[Sean_A]

I only saw six new courses this year. That said, these courses produced several fine candidates. Bull Bay 2, 7 & 9, Beaverbrook 9, St Germain 7 and 14 and Warren 4 & 18.

I think my choice has to come down to 9 at Bull Bay, though Warren's 18th is very cool.  Downhill drive with trouble right and a blind drop off left to a blind section of fairway which cuts diagonally across the line of play from tee to green....its very unusual. The uphill approach is to a green hard against a bank on the right which is more often than not death. Notionally, this is a lay-up/short iron for many, but any miscue in execution could spell ruin.





Happy Hockey

[Niall C]

FBD


Thank you for picking the only hole at Dumbarnie that I managed to par, and that with a sand save ! However can't totally agree with your description of the hole, in that it really only gives you two choices; safe shot to the left fairway or straight ahead with a mighty heave. That doesn't make it a bad hole and indeed it is a good hole (IMO) however to my mind the short par 4 third takes the honour ahead of a strong finishing hole.


Other candidates;


St Medan GC - a hugely entertaining nine holer with the 3rd and the 4th the pick of the bunch. Hard to separate them but I suspect the 4th would work better for different standards of players.


Hillhouse (Kilmarnock Barassie nine holer) - some good golf with the 7th and 8th the stand out holes, both being relatively short par 4's although when I played it looked as though the 8th was being converted into a long par 3, meaning it would still be a half par hole.


Irvine Bogside - I have played it once before but that was 40 years ago in a thunderstorm and couldn't recall a thing about the course. That said, plenty of candidates with the par 4 third and the par 4 17th standing out, probably because I played them well.


I think what the above shows to me, is that I do like a good short par 4 or long par 3.


Niall

[Marty Bonnar]

N,
When your game is as, ahem, ‘variable’, as mine, perhaps you tend to see more ‘options’ than the Architect intended!
 
However, very much agreed that the 3rd is a corker!
Happy Hogmanay!
F.

[Joe Bausch]

My contribution is the par 3 12th hole at the United States Naval Academy Golf Club, which reopened fully this summer after an extensive renovation by Andrew Green.

The 12th hole previously was a downhill, slight dogleg-right par 4.  Now it just uses the corridor down the hill for a reverse-Redan inspired one-shotter playing 160 yards from the forward tees, and 250 yards from the blue tees (for tournament purposes it can be stretched to just over 300!).

From the blue tees it is 220 yards to carry the short left bunker, 230 yards to the front of the green that is almost 30 yards deep.

Tee view (all pics clickable to a larger size):



From near that short left bunker:



View from the short grass area just over the green:



View of the hole from the 13th tee:

[Peter Flory]

I saw too many new courses, including the ones in AUS, so I would have to do some serious thinking to be sure.  But on the other hand, if I can't specifically remember a hole, it probably wasn't the best that I saw. 


The holes that stick in my memory for some reason were the 3rd hole at Barnbougle and the 3rd hole at Lost Farm. 

[David Ober]

Great topic. :-)


Par-3: Pacific Dunes 11


Par-4: Bandon Dunes 17


Par 5: Bandon Trails 9

[jeffwarne]

There were sooo many good holes at National Gunnamatta, sequenced so well, as well as at St. Andrews Beach, so my choice for "one hole" may well be unpopular as it occurred on a poorly routed(or perhaps cartball) course.
Also played Royal Melbourne, Barnbougle and Lost Farm so there was no shortage of great courses or holes.
We skipped the 14th and 15th hole at Barnbougle to get around a gagglesome and beat a fast approaching storm-I'm told 15 would be a favorite and after walking out to see it later I would agree-but I did not play it.

Ocean Dunes,though I can't even say it was in my top 5 courses in Australia, due to its very spread out virtually unwalkable nature, had a couple of my favorite holes.
I really liked a lot of the holes but 13 was a memorable favorite.
As always, the sum is greater than the parts so my favorite courses were the ones mentioned above, not Ocean Dunes-though I would go back to any in a heartbeat.

[William_G]

#1 Sheep Ranch

[Ronald Montesano]

Cory, that hole is identical to one I played in the Poconos a few years ago. Crazy!!

My tie is 'twixt the 5th and the 8th (basement tee version) at Attica Golf Club in Attica, New York. Two wonderful par four holes, with much room side to side, and both end in diabolical green sites. Nine would be in the running, except that the green is not up to snuff.

[Sven Nilsen]

#1 Sheep Ranch

I watched a 12 year old girl hit the green in two yesterday (Driver/22 deg hybrid). 


From the Green Tees.

[JimB]

Tara Iti was my only new course for 2020 despite grand plans to travel. So many good holes to choose from but will pick number 7 as the best. It certainly offered the most variety of options and results the half dozen or so times I gave it a go.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

#8 and #10 at Palmetto Golf Club


Even though there are superior holes there I think I had more fun at Aiken GC, especially after getting randomly paired with Mark Pritchett and Will Spivey. My sides hurt after 18 with those guys.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Off the top of my head, the new courses I saw this year included:

• Southern Pines in April
• Columbus Country Club in… early October?
• Royal New Kent
• Links at Firestone Farms
• Methodist's golf course
• Greystone in/near Rochester, NY
• Castle Hills near Hermitage, PA

The last four are out immediately. RNK has a lot of "interesting" holes but I don't think any would top the top two or three from the first two in my list.

