Worst Course Ever?

[Mark Arata]

English Turn isnt that bad, it is in much better shape than it was a few years ago, and the back nine has a few interesting holes.....

Of course, it is also one of the top 3 in this area, which is all you really need to know about golf in the New Orleans area.......

Next time you come to town, (with the 3 canadian fellows perhaps?) we can go play Metairie........you will like that one.

[Robert_Ball]

Anaheim Hills has to make this list for no other reason than having one of the worst holes in the world- the par 5 12th, with its approach to a green perched at the top of 200 yards of 45 degree incline.  This after a drive that must be aimed at a lake or, ideally played along a cart path.  The other 17 holes aren't much better.

Then there's Azusa Greens with its cart paths disecting the fairways at every 100 yards.

[John Keenan]

Tim Book

Nice call on Spring Hills I had almost forgotten that one. It does play through a trailer park.

Many of the courses noted play an important role in the "eco" system of  golf as they provide low cost and easy options for beginners and those on a fixed income to enjoy the game. I would note that Spring Hills and Montclair both do. Cannot make that claim about The Bridges!!

[Michael Powers]

Thomson Country Club, North Reading, MA

[Kalen Braley]

John,

Its Springtown in Livermore, not to be confused with Spring Hills in Watsonville.  I think it actually windst thru a sort of hybrid trailer park.  Meaning the homes are indeed pre-fabbed but they are installed on concrete footings on divided pieces of property with lawns and shrubbery. As opposed to the trailer parks where they are still on wheels and sit on a big slab of asphalt.     Hey its important to know the subtle differences right?

Either way, it is for sure in my bottom 5 for courses I've played.  And agreed, any balls hit OB can be thought of as helping out the local less-fortunate members of the community.

[S. Huffstutler]

How about Old Corkscrew in S. Florida? JN design.... May be the hardest golf course I've ever played. Very well kept, very beautiful to look at, but no GD fun to play, that's for sure.

[John Keenan]

Kalen

Springtown update

This morning local paper had an article that they are looking at closing the course and selling the land to developers. A local group Save our Springtown Golf has formed and is fighting to save it. First given the state of RE today hard to believe a developer would really want to invest in it.

If it goes a spot opens on your bottom 5 

John

[David Kelly]

Fairmount Park in Riverside, California. A dillapidated, flat, uninteresting, mess of a 9-hole course.

Wow, Fairmount Park takes me back to the late 70s where many a pitched battle in 110+ degree heat was waged between me and my friends.  Standing about 10 feet away, I once saw a ball plug about a foot in front of a green never to be seen again.

The park itself was/is beautiful and was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead but my God the golf course was from hunger.

BTW, I've played many of the courses mentioned on this thread and Fairmount Park is by far the worst I have encountered by a factor of 10.

[SL_Solow]

Shiv;  Hard to argue with the Jans.  However the old University of Illinois Blue Course was a real gem in the 70's.  Newly built, flat site -, a few bunkers, tees and greens.  No strategic advantage to approaching from angles so the "wide open " aspect was irrelevant.  Greens overwatered so they held everything.  In an intramural championship I buried a 5 wood on the 9th(?) green.  Drove by and saw they grew trees and added some housing so I can't judge today.

In Paw Paw Michigan there was a little 9 holer off of old M40 called Lake Cora Hills.  I don't know about Lake Cora but there were hills.  Mostly up and down in parallel for 9 holes.  However the greens were pretty good, the people were nice and it was close to where I worked for days off.  I understand they bought some land and xpanded to 18.  One day I'll see it again.

[Jeff Evagues]

Shenley Park in Pittsburgh.

3 holes cross a well travelled road.  #2 (or maybe #3 I forget) you have to hit over a 10 foot high fence over the road.  The fence is there solely so you can't skull a shot through a car window.  May as well have a windmill.

There is even a sign on the road telling cars they travel at their own risk  (this is because the course is city owned, so of course the city council voted to shift liability to the individuals rather than the city).
The course borders Carnegie Mellon, though.  And as a graduate student there, it was the right price.

I played my very first round of golf at Schenley Park (1977).  I remember the range mat tee boxes. I went back about 8 years ago out of nostalgia and drove almost every green. 

[A.G._Crockett]

Brick Landing in Shallotte, NC.   I haven't played it in 12 or 13 years but I couldn't stand it at the time.

