A Course You Could Play Every Day

[Tom_Doak]

Blatantly stealing a topic here from Jeff Brauer, on the thread about Ordinary Courses.


I think he was right to say that for all but destination golf, building a course you could play every day and not get bored on is one of the most important aspects of golf design.  So, which of the famous courses stand out in this respect?  Not too hard to play every day, but something you'd never get tired of?


For me, the list would have to start with The Old Course and Royal Melbourne.  Actually, in general, most UK links and most of the Sand Belt courses are going to do rather well by this metric, so let's skip them for now and confine the discussion to American courses.  Which of the top 100 courses in the U.S.A. would you want to play every day?


[Please list no more than a handful.]

[John Kavanaugh]

Do you really want to hang with tourists everyday?

[Eric Smith]

Garden City GC

[Tom_Doak]

Do you really want to hang with tourists everyday?

Royal Melbourne is really not a tourist place at all.  They might do twenty rounds a day from overseas golfers.


The Old Course, yes, you have a point.  Generally, I'd be happy to play with the sorts of people who come through St. Andrews looking for a fourth, but I don't think the locals get to do that.  [The Old Course is not part of the town golf card during the summer months -- most of the locals play the other courses then instead of paying a huge upcharge.]  Not even the members of the R & A or the other clubs have unlimited daily access to The Old Course, so I guess it just succeeded too well.

[David_Tepper]

I would happily play the Meadow Club (Marin County, CA) every day, but I am not sure I would like to make the drive up and down the hill to and from the course more than once or twice a week.

[John Kavanaugh]

The Valley Club at Montecito is the best club I have ever visited for all around everyday greatness. Those people love me.

[Mark_Fine]

Cypress Point!  I figured I would pick one that most here have played and that we would all want to play every day 

[Adrian_Stiff]

Do you really want to hang with tourists everyday?

Why do you have to make stupid comments after every post?

[John Kavanaugh]

Do you really want to hang with tourists everyday?

Why do you have to make stupid comments after every post?

Because if this is a serious question it deserves an honest answer.

[Carl Rogers]

Well Tom, in GETTING TO EIGHTEEN, you stated that you wished you had a course like Riverfront in your backyard.  ..... So I will go with that.


I think that most Strantz courses would get a bit tedious after a few days.


Mid Pines
Southern Pines

[Ben Hollerbach]

Chastain Park / North Fulton
Mid Pines
Lookout Mountain
Belvedere

[Will Lozier]

Tom


Is there a walkability component here - a course we could play (while walking) everyday? Or did you intend that to not be a consideration, rather preference?


Cheers

[Ally Mcintosh]

I haven’t played a huge amount of the Top 100 US but my favourites are not necessarily the ones I would like to play every day, primarily because they don’t have firm, fescue fairways and significant wind that offer variety with the ground game. (I’ve seen none of the modern resort courses by Renaissance or C&C).


I love the strategy of Riviera, I love the boldness of Yale... but no run. Boston GC is a cool club but tough walk.


I can’t really answer this question. I’d almost always choose a GB&I links.

[John Kavanaugh]

How many top 100 courses will ask you to take it down a notch if you show up everyday?

[John Cowden]

Pasatiempo

[Mike_Trenham]

Somerset Hillls
Eastward Ho!
CC of Scranton
Kirtland
Caledonia
Newport CC

[Ted Sturges]

For me, the answer is Yeamans Hall Club.  It is a course I could play every day.  I think Raynor gets it exactly right on the objective of designing something that you could play every day and not tire of. 


-One doesn't spend much time searching for golf balls at YHC
-Width is presented to the golfer, making it fairly easy to get the ball in play (but alas, the hole gets more difficult from that point)
-Extremely interesting putting greens (18 fun puzzles to solve)
-Gently rolling topography
-A very enjoyable walk
-Strategically placed bunkers to make the golfer think
-Gorgeous scenery surrounding the golfer


TS

[Ira Fishman]

I have not played that many US Top 100 because the vast majority are private but if you stretch the number a bit, Mid Pines and Pine Needles for sure.


Of the privates I have played, CPC is a clear cut choice.


Pasatiempo and PH2 a bit closer call on the every day criteria, but I say yes.


Ira

[Tom_Doak]

Tom

Is there a walkability component here - a course we could play (while walking) everyday? Or did you intend that to not be a consideration, rather preference?

I do not wish to impose my preferences onto you . . . but for me, walkability would be important, and would probably hold back Crystal Downs from being #1 on my list.  [I still walk it all the time, but there will come a day when I won't want to.]

[John Kavanaugh]

Pasa is a poor choice. Unwalkable with overpriced food and drink. To many angry neighbors posting rules in their back yard.

[John Kavanaugh]

No one can play everyday with mandatory caddies.

[Tom_Doak]

Somerset Hillls
Eastward Ho!
CC of Scranton
Kirtland
Caledonia
Newport CC

Interestingly, most of those are not actually in the top 100 courses in the U.S.A., as is the case with many courses named so far.  I didn't see that coming, will be interested to see if it continues.

[Thomas Dai]

One course that I could play every day? No way!
I've been and indeed still am a member of some clubs that are always in the highest echelon of World rated courses. As wonderful as the courses are however, and as often as I've played them, familiarity does breed contempt and boredom. Fortunately at each there's second course of a somewhat lessor standard as well. And as wonderful as the main courses are I played the second, lessor courses, a lot.
Each to their own though as personal boredom etc thresholds do vary.

atb

[Sean_A]

Because I haven't played many top 100 USA only three courses came to mind as candidates. Pinehurst, Yeamans and Old Town. Among those three Old Town would be my choice as it goes, but I have no desire to play everyday.

Happy Hockey

[Andrew Harvie]

I could play Jasper Park, Toronto, Merion, and The Country Club at Pepper Pike every day and never tire of them