Why only nine holes? Private or Public? Who are the people behind it and who is the designer? Thanks

The Dunes is very, very private.  There are only 70 members.  $28k initiation/$4800 annual dues.  Started by a Chicagoan by the name of Mike Keiser--yep, the same guy behind Bandon Dunes.They are a Chicago District GA member club.  The CDGA rated the course from the middle of the various tees where they placed their metal disks.  The ratings can always be adjusted using a table (on page 26 of the USGA Handicap manual) that explains how much to add or subtract to the ratings for the nearest set of rated tees based on the yardage difference. The player would have to manually input their course and slope rating into the computer.  This is a fairly common occurance for good women golfers that play the men's tees.

I have played Madison and Asherwood.  Madison is old, tight and a somewhat crowded by mature trees.  The greens are small and the shot values are wonderful. The 9th is the longest par 4 on the course.  The drive is played up and past the top of a steep hill.  If you start your drive right of the fairway and draw it back you can fly it over the roof of the clubhouse.  Less than 100 yards from the green is a wide mature tree dead in the middle of the fairway.  Just about every second shot to the green has to be played over the tree.Asherwood is a facinating course designed by Steve Smyers with two different routings (forward and backwards) and alternate routings within the two routings.  Perhaps my favorite hole on the course is the 6th.  A less than 300 yard par 4 with a shallow, wide plateaued green.  Bunkers are strewn left, right and center at various distances off the tee.  What ever club you decide to play from the tee you must choose your line carefully to avoid sand.The best nine hole I've played is Royal Worlington & Newmarket in England.  The "Sacred Nine" according to Bernard Darwin.  On an all together undramatic looking piece of ground.  The course has three par 4 - 1/2's (only one of which is a par 5), two great par 3's and wonderful members.  The green complexes are severe and fast.  The bunkering is excellent.  It was there that I found out what the seemingly oddly placed benches are for on British Isles courses while playing a foursome match.

Interesting posts by Dave Staebler and Tom MacWood. I'd like to know about any small acreage concepts that work well and why and those that don't and why, particularly as an addendum to a regulation course. Things like forward and backward routings and what they need to work properly (very large greens?)and also their drawbacks. Putting courses, par 3s etc. I sometimes hear other than good things about PV's short course. Why? Has anyone ever heard of a "circumference routing" that rings a regulation course and doesn't feel like you're turning right of left all day or anything like that?

I'm surprised that the name Whitinsville hasn't come up.  I haven't played it, but many say it's among the best nine holes that Ross designed.Is there anyone out there who's played it?

Several of my listings of the top nine-hole courses have recently added another nine and thus forfeited their position.  The two best:  Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, PA [Brian Silva adding nine to Donald Ross], and Harrison Hills in Attica, IN [Tim Liddy adding to Langford and Moreau].Rolling Rock was wonderful -- some of Ross' wildest greens ever -- but they were threatening to make a rule that you had to play the new nine first, because many of the members just wanted to play the original nine.Prairie Dunes started as nine holes, too -- and they're the best nine holes on the final 18.  [That's 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17 and 18.]Whitinsville is terrific.  The first hole is a great three-shot opener, the 2nd and 7th are excellent par threes, and the finisher is one of the great holes in golf.  Two par-fours across the street, 3 and 4, aren't quite up to the rest, or it might even rate better than Royal Worlington & Newmarket.

In my view, yes.  They are difficult to rank, however, as it is somewhat troubling to rank, say, Royal Worlington and Newmarket ahead of another course that has a terrific nine and a not-so-terrific nine -- are we assuming that if the nine-holer were 18 holes that the other side would be just as good as the existing nine?  If so, that can be an awfully generous assumption.In the end, though, I suppose it all comes back to that all-encompassing criterion -- did the architect do as good a job as possible on that particular piece of land?  This will take into account 9, 12 and 18 hole courses.  

I'm bringing this back up in relation to Tom's post about whats next.   I believe high quality 9 hole courses can be a successful business in this day and age.

Anthony, didn't someone beat you to that idea..., oh nevermind....  

I believe the biggest obstacle for nine hole courses is the need to overcome the general belief they can't be as good as 18 hole courses.

I spent four years at a small private 9 hole club not far from The Dunes Club that was wonderful.  Selling the concept to most people was a challenge.  In their eyes, 9 holes meant an easy course and too much repetion as a member course.

If 9 hole courses are to be successful in the new age of the golf business, some old steroetypes will have to somehow be overcome.

Ken

I'm looking forward to playing Aetna Springs as Merrill who was the head assistant at Olympic is now the head pro.

The point is they are family freindly and most important they don't take all day to play.  In a great situation you could hit balls and play nine holes and be out and home within 2 or 3 hours.

If the hard core want to play 18 holes, then you could play the nines twice, hopefully from different tees.

Dunes Club as in either Golf or Golfweek's top 100. The other great faeture is the ~30 x 30 "clubhouse" with honor system sandwich/beverage kitchennette and three tables and a 6x14 lockker cubby. The logo is cool as well. a club bent ino a D arc that they have fashioned their push/pull door hardware like as well.

Maybe not an architectural gem but a way cool nine holer is the egutty/hickory rediscovered Oak Hall down by the green briar

Maybe not an architectural gem but a way cool nine holer is the egutty/hickory rediscovered Oak Hall down by the green briar

That's Oakhurst.  Bob Cupp worked with the current owner to uncover the original 9 hole course that was layed out in 1884.