Brock,
You want to know the weird thing about Brick Landing?  It is now private!  It one of the very few courses at Myrtle to go that way, and I have no idea how they did it, as it is one of the very few courses there that I actively avoided after the first play.  (Worst ever might be a little harsh, but bad, for sure.)

[A.G._Crockett]

How about Old Corkscrew in S. Florida? JN design.... May be the hardest golf course I've ever played. Very well kept, very beautiful to look at, but no GD fun to play, that's for sure.

Is "Old Corkscrew" the best name ever for a really bad course?  Sounds like a description of what just happened to you after paying a greens fee on a JN course...

[Jeff_Stettner]

I am saddened that a discussion that includes bad bay area golf references has not included Moraga Country Club. The back nine might be the strangest attemp at GCA that I have ever seen. As Gib put it, it's so bad it's good -- possibly genius.

[Mike_Cirba]

Has anyone else had the pleasure of playing Liberty Valley GC in Danville, PA?

The back nine in particular provides lots of unintentioned chuckles and outright guffaws.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Massachusetts Division:

Bradford Country Club...yikes...target, not well-kept, many blind shots, ridiculous holes that are way too narrow...and its supposed to be upscale public...ugh

In the course's defense, the front 9 isn't quite as horrific as the back.  I played there many times, since it was a few miles from my buddy's house, and "on the way home from work" as far as my wife knew.  I never did figure out how to play #12, the par-5.

And did I dream this, or did I once play a 14-hole golf course in Metro West in the late 1980s?  One that used to have 18 holes, but they sold off some land, and were left with 14?  I can't find any record of it.

[Pete_Pittock]

  For what it is worth, a number of years ago, one member of the course rating squad in my state was quoted in a newspaper article which described the eighteen worst holes in the state. His services were no longer required.
  I've played the Timber 9 at Port Ludlow, and the Lakeview(?) par 3 in Vancouver and want to stop off at the Wayne.
  The NLE Neahkahnie course was eight holes terraced into the mountainside, each at lower intervals. The 9th was back Up. In summer it wasn't unusual to be playing a shot from two holes away. If you sliced on #2 it was likely that your ball would end up on the 4th or 5th hole. Great view.

[Jon Spaulding]

There was a course towards the south side of San Jose, which was grazed over for housing a while back. I played in a beer-related mess in college there (the infamous SC Classic). Unfortunately, we won, which by default means that I cannot remember so much as the name of the place . As with other catastrophes, I still get flashbacks. If someone can help with the name of the place, and confirm my nightmares it would be appreciated.

Other than that, I could just blindfold myself and throw a Ted Robinson dart at a map of Southern CA. No matter where the dart ends up it would be a strong contender for the title.

[Steve Verde]

I haven't really played that many dogs, but the worst course I have ever played is definitely Pickering Valley in SE Pennsylvania. Every single hole is built on a 30 degree incline and the 8th hole is without a doubt the dumbest hole I have ever seen.  It is a par 5 with a fairway next to a pond and it is a 90 degree dogleg to the left. You can cut the corner so much that you can get within 40 yards of the green.

The second worst course I have ever played is Valley Forge GC. It is not a terrible design, but absolutely no money was put into it for conditioning and you have a really good chance of hitting a moving car on 5-6 holes. Also, the clubhouse/parking lot combination is classic.

[JBergan]

I haven't really played that many dogs, but the worst course I have ever played is definitely Pickering Valley in SE Pennsylvania. Every single hole is built on a 30 degree incline and the 8th hole is without a doubt the dumbest hole I have ever seen.  It is a par 5 with a fairway next to a pond and it is a 90 degree dogleg to the left. You can cut the corner so much that you can get within 40 yards of the green.

From what I've read, the course was once farm land, and it was designed by the farmers.  8 is such a dumb hole.  In order to discourage cutting the corner, the ninth fairway is OB when playing 8. 

My vote locally--Golden Pheasant GC in Medford, NJ.  Fairway and rough are not discernable, multiple "better be wearing a hardhat" spots on the course (best spot to approach the green is in or near an adjacent fairway  ), and a very featureless/uninspired design.   

[Tom Huckaby]

I am saddened that a discussion that includes bad bay area golf references has not included Moraga Country Club. The back nine might be the strangest attemp at GCA that I have ever seen. As Gib put it, it's so bad it's good -- possibly genius.

