Top 18 Quirky holes

[Carl Rogers]

Surprise not to see any Mike Strantz yet ...

At Royal New Kent the first 15 holes have to be quirky on steroids.

[Patrick_Mucci]

JNC,

Have you ever played # 4 at NGLA ?

If you have, would you say it's "quirky" ?

[Mac Plumart]

Carl...no Strantz?  You must not have read my 18. 

[Matthew Petersen]

I'll try to come up with a list of Arizona holes, keeping in mind I haven't played but a couple of private courses out here.

1: WeKoPa (Cholla). Short par 4 with a downhill drive over a waste area at an angle so that it sets up almost like a cape hole.
2: Talking Stick North. Par 5 that looks as simple as can be but offers myriad strategic options.
3: Ventana Canyon (Mountain). Unique just because no one else would even try (or be able to) build a hole like this. Not much more than 100 yards, but all or nothing.
4: WeKoPa (Saguaro). A very long par 5 that plays over a huge hill, making the second shot blind. Very wide fairway provides lots of angles and options.
5: StoneRidge. A short downhill par 4. You could theoretically try to hit driver toward the green. Otherwise, you can play anything from a short to a long iron, depending on how much you want challenge the dogleg.
6: Trilogy at Vistancia. Par 4 with lots of driving options as it plays to the right around a large hill off the tee.
7: Vistal Golf Club. Short par 4 playing uphill into the face of a mountain. Ssecond shot has to carry deep bunkers fronting the green and find an extremely shallow green with desert rocks directly behind.
8: WeKoPa (Cholla). Nothing like having to play two good shots just to have a 160-yard third shot into a par 5 from a downhill lie.
9: The Gallery (North). 700 yard par 5 with a very downhill tee shot. The longest hole I've ever played, which makes it "unique," though there aren't too many options for play here.

10: Del Lago. A long, downhill par 4. The tee shot prefers a right to left ball, but the approach is best player left to right around the pond fronting the green.
11: Arizona National. Par 5 with a blind drive and a wash in front of the green.
12: Talking Stick (North). Multiple options of the tee with a fairway divided by a wash.
13: Raven at Verrado. Short, but very uphill par 4. A shallow green and the front third is a false front. Lots of ways to play it, lots of ways to make birdie, lots of ways to make double.
14: Vistoso. Short par 4. You can go straight at the green, pay over the desrt to the right, or play short to an island fairway.
15: Starr Pass (original layout, now #6 on Coyote Nine). Mid length par 4 up and over a hill with a rock formation cutting in to the landing zone at the top of the hill from the left. Try to drive past it? Lay up short of it? Hit it in the small gap? Any option you take from the tee leaves a tricky downhill second shot.
16: Grayhawk (Raptor). Clever downhill par 3. The hole has a large green and tons of room to bail out right. But a large hill cutting in from the right ensures you cannot see the bailout area, nor even all of the green. What you see is the hazard left, and not much else.
17: Forest Highlands (Canyon). Extremely downhill hole with a split fairway.
18: Troon North (Monument). Clever mid length par 4. Water left isn't much in play with a wide fairway. The elevated green has a serious false front and several unique levels.

[jim_lewis]

I would have expected at least 6 holes at Astoria to have been mentioned by now. I don't remember the individual holes well enough to list them, but it is, by far, the strangest course I have ever seen, and fun.

[Andy Troeger]

Alrighty...here goes...I tried to limit it to one per course AND stick to the correct hole number. Here's my best effort...

#1 Black Mesa
#2 Wolf Creek, NV
#3 Kingsley Club
#4 Lost Dunes
#5 Lakota Canyon Ranch
#6 Riviera CC
#7 Signal Point Club, Michigan (not sure I love this one, but its quirky!)
#8 Crystal Downs
#9 Forest Highlands Canyon
#10 Idaho Club
#11 Black Rock, Idaho
#12 Chambers Bay (love the green)
#13 Blackwolf Run River
#14 Angels Crossing
#15 Rock Creek (not sure how quirky this is, but I needed a #15)
#16 Wolf Run
#17 Cypress Point (trees in the middle count for me)
#18 Southern Highlands, Las Vegas

[Gene Greco]

     I have yet to see the quirkiest hole in America listed:

The 8th at The Maidstone

[Sean_A]

This is what I come up with so far using the holes I have played which are the best of the funky in the same order as they appear in real life.  I am not entirely happy with #s 2 & 7.  I know there is some serious funk at Perranporth, but for the life of me I can't pull the hole numbers out of my head.

1. Tobacco Road - 547   Honourable Mention: North Berwick
2. Huntercombe - 402    
3. Cruden Bay - 264   Deal
4. St Enodoc - 279   HM: Pennard, Tobacco Road, Sandwich
5. Lahinch - 148   HM: Portrush Valley, Strandhill
6. St Enodoc - 364  
7. Pennard - 351   HM: Painswick
8. Burnham & Berrow Channel - 117  
9. Carne - 272
10. Temple - 235   HM: Painswick, St Enodoc, Portrush Valley (I should use Portrush Valley but the punchbowl at Temple is truly unique)
11. Painswick - 229  HM: Nefyn, