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Greg Tallman

Worst Course Ever Played
« on: August 04, 2006, 08:04:49 PM »
I am sure this thread has been done before but the thread asking how many courses you have played got me thinking and going through my list I came across what is undoubtedly THE WORST course anywhere... PLEASE TELL ME SOMEONE ELSE HAS PLAYED HERE.

Grenada Golf Club on the island of Grenada... Horrendous. But we had a good time with a few Caribe's carried by the caddie. I just hope someone on here has experienced that place. It was the poster child for "minimalism"!

If you have not had the pleasure of playing on Grenada please feel free to post your horror story.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2006, 08:10:33 PM by Greg Tallman »

Tommy Williamsen

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2006, 08:16:38 PM »
Greg, I don't think I've played it yet.
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

Paul Payne

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2006, 08:16:47 PM »
I have never had the pleasure of playing Grenada but this post does raise a question I have wondered about.

How would you define "worst ever"? Would it be layout? hole strategies? grooming? greens? Scenic value? etc.

My guess is that we all have different priorities but there are probably some courses that can rise to the level of offending most all of us.

So now I am curious, what about Grenada earned its honor as worst ever?

Greg Tallman

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2006, 08:31:37 PM »
Oh My... Where to start?

1. Criss-cross holes... Not a single hole but if memory serves me right(it has been almost 10 years) there is a long hole running down the middle of a "valley" that two, maybe three other holes play across. I could be wrong on the specifics but let's just say I was happy we were the only people playing that day.

2. Par 4 that John Daly and the like could hit a wedge over the trees onto the green rather than play down and around the narrow stretch of forrest on this horseshoe hole... we tried it but it was later in the round and the Caribes had begun to take effect.

3. Greens were cut, I kid you not, at about 3/4"(maybe higher)... plenty of cushion to hit driver off the deck though. I will forever giggle at those complaining of grain on greens rolling at 10 on the beloved stimp.

4. No need for bunkers when crevasses in mother earth served as hazards everywhere.

5. Again the memory is fuzzy but I want to say the actual number of holes was something bizarre 11, 13??? Although that is probably not frowned upon here I thought it rather strange at the time.

Bottom line... if you ever hapen to be there (it is an island with tremendous natural beauty and great beaches) you should go out just for kicks.


 



« Last Edit: August 04, 2006, 08:32:30 PM by Greg Tallman »

Paul Payne

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2006, 08:39:30 PM »
I am laughing reading this because it actually reminds me of some of the odd courses my brother and I played up in rural Vermont. They have a thing for criss-crossing holes and setting tee boxes so that they virtually face one another. Or better yet, the elevated tee set up to fly directly over a lower tee for a different hole.

Some of the only times I have felt that drinking beer during my round might actually improve the outcome.

Lloyd_Cole

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2006, 09:16:33 PM »
Generally I won't go to these places if I do my research, but I've played a couple of courses that were impossible to play without a cart. I think that they would best be describes as several clusters of golf holes linked by freeway. The most recent was a Gary Player course somewhere called Lyman Orchards in CT. Thankfully I knew it was a riding day and I was subbing for an absentee.. but it was a tragic place - basiaclly 3 or 4, 4 or 6 hole mini courses with maybe half a mile between some of greens and next tees, and many of the tee to fairway routes were very difficult to navigate, unless you took the cart path. At least the company was good.

Dan Herrmann

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2006, 09:32:14 PM »
Nah - the worst ever has gotta be Delaware Park golf course in Buffalo, NY.  It's a City of Buffalo muni, and you need to look out for softballs because it plays thru some outfields.  If I remember correctly, it's next door to the Zoo, so you can get some interesting odors too.

Jordan Wall

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2006, 11:39:31 PM »
Sandpines could eb the worst course ever.
Well, at least for the site given...

Garland Bayley

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2006, 11:48:45 PM »
Sandpines could eb the worst course ever.
Well, at least for the site given...

