What course really exceeded your expectations in 2014?

[Brad Isaacs]

Was most pleasantly surprised by Estancia. It is a really good course, and I am not overly enthusiastic about Fazio. Pete Dye GC for the wonderful short par 4's. Awesome.
Massively disappointed by Mountain course at Cordillera.

[Eric Strulowitz]

I was really pleasantly surprised by Harbour Town.

From the moment I got there, we were treated with the uptmost of hospitality.  Our caddies were awesome, and while the course had a lot of trees, it was not a whole lot tighter than a lot of courses I play in the North Georgia area and bad shots were not severely punished.  From the right tees , it was a blast.

The conditions were great, and it was beyond cool to walk fairways and put greens that I have seen over and over on TV.  Highly recommend!

Lookout Mountain just blew me away.  It is the most fun course I have ever played, each hole is like an adventure.     The setting is truly unique,  the staff is simply awesome and beyond welcoming, look forward to many visits in the upcoming year.  This was my first experience with a Raynor design, I want to see more in 2015.

[Joe_Tucholski]

I played less than 10 new courses in 2014, compared with 50+ new courses in 2013.  The biggest surprise to me is a military course in South Korea called Sung Nam Golf Club.  I posted a thread about it here:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59836.0.html

I had never heard of the course prior to my arrival in Korea.

I'm hoping to play some more Korean courses in 2015 but so far it's been challenging due to a language barrier and they aren't receptive to single golfers.

[Criss Titschinger]

I played 10 unique courses this year. 6 of them were new. Of those 6, 1 exceeded, 4 met expectations, 1 underwhelmed.

The one that exceeded was Sycamore Creek CC in Springboro, OH (south of Dayton). It's a course that I think gets overshadowed and not often discussed in the realm of an admittedly very stacked group of Ohio (private) courses.

What I found was a course with enough decent holes and fast conditioning that led to a very enjoyable round of golf. Doesn't have the know-by-name architect, and does get a little dull in spots. But if I'm in Dayton, and I can't arrange a game at Moraine or NCR, I think Sycamore Creek is on that next tier.

[Sean_A]

Criss

Thank you.  Its always good when participants put "no-name" courses in perspective to nearby courses.

Ciao

[John McCarthy]

Bowes Creek in Elgin Illinois.  It is a country club for a day type place (it is a muni since the developer went belly up and the city stepped in).  It was done by a local guy, Rick Jacobsen.  Nice piece of land.  It has the shaggy eyebrow bunkers and maybe a bit of a reliance on centerline fairway bunkers but a very pleasant round.  Along with her big brother Highlands of Elgin it is the best two municipal courses in one city that I know of (emphasis on my knowledge). 

One thing that really impressed me was the club is a center for the local community.  I played on a Friday and got around twice.  When we were finishing up the bar/restaurant was in full swing with the majority of the patrons did not play but the bar is the local bar for families and others.  It was a cheery place and made living nearby (and be able to walk home) very attractive.  The annual membership is not too expensive and seems worthwhile. 

[J Cabarcos]

Tryon Country Club in the foothills of North Carolina is old Donald Ross gem that gets lost in the fray because it only has nine holes.  But what a wonderful set of nine holes secluded in a picturesque valley in the hilly country side along the North and South Carolina border. Although some would be dismissive due to the length this very old course shows you the mastery of Mr. Ross if you allow yourself to see it.  It a great walk and the staff headed by Mr Buddy Manson is very cordial as one can expect from hospitable South.

The past year gave me the opportunity to see some very nice courses for the first time like Chambers Bay, Capilano, Pac Dunes, Bandon Dunes, and the Old Edwards Club, but a humble little 1916 course called Tryon CC was the one which exceeded my expectations the most.

[Matt Frey, PGA]

Hyde Park Country Club in Cincinnati.

I believe they've recently undergone a renovation by Tim Liddy and it is fantastic.  An awesome set of greens, pretty rugged terrain, one of the best set of par 3s I've ever played and of course an excellent routing by Ross.  This place is severely overlooked.

Josh: Although I've never played there myself, I do know the PGA head professional, Larry Drehs. I have heard nothing but good things about the facility.

If you haven't seen it already, their website has the original Ross hole illustrations:



So see them all, click here: http://www.hydeparkcc.com/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=371729&ssid=285599&vnf=1

[Michael Whitaker]

The course that most exceeded my expectations in 2014 was Mike Young's The Fields Golf Club in Lagrange, GA. I was expecting a nice country course and discovered a course that could be at home in almost any county in the UK! It was a complete joy to play and I would give anything if we had a course like The Fields near Greenville, SC. I think about it often. Due to circumstances it was firm, fast and brownish... very similar to what one would find in the UK. The hole concepts were very old world and it was easy to see Mike's inspiration. I still can't believe it was his first course!!!

[Dan Herrmann]

Berkleigh in Kutztown, PA fits the bill for me perfectly.  Fun, beautiful, inexpensive.  Winner!

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