Least Favorite Nicklaus Designed Courses

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Hanbury Manor is, I think, Jack Nicklaus II.

Jack's English work is confined to St Mellion, Carden Park and The London Club. St Mellion is fun for the most part, enjoying excursions along river valleys, but dull on the flat ground. In the past I have played both courses at the London Club but after 15 or 20 years they have merged into one and the same course. Carden Park is plain boring, despite a couple of obligatory water holes.

[Lou_Duran]

Mac submitted the plans in 1931, died in 1934, then Maxwell managed the construction which was finished in 1938.

TMac's excellent IMO piece describes the creation of Ohio State's golf courses in detail.  I never saw a lot of MacKenzie or Maxwell in the original Scarlet course, but I was a huge fan.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/ohio-state-golf/

I've played at least 25 Nicklaus courses and only one would I not visit again- English Turn, which a visitor once described to me as a "good swamp spoiled".   I actually enjoyed the course for what it was, routed through a high-end residential development on a flat-as-a-pancake site, yet using the wind, wetlands and bunkering to provide a good, interesting challenge.

Given the volume and cost basis of most Nicklaus courses, it is remarkable that they seem to have escaped the industry doldrums relatively well.  The Nicklaus style may not tickle the fancy of some on this site, but it seems to satisfy the objectives of those who count, the folks paying the bills.    

 

[Matthew Petersen]

I'd forgotten about it until I drove by yesterday, which sort of says it all for this course ... Meridian Golf Club south of Denver is also just ... blah. Hard without being interesting.

[Greg Tallman]

Another that I did not care much for was Elk River in Banner Elk, NC near Grandfather.

[Mark Jackson]

As others already have mentioned, I thought I would also pile-on the Bear course at Grand Traverse Resort. I played it on my first trip to Traverse City, based upon a blind recommendation from a fellow member at my previous club. I happened to be a member of a Nicklaus course in Dayton, Ohio and, generally, most of the Nicklaus courses that I have played have been pleasant (if often nondescript) experiences. I had never been to the area, plus the Resort was relatively close to downtown Traverse City where we were staying.

The 5th hole will probably haunt me forever. One of the worst holes I have ever played; just brutal architecture. 400 or so yards with a creek running down the left side of the hole and then crossing the fairway immediately prior to the landing area, moguls to the right in the rough, then a second shot over a pond that sits both in front and to the right of a skinny green with a bunker to the left. Jack Nicklaus must have designed Grand Traverse as his way of torturing Michigan residents forever.

With as many good to great courses there are in Michigan (and I am not much for rankings anyway), I cannot fathom how this course is in Golf Digest's Top 25 best in state other than the emphasis on difficulty. I think it currently sits at 16th according to Golf Digest's website.