NOT your country club for a day ... or slumming it.

[Bill Shamleffer]

I am too young to have ever seen Toot Shores, but from what I have read it was always the place to be.  Nevertheless, I am sure that sometimes one preferred the draft and conversation in the neighborhood saloon in Brooklyn.  In Memphis, The Rendezvous is the place the tourist visit for good barbeque, and they will not be disappointed.  But, go south of downtown and I am sure there are places that look like they may not pass code, but probably have the best barbeque one will ever taste in a lifetime.

Every town has the public course which is "your country club for a day."  But, sometimes I find a more authentic golf experience at the local muni.  These courses may be unkempt, the tees a little hard, the greens not perfect, the sand minimal.  Yet, the golfers there all love the game no matter how it is presented.  The best of these munis will in spite of their shortcomings, still offer a good routing, some good design and a few holes that any fan of good golf course architecture will appreciate.

Some examples of these types of munis are:
George Wright in Boston,
Triggs in Providence,
Franconia, Springfield, MA
Cobbs Creek in Philly,
Van Cortland in NYC,
Forest Park in St. Louis,
Grand Marias in East St. Louis,
Swope Park in Kansas City,
Brackenridge in San Antonio,
Waveland in Des Moines.

I imagine this experience used to be encountered at Bethpage Black, Harding Park, and Pacific Grove before the out-of-towners discovered them.  (Perhaps this is the experience the locals still find with Bethpage Red?)  I have never been to Brown Creek in Milwaukee, so I do not know if this course fits in with this experience.

I even felt this experience playing St. Andrews New course.  I was a single, paired up with another single and a twosome.  We had a great time on a great course, but with no pressure of having too experience greatness.

What are the other local munis which have no pretensions.  Although the course may not be great, it is good and it does have some examples of great design on at least a few holes, but best of all can be a fun golfing experience?

[Dan_Callahan]

Shennecossett in Groton, CT.

I was also going to mention Richter Park until I read your sentence about having no pretensions. I've always liked Richter, but the folks who play there have an unshakable belief that the course is better than it really is.

[David Kelly]

I am too young to have ever seen Toot Shores, but from what I have read it was always the place to be.

It was if you were somebody.  If you weren't you didn't exist.

I would nominate Billy Bell's Brookside Golf Course both #1 and #2 in the shadow of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.  Rancho Park in Los Angeles and Recreation Park in Long Beach are two others that come to mind in the Los Angeles area.  With carte blanche and millions of dollars the Harding and Wilson courses at Griffith Park by George Thomas could be something special.

[Jeff_Stettner]

Ol' Colony in Tuscaloossa

[Bill_McBride]

Stettner, what the hell are you doing in Tuscaloosa?  Now we aren't that far apart!  My son is in the process of moving to Birmingham, I'll probably be up there sometime in the fall.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Jeffersonville,recently restored by Ron Pritchard and frequently mentioned here, near Norristown, PA is another example.

Certainly , profiled here at GCA, Walnut Lane in Philadelphia is another example. I never knew until I "joined" here that it was a "classic" Alex Findlay.

[SPDB]

I played the front 9 recently at Geo Wright and echo what others have said that it has some very nice bones.  For how much everybody talks about Donald Ross, you would think they might show his course a little more respect.

[Jeff_Stettner]

Bill,
As is often the case with me, Ol' Colony was just a drive-by stroke of luck. I am in St. Louis...
The course is everything right about municipal golf. Whitten did a write-up of the place, the reason I stopped. He called it one of the best munis in the country. I would be hard-pressed to argue.

[Bill_McBride]

Well have fun in St. Louis.  Come play in one of the GCA outings one of these days, although Palm Springs next weekend might be a bit toasty!

[PCCraig]

George Wright in Boston is a pretty solid place, just hard to get to. A more hidden Ross Muni outside of Boston in Newton is Newton Commonwelth GC right next to Boston College...short, but good greens.

As for Chicago, Peter Jans could be my guilty pleasure  

[Jason Topp]

Keller in St. Paul
Gross in Minneapolis
Papago in Phoenix
Texarkana Golf Ranch in Texarkana


I definitely echo Waveland in Des Moines.  I lived about 12 blocks away as a kid.

[SPDB]

Pat - Newton Commonwealth possesses little of Donald Ross. The whole course was overhauled with the imposition of the housing development that abuts the course.

A travesty when you consider he's buried in the town. Thankfully Charles River CC has upheld the town's Donald Ross legacy

[Jim Nugent]

Keller in St. Paul
Gross in Minneapolis
Papago in Phoenix
Texarkana Golf Ranch in Texarkana

Jason, is Keller in a municipal park, opens with a straightaway par 5, followed by a longish par 3?  I played a St. Paul muni once, and the name Keller rings some bells.  

[Kyle Harris]

Bill,

Cobb's Creek can simply be wonderful, and frankly, there isn't really a clunker of a hole. I need to get back there as I am hearing the greens are actually photosynthesizing.

I wouldn't say the Black has lost its "muni" charm all the way either. It's not as if they treat you any different if you're playing the Black than if you're playing the Blue or Green. The starters are still a little gruff and the company still speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent. Same goes for the Red. However, the most "muni" course at Bethpage is probably the Blue. The Black, Red, Green and Yellow all have their charms and moments but the Blue is really just golf around some terrain (which can get severe).

Steve's already mentioned Jeffersonville which is superb. This Ross/McGovern/Prichard track is solid all the way through and worth a look if in the Philadelphia area with a free afternoon. $24 twilight on the weekend can't be beat either.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Another example is Papago in Phoenix. William F. Bell's classic from the 1960s. The fairways were overseeded this past winter for the first time in a few years, the greens were in very good shape and the course was in relatively decent shape pending discussion for a planned renovation. If Thomas N. ever gets around to it, my pics will be posted here.

[Dave Bourgeois]

I would have to go with Split Rock in the Bronx.  There is a wonderful set of greens out there waiting to be "discovered".  A second vote would be Casperkill which is one on RTJs early efforts.  The course is in good shape and has a nice bit of quirk on the front 9.

[Brent Hutto]

Charleston (SC) Municipal Golf Course, locally known as The Muni. A little scruffy around the edges in all the places that that don't matter but with the playing surfaces in good shape. No holes worthy of a GCA Masters thesis but a very solid series of challenges to the handicap golfer.

Whatever influence it did or did not receive from Seth Raynor many decades ago, The Muni is one of the better courses in the area in terms of a place to have a game.

It also posssess a friendly, bustling clubhouse and grill with reasonably-priced golfer's eats served expidiently. Oh, and now they have a tunnel under the road so you don't have to take your life in your hands to play the last few holes.