GOLF Mag's Top 50 9-hole courses. What are your thoughts?

[CMP]

I have read everyone else's comments as to their frustrations with the list, and certainly respect most of the thoughts there.


Personally, I am likely to disregard lists such as this one that show a clear geographic bias.


As Tom mentioned earlier about the validity of criticism being weighed on the experience of the critic, I haven't played many of the UK ones.


I have, however, played the three (of the top four!) North American courses and find it difficult to believe that they are better than some of the aforementioned ones in the UK.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Chris:


I agree with you about the majority of the greens at Bellows Falls, but 1 and 2 are fantastic. 2 is one of the all-time great punchbowls. I think the strength of the course is the quirk. The consecutive par-3s are vastly different and the string of par-4 holes are all challenging and require decisions on the tee. The blind tee shot on 9 with the wall of grass in front of you reminds me of the Machrie.


Anthony

[Jon Claydon]

No Fenwick? 


semi-surprising. 

[Chris_Blakely]

Chris:


I agree with you about the majority of the greens at Bellows Falls, but 1 and 2 are fantastic. 2 is one of the all-time great punchbowls. I think the strength of the course is the quirk. The consecutive par-3s are vastly different and the string of par-4 holes are all challenging and require decisions on the tee. The blind tee shot on 9 with the wall of grass in front of you reminds me of the Machrie.


Anthony

Anthony,


I have gone back and looked at my pictures several times and yes, I agree: the first two holes and greens are very good.  The punchbowl second is very good and could be great if they expanded their green pad (as I suspect the hole was originally).  The use of the ravines and natural hilly terrain is good; however, the rest of the greens beyond 1 & 2 are quite bland.  The completely blind tee shot up and over the hill on 9 is just that.  I am willing to say that the course might suffer from the order it was played; but, I still would put it last of the 9 hole courses played on that trip.


Thanks,


Chris

[Garland Bayley]

...
Leckford is not a links course, it's not in Scotland, and it doesn't advertise green fees in either Euros or Pounds!

Sloppy journalism...

If you thought that was bad, how about this snippet:


"Mike Keiser was a member here for years, before he ever developed anything golf related. "

That was from the brief description for The Dunes Club, which Mr. Keiser developed himself.

Yes, I thought that a bit weird too.

I mentioned Bushfoot on the other thread as one I don't think belongs. Being able to see the Giants Causeway hotel from the course doesn't make a course that is 1/2 fescueless, soggy parkland, Doak 2ish, and 1/2  sandy, fescue covered links, Doak 4ish anything more than an average (Doak 3) course.

I am assigning my estimate of Doak ratings, which may be generous since Tom gave one of my favorite economical links courses (Bude & NC) a 3.

[Paul Rudovsky]

Can we also stop referring to nine-hole courses as "little?",

Anthony--Totally agree with your note about not calling them "little".  BUT the first thing that has too happen is for owners, pros, members, etc of nine holers to stop saying their clubs are "---just nine holes" and thereby starting off by apologizing.  One of the things that makes Edgartown so good IMO is that it is proud of that it is and never apologizes (it also is a superb track w superb front nine/back nine variety).  Very refreshing!

[Jaeger Kovich]

Can we also stop referring to nine-hole courses as "little?",

Anthony--Totally agree with your note about not calling them "little".  BUT the first thing that has too happen is for owners, pros, members, etc of nine holers to stop saying their clubs are "---just nine holes" and thereby starting off by apologizing.  One of the things that makes Edgartown so good IMO is that it is proud of that it is and never apologizes (it also is a superb track w superb front nine/back nine variety).  Very refreshing!

Hi Paul, thanks for pointing that out re:Edgartown! And thanks for not disqualifying it now that it has 11 greens either It’s hard to even count the holes on it, but that’s what makes it so fun.

[Will Lozier]

Slightly disappointed that Wawenok didn't make this list. It has a great opener reminiscent of a Flynn short par-4, the 2nd is a cool dogleg, the two one shotters are very different, the 6th reminds me of Merion's 11th, and the sidehill reverse canting 9th is a fun finisher. Rustic and usually fairly firm....definitely worth a trip if you are on the Maine coast!


Cheers

[Chris_Blakely]

Slightly disappointed that Wawenok didn't make this list. It has a great opener reminiscent of a Flynn short par-4, the 2nd is a cool dogleg, the two one shotters are very different, the 6th reminds me of Merion's 11th, and the sidehill reverse canting 9th is a fun finisher. Rustic and usually fairly firm....definitely worth a trip if you are on the Maine coast!


