Pat...again, really good thread. I've been thinking about it for a few days and I am hesitant to post due to definitional issues of "great" and "weak/poor". But I'm going to move forward regardless.
I don't think any of these holes are truly great and I don't think these courses are flat out poor either, but I think they serve to illustrate a point and, perhaps, your point. And that is, there is some good golf to be had on non-Top 100 caliber of golf courses.
For starters, Old Musselburgh. Only 9 holes, routed through an active race horse track. Certainly not the recipe for Top 100 in the World, but still this hole particularly the green and bunker complex near the green struck me at the time and still lingers in my head as a great feature.
Another in Lane Creek, our own Mike Young designed this course in Georgia. The course isn't "great", but it is really good, affordable public golf. But the 14th green is really something special...and, in fact, this short par 4 with a teriffic green is a borderline great hole. Here is a photo of the green, but the green can't be fully appreciated until you play it. Subtle ridges, slopes, etc. Really cool.
The Phoenix Golf Links in Columbus, Ohio. A course right near the heart of Columbus built on top of a landfill and cost something like $25 to walk. Many of the first 16 holes are really good, links style golf holes. Now, the course isn't "great", but many, many, many of the holes are really good and super fun to play.
And The Manor, again, in Georgia. Frankly, pretty awful routing. Through a neighborhood with long transitions up and down streets, no continuity in many parts. Again, not really the makings for a Top 100 courses and, therefore, probably not "great" in our context. But the 2nd hole knocked my socks off. In fact, I might call it flat out great. But again, the course is certainly not.
