[Sean_A]

Someone (perhaps Philip Gawith) on here mentioned that Brora is better than it's sum parts.  This is an excellent way to describe Brora.  It isn't the sort of course one normally crosses an ocean to play, but it can steal your heart (without boyhood memories) none the less.  Why?

Are there other courses which can be described this way?  

Pennard is certainly that course for me.  There are others which intrigue me as well.  Courses which don't seem to be up to much, but demand my attention and on a turn of a moment can bring a smile to my lips.  Beau Desert, Princes, Conwy, Harlech and Southerndown.  Is there greatness at the heart of these courses?

Ciao

Sean

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Sean, I'd add Birkdale to your list.  There are no earth-shattering holes yet the whole thing adds up to very much more.  Southerness is another which comes to mind.  I'm sure I'll think of more but the cork-screw and skillet are beckoning.  Mark.

[A_Clay_Man]

Are there other courses which can be described this way?  

Sean- Yes! As a matter of fact Under GCA law (found in the fine bytes) any golf course which is greater than the sum of it's parts, is art!

Examples are usually found at the top of all the magazine lists. CPC, Pebble Beach even my beloved Teeth of the Dog qualifies when you put it in this context.

[wsmorrison]

Sean,

Harlech is greater than the sum of its parts?  I'm not sure I understand this.  I found the first eight holes to be rather bland.  9-13 starts to get pretty good.  14-17 were superb.  18 a bit of a letdown, though I don't mind par 3 finish holes.  I'd say there are 4 great holes, 5 good ones and 9 below average holes.  The 4 great ones are as memorable as I could wish for, but most of the rest is rather forgettable.  

I missed Alwoodley and Siloth with Ran and Rick Holland for Harlech.  But I was with my buddy Jeff Silverman on his Darwin quest to Aberdovey so it wasn't all bad--just 9 holes at Harlech      

[Sean Walsh]

Port Fairy.  Exposed coastal links with some great holes and a few that are barely average.  

Your mention of Brora is of some interest to me as I believe Port Fairy is the Australian equivalent.  Well out of the way and not the golf course many would plan their trip around, but for some reason has the quintessential feeling of connection with one's surroundings.  Both set in/on or close to one their respective countries premier natural landmarks (The Highlands and The Great Ocean Road)

A lovely course to endure while you play a difficult game in atrocious conditions.  Conditions under which I have played the course and still come off feeling that that is what golf is really about.  A game in which modern equipment and weights programs will not help very much.

[Mark_F]

Sean,

Beau Desert, certainly, but Harlech?  The only attractive thing about that course is the green fee.  

I think a great many UK courses fall into this category, apart from the biggies, perhaps because they tend to be a little more 'odd' than normal.  Conditioning is a little more uneven, for want of a better word, there tends to be a good solid colelction of holes, with perhaps one or two stars.  

How about Formby?  Despite the rather odd middle section, it has a certain charm about it.  Much more than Birkdale.

Nairn?  Apart from maybe the 3rd and 5th and perhaps one or two others I don;t know that there's any stunners there, but it's a pretty enjoyable course in a great location with some great greens.  

Tenby?  Again, maybe only one or two standout holes, and some quixotic conditioning, but still a lot of really neat, subtle stuff too.  

I haven't played it yet, and I'm kicking myself for being in the vicinity and foregoing a round last year, but Ashridge up near Luton is supposed to be really good, yet apart from The Confidential Guide and a decades old AA Guide, I've never seen a mention of it.  Could it be the ultimate sleeper in Britain?

I also think Whittington Heath is very much a better than sum of it's parts course.  Not as good as Brora, but interesting and pretty, with a few good holes - 2,3,4 and a few on the back nine.  

[Philip Gawith]

Happy to accept responsibility for that one Sean!

At risk of muddying the waters a bit: I suppose partly what I was driving at is those courses where what you remember is your overall experience more, perhaps, than the magnificence of particular holes.

I think in the nature of things that is more likely - though not exclusively - to be associated with a course which is very remote and where part of the memory lies in the trip there and the distinctiveness of the experience. Again, most likely it is a links course.

Of courses I have played, I would add St Enodoc (the beauty of the Camel Estuary, the eccentricity of the church with the buried laureate), Westward Ho! (the cattle, the horses, the sheep, the rushes, the common land, the JH Taylor legacy) and Macrihanish (off the planet!) to the list.

I am sure Cruden Bay also belongs.

Golf at these courses is uplifting, and maybe that is the difference?

[Mark_F]

Sean,

Birkdale is a great course, and Porthcawl isn't?  

Ashridge is mentioned on page 254 of my Confidential Guide.  It gets a six.  The AA uide, from 1977, no less, also makes it sound realy interesting.  

What is attractive about Harlech?

Ummm.  I can only remember a few holes toward the end - 14,15, 16 and 17, which I thought were good.  The rest all blurred into one.

Maybe it's conditioning?  It was certainly wet and soggy when I played there.

Agree about Tenby - I thought it was okay, with a few really strong holes, but there is something that doesn't quite add up there - maybe it's just the four holes across the railway line?  And trying to figure out where the next hole to play is...

[T_MacWood]

I'd say this was one of Donald Ross's strengths...very few blockbuster holes and almost no clunkers adds up to greater than the sum of individual holes. Examples: Pinehurst #2, Inverness, Franklin Hills, Canton Brookside and Pine Needles.

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