Hey Jeff:

Ironically, I just played Moraga CC two days ago.  I have a friend who's a member there and I've played it several times over the last few years.  And I do recall Gib's assessment of it... and others concurring with that, including you - and me!

Well... I do think it's a course that grows on one over time.  Now it's never going to be any model of fine golf course architecture, nor is it ever going to be everyone's cup of tea.  It remains quite severe, and some of the greens and green sites are comical.  BUT... what it forces one to do is THINK, and be quite precise with one's play.  I truly have found that the more I play it, the more I like it!  It's just a course that does for the most part take driver out of play, and punishes wayward shots severely.  But once one comes to accept that and learns where to play the tee shots, and where to aim the approach shot, well... it is pretty doable and yes, fun!  The course is very short, so driver isn't really needed.  And if one can't hit the green targets with the succession of wedges one has, well... one has little right to complain.

Oh, there are bad holes there for sure, and yes, all are on the back nine.  But there are great holes too... 9 is fantastic, 18 is pretty darn good, and there's quirk all over the place.

My new, better informed take?  It's a pretty decent golf course.  I wouldn't mind being a member there at all.  But I do defy anyone to love it at first play.

TH

[Tom Huckaby]

There was a course towards the south side of San Jose, which was grazed over for housing a while back. I played in a beer-related mess in college there (the infamous SC Classic). Unfortunately, we won, which by default means that I cannot remember so much as the name of the place . As with other catastrophes, I still get flashbacks. If someone can help with the name of the place, and confirm my nightmares it would be appreciated.

Other than that, I could just blindfold myself and throw a Ted Robinson dart at a map of Southern CA. No matter where the dart ends up it would be a strong contender for the title.

OAK RIDGE!

Site of many Bronco beer rounds long before you, oh young one.

I shed few tears when it died, other than for the tee times that became unavailable there, and elsewhere.
 

[Sean Leary]

And did I dream this, or did I once play a 14-hole golf course in Metro West in the late 1980s?  One that used to have 18 holes, but they sold off some land, and were left with 14?  I can't find any record of it.

Martin,

That 14 hole course was in Framingham I think. I played it many times in high school. Cannot remember the name of it...

[Mike Golden]

Other than that, I could just blindfold myself and throw a Ted Robinson dart at a map of Southern CA. No matter where the dart ends up it would be a strong contender for the title.

Thanks for reminding me of a Ted Robinson Socal contender-Trilogy, somewhere east of Orange County is an absolute disaster, with a par 3 on the back where trees take away hitting at half the green and the 18th tee must be 150-200 feet above the fairway with a winding path both up and back.  What a mess...

[Matthew Hunt]

The 9-hole muni in Lisburn Ireland. Only walked it but so unbelavibly bad I want to play it.

[Mike Golden]

I am saddened that a discussion that includes bad bay area golf references has not included Moraga Country Club. The back nine might be the strangest attemp at GCA that I have ever seen. As Gib put it, it's so bad it's good -- possibly genius.

Hey Jeff:

Ironically, I just played Moraga CC two days ago.  I have a friend who's a member there and I've played it several times over the last few years.  And I do recall Gib's assessment of it... and others concurring with that, including you - and me!

Well... I do think it's a course that grows on one over time.  Now it's never going to be any model of fine golf course architecture, nor is it ever going to be everyone's cup of tea.  It remains quite severe, and some of the greens and green sites are comical.  BUT... what it forces one to do is THINK, and be quite precise with one's play.  I truly have found that the more I play it, the more I like it!  It's just a course that does for the most part take driver out of play, and punishes wayward shots severely.  But once one comes to accept that and learns where to play the tee shots, and where to aim the approach shot, well... it is pretty doable and yes, fun!  The course is very short, so driver isn't really needed.  And if one can't hit the green targets with the succession of wedges one has, well... one has little right to complain.

Oh, there are bad holes there for sure, and yes, all are on the back nine.  But there are great holes too... 9 is fantastic, 18 is pretty darn good, and there's quirk all over the place.

My new, better informed take?  It's a pretty decent golf course.  I wouldn't mind being a member there at all.  But I do defy anyone to love it at first play.

TH

We played against  Moraga CC in the local intraclub matches one year and while I didn't play the away match (I had to play one of their assistant pros at our home match, a woman, who got to play from the freaking RED tees)  I remember that one of the members I played with at Lake Merced told me they had won every match at Moraga for about the past 5 years, that's how much local knowledge there is.