Jordan,

If you think Sandpines should even come to mind when the topic of worst course ever comes up, then you need to get out more.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Garland Bayley

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2006, 11:54:10 PM »
Greg,

It sounds like quite a good course architecturally speaking.

Go out and find one of the many freeway design courses around the country and see if you don't think it is much worse. Although I haven't played it, Colwood National in Portland looks like just such a place from the road.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Jordan Wall

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2006, 11:58:32 PM »
Sandpines could eb the worst course ever.
Well, at least for the site given...

Jordan,

If you think Sandpines should even come to mind when the topic of worst course ever comes up, then you need to get out more.


"well, at least for the site given..."

And obviously there is some sarcasm there

Maybe SP is...'most dissapointing course ever'

Troy Alderson

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2006, 12:01:33 AM »
Sandpines could eb the worst course ever.
Well, at least for the site given...

Jordan,

If you think Sandpines should even come to mind when the topic of worst course ever comes up, then you need to get out more.


Hear hear Garland.

Jordan, get over it.  If you do not like Sandpines guit going back and playing it.   ::) :)

IMHO, there is no such thing as a worst golf course.  Every course I play is in excellent shape and played perfectly, no matter what the conditions.  Its my game that sucks.

Some courses might be more boring than others, but not every course can be extraordinary.  Some courses have more of a draw and some people drive by not even realizing there is a golf course there.

BUT, the worst course in the world is ANGC and the best is Kinzua in Fossil Oregon.  Anyone here ever play Kinzua?

Troy

Garland Bayley

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2006, 12:08:12 AM »
...Anyone here ever play Kinzua?


No, but I bet it has that great architectural feature ---
No need for bunkers when crevasses in mother earth served as hazards everywhere.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Stu Grant

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2006, 08:41:35 AM »
The worst course that I've played is a 9-hole track named "GOLFLAND" in London, Ontario, Canada.  Its signature worst hole is a 210-yard tight par-4 with OB left (driving range) and OB right (tarmac of the Diamond Aircraft facility).  Take out a four-iron and if you hit it straight, you're golden.

I've played this course about 10 times, and always in the winter since it is the only area course open that time of year (they shovel the snow off the greens and tees), just bring some orange golf balls and hope the snow has a crispy layer on top so you can get some great roll on your drives.  In the summer most golfers wouldn't even think about playing there but in the winter it is the only alternative unless you fly or drive south.  Golfland has a unique wintertime niche.  

This course probably isn't quite as bad as that one in Grenada but its a rare opportunity on this board to discuss the other side of the golf course spectrum.  

Mike_Young

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2006, 08:45:34 AM »
I know there is a saying about another topic which say" the worst was wonderful".....could that apply here?
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

Donnie Beck

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #15 on: August 05, 2006, 09:10:08 AM »
Dan,

I have played there.. Did they close Grover Cleveland ??

Stu Grant

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #16 on: August 05, 2006, 10:32:01 AM »
I know there is a saying about another topic which say" the worst was wonderful".....could that apply here?

Most definitely....when no other course is willing to open, you sure appreciate the one that does.  One January 31st (Super Bowl Sunday) I played Golfland at minus-5 degrees Celcius to keep a consecutive months of golf streak alive.  The course was about 60% covered in a layer of firm snow, the rest was frozen ground.  Shot 41 which I was pretty happy with! :)

Kirk Gill

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #17 on: August 05, 2006, 10:33:46 AM »
My wife's uncles laid out a five-hole course on some dead flat pastureland just north of Pueblo, colorado. Dirt, mainly, and dead weeds. The hazards were provided by the total lack of short grass and the occasional sheep (so yes, I've played a sheep ranch, just not THE Sheep Ranch). The greens were all perfectly round, flat, and dirt with small rocks that could send any ball off in any direction. The could be wetted down to putt a little better, and 'hold' a little better, but you'd have to carry a bucket of water all the way out there, in the brutal summer heat, so why bother? Carry a club, and a beer instead. Worst course, but serious fun.
"After all, we're not communists."
                             -Don Barzini

wsmorrison

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #18 on: August 05, 2006, 10:44:40 AM »
The ESSO refinery course near San Nicholas on the island of Aruba.  The course no longer exists, but in the 1960s it was the only course on the island.  I can hardly remember the rudimentary layout with its oiled sand greens and an awful refinery smell if the winds were blowing the wrong way  :P

