In the past four weeks, I had the good fortune of being able to play Sand Hills (5 rounds), Prestwick (1), Troon (1), Turnberry-Ailsa (2), County Down (2), and Portrush-Dunluce (2). I also played Glasgow Gailes, Ardglass, Portstewart and Castlerock.
(My big disappointment was not playing Western Gailes. My plane was late into Glasgow, and when I got to WG, it was 2:30 Sunday and the tee was backed up with two busloads of Americans. (I had arranged to go off in front of all fourballs.) So, I played at the Glasgow Gailes instead. Western was closed the rest of the week for winter maintenance.)
I played Sand Hills in mid-September and thought it was nearly perfect (too bad the short par 4s fall back-to-back, but that's nit-picking, I guess). Before leaving for the UK, I told friends I'd be thrilled if the courses I was playing there turned out to be better.
The top courses I played in the UK were close in quality, but not better, in my opinion. That left me feeling a bit disappointed, but I think it speaks to Sand Hills' greatness.
After finishing my UK trip, my opinion was that Sand Hills, County Down and Portrush were the stand-outs and quite close to each other, based purely on the quality of the golf holes. So, I took each course and ranked each courses's par 4s, 3s and 5s from top to bottom. Then I took those holes and matched them against the other courses, one on one.
The results:
Sand Hills 11, County Down 5 (two draws)
Sand Hills 11, Portrush 7
Portrush 9, County Down 8 (one draw)
It might seem outrageous to say County Down loses twice in this competition, but its weaknesses should come as no surprise to anyone here: holes 14-17, and its par 3s. Granted County Down's fourth hole is incredible, but think about the par 3s at Sand Hills! And Sand Hills also sweeps the par 5s against County Down, IMHO.
After playing Sand Hills, the legendary bunkering at County Down didn't blow my mind. It's great, but not on the same enormous scale as Sand Hills.
A couple other observations about Sand Hills, in the context of these courses:
1. Its greens complexes are superior to anything I saw. In my opinion, the gap was large. The word genius is overused, but it has to be used when describing what CC did with those greens.
2. No course on this list has a finish that comes even close to Sand Hills for quality and drama. Turnberry's 16th and 17th are great, but 18 is a letdown. If County Down had Sand Hills' 16-18 finish, it would be amazing.
3. My big problem with Sand Hills is the huge percentage of players who use carts. I was disappointed with that.
In regards to comparing Portrush to County Down, I give Portrush a slight edge, but if I were to do this again in a week, County Down perhaps gets the nod.
Having made these comparisons, I should add a disclaimer: these are all great golf courses, and it's a shame I feel compelled to rank them. Oh well. And certainly many think County Down is the best of these three. That's great.
I truly would like to hear the argument, though, for how County Down is better than Sand Hills (Golf magazine's raters, of course, say it is). I don't see it, and I'm wondering if I'm overlooking something.
I also should add that Sand Hills perhaps "wins" with me because I played it more times than the others.
A few other observations from my last month of golf:
1. Turnberry doesn't have the number of quality holes of my Big Three, but I probably enjoyed the entire experience at Turnberry more than any other. When you combine a great golf course, great championship history, superb practice facilities, and the setting with, yes, American-style customer service, it's quite a combination. The lockerroom guy at Turnberry is a gem.
2. Troon truly is a slog. "Everybody" says/writes that, and I was convinced "everybody" was going to be wrong, but it's true. Except for the six holes in the middle, there's nothing memorable. Prestwick was much more fun to play.
3. I was expecting the Prestwick course to be a museum piece (not much of a challenge). I was pleasantly surprised.
4. Portrush was a joy to play. I think it was James Finegan who wrote that Portrush's fourth hole is the best hole on the planet that nobody ever talks about. Hard to disagree.
5. Best-rolling greens: Portrush. Talk about true-rolling!
6. I was prepared to fall in love with Portstewart, but I didn't. I think the dunes on the front nine are too huge and severe and just don't lend themselves to great golf holes. The course played soft, and the greens were slow.
7. I was pleasantly surprised by Castlerock. No. 7 is kind of a poor man's version of Turnberry's 16th, and Castlerock's stretch of 7-10 was very satisfying. I loved 8 and 9. I wish I would have played Castlerock's nine-hole course. It looked like fun. And apprently there's a hole on the nine-hole course that some rate as one of the top 18 holes in Ireland/ N. Ireland.
8. The locals at Portrush say Darren Clarke usually plays the Valley course instead of Dunluce. Clarke thinks the small greens on the Valley help him stay sharp with his irons.
9. What's the deal with the caravan parks (mobile home parks) seemingly being always on the boundary of these great golf courses in the UK?! I never see that in the photos! (Maybe I'll buy a caravan in the park behind the 14th at County Down!)
10. Ardglass has muni-quality maintenance, but it's a fun place to play. It's a good option if you're looking for another course to play on the same day as County Down. And Ardglass's views of the sea are amazing. The new 11th hole is pretty good, and the tee shot at no. 2 requires courage.
11. I'm glad I didn't land in the bunkers surrounding the Postage Stamp. The two guys I was playing with did, and they never got out. Both were pretty decent players from the sand, too. The Coffin is scary.
Having played these courses, I'm left with this question: is there a large gap between Golf magazine's top nine (Pine Valley, Cypress, Muirfield, Shinnecock, Augusta, Pebble, Melbourne, Pinehurst No. 2) and County Down, Sand Hills, and Portrush, which come in at 10-12?