First "excellent" golf course you played

[Tommy Williamsen]

Beverly CC in 1976 as a 13 year old on Caddy golf day which was once a Summer. The caddymaster didn't let us hit from the tee boxes- we had to let it fly from in front of the tees in the rough. Anyone who has played Bev knows that the tee box on 6 has a steep downhill slope in front of the box to hit from.  Our caddymaster would drive his car around the course with a bottle of scotch in his lap to "keep an eye on us". Fast forward to 2007 when I joined Beverly I learned that our caddies could play the course after 6pm on the front nine if they had looped that day. Nice way to introduce kids to the game and reward our high school and college kids who do a terrific job year in and year out.

You must have lot of interesting memories of being there as a caddie then as a member.

[Terry Lavin]

Like my friend Jack, Beverly was my first exposure to golf greatness. As a spectator, I watched Arnold Palmer win there in 1963, at age 9 and then watched Jack Nicklaus win in 1967. I was 13. We lived a mile and a half from the club so my brothers and I just walked up the hill with our dad to watch the Western Open on Western Avenue. 


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[Joe Melchiors]

Good Question,


I think it was Flossmoor in Chicago during a work related outing.
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I grew up in Augusta and went to the Masters every year, but the only place I played in Augusta as a kid was at the 'Patch'.  I started playing seriously in Princeton, NJ after college, but stayed on the publics until I could afford to get into Forsgate, which was after the Flossmoor round.


-Joe

[Marty Bonnar]

Probably TOC.
Sure, we grew up in Scotland playing golf, but most of us, especially back in the 60s and 70s, played our local munis and the other local courses, with St Andrews only a distant dream. Cars were expensive!
So it wasn’t until I was in my mid 20s - around 1985 or so - that I got to play the ‘Big One’.
Since then, I have been the luckiest wee Scottish golfer ever and managed to play around the World more than I could ever have imagined.
Golf is good. Pay it forward.
F.

[Ben Malach]

My first big eyeopener was a trip to Hilton Head Island at the age of 18. Even though I had played some big courses in my region Greywolf, Banff, and Kananaskis. It did not click until I was playing Port Royal and I noticed that the fairways were wide enough to have a preferred angle into greens. This was mind-blowing as every golf course I had played up until this point had US Open fairways. The idea that I could make choices off the tee and how I approached the green changed how I viewed golf.


Although, my love and passion for golf courses would not be ignited until I moved to Scotland at the age of 20, that move would have never happened without my trip to Hilton Head.

[Mark Mammel]

I grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas and learned to play at Prairie Dunes. We moved when. I was 12, but by then I had graduated to playing 18 holes. Of course to me it was just the course I played on. I didn't realize how great it was until we moved a couple of times and I never got the same feeling, especially on the par 3s. I guess the next great course I recognized was about 10 years later when I played at Minikahda in Minneapolis. Looking at the "lucky is better than good" path, like Paul I had a great lucky experience. This was 1977 and I was playing in England with a close friend. We had BritRail passes and traveled around playing golf with no real plans except St Andrews and the Open at Turnberry. We took the train to Hoylake and got a lift to Royal Liverpool. We found the club secretary and told him of our unfolding odyssey. He walked us through then locker room, pointing out Jones's cards and the other fabulous memorabilia they have, then sent us out on the course for nothing. "Have a grand time lads!" he said, and we did.

[Chuck Glowacki]

Good Question,


I think it was Flossmoor in Chicago during a work related outing.

I grew up in Augusta and went to the Masters every year, but the only place I played in Augusta as a kid was at the 'Patch'.  I started playing seriously in Princeton, NJ after college, but stayed on the publics until I could afford to get into Forsgate, which was after the Flossmoor round.
I grew up in Augusta also.  My high school was right across the street from the “patch”.  Forrest Hills was my course, dropped off in the morning picked up in the afternoon.
My first really wow course was Friars Head, living on the east end of Long Island was given me the opportunity to play a few above average courses.

-Joe

[Tim_Weiman]

Tommy,


I was too young to appreciate the first excellent course I played (Winged Foot).


So I will say the first great tournament I attended was the 1985 Walker Cup at Pine Valley. Had the good fortune of standing with Bob Lewis in the middle of the 16th fairway when he hit the shot that won the match that gave the Americans the Cup.


“What‘s the yardage?” Bib asked his caddy who promptly replied “185”.


Not satisfied Bib asked “is it 185 or 185 1/2”?


Again the caddy promptly relied “185”.


Still concerned Bob asked “what was my yardage this morning?”.