Cheers


Wawenok is a great Stiles and Van Kleek Course.  It has tremendous greens. However, I will never forget the incessant biting gnats.


Chris

[Jim_Kennedy]

There has probably been more written about nine hole courses in the past 14 years than in the previous 6 decades. I think Tony's "To The Nines"('06), Ron Whitten's GD article "Small Wonders"('10), in which he listed his top 25 nine hole courses, and Tony's second effort "The Finest Nines"('18), have had a marked influence on the fortunes of the "Little Courses". I'd say it's about time as nine hole courses outnumbered their bigger siblings for the first 8 decades of golf in the USA, only taking a back seat after the huge boom of course construction that began in '58 (ca. 900 courses).

Paul Rudovsky's post (#37) only missed one point - the ranking of "Little Courses" seems to have generated as much discussion/dissension as those of the "Big Courses", for which I say 'well done'. 

 

[Tim Martin]

Chris:


I agree with you about the majority of the greens at Bellows Falls, but 1 and 2 are fantastic. 2 is one of the all-time great punchbowls. I think the strength of the course is the quirk. The consecutive par-3s are vastly different and the string of par-4 holes are all challenging and require decisions on the tee. The blind tee shot on 9 with the wall of grass in front of you reminds me of the Machrie.


Anthony

Anthony,


I have gone back and looked at my pictures several times and yes, I agree: the first two holes and greens are very good.  The punchbowl second is very good and could be great if they expanded their green pad (as I suspect the hole was originally).  The use of the ravines and natural hilly terrain is good; however, the rest of the greens beyond 1 & 2 are quite bland.  The completely blind tee shot up and over the hill on 9 is just that.  I am willing to say that the course might suffer from the order it was played; but, I still would put it last of the 9 hole courses played on that trip.


Thanks,


Chris

I enjoyed a recent round at Bellows Falls which with a more interesting set of greens would be as good as or best Hooper. As already mentioned the first two holes are terrific with a wild punchbowl green at the second. The alternate tee on 4 made sense for those not wanting to hit the forced carry over the ravine while the regular tee provides an exciting shot from 155 and adds twenty yards when replayed on 13 from 175. A minor nit would be the internal out of bounds on # 5 which runs parallel to 6 which I was told was for safety issues and when playing up 6 the out of bounds is not in effect. I loved the low key atmosphere and it was clear that the homers loved their course. Finally I was told that I should stop at The Vermont Country Store on my way out which delivered a completely sub standard chocolate soft serve cone with a rookie application of jimmies.

[Joel_Stewart]

I've never heard anyone talk about the architecture of Sunnylands and its ranked in the top 10. Considering it has on average 10-15 people playing it every year its hard to take it seriously.

[Daryl David]

I think there are a lot more than 10-15 that play Sunnylands. It’s not world class, but solid. Is it top 10? I doubt it, but it’s not a piece of crap for sure.

[Sean_A]

Maybe I missed it, but the omission of Covesea is odd.

I remain surprised at the disdain for Cruit. There are three questionable aspects of the course…the 8th and the bunkering on 3 and 4. This is good going for a wild and woolly 9 holer. In 9 holes you get brawny golf, finesse golf, beauty and surprises. I can’t point to many 9 holers I believe to be superior to Cruit.

I think Gatehouse and St Medan should be in for a shout if Bushfoot is included.

Ciao

[jeffwarne]

Maybe I missed it, but the omission of Covesea is odd.

I remain surprised at the disdain for Cruit. There are three questionable aspects of the course…the 8th and the bunkering on 3 and 4. This is good going for a wild and woolly 9 holer. In 9 holes you get brawny golf, finesse golf, beauty and surprises. I can’t point to many 9 holers I believe to be superior to Cruit.

I think Gatehouse and St Medan should be in for a shout if Bushfoot is included.

Ciao

Glad you bumped this.
A cool list.And yes I'm also a fan of Cruit.
Since the list came out I've played Castine(excellent)Sweetens and Mahia(disappointing as the turf was long, soft and meadowy-despite 3 weeks of no rain when I was there in their summer
I've now played 15 off the list, which makes it hard to rank to 50 of them as Paul points out.
That said, I still think the text could've been proofed better(It's not like it's a secret who developed The Dunes or that Leckford Old isn't a links or in Scotland)But then GOLF recently sent a mistake laden instruction article of mine to press without having me proof/approve it so it does happen and is quite frustrating.


I would say Ireland's(Galway) Connemara Isles would not be out of place on this list.
Fantastic course in a surreal remote setting with a thatched roof clubhouse.