[Brian Noser]

Just wondering what everyone here feels is the toughest course that they have played. I would like to know what made it hard. Trying to figure out what makes the course hard. Is it the architecture is it the length? I would have to say the toughest that I have played is Iron Horse. in tuscana I think may be some one can clarify it. I would say Pebble beach but I was 13 when I played it and I do not remember the whole course only some shots. (cough Birdie on 16)

[DPL11]

Oakmont-Hands down
Very long, penal, great green sites and surfaces.

No explanation really needed.

CR-76.8
Slope-144
Par-70
7171 Yards



Doug

[klangone]

I think if you are not a really skilled golfer you can at least keep it in play at Oakmont.  Pine Valley and Metedeconk National are other matters...........I've never been as confounded as the first time at MN.  I think Honors Course from the tips isn't the easiest round either.

[DPL11]

klangone,

I've played the other 2 you listed several times, and for me Oakmont is the toughest. Metedeconk is very difficult also, and PVGC is third in my book.



Doug

[Brian_Gracely]

Royal Portrush Golf Club.  Requires length and accuracy off the tee, as the rough is brutally punishing.  The routing takes you in every direction, so the winds are constantly a factor.  #4, 8, 9, 14 and 16 are some of the most difficult holes you will ever play and only #14 is rarely ever mentioned.  

[DonJ]

Bethpage Black.  Especially after spending the night in my car and getting up at 4:30 to get a bracelet.

[JakaB]

It's all about conditions baby....Kiawah Island with one of the strongest winds Mike Vegis had ever seen was tough but not as hard as yesterdays wind speed equals temp day at home...where I went....6,7,9,4,5,5,3,5,5...and beat a guy from Norway.

[Keith Williams]

The "old" Lagoon Legend before they went and ruined (softened) the whole design.  The course used to be one of the coolest target courses I could have imagined; I used to always view a round there as more of an adventure than a walk in the park.  I actually started playing it after they had softened it some by removing a lot of love grass from the course, but then it was still very challenging.  Unfortunately, now it is barely a shadow of its former self.  I think one of the reasons it was so much fun despite the difficulty was because it was not extraordinarily long, barely reaching 6,900 yards from the tips.  It gave you the chance to hit real challenging shots with all your irons, not just banging away with the long irons.

Keith.

[JakaB]

Shivas,

Funny that you dismiss conditions...Would you agree that AGNC is harder under Masters conditions than Medinah is during a PGA....I can't even imagine getting the ball in the hole on some of those greens at AGNC.

[texsport]

Medinah #3 from the tips!

They've never played Medinah from back there in any PGA or Senior PGA. I was told by a member that they actually played some ladies tees for the Senior PGA.

Texsport

[cary lichtenstein]

I once played Butler National on tough course day with the pins in the toughest spots, tees all the way back,  and 40 mph winds. All 4 of us were between 5 and 8 handicaps at the time, and no one broke 100!

It was no fun.

[Gene Greco]

Played ALL courses which are mentioned so far.

I played Medina when I was at the top of my game pre rotator cuff tear, 2 hcp.

Hit the ball reasonably well, shot 88.

Again, I've played all which are mentioned and I believe Medina gets the nod.

Only other course which brutalized me as bad was Winged Foot West pre tree removal.

[Tim_Weiman]

JakaB:

I'm with you.

The hardest course I ever played was Turnberry in 70 MPH wind.

It was also by far the best golf I've ever played. A 91, when the next best score among a group of single digit players was about 130.

The key was being able to play 100 yard one irons and 230 yard pitching wedges........and just being able to stand still and putt on the greens.

Most Fun: Watching my friend's well struck three wood land about 25 yards behind him.

[david beckham]

The toughest course i have played was North Manchester Golf Clubin the u.k. also Known as Middleton G.C.

It's stuck on the outskirt's of Oldham, on the edge of the moor's, not nice on a windy cold wet November day..

[ChipOat]

Ex-"conditions", it's Stanwich from the back tees - hands down.

9 or 10 of the greens are just so severe and penal as to be unfair for any approach longer than 100 yards.

And #9 is even too severe for that!

