[Charles Lund]

snip

"National (Old).   A little like TR above. Probably my favorite 4 hours in golf anywhere. I usually play it with a sense of humor & am fortunate to be able to take a pass whenever the weather is too challenging. As much as I love it there are a couple of shots (second shot on 3!!) that , while necessary for the routing of the course, are too creepy for the course to belong on a World Top 100 (shows what the GD people know, right?)."

Opened up my Golf Digest a week or two ago with the World Top 100 rankings.  Actually, The National Old made the top 100 in the rankings at number 87.  Interestingly enough, it was ranked number 9 in Australia, with The National Golf Club's Moonah at number 10, and it did not make the top 100.  Between the courses on the Mornington Peninsula and the Sand Belt, I continue to think of the area as among the best golf destinations in the world.

Glad Rick had such a great trip to the land Downunder and began this discussion. 

My experience with the courses Rick mentions is tainted in part by playing Royal Melbourne during the period when it had fallen on hard times during an extended drought and the lack of a water supply took a huge toll.  I'd rank Barnbougle Dunes higher than  Lost Farm.  I was there in 2008 when they were first building Lost Farm,  Returned in 2012 for a week and played each course three times.  I am happy playing any of the Sand Belt courses.

Am looking forward to being back down again in about two weeks. 

Charles Lund

[Rick Emerson]

What really excites me and makes a golf course fun is features that allow me to be creative. I love chipping and putting and what I think made me like RMW, Barnbougle, and Victoria so much was the interesting humps and features on and around the greens that allowed for banking approaches, chips and putts towards the hole. The 2 biggest highlights of my trip were using a steep bank on the edge of the right side of the green at 6 on RMW to get a chip close to the hole for a par and playing barnbougle by myself and taking extra time on each green to hit puts up and around banks to see if I could find different ways to stop the ball close. Both courses provide so many options for how to get the ball around the course and close to the hole on and around the greens. That is what makes them great. I will also say that Royal Melbourne West seems like a course that I could both walk and still get my ball around no matter how old and short I get. My 36 year old 5 handicap self and my 74 year old 20 handicap Dad could both walk, have tons of fun, shoot somewhere near or better than our handicap by thinking and executing the shots we have in our personal arsenals well and we'd never worry about losing a ball. Maybe the reason RMW is ranked higher than Barnbougle is that every type of golfer (except maybe someone who couldn't get a ball out of a bunker) can and would enjoy playing Royal Melbourne West.

[Niall C]

Niall

For mag rating we have to stick to the criteria as listed. 

Ciao

Sean


That kind of begs the question of what's the difference and does it provide different results, and finally if so which do you go with ?


Niall

[Sean_A]

Niall


For Golfweek there are 10 categories of up to 10 points each.  Then there is a final score.  I don't add up the 10 categories and divide by 10 for my score...not sure if others do, but from what I gather there is no guidance to do so.  I give the course the final score I think it deserves. I guess not doing an average allows me to decide which categories to weigh more heavily and if there is a sum is better than its parts aspect as well. 


I don't know if its down to the examples of modern courses I played, but from a statistical PoV, there is no difference between how I have rated modern and classic courses.  I profess a preference for classic courses so this is quite surprising for me. 


Ciao

[John Kavanaugh]

People who rank for magazines don't rank the courses, they rank the rankings. If a course a course sits at, for example 50 on a top 100 list, and you think that is too high you vote it low and visa versa. Butler National sits around 50 at a score of 7.28. It really becomes quite simple, if you like the course you give it a 7.25, hate it = 6.75, love it = 7.75...remember, you can't look stupid if you want to keep your ticket. You are ranking the rankings by moving courses into where you feel is their proper place.

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

By height.

+1

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