The more I read at this site, the more I see the word "inspire" pop up. Does the course inspire you? That is indeed a very good yardstick.HOWEVER, what about the world's best course that has very good to excellent architecture, is fundamentally sound, is in a great location, etc. In short it has no flaws ...other than it fails to inspire practically anybody.Muirfeild has its admirers who swear it inspires (doesn't it, Ran   so it doesn't count).I would table Ganton. Everything is there but somehow... the heart doesn't flutter as when you approach Brancaster.

Portmarnock inspires you more than Muirfield does Ran? Come on now, you sure you aren't exagerating the case against Muirfield?

Geoff,Of course, I am overstating but I knew you low handicap markers would rush to the aid of Muirfield. Muirfield is clearly stronger but as far as inspiring, Portmarnock's proximity to the water and its romantic setting out on a peninsula indeed gives it an edge in the inspiring sweepstakes (at least to this grump).I played with a guy in New Zealand who said  he once played Portmarnock and the wind was blowing so hard from right to left across the first hole, that the water was hitting the planks and forming a "water tunnel" down the entire first fairway. Now that's what I call a rollicking good time (?!) as opposed to "hay left, hay right, hey wait, I'm standing in a flat field!" Tom,I hope Baltusrol Upper continues to close the gap  between the two sister courses in GOLF Magazine's US rankings. It made up 15 spots last time around and talk about "inspiring": the first tee underneath the Clubhouse and final approach shot underneath the same bookend a very fun course to play.  Cheers,  

Aronomink:It's a great course and is in the process of being restored by Ron Prichard to total Rossness along with a conditioning plan by Dick Bator. It has always had a reputation of hit it hard, harder and hardest--not the most inspiring theme.

Metropolitan Golf Course in Melbourne - famous as a sandbelt course and host to many championships.  Deserved reputation for outstanding  conditioning and 2 or 3 great holes, but as a course it suffers from monotony in strategic design.  It asks the same questions of the golfer at every critical point in the round, and the green complexes, while individually appealing, have the same look and texture throughout.The flat topography can be offered as an excuse, but the land is in the same general area as Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath, and look at what the good doctor managed to create there.I would never say no to a round at Metro, but you always get the feeling that it could be improved.

Victoria in Melbourne had this effect on me. Absolutely je ne sais quoi. I didn't like the look of the bunkering and although the property seemed ideal I was consistently underwhelmed.
Ganton on the other hand, well, what can I say - I'm bemused - I hope you're take on it becomes the norm so it will be nice and quiet for me in my retirement.

Good topic.

Winged Foot West.

i think the least inspiring course i have ever played is the pga at gleneagles... maybe no one would call it a great but it is going to hold the ryder cup after all...

... i played it immediately after the wonderful kings and queens course... it was one big slog and seeing that's it's in similar surroundings to the other two, one big letdown...

...i find baltray enthralling and am surprised that got a mention...

Chip,

Then wouldnt' PB be an average course that overinspires?

Gullane no 1, total lack of caracter after the 3rd hole...

I'll jump on Ran's bandwagon and re-nominate Muirfield.  Very, very flat ground, four par 3's that played the same length, #9 was interesting and fun to play but #17 was a little bit of a letdown--drive was un-inspring but the second shot did have a "pucker-up" factor.  Even #18 green seemed "small"?

My favorite hole or shot was the tee shot on #11--blind up over the hill and then a tough little green with a deep bunker right--that's more like it!!  Anyway, I think most of the guys I played with (the Americans anyway) hated that hole!  I also loved #6--downhill dogleg left with the death bunkers on the left and the wall short and left.

Other nominees--Oak Hill.  Very nice although I thought #13 with all the oaks around the green may have been one of the weaker holes.  

Upper Cascades (qualified for 88 Amatuer and was bummed when I got there--missed Merion by one year!!)   Also played the Cascades in 2 more tournaments and other than #9 I still don't "get it".  5-5-3 finish is interesting but it still a long ass drive for a great "mountain course".

Stanwich in Conn. is very nice and immaculate and I haven't seen the course since the renovation but it seemed like EVERY shot was to a green, pitched sharply from back to front with bunkers on each side.  Under the hole is fine, pin high right or left and you could three putt 10 times!!

East Lake--back and forth parrallel holes that got more vanilla post renovation.  (Maybe I just long for the days when my clubs were stolen from the 1st tee as I stood 35 feet away!  At least there was some excitement )  The Jones' memorabilia inside the clubhouse is 100x more inspiring than anything outdoors.

Walton Heath--after holes 1, 2 and 4 (dogleg left with the wildly undulating green) it kind of a snooze.  

I disagree a little with Hoylake.  I played terrible and the surrounds are ugly but the cops on #1, #7 and #16 and the road tight to the green on #17 were very interesting.  The land is far more rolling (#8, #9, #10 particularly) than Muirfield for example.  I'm not saying it is great, but I think there is more there than meets the eye.

While Winged Foot West was mentioned I have always been impressed and inspired by the sheer bigness and scale of the course--big bold greens, big deep bunkers, big clubhouse as you come down 9 and 18.  Just a big, awesome beast.  Looking down on a grille placement mat, it looks repetative (long par 4--bunkers left and right) and yet I can't think of two holes that play the same or two greens that look alike.





 

Bill,

The last time I played Hoylake was in the 2002 Amateur so it has been a while.  I would be dissapointed if the 17th was moved so that the road was no longer in  play although I understand it has been controversial for a long time and I am sure safety was an issue.

I think the Hoylake course aquitted itself nicely this last year even though I liked the old #1 as an opener better than shifting things around as they did.  The old #1 may be the most intimidating start in tournament golf but I see where the re-routing made for a potential better/more exciting finish.

I may not should have suggested that Hoylake was inspiring--certainly no Cypress Point, Augusta National, TOC etc....but certainly more interesting than most give it at first glance.

Chip,

Then wouldnt' PB be an average course that overinspires?

Jeff / Ryan;
I went back to the orig posting that started this thread and am focusing on Bob's original question:

"Does the course inspire you?"

Of course the setting at Pebble is majestic and incredible. When I think of the course, I think of its features in terms of GCA (routing, greens, fairways, contours,etc...)

I stand my orig. statement as saying that the course itself is not inspiring.

To help back this up is that BD and PD are both on similar pieces of land with almost as incredible vistas, etc. However, I found those *courses* to be much more inspiring that Pebble. In fact, I still lust to return to Pac Dunes asap as I really need to see it a few times to get a better sense of what makes it a fantastic course.