Mahogany Run in St. Thomas. Actually not a horrible piece of land but certainly a horrible place to try to squeeze 18 holes onto. Could have yielded a rather sporty nine hole layout though.

I don't know about worst, but look at the overhead and you have to admit Shadow Creek (Las Vegas) sits on land that has to be in the bottom 5%....

Which of course is just part of why that remains one hell of an amazing golf course, testament to what the imagination can do when money is unlimited.

TH

This topic has come up several times, but of courses I have played I will continue to nominate Talking Stick North.

Now if we're talking BAD courses on bad land, then my oh my I would not even know where to begin.

Martin

I know plenty of Scots, been there quite a few times, but what is an 'Auld Watter Meadie' - old water meadow?

Padraig,
correct in one. No prizes for guessing the name of the quotee! (or indeed for the subject of his criticism!!!)

FBD

Lido...or it would still be there..Unless it really wasn't all that to begin with.

Would that be Andrew Kirkaldy, on the home course of the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers?

I sort of feel that way about the place too . . .

John
'twer Andra indeed.

I must say I spent much of my adult golfing life believing him too. Ingrained cynicism is difficult to dilute.

Until I got to play the place.

It is wonderful - in EVERY way...play it before you expire.

FBD.

 Somebody correct me if my memory is off, but when I played Furnace Creek in Death Valley one spring after heavy rains had left the desert incredibly beautiful I thought the course itself was an absolute dump, on the dullest piece of land possible.

Chicago has a couple of Killian and Nugent courses built on a former waste dump

Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course: Designed by P.B. (or Perry?)Dye on a flat, 90-acre parcel squeezed between the Sacramento River levee and Interstate-5. The fairways are about 20 yards wide and closely bordered by buried elephants which "frame" the holes (i.e. block your view of incoming stray shots). There are some fun holes out there when the course is empty and you aren't in serious danger of losing an eye. -Sacramento, CA.

During our rounds at Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails (talk about BEST pieces of land!  , Cary Lichtenstein and I were talking about building golf courses at ski resorts.  I have never seen one I really thought was good as the ski slopes have to be steep, way too steep for golf.

I'm thinking of courses like Northstar at Lake Tahoe and Eagle Vail in Colorado.

Has anyone seen a good golf course designed at a ski resort?

Creekside Golf Course, Amherst, NY (10 miles north of Buffalo).

Horrible little course, but here's why it's horrible land:
-------------------------

History and Location of Project
The Creekside Golf Course site, Amherst, New York, is located adjacent to Tonawanda Creek, a waterway maintained as part of the New York State Barge Canal. In the early 1950s, the owner placed used drums along the canal banks as an erosion control measure. Over 30 years, erosion of the creek bank exposed more and more drums. Eventually the drums began rolling into the canal. The State placed concrete riprap along the shore to stabilize the banks.

In 1982, an environmental site assessment got under way and in 1985, 175 drums were removed. The drums contained a mixture of phenolic polymers and phenol. Further investigation led to a Consent Order between New York State and the site’s PRP for the complete remediation of the site. Sevenson was contracted by the PRP to carry out the site remediation.

Description of Work
The contract required Sevenson to excavate 650 drums as well as affected creek sediments and soils. Following mobilization and site preparation, a 1,000 lf U-shaped steel sheetpile cofferdam was constructed in the creek to isolate and secure the contaminated zone. Sevenson began the excavation and overpacking of 650 drums and the removal of contaminated soil, creek sediment, and riprap. All material was characterized, stabilized, and disposed of in a secure landfill off site. Stabilization operations were performed in an enclosed Sprung structure. Sevenson constructed and operated an onsite plant for the pretreatment of contaminated water prior to shipping it off site for further treatment at the owner's facility. The site was backfilled and restored. The project was completed in less than 5 months, on schedule and under budget.

Cary, I agree completely!!!!!  Some beautiful views but.......