[J Sadowsky]

Pine Valley - greens too soft
Galloway National - too many mosquitos
Deal, NJ - two temporary greens
Essex County - squelchy underfoot and thick lush rough
NGLA - no sails on windmill

All of these were caused by a couple of feisty ladies called Irene and Katia, just shows how nature can affect even the best courses.

Awww, life is hard.  Want a hug?

[jeffwarne]

The two standouts for me are Maidstone and The Country Club.

The Country Club: set up like the US open is coming to town tomorrow - tiny greens surrounded by extremely long rough. Very narrow fairways off which is very long rough. Some lovely holes in there, no question but a lot of average stuff. It is clinging on by virtue of the fact that it is a great club with a really cool clubhouse and locker room. Also, its US Open and Ryder Cup history and the fact that it is a founding member club of the USGA.

Maidstone: Gets bumped up massively on the basis of (a) exclusivity and (b) 4 oceanside holes which look like links holes but don't actually play like links holes. They're still good holes, but there is a hell of a lot of ordinary golf out there. World top 100, it really isn't. That being said, a great club and lovely people.

Brian,
I'd have to disagree on Maidstone.

You do have to remember you hit the hamptons during and after one of our wettest periods ever, and in October to boot which is generally a soft month anyway due to shorter nights and cooler temperatures.
The links courses of the world are in GB and Ireland, Holland, bandon and a few select areas.
If you spend your  golf life evaluating course on the basis of whether their turf is lnkslike(during the precise offseason month you're there), you're going to be very often disappointed.

[Trevor]

To be clear: I thought the course was in excellent shape, had great strategic value, and I would drive the 4 hours or so on a dim to play it again. It is a gem.

BUT, I was disappointed by that amount that power lines, roads, and other man-made items have encroached on Newport Country Club and the course there.

[Mark Johnson]

Deacons Lodge --  Way overwatered and too much target golf despite a great piece of land

Farmington -- not a bad course, but was way too overhyped.  Definitely not one of the top 10 courses in Virginia

Woodhill -- tree removal program needed in the worst way

[Tim Martin]

Hey Brian,

What else didn't you like about TCC?

I don't view it as even the best in Mass., but it has unique character and loads of history.  It is true that the member layout holes that they change around for the open layout (9, 10, 12) are not the greatest, but they are cool in a quirky "days-gone-by" way.  I do view holes 1-5, 7-8, 11-18 as very good holes.  I will give you 6, 9, and 10 as pedestrian holes, but 9 is the only one I would call bad.  They even have improved 10 by adding a new tee back at 340 or so.

For the record, I also dislike 2 of 3 of the champ course holes.  The combination of the two Primrose holes is very awkward, and the next hole is absurd as a par 4.

Regardless of some slight issues, TCC still has the feel of greatness, however that can be quantified.  It is the only course with that feel in New England.

I would be curious to hear more of your opinion!

-Brad

Brad- I`m just trying to get a handle on what qualifies for greatness. If that moniker is strictly set aside for courses that have hosted majors then I wonder where Brae Burn and Newport stack up.

Hi Tim...."Greatness" to me is almost an intangible thing.  At TCC you see things that do not exist elsewhere in New England, on land that happens to have hosted some of the great moments in American golf history.  The tournament history helps the overall sense, but it isn't that specific.  Newport and Brae Burn are both good courses with much of the same feel as TCC, but the golf course is a touch better at TCC.

Thanks Brad. Where does Yale stack up on the greatness front for you in New England?

[Andy Shulman]

My nominee is 1757 Golf Club in Ashburn, VA, just outside of DC.  It features a routing so bad that a stoplight would help at some of the cart path "intersections," wetlands that take driver out of your hands on at least four holes (more if you can hit it further than 225 yards) and super slow play.  It does have a pretty cool driving range, though.

[Kyle Harris]

Governors Club:  The Mountain nine at Governors Club might be one of the worst nine holes I have ever seen.  When you design an entire nine holes for one tee box that's not a good thing!

Though this lead to one of your best one liners ever:

"Boy, Orange County sure has a lot of trees."

[Sean_A]

Governors Club:  The Mountain nine at Governors Club might be one of the worst nine holes I have ever seen.  When you design an entire nine holes for one tee box that's not a good thing!

Funny world; the Guvna's Club was better than I expected it would be (didn't play the mountain nine).  There are a lot of good shots on the course and I thought it much better than the Dook Course.  I would go back for a second look if invited. 

Ciao

[Cory Lewis]

"Boy, Orange County sure has a lot of trees."

Orange County?  What is this, California?  No, this is North Carolina Son.  We don't got no Orange County y'all.

[Jim Tang]

Sanctuary.  It began pouring rain on the 16th green, forcing my group to skip the final 2 holes.  I was happy to do so.

[Ben Sims]

Sanctuary.  It began pouring rain on the 16th green, forcing my group to skip the final 2 holes.  I was happy to do so.

10% true.

Actually what happened is that the sky was fairly clear and I felt one drop.  One.  Before anyone could ask "is it raining" I was sprinting for our carts. 

[Ian Andrew]

Waterville

The excessive use of framing bunkers on the opening seven was such a contrast to the other links courses we saw. I much prefer bunkers that are in the line of play and found this alternative disapointing. I will say the back was much better than the front and more fun to play, despite the lack of bunkers on many holes.

Doonbeg

You can't keep every great hole in a routing and ask people to walk cross country to play them all. A great routing is often made better by what you left out to make it work. There are terrific moments, but some real headscratchers too.

[ChipRoyce]

(for those who watched Sienfeld...)

This is our Festivus thread... time for the airing of greivances!

Where's the festivus pole? Who's going to participate in the feats of strength?

[Bill_McBride]

East Lake:  Yeah it's nice, but I just was not wowed by anything, you can see the Rees Jones influence too much on certain holes.

Concur.   I particularly disliked the back and forth holes on the back nine.    I am also not a big fan of soggy zoysia. 

[Ari Techner]

I was most disappointed in Winged Foot West.  I had extremely high expectations going in and do not get me wrong WFW is a wonderful golf course, it just did not live up to my expectations.  There were a few special holes but for the most part I felt like I was playing any number of parkland courses I had played before just with better greens.  I absolutely loved the greens and the green complexes but the rest of the course was surprisingly forgettable imo.

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