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PThomas

  • Karma: +0/-0
biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« on: May 22, 2006, 05:03:15 PM »
which course that you've played was the most pleasant surprise?  That is, you went in not expecting the quality which you experienced?
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

cary lichtenstein

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2006, 05:05:42 PM »
Deacon's Lodge
Live Jupiter, Fl, was  4 handicap, played top 100 US, top 75 World. Great memories, no longer play, 4 back surgeries. I don't miss a lot of things about golf, life is simpler with out it. I miss my 60 degree wedge shots, don't miss nasty weather, icing, back spasms. Last course I played was Augusta

wsmorrison

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2006, 05:33:52 PM »
The Country Club in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

Gary Daughters

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2006, 05:34:47 PM »

Tain.
Not even close
THE NEXT SEVEN:  Alfred E. Tupp Holmes Municipal Golf Course, Willi Plett's Sportspark and Driving Range, Peachtree, Par 56, Browns Mill, Cross Creek, Piedmont Driving Club

Tom Huckaby

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2006, 06:02:25 PM »
I couldn't think of a good answer for this... but Gary reminded me.  I loved Tain also, but then I had decent expectations for it going in.

One I knew nothing about, played pretty much just because it was the only course we could get on on a Saturday during a Scotland trip was

FORTROSE & ROSEMARKIE

Turned out to be fantastic!  We've discussed it before in here.

TH

Brad Tufts

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2006, 06:10:11 PM »
In the last couple years..... CC of Greenfield in MA.  Conveniently located at the junction of I-91 and Rte. 2.  An old course of about 6300-6400 with meandering streams, fun elevation changes, railroad tracks bordering a hole, and the last couple played through parallel ridges with shield rock exposed.

The course is semi-private, but because it's in Western MA, you feel like a member with the lazy, laid-back ambiance there in the Berkshire foothills.
So I jump ship in Hong Kong....

Tim Pitner

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2006, 06:11:01 PM »
Royal Dublin.  I wasn't planning to play it.  I was a student in Dublin at the time and played it only because it was easily accessible by bus.  It's not among the great Irish courses, but it's a fine course and club and, if it weren't located in an industrial part of Dublin, I think it would get a lot more recognition.  

Brad Klein

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2006, 06:11:08 PM »
Thought Tain was a mix of some very fine holes (the start and the first few on the back nine) along with some very mediocre ones (esp. the last few).

Fortrose & Rosemarkie was unrelenting and thrilling the whole way. Played it late one afternoon with Tim Liddy and two other friends in a 40 mph howler; we played alternate shot and had a blast.  

Tom Huckaby

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2006, 06:16:21 PM »
Well, honest men do disagree re Tain.  No hassles there.  I enjoyed it and didn't mind the last few holes at all.

But honest men cannot disagree at F&R.  It is a hoot from start to finish.  I did 36 there - 18 w/ my own ball, 18 in a modified chapman - and man that's as fun as golf can get.

 ;D

michael_j_fay

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2006, 06:31:01 PM »
Longniddry. Nine out-nine back. Could play it all week.

Gary Daughters

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2006, 07:19:54 PM »

Brad,

There is new back tee at #18 at Tain that may have been added since you played.  It is a fine hole now.

#17.. I still don't get the allure.

#16.. the quiet little stream surrounded by thick, high reeds made me think I might find Moses floating in a basket.

As for the rest of the course, it's not the holes so much (and most are wonderful), but the feel, much of which is due to ancient landscape, the surrounding farmland, and the meticulous care (not to be confused with grooming) of the club's long-time supe.  I found it mystical in a way that I never have experienced on a golf course.
THE NEXT SEVEN:  Alfred E. Tupp Holmes Municipal Golf Course, Willi Plett's Sportspark and Driving Range, Peachtree, Par 56, Browns Mill, Cross Creek, Piedmont Driving Club

Andy Troeger

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2006, 07:22:46 PM »
Tullymore and South Bend CC

Sultan's Run and Rock Hollow just below.

Jonathan McCord

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2006, 07:51:07 PM »
Orchard Hills Country Club, Buchanan, MI

Great, Intimate Layout, with amazingly slick greens!!!
« Last Edit: May 22, 2006, 07:51:27 PM by Jonathan McCord »
"Read it, Roll it, Hole it."

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played? New
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2006, 07:52:54 PM »
That is a hard one to answer because I can't recall many courses that I didn't know of at least by a photo or two before visiting.  Two names I know meant nothing to me before I went and was blown away by were Beau Desert and Perranporth.  Delamere and Kington wouldn't be too far behind on that list.   

Ciao
« Last Edit: May 25, 2023, 09:45:52 PM by Sean_A »
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Gene Greco

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2006, 08:13:19 PM »
Monterey Peninsula CC (Both courses)
Laurel Links
"...I don't believe it is impossible to build a modern course as good as Pine Valley.  To me, Sand Hills is just as good as Pine Valley..."    TOM DOAK  November 6th, 2010

Paul Jones

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2006, 08:23:00 PM »
Mystery Valley - Atlanta, GA
Dick Wilson
The best $20 green fee I have ever paid.
Paul Jones
pauljones@live.com

Jordan Wall

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2006, 08:31:40 PM »
Harbour Point
An Arthur Hills design
$20 for juniors

Mike Hendren

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #17 on: May 22, 2006, 08:36:40 PM »
Macan's Fircrest CC in Tacoma.

Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

Dale_McCallon

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #18 on: May 22, 2006, 09:14:22 PM »
I had a really good time at Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.

Jason Topp

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2006, 10:24:09 PM »
Big Fish - Hayward, WI

Dooks - Ireland

Woodlands - Australia

Crail - I hadn't even heard of it before going out there with my father in 1992.  It was a magic day.

And for this month - Koronis Hills, - Paynesville, MN.  I expected a typical wide open farm course with some overly tight holes cut through trees.  Instead, it was a pretty enjoyable test for a qualifier with great greens and pins in difficult spots.  A complete surprise.

Glenn Spencer

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #20 on: May 22, 2006, 10:55:45 PM »
Divi Resort in Nassau, Bahamas. Renamed since I believe. Joe Lee course that had a lot of good holes and a par 5 named Eleuthera, one of my favorite holes to this day. The first question when we walked in the door was always, 'What did you do on Eleuthera?'
« Last Edit: May 23, 2006, 10:51:10 AM by Glenn Spencer »

Tim Gavrich

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #21 on: May 22, 2006, 10:58:21 PM »
There's this course in South Windsor, CT called Topstone, which is about nine years old, and it has an awesome set of par 3s, even though they do not satisfy the ideal range of distances.  Though there are many needlessly planted, scrawny trees which line some fairways, it's really a cool course.  The striking thing about it is that all the bunkers are of the upside-down clam shell variety, a bold move on a lower-end public course.
Senior Writer, GolfPass

RichMacafee

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #22 on: May 22, 2006, 11:25:09 PM »
Portmarnock
"The uglier a man's legs are, the better he plays golf. It's almost law" H.G.Wells.

peter_p

Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #23 on: May 22, 2006, 11:38:06 PM »
Pennard
Littlestone
« Last Edit: May 22, 2006, 11:39:02 PM by Peter Pittock »

ed_getka

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:biggest sleeper you've ever played?
« Reply #24 on: May 23, 2006, 12:05:35 AM »
Denver CC. I will never forget my first look at those Maxwell greens. :o
"Perimeter-weighted fairways", The best euphemism for containment mounding I've ever heard.

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