Doak's Top 5 places to go (to or back) or anyone's Top 5

[David Wigler]

The five to see for the first time is easy:

1. TOC
2. Cypress
3. National Golf Links
4. Pine Valley
5. Augusta

The five to get back to is hard.  With many others left out, I will go with:

1. Southern Hills
2. Bandon Dunes
3. The Golf Club (Columbus, OH)
4. St. Georges G&CC (Outside of Toronto)
5. Olympic Lake Course

[kanitsoVB aka namnader]

Return (Travel distance a factor)

NGLA
Seminole
The Old Course
Muirfield
Royal Dornoch

New play

Royal County Down
Cruden Bay
Machrahanish
Brora    walk, not play=mistake
Sand Hills

There's a pattern here........

[Hcir Eladoog]

There is inded a pattern, "namnader" (which only you and I know (or knew) means 'bone crusher' in Esperanto.  Through your post I note the following "results" (all in alphabetical order)

Top 5 Have Visted Want to Return

Pinehurst #2
Royal County Down
Royal Dornoch
Sand Hills
The Old Course

Top 5 Want to Visit

Cypress Point
National Golf Links
Pine Valley
Sand Hills
Shinnecock Hills

Interestingly "low" scorers

Augusta National
Ballybunion
Merion
Pebble Beach

Interestingly "high" scorers

Cruden Bay
Pacific Dunes
Rye

Strongest across the board (very interesting)

Sand Hills

IMHO this exercise that Leon started might just be the basis for a way of identifying a first pass at the 3* Michelin courses that I, Nerrad Araflik and others have been talked about on other threads.  It would have to adjust for experience (i.e. more weight given to "played, want to play again" as well as negative points for "played, not in my top 5 to go back to").

Keep those postcards and letters coming.....

[Joel_Stewart]

Get to;
(International)
Royal Melbourne
Kingston Heath
Royal Dornoch
Royal County Down
Cruden Bay

USA
Sand Hills
Seminole
The Country Club

Return to;
The Old Course St. Andrews
Crystal Downs - Arcadia Bluffs
Pine Valley
Pebble Beach
Chicago Golf Club

So i cheated...

[jim_lewis]

I have the good (well earned, I might add) fortune of being able to play Pinehurst #2 as often as I choose, and it remains the single course that I enjoy returning to more than any other.

Aside from #2, the courses that I most look forward to returning to are:

Pine Valley
Royal Melbourne
Royal Dornoch
Muirfield
Sand Hills

I still look forward to getting to:

Cypress Point
National Golf Links of America
Crystal Downs
Royal Portrush
Chicago Golf Club

[Craig_Rokke]

5 to see for the first time

1. Pine Valley
2. Merion
3. National GC
4. Pacific Dunes
5. Sand Hills

It's a lot easier for me to come with ones to
visit for the first time than ones to return to.

[Tom_Doak]

I'll have to think about this one a little while.  

My list of courses to get back to is constantly changing because I'm fortunate enough to get back to many of them.  [Royal County Down was high up, but I got back there with Jim Urbina in June, and I walked Royal Melbourne again just a week ago.]  Pacific Dunes will always be in my top five in this category, though -- it's like living 2000 miles away from your girlfriend.

My list of courses I still want to see had dwindled to near nothing [other than Banff and Jasper; I don't know what I'm saving them for], so I'm always looking for gossip on something new to make the top five.  

[T_MacWood]

Courses to play:
Gulf Harbor, Muriwai, Heretaunga, the New Plymouth Golf Club and Otatara. Thanks to my mate Cory the Heretic.

Return visits:
Cape Breton (pre-Cooke/cart paths), Columbia (pre-Ault & Clark), Granville (pre-Hurdzan), Oyster Harbors (pre-Kay) and Riviera (pre-Fazio). I'm a dreamer, either that I like fixing things that are broken.

[Nosli W. Nevets]

Surrender my water rights in hell and both testicles on the morning after (oh no, that's another activity...)