The other 8 or 9 greens are no bargain either.

Talk about work.

[III]

I recently played Colbert Hills in Manhattan, KS in a strong north wind from the Black and Blue tees.  It plays over 7500 yards with a course rating of 77.2 and slope of 152.  I don't know if it was the toughest I've ever played, but with those conditions it was rough.

[TEPaul]

Hardest course to score on I ever played was Stone Harbor from the tips the year it opened. The course hadn't matured yet and it was like playing on concrete--good tee shots were rocketing all over the place into water hazards and other crap, good approach shots were rocketing over greens into water hazards and such etc.

I've played all of these ones too in tournament set-ups--PVGC, Merion, Oakmont, Seminole, Pebble, Shinnecock, HVGC etc and Stone Harbor that time was a mile harder to play and score on.

The architecture of Stone Harbor back then was razor thin margins for error but the difficulty was mostly in the set up. Really challenging architecture can be hard to play in any case but put a true tough tournament set up on challenging architecture and the difficultly gets extrapolated bigtime.

[klangone]

I didn't play this particular day.....but I watched a Big 12 championship at Prarie Dunes when it was below 40 with winds of 45 to 50 mph.  Keeping the ball in play was a battle.......there were more lost balls in the gorse than I have ever seen.

Any course with wind is tougher.........how about the 3rd round at Shinnecock in 1995........cross wind heaven that day!

[Dan King]

All you girlie-men with your manicured greens, tees and fairways and maintained hazards, you don't know what real golf is. Sink a coffee can into the ground, stick a feather in it and then back up sixteen miles across country and then you'll be talking tough. A golf course, with its thousands of dollars spent to make life easier for you, is hardly macho.

Dan King

You know how [Arthur] Jukes and I are on the links. We are as level as two men can be. This, of course, is due to his extraordinary luck. Everybody knows he is the world's champion fluker. I, on the other hand, invariably have the worst luck. The consequence is that in an ordinary round it is always a toss-up which of us wins. The test we propose will eliminate luck. After sixteen miles of give-and-take play, I am certain -- that is to say, the better man is certain to be ahead.
 --Ralph Bingham (The Long Hole)

[DPL11]

TEPaul,

I was going to put down Stone Harbor also. When that first opened, it was unbelievably brutal. It is probably the most penal design ever built.


Doug

[Matt Kardash]

The hardest course i have ever played can actually be found 15 minutes from my house. It's called club de golf de l'ile de montreal(Montreal Island golf club). It's an Irish links style golf course designed by Pat Ruddy. It is a 7300 yard par 70 and almost every single hole plays uphill!. The fairways are at most 25 yards wide, and most have towering "dunes" covered in 3 foot high fescue running down both sides. And if that's not hard enough, all the greens are elevated.

The Canadian club pros played here and no one broke par on any round. I think the winner after 4 rounds was at 9 over par. This course is insanely difficult.

I would bet that if Tiger Woods came here and played a round he probably would not break par.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Tom Paul,

Your post above reminds me, there are stupid hard golf courses, like Stone Harbor sounds to be, and challenging golf courses, like the Old Course or Muirfield when the wind's up. Big difference, if you get my drift.

I apologize if I'm incorrect, but Stone Harbor sounds like a place where you could shot 95 and know it, 'cause you hit so many balls in the water, etc. On the hand, with the wind blowing hard at St. Andrews or Muirfield, you could shot 95 using the same ball for 18 holes, and later think, "How the hell did that happen? I used one ball the entire round!"

It's easy to build a difficult golf course. And not so easy to come up with something comparable to the Old Course, eh.

[JakaB]

Shivas,

To pariquote DM...You made the right play, but for all the wrong reasons.

[Rob_Waldron]

There is abslutely no discussion necessary.....THE OCEAN COURSE from the tips with even a trace of wind is the hardest course around.

[Graham Rowley]

I have played many great courses some tougher than others but i do not think i could ever play Muifield to or better than my handcap of 10, this is after 15 round of golf, my friend who is a member of some 15+ years has never broken 80 off his 13 handicap. On a nice day the course is tough, if the weathers bad it would be better to stay in the clubhouse

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