Doug Ralston

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #19 on: August 05, 2006, 10:48:31 AM »
There is a course in Cincinnati that has now GONE PRIVATE, that has crisscross fairways. It is called Fernbank.

Worst though, is one in Aurora, Indiana called Elk Run. It plays up and down a series of hills. The fairways were so sparse that the balls virtually always ran down one side of the other into the woods annd streams. Even the very straightest shots only need a small bounce [and bounce they will!] to be lost. Just unplayable!

The only redeeming feature, for me, was I found 50+ golf balls while plunging into the brush. Kept me loaded for months  :D

Doug

Chris Moore

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #20 on: August 05, 2006, 01:00:59 PM »
Furry Creek near Vancouver wins it hands down.

cary lichtenstein

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #21 on: August 05, 2006, 01:16:24 PM »
I played a 9 hole course as a kid named Billy Caldwell in northern Chicago. All the tees had rubber mats, and you could get killed by errant drives.

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

Doug Wright

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #22 on: August 05, 2006, 07:02:59 PM »
Worst course I ever played--I just played it this week. St Andrews!  :o

No, not THAT St. Andrews, but the incredibly euphemistically named St. Andrews Golf Course of Westcliffe, Colorado. A 9 hole cow pasture that has no redeeming GCA qualities whatsoever, made worse by several temporary greens (actually some of the temporary greens were better than the regular greens). A real waste of some good farmland. :-[ :P  
Twitter: @Deneuchre

Jay Cox

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #23 on: August 05, 2006, 07:27:56 PM »
At the nine-hole Cherokee Golf Course in Louisville, the second hole is a 320 yard par 4.  The first 170 yards or so go down a significant slope; the next 100 yards go back up to tee-level (or maybe even slightly higher).  The last forty yards or so before the green are flat.  In the dry (fast and firm!) conditions I played in, any drive hit between 100 yards and 270 yards in the fairway ended up in exactly the same place (our group actually tried an experiment involving a knock-down 8 iron), about 150 yards from the green in a bare dirt patch running across the fairway.  After considering trying to hit an iron into the right rough (maybe a fifteen yard strip before the tree line) and getting it to stay there, I decided to hit driver, but didn't get all of it, landed up fifteen yards sort of the top of the hill, and rolled all the way back down.

In a perverse way, I kind of liked the hole.  

But then the third hole was almost exactly the same thing, playing parallel to the second down into the same valley.

Later on in the round, one encounters two of the most severe sidehill fairways imaginable, where (again, in dry conditions) only a duck hook would have a prayer of holding against the left-to-right cant.  One of those holes, the par 4 7th, was actually pretty interesting:  you couldn't hold the fairway, but you had a really fun choice between driving into the fairly open left rough and having to hit your approach over a decent-sized tree, or hitting at the fairway and ending up in the right rough with a terrible angle to a little shelf of green banked into a hillside.  

I guess it's a sign that I like natural golf a little too much that I'd *still* much rather play this course than the average over-manicured blah resort course.

PThomas

Re:Worst Course Ever Played
« Reply #24 on: August 05, 2006, 08:13:55 PM »
I played a 9 hole course as a kid named Billy Caldwell in northern Chicago. All the tees had rubber mats, and you could get killed by errant drives.



ah yes, the rubber mats  ??? ::) :Pof CHicagoland pard district courses

I thought I had permanently repressed those memories from the Marquette Park course, Cary ;)
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!