Play for the first time

NGLA (solely due to the rhapsodies I've heard on this board).
Machrihanish (again due to all the talk here)
Any first rate Raynor (Carmargo, Fisher's, etc).
A pure Ross (Broadmoor, IN maybe)
Pacific Dunes

I could probably make half a dozen of these lists as my experience isn't as wide as many here.

To return to:

Royal Dornoch
The Old White
Pinehurst #2
Brora
Teugega

[Mike Kane]

Places to return to:

1.  Cypress Point
2.  Pasatiempo - The back nine has few equals
3.  Crystal Downs - Seems to be some sort of
                   MacKenzie thing.
4.  TOC - This time it won't be on Sunday.
5.  Pacific Dunes

Places to see:

1.  NGLA
2.  Merion
3.  Valley Club
4.  Pine Valley
5.  Ireland - Sometimes it is good to be vague.

[Jim Reilly]

Joel Stewart,

Interesting mating of courses between Crystal Downs and Arcadia Bluffs; not two I would put together.  I was recently discussing a return trip to Northern Michigan with NAF and had CD, High Pointe and Kingsley Club on my mind.  I would likely return Arcadia Bluffs if I was up that way again, but not before having my fill of KC and HP.  Have you not played/seen these courses or do you prefer AB to them?

[Hennie Bogan]

Top Five to return to
1. Dornoch
2. Cypress
3. Shinnecock
4. Piping Rock
5. Casa de Campo

Five to see
1. Pine Valley
2. Sand Hills
3. Ballybunion
4. Royal Melborne
5. Bandon Dunes

Five I saw and must have missed something
1. High Pointe
Our entire group hated it. We played it after suffering through the second round of the Michigan Open at the Bear and had high expectations based on reviews. I feel that Black Forest is a far superior course. Black Forest is probably the best public access in Michigan. Just played Tullymoore by James Engh, it may be as good as Black Forest.
okay sorry
2. Winged Foot West
3. Spyglass Hills
4. Turnberry
5. Atlantic

[Tom_Doak]

Hennie:  I would kill to go back and play High Pointe again on the day it opened.  It was way better then.

My lists:  to play the first time:

1  Banff
2  Jasper
3  Royal Zoute, Belgium
4  El Saler, Spain
5  Oakmont [I've walked it several times but never played it]

To go back [only played once]:

1  St. Enodoc
2  St. George's, Toronto
3  The Addington
4  Myopia Hunt Club
5  Prestwick

[Hennie]

Tom
I've heard the comments regarding High Pointe before. It does raise an issue that makes me curious. How can we evaluate "classic" courses today with stimps in the teens? (See thirty yard pitch shot for par after ten footer for birdie on number 8, you know the course)
I think you will love Oakmont knowing your fondness for borderline greens.
I hope you can get some work in the Detroit area as all that keeps opening up around here is a bad flavor of vanilla. Orchards is the exception. I haven't seen Rick's course at Oakland U though.
Always enjoy your opinions, even when they are wrong.

[LenBum]

Jim Reilly,

When in October is your trip to Shinnecock Hills? I work there (Caddie/Asst. Caddiemaster) Let me know the date if you can. I'll hook you up with a good caddie. October is perfect. We punch the greens right after Labor Day. Plenty of time to let them heal. Besides, we're pulling small plugs this time anyhow.

[Jim Reilly]

LenBum,

Drop me an email at jreilly31@btinternet.com and I will give you the details.

[Jeff_Lewis]

5 to play:
Augusta
Sand Hills
Pac/Bandon
Swinley Forest
Durban

5 to return to:
Cypress
Kingston Heath
New South Wales
Ganton
Morfontaine

[cary lichtenstein]

I pulled this old thread back up:

For me, the top ones I'd like to play are:

Augusta
The Northern/NE courses in Ireland
The Austrailia/New Zeland courses

[Jfaspen]

Good thread.

Top 5 I want to get back to.
1. Caledonia
2. Arcadia Bluffs
3. Indianwood Old
4. Disney Osprey Ridge (played it when i was very young, want to see it again from my perspective)
5. Reserve Golf Club, Murrells Inlet, SC.