I was too distracted by the PIAA royally screwing over my kid at CCC to notice. I remember liking several holes there, but in the end I'm going to go with… the eighth hole at Southern Pines. There are a lot of nice golf holes to choose from here, but I like the simpler nature of this one, which lets you play it a variety of ways from a long iron to a driver from the tee, but challenges you regardless of the shot you choose. Just a good, solid golf hole that fits the land and asks you to play it well.

But really, if I had been paying attention, I think a CCC hole would have topped it.

[William_G]

.

[William_G]

#1 Sheep Ranch

I watched a 12 year old girl hit the green in two yesterday (Driver/22 deg hybrid). 


From the Green Tees.

Fun! Always nice to start with an eagle!

[Adam G]

8 Essex County Club and 6 Eastward Ho!
Honorable mentions: 11 Essex, 18 Essex, 7 Eastward Ho!, 18 Eastward Ho!, 8 Charles River

[Matt_Cohn]

Mine might've been today actually—#17 at Claremont Country Club in Oakland. 133 yards, maybe 10-15 feet uphill. The maintenance crew was working when we played the hole, so this is my best shot of it; the tee is to the right, where you see the fairway extending.





Even in this picture you can see how much the green slopes to the left. The combination of that and all of the little nooks and corners in the green...





...means that the hole can ask you for all kinds of different shots depending on the hole location, but you'd better be precise no matter what. The hole reminded me a lot of #9 at Commonwealth in Melbourne:

[jeffwarne]

#8 and #10 at Palmetto Golf Club


Even though there are superior holes there I think I had more fun at Aiken GC, especially after getting randomly paired with Mark Pritchett and Will Spivey. My sides hurt after 18 with those guys.

8 and 10 are curious choices, though I agree they are great holes.(so many cool holes at Palmetto)
It's stunning that more architects don't emulate their green designs.(8 may be the most benign green there)
Only yesterday I missed left on 8 and realized how difficult the shot was to an extreme front pin-due to the mounds. 45 years of playing there and I never had that combo(left miss front pin)
10 is a diabolical green to hit from anywhere outside 10 yards.


Playing with Mark Pritchett today so should I take some preemptive Advil?

[Tim Martin]

#8 and #10 at Palmetto Golf Club


Even though there are superior holes there I think I had more fun at Aiken GC, especially after getting randomly paired with Mark Pritchett and Will Spivey. My sides hurt after 18 with those guys.

Playing with Mark Pritchett today so should I take some preemptive Advil?

Jeff-Mark is a great guy to have in your group or just to be around. A very generous man with a rare sense of humor. Enjoy the day!!!

[JR Potts]

I was particularly impressed with #4 at Shady Oaks.


The renovation opened up a lot of the natural terrain and the hole is visually stunning - especially considering what was there before the renovation.

[Shane Wright]

Re: Best Golf Hole I saw for the first time in 2020 -


I'd probably say #11, Reverse Redan, Country Club of Charleston.  There are several holes at CCC that I would potentially consider as the best hole I saw for the first time in 2020, but it isn't very often that you can say a par 3 has many options to consider. 


In fact, there are very few par 3's that I can recall where there were several choices to consider off the tee. 


But CCC's #11 is clearly one of these rare par 3's where options need to be considered:


1. Lay up and take double bogey out of the equation - this is apparently a common choice in their annual top amateur Azalea Invitational and after playing the course over two days, I can easily see why this is a choice to consider


2. Play for just over the false front which is the aggressive play bringing left bunker and false front into play, but it also gives the gambler a glimmer of hope for a possible birdie...if struck perfectly.


3. Play over right bunker for back 1/3 of green


4. Actually hit the ball long onto the next tee box - probably less of a choice, but depending on wind and pin location, definitely a choice




Tell me a par 3 where you have 3-4 choices to consider?  It is a fascinating hole.  And because there are many other spots for top amateurs to make birdies, eliminating double on this hole isn't that hard of a decision.  And for the higher handicapper, it still brings several choices into the equation because the thought of being in either bunker is enough to cause them nightmares.


Shane

[Drew Maliniak]

In the same vein of quirky-but-not-famous golf courses, I proffer No. 2 at Millbrook Golf Club in Picayune, MS.


304 yard par 4.


Options:


1. Drive green. Bail-out is left with hazard right. But you need to carry all the trees, so ideally you play a high fade.
2. 220 yard shot at right center towards the hazard. Blocked out if play tight to the left pines.
3. 3 wood with a draw (laying up 20/30 yards shot). Probably the best play but brings in hazard on the right.


Other notes: Green is a push-up, attacking at diagonal if lay-up.


Cover of website is the approach: https://www.millbrookcountryclub.com/

[John Foley]

Did not see a lot of new stuff this year with the lack of travel afforded. I did really like #6 @ Sothern Pines though.

[Ryan Van Culin]

I did manage to see a few new courses this year, and it was tough to pick just one hole.


My winner is the 4th hole at LuLu Country Club. I don't have the scorecard in front of me, but it's a roughly 120-yard par 3 hole, from the back tees. The green is about 10 ft above the tee, so you can't see where you ball lands.


Aside from whatever architectural merit it may have, it is the first hole that comes to my mind if you told me I could just play one hole from the year. It is just a fun hole on a very fun course.

[Marty Bonnar]

I must add that there were at least a couple of holes at Fortrose & Rosemarkie and at Duff House Royal which also blew my mind. Actually not been a completely disastrous year golf-wise.
F.

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