrounds are fairly generous - even if several of the greens themselves are tiny - and there are only a couple of holes with whins really in play.  I certainly lost a lot more at both Montrose and Royal Aberdeen last week!


I thought Covesea was great. I was sure I was going to enjoy it, given what I’d read on here, but I wasn’t expecting the greens to be so good; both in terms of the shaping and (perhaps more surprisingly, given the £10 green fee, their condition).  There’s also a great mix of just good strong links holes - the first four - and the downright quirky - including the two you mentioned and the wonderful 7th (125 yards over the top of a rock stack to a steeply 3-tiered green).


The one worrying aspect is that a number of trees have been planted around the course.  They are very small at the moment (you can almost miss them) but they’ll start to change the character of the course much for the worse if they’re left to grow for a few more years.

[Niall C]

James


From what I recall you're a pretty straight hitter. That said it's been a few years since I was there but the rough between holes didn't get a lot of attention and generally it was a course where you kept your best Pro V's in the bag. I always thought that it if they could let a flock of sheep loose for a few weeks every year it would work wonders.


Sorry to hear about the trees though. I wonder if they are doing that out of safety fears ?


Niall

[James Reader]

I thought that when I first noticed some between the 2nd and 3rd, but they’re tiny so it’ll be 20 years before they’re of any real use and there are quite a lot of others where that can’t be the reason.  For what it’s worth (not much, I’m sure) I’m going to email them saying how much I enjoyed the course and begging them to dig them up.

[Niall C]

James


Do you think they were planted or maybe they are just self-seeded ?


BTW, good on you for giving them some feedback. I'm ashamed to say I've never really, or rarely done that.


Niall

[James Reader]

Definitely planted - complete with stakes and plastic protectors