Top 5 I want to play (good thing I am young)
1. Cypress Point
2. Pine Valley
3. NGLA/Shinnecock/Sebonack
4. AGNC
5. Seminole

[ian]

My current list to return to:

1. NGLA, to feel part of that history again and to play such an inviting and interesting golf course again.
2. Cypress Point, the scenery is the best in golf and the memories of a wonderful round with my father still warm my heart
3. St. Andrew's, got bumped despite having a tee time (faulkers!), would like to finally play the course
4. Crystal Downs, the greens were impossibly fast (super actually apologized to us in advance) and the wind was very high that day. I would like to to the course in more reasonable playing conditions.
5. Pine Valley, the finest course I have played

The courses I would most like to see are:

1. Royal Melbourne
2. Hirono
3. Prarie Dunes
4. Sand Hills
5. Royal County Down

[Sean_A]

First time visits would be:

Royal Melbourne
Pine Valley
Shinnecock
Cypress Point
Rye

The follow follow up visits would be:

Sandwich
North Berwick
Lahinch
Old Course
Royal Dornoch

Ciao

Sean

[ForkaB]

Leon<P>5 places I ain't been to, but want to:<P>Royal Melbourne<BR>NGLA/Shinnecock<BR>Pine Valley<BR>Sand Hills<BR>Bandon/Pacific Dunes<P>(sorry Merion, Cypress, etc.)<P>5 places I've been to that I can't wait to get back to:<P>Rye<BR>Myopia<BR>St. Jean de Monts<BR>Woods Hole<BR>Dornoch<P>(sorry Pebble, Lahinch, Portmarnock, Olympic, Ballybunion, San Francisco, North Berwick, Prairie Dunes, Prestwick, Harbour Town, Spyglass, Lytham, Muirfield, et. al.)<BR>

I know it's weird replying to one's own post, but this is a good thought experiment and it's been over 4 years since I last answered these questions.  Firstly a progress report.  Since July 2001:

--I managed to knock off NGLA/Shinnecock and Pacific/Bandon Dunes from the cherry list.  Each very much worth, in its own way, the wait.
--Outside of Dornoch (a slam dunk) only Woods Hole was seen again from the oldies but goodies list (but that was a great one, as I expected.....)
--I also managed to play some of the "also rans" from my initial lists, and was not let down by any of them.

So, what about December 2004?  Ta Da!

Top 5 Never Played

Sand Hills
Pine Valley
Royal Melbourne
Friars Head (walked it, but that's not enough)
The Country Club (born in Boston, great grandfather a member there, a striking hole in my resume!)

Top 5 to Play Again (excluding Rye and St. Jean de Monts, which I hope to have arranged to play again soon, and Dornoch due to the expectation of repeated doses over the next 30 years....)

Myopia (was a mile away this summer, but had better things to do....... )
NGLA (Shinnecock is "better" but NGLA owes me a fast and firm day....)
Pacific Dunes (want to see how it has evolved.  Has it moved from being just very very good to great?)
Winchester (part of my golfing DNA, and I was stunned how good it was this summer.  Need to see it again)
Painswick (in far too many ways which are far too difficult to express, this is as good, in its own way, as it can get).

[Cory Lewis]

Top 5 I want to play again:

NGLA
Garden City
Myopia Hunt
Fishers Island
Bethpage Black

Top 5 I want to play for the first time:

Merion
Pine Valley
Crystal Downs
Cypress Point
Sand Hills

[mark chalfant]

For the first time:

 Berkshire
 Swinley Forest
 Kennemer
 Friars  Head
 Lookout  Point
 Merion  West

[Jeff_Lewis]

interesting to see this old thread come back to life. fortunately for me i got to 4 of my 5 and back to all 5 of my other  5 since this thread ran.  My new 5 to see would be augusta, kauri cliffs, st. andrews beach, barnbougle dunes and any links in holland.

5 to return to.

oakmont, kingston heath, el saler, cypress point, hirono.