What courses do you enjoy playing at match play that you dislike playing

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat, I think courses with a good number of risk reward shots make for superior match play courses. I find that is part of the orignial appeal to Augusta National is the back 9 with 11,12,13,15 and 16 having tremendous drama to the shot selection. It actually makes a stroke play event play like a match play tourney.

Tiger,

I think you'd change your mind about ANGC being fun at medal play when the greens get to 11, 12 or more.

[Michael J. Moss]

Pat, interesting thread.


To me a course that is more fun (or appropriate) for match play is charaterised by an over-abundance of holes that are potential  stroke-play round wreckers, where the threat of taking penalty strokes for a lost ball, OB, or water is constant. The poster child in my mind is course like Tralee, in Ireland. There are bottomless pits, tall grass, water and areas that afford no bailout or retreat. The Florida version: Old Marsh. There is water on how many holes there?

As you suggest, Fenway has OB left on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 14th and 18th holes. None on the right! (Not exactly a hooker's paradise.) There is also OB behind the 1st green as well as the par-3 11th. The player also faces OB-right on the 2nd shot into 18 (parking lot).

Pinehurst 2 iis often referred to as the most difficult course where the player will almost certainly finish the round with the ball he or she started with. Give me a course without OB or water for stroke play.

[Rob Rigg]

Tetherow

A lot for fun for Match play versus Stroke play because you can score but you can also be severely punished for what seems like a decent shot.

Any course where it is really difficult to play to your handicap will automatically become more fun to play in a match because one crappy hole does not destroy the round.

[David_Madison]

Tobacco Road -- one of the greatest match play courses I've ever played. Huge risk/reward everywhere, but grinding out a medal score would likely involve playing it very conservatively, taking out much of the fun of the place. TPC Sawgrass would be another course that I'd much rather compete at match play than at stroke, again because of the many opportunities to hit heroic shots with the consequence of failure being just the likely loss of a hole versus a total crash and burn.