Order of Importance

[Jon Wiggett]

A good golfing experience is made up of several ingredients. But in what order are they to be placed on their affect.

My feeling is the following:

1. Architectural features. Does the course use the land well, does the course flow, is it challenging and fun to play
2. General atmosphere of the course. Does it have soul.
3. Condition of the greens. Are they in keeping with the course. TOC, Alwoodley, Dornoch are good examples.
4. Atmosphere of the club.  Is it a comfortable experience. For instance one of the things that most impressed me about Muirfield was that although it is exclusive and certainly not cheap I and my playing partners were made very welcome by everyone including sitting with 6 former captains of the club at lunch and being told endless stories about the clubs history.

5. Condition of the rest of the course.
6. Trueness to concept.

please feel free to add other things to the list or remove them.

[John Moore II]

1. Architectural Features, does the course flow well, does it make the best use of the features of the area.
2. Course difficulty, resistance to scoring.
3. Condition
4. Tradition or the club
5. Possible Major Championship experience
6. The people I am grouped with.

[Brad Klein]

1. cart babes
2. lunch
3. quality of locker room
4. halfway house experience
5. detailed yardage book
6. caddies who tell stories about the golf course
7. quality range balls
8. shower heads and softness of towels
9. well-defined holes separated by trees
10. tournaments the place has hosted

[K. Krahenbuhl]

1. cart babes
2. lunch
3. quality of locker room
4. halfway house experience
5. detailed yardage book
6. caddies who tell stories about the golf course
7. quality range balls
8. shower heads and softness of towels
9. well-defined holes separated by trees
10. tournaments the place has hosted

Don't underestimate the quality of a good post round shoe shine.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Brad,

Don't forget 'really fast greens' and 'courteous club cleaners'.

[John Chilver-Stainer]

Hi Jon,

A very good list of the fundamentals of golf course appreciation before embarking on the details.
Here's my personal Order of Importance plus a couple more

1. General atmosphere of the course. Does it have soul.
(This could be influenced by the natural surroundings - coastal or mountains etc.)

2. Architectural features. Does the course use the land well, does the course flow, is it challenging and fun to play.
(Definitly what I find the most interesting - but even the best Architecture needs natural "Soul")

3. Trueness to concept.
( A mixture of styles or concepts I find jarring)

4. Condition of the greens. Are they in keeping with the course. TOC, Alwoodley, Dornoch are good examples.
 (Do you mean Fescue Greens - in which case I’d agree)

5. Condition of the rest of the course.
(Do you mean Fescue Fairways - in which case I’d agree)

6. Atmosphere of the club.  Is it a comfortable experience. For instance one of the things that most impressed me about Muirfield was that although it is exclusive and certainly not cheap I and my playing partners were made very welcome by everyone including sitting with 6 former captains of the club at lunch and being told endless stories about the clubs history.
(It’s always fun to hang out at an old clubhouse and check out the memoribilia and chat with the locals.
It must have a Guinness Tap)

7. - Favourable weather conditions
(Preferably temperature above 12C but definitly not higher than 24C, 1.5-2.5 club wind against going out and with coming in i.e. doesn't change direction at the 9th Green, preferably no or little rain, no snow but intermittent hail storms accepted )

8. And finally - Interesting playing Partner
(who is into golf architecture and looks like Angelina Jolie although I could also settle for Cate Blanchette)

Cheers
John

[Tags:]

Tags: