Courses you know well that you've never played

[Tommy Williamsen]

Unfortunately, I have not played ANGC. I have had chances but couldn't make them work. I have not been on the grounds either. The closest I've gotten to the course is the round I played with Mark Pritchett at Augusta CC. Yet, if you asked me about any hole I probably could tell you the approximate distance from the back tees, where you should hit the tee ball, and how the green slopes and undulates.  I've watched the Masters for well over fifty years.


Now, I have been told by many friends who have played there that TV knowledge counts for nothing when you play it. Yet, when the announcer tells us that the pin on 11 is back left I know players will err on the right to avoid the water.
Is this the course that most golf nuts know best that they have never played?

[Tim Martin]

High definition TV along with the green jackets allowing coverage of the front nine since 2002 have made the course pretty familiar to avid watchers. It’s easier now to pick up elevation changes along with some internal contouring on the greens. I just saw Westwood hit his tee shot on 18 and the camera angle from behind makes it seem narrower than it is in person.

[Ira Fishman]

Pebble Beach might be close to ANGC for those who have not played the course. But PB seems to have many fewer interesting options and positions.


Ira

[Sean_A]

Hmm courses you think you know well...

Ciao

[Phil Burr]

I think AGNC and PB are the obvious choices.  Perhaps TPC Sawgrass too.  I imagine many of us think we know a course we’ve never played based on TV, sites like this, books, etc., but I’m curious as to the difference between what we thought we knew vs. what was actually true when we finally experienced the course.  For example, is AGNC as hilly as they say we can’t see on television?  Is the unseen pull of the ocean as dramatic as they say when putting at PB?  Pros love to tell ams we’d three-putt at least 50% of the greens at AGNC if our ball were placed in the middle of the green.  True?  We also hear the greens at PB are so small that the middle of every green gives us a decent shot at one-putting.  I’ve played PB 8 times and galleried hundreds but I’ll reserve my own experiences.

[JMEvensky]

Riviera for me--I feel like I've played 10 and 18 a thousand times each and never stepped foot on the golf course.

[Andrew Harvie]

The courses I've seen on TV, video games, photos or videos look 2D compared to when you're on them in person, so I really don't think there's any course I'd claim to know without playing. Augusta would likely be the closest knowing where to miss and where to not miss, but there's always more in the dirt than you think

[John Emerson]

The National

[Mike Bodo]

The courses I've seen on TV, video games, photos or videos look 2D compared to when you're on them in person, so I really don't think there's any course I'd claim to know without playing. Augusta would likely be the closest knowing where to miss and where to not miss, but there's always more in the dirt than you think

Yeah, I've had a number of people tell me who have attended The Masters that you can't fully understand or appreciate the steepness of the slopes of ANGC until you've been there. Nearly all those who have been there have told me it's a hard course to walk, let alone play.

[Tom_Doak]

I still haven't played Memorial Park or St Patrick's but I know them VERY well.


Of older courses, I know Oakmont pretty well (been there four times) but have never played.  There are also a few where my associates have consulted that I haven't played.

[Garland Bayley]

Seeing it on tv is not like walking it. I know Columbia Edgewater way more than I know ANGC, because I've walked it many times following LPGA play, and caddying for ams.

[Matthew Rose]

Royal Melbourne Composite. Was there for the Presidents Cup and I also did a rendition for a video game.

[JESII]

Would have to be ANGC then The Old Course at St Andrews for me.


Like Tommy, I think I could describe the intended strategy on each hole and give an idea of what a putt would do at Augusta. Not so much at ToC...but I could find the next tee, I believe.

[CMP]

How about courses that don't even exist that we knows well?


I think I've studied the overheads of the Sand Hills alternate layouts more than I want to admit.

[Adam Lawrence]

St Andrews and Wentworth West would be the two that best fit this description for British golfers

[Buck Wolter]

Royal Melbourne Composite. Was there for the Presidents Cup and I also did a rendition for a video game.

I knew Pebble Beach so well from Links 386 when I finally played it it was like an old friend

[Jeff Schley]

Shinnecock. Seen it on TV for the US Opens and then some great video of each hole. Seen it from NGLA last year and really think their clubhouse is about as iconic as they get. I'm sure once I get a chance to play it it will quickly ascend into my own top 5.

[Garland Bayley]

Royal Melbourne Composite. Was there for the Presidents Cup and I also did a rendition for a video game.

I knew Pebble Beach so well from Links 386 when I finally played it it was like an old friend

[Matt_Cohn]

I don’t think I’ve ever played a golf course and thought, “Oh, this is just like how it is on TV”. So while on one hand I feel like I could list a number of courses, I think realistically I can list none.