Again the caddy replied “185” .......and proceeded to pull out the 4 iron Bob had hit in the morning round.


No, no , no. Bob said to the caddy “put that back in the bag. I don’t want it on your conscience if we lose the Walker Cup”.


Bob then pulled out the 5 iron and hit it to about 3 feet to secure the Cup for the American team.


Ten years later Bob said to me “water behind and to the right”......amazed I so vividly remembered what happened.


Apologies for the thread hijack.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy,


I was too young to appreciate the first excellent course I played (Winged Foot).


So I will say the first great tournament I attended was the 1985 Walker Cup at Pine Valley. Had the good fortune of standing with Bob Lewis in the middle of the 16th fairway when he hit the shot that won the match that gave the Americans the Cup.


“What‘s the yardage?” Bib asked his caddy who promptly replied “185”.


Not satisfied Bib asked “is it 185 or 185 1/2”?


Again the caddy promptly relied “185”.


Still concerned Bob asked “what was my yardage this morning?”.


Again the caddy replied “185” .......and proceeded to pull out the 4 iron Bob had hit in the morning round.


No, no , no. Bob said to the caddy “put that back in the bag. I don’t want it on your conscience if we lose the Walker Cup”.


Bob then pulled out the 5 iron and hit it to about 3 feet to secure the Cup for the American team.


Ten years later Bob said to me “water behind and to the right”......amazed I so vividly remembered what happened.


Apologies for the thread hijack.

Great story. I know that shot. Good call on the five iron. Was the yardage really 185? or did he let the caddie off the hook?

[Tim_Weiman]

Tommy,


The yardage was 185. The caddy was the guy who carried Bob’s bag when he set Pine Valley’s competitive course record.


That was a wonderful day, perhaps only topped by Sunday at the Irish Open in 2000 at Ballybunion.

[Peter Pallotta]

Probably not an excellent course but a very good one, at least: Lakeview, a circa 1910 Herbert Strong municipal course just outside of Toronto. What struck me then -- and still now, but in a different & more gca savvy way -- is that there didn't seem much 'happening' there, ie in many ways the course looked at first glance pretty modest, pretty boring even, and looked a lot like a lot of other municipal courses. AND YET -- even back then, when I knew literally nothing about gca -- I could feel/sense something different, something better, much better even, something essentially 'golfy', in a fundamental way. I sensed even then that it was a design that offered everything necessary for a proper round of golf, and nothing unnecessary.
I think that's why I'm particularly drawn still to the humble-looking, gentle lay of the land courses on modest sites with little topographical movement -- the old cardigan sweaters and corduroy slacks of gca, ie courses that 'deliver' as fields of play, without drawing attention to that fact or to themselves.
That seems to me the very height of the art-craft that is gca.

[Brent Carlson]

Definitely Univ of Michigan golf course.  Is it excellent?  Maybe, but it's definitely strategic.  The first time I played it I knew something was different.  The MacKenzie greens really make you think.  It was so much different than the courses I had been playing.  #6 is one of the best short par 4s in America. 


Runner up for me is High Pointe.  Back in the early-mid 90's it was a great golf course, and you could feel it even if you didn't know much about architecture.

[Bill Gayne]

The first excellent course i played was the Kiawah Ocean Course (approximately 30 years ago) or maybe I should say the first excellent course to play me. I took up the game as an adult and went with a group of guys thinking yeah I can be one of the guys. I played one or two tee boxes too far back and didn't know enough or sense to play from a set of tees I could handle. I was recently at Harbour Town and joined in with a group of young guys on a golf trip and I said on the first tee that I will be playing from the middle tees. After a couple of holes one of the young guys moved forward to the middle tees. I started to talk to him and he told me he was first taking up the game. I wish I had the sense to say at Kiawah that I was going to move to a set of tees that I could enjoy.

[Richard Fisher]

The first shots I ever hit were at the age of seven on the practice ground of the first golf course I was ever aware of - Harlech, which is one of Ran's 147. About a year later I played a full round. So that set a pretty high bar from the outset. Away from beloved RStD, Burnham and Berrow was the other first 'excellent' course I remember playing, with my father about four years or so later: this became an annual and much-anticipated Day Out from our home in Bath.

[Tim Leahy]

I was a Jr member, 18, in 1978 at Mather AFB in Sacto which was considered private back then and got my pro to call Olympic Club Lake in SF to try to get me on. He did and I was paired with a member who was great about giving me yardage because they had no markers. He knew every tree. The sound of my shots echoing off those tall trees that lined the fairways was amazing.
Played Pebble that same year after they had the PGA Championship there with my Dad and we paid $40 each with a cart, which seemed like a fortune. Spyglass was $25 with NCGA membership.

