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Ira Fishman

  • Total Karma: -1
Lost Opportunities...or Not
« on: February 17, 2019, 05:17:17 PM »
In the thread on Ocean Views, T. Doak points out that doing something great at Sandpiper not as easy as it might appear. There are been similar comments by architects that Old Head is really not amenable to a great course.


Are there other seaside courses that look as if they are lost opportunities but really are not?


Are there some seaside courses that in fact could be much better courses?


Ira


Thomas Dai

  • Total Karma: 1
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2019, 03:16:52 AM »
There is a lot of very fine linksland in the UK that is taken up with caravan sites and MoD facilities some of which are adjacent to existing courses. The first aren't so popular as they once were and many of the second are semi-unused. Take a circular tour of the UK coastline on say Googlemap and you'll spot many of them.
There are also SSSI coastal links areas, but perhaps best to exclude those from discussion.

atb

Kyle Harris

  • Total Karma: 0
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2019, 08:11:44 AM »
One of the charms of seaside golf is that the seaside is not completely littered with seaside golf.
http://kylewharris.com

Constantly blamed by 8-handicaps for their 7 missed 12-footers each round.

“Split fairways are for teenagers.”

-Tom Doak

Sean_A

  • Total Karma: 2
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2019, 08:13:27 AM »
One of the charms of seaside golf is that the seaside is not completely littered with seaside golf.

+1

Ciao
New plays planned for 2025: Ludlow, Machrihanish Dunes, Dunaverty and Carradale

archie_struthers

  • Total Karma: 1
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2019, 08:18:46 AM »
 :o






Kyle that's succinct and  profound....thanks


















Ira Fishman

  • Total Karma: -1
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2019, 08:23:00 AM »
Agree. But my question is limited to existing courses.


Ira

Niall C

  • Total Karma: -1
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2019, 09:48:59 AM »
One very obvious one for me is the New course at Lossiemouth (Moray GC). It was originally built as a 9 hole relief course for the Old course but was then extended into 18 holes in the early 1970’s with Henry Cotton being the named architect although how much he had to do with it I don’t know.

To paraphrase the late Eric Morecombe, it has all the right features but not necessarily in the right order, which is to say it is long enough, it has some nice linksy ground as well as a couple of water features, one of which is the Dornoch Firth (only in play on one hole) and the other a water channel emanating from the adjacent RAF base.

Unfortunately when they cleared the ground to extend the course it looks as though they flattened and removed a lot of the ground movement on some holes, while the aforementioned water channel looks as though it is regulation issue ie. ramrod straight with perfectly formed banks. On top of that a lot of the greens are like circular upturned saucers in design with no real interest.

Despite all that it is still a decent hit with a number of good holes of genuine interest but I can’t help thinking that if the greens alone were re-designed it would be hugely improved.

Niall

Terry Lavin

  • Total Karma: -2
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2019, 09:53:41 AM »
Monarch Bay is a bit of a poster child for this thread, if only based on one play.
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.  H.L. Mencken

Brock Lynch

  • Total Karma: 0
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2019, 10:01:46 AM »
I have not played the Old Course at Nefyn in Wales, but from what I've read it fits the category of great views and not great golf.


Cheers

Ally Mcintosh

  • Total Karma: 1
Re: Lost Opportunities...or Not
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2019, 11:20:45 AM »
Personally I’d divide the question in to two:


Which courses were a lost opportunity in the routing (often hard to tell) and which courses are lost opportunities in the detailing and strategy.