[Chris_Blakely]

On the first golf trip my brother and I took, we played the Balsams Panorama course in Dixville Notch, NH.  I still remember that round.  The light bulb went off that there are some really great courses / great places to play.

[Matthew Rose]

Probably the Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach, when I was 14.

[David Ober]

Probably Pete Dye's old "Moreno Valley Ranch" in Moreno Valley, California. Back in the day, it was pristine. Loved that place for a while....

[Adam G]

First I walked: Riviera at the LA Open.
First I played: Bel Air or LACC North (both in early 2000s prior to restorations). I cannot remember which was first. Both in a junior inter-club tournament.
I guess an education in Thomas.

[Ira Fishman]

Bedford Springs. Family vacation nearly 50 years ago. I need to make it back since the reopening/restoration.


Ira

[David Ober]

Probably Pete Dye's old "Moreno Valley Ranch" in Moreno Valley, California. Back in the day, it was pristine. Loved that place for a while....

Of course, if we're talking about GREAT courses, it was probably Pinehurst #2 for me. Back in 1996.

[George Smiltins]

Country Club of Buffalo or Highland Golf Links on Cape Cod. Both of them were probably in the same summer back when I was around 13 or 14. Both wonderful in their own special ways. CCB was my first exposure to country club golf and I can still remember that Volcano Hole 25 years later. Highland was my first taste of links style golf and how a simple, minimalist setup could bring so much joy. This was probably also around the time of a few Disney World rounds at the PGA Tour courses they had. I was so excited to play them as they were "tour" courses. I remember nothing from those rounds other than almost crashing one of the mandatory carts they made me take (my first time driving one I think). Still surprised they gave the keys to a 13 year old, but rules are rules I guess. Nice reflecting on these early experiences that helped shaped my current views on golf and the courses I seek out.

[John Butler]

The first classic and excellent course I played was Davenport CC (Iowa), a C. H. Alison design.  I grew up nearby and played in a high school golf team match there.  I had only played my hometown nine-hole municipal and Davenport CC was different - I realized later that was my first exposure to classic architecture.  Ron Forse lately has made it even better.

[jeffwarne]

I was fortunate enough to grow up at Augusta CC so an obvious choice, but given that we were in the dark ages...we probably didn't appreciate it(and its current "restored" form is far different than the 70's version)
We also played Palmetto in High School Tournaments, but again, even though I really, really liked it, it certainly wasn't coveted by others in the late 70's when I began playing it-same with Highland Park(Aiken GC) and Forest Hills(Ross) in Augusta.
I then went on to work at Athens CC, a classic Ross in college on the maintenance crew.
So I certainly had great early exposure to classics.


But the first course I was really excited and nervous to play was Augusta National-in fall 1978 when I was a 15 year old sophomore in High School-fortunately that was probably near the peak of my golf powers as I was a pretty good junior player-I still remembering nervously bogeying the first 5 holes in my round of 76, with a short miss for par on 18. Interestingly, I only remember the bogies, none of the birdies.
Funny enough, given the above list of courses, the other course I was most looking forward to was Doral, which I played in the early 80's in college........On the same trip I,played the TPC course in its original form-talk about tough.


I still prefer Augusta CC and Palmetto

[Tommy Williamsen]

I was fortunate enough to grow up at Augusta CC so an obvious choice, but given that we were in the dark ages...we probably didn't appreciate it(and its current "restored" form is far different than the 70's version)
We also played Palmetto in High School Tournaments, but again, even though I really, really liked it, it certainly wasn't coveted by others in the late 70's when I began playing it-same with Highland Park(Aiken GC) and Forest Hills(Ross) in Augusta.
I then went on to work at Athens CC, a classic Ross in college on the maintenance crew.
So I certainly had great early exposure to classics.


But the first course I was really excited and nervous to play was Augusta National-in fall 1978 when I was a 15 year old sophomore in High School-fortunately that was probably near the peak of my golf powers as I was a pretty good junior player-I still remembering nervously bogeying the first 5 holes in my round of 76, with a short miss for par on 18. Interestingly, I only remember the bogies, none of the birdies.
Funny enough, given the above list of courses, the other course I was most looking forward to was Doral, which I played in the early 80's in college........On the same trip I,played the TPC course in its original form-talk about tough.


I still prefer Augusta CC and Palmetto

Wel Jeff, you had a great start to your golfing career. Sounds a lot like my son's early experiences in our home in Maryland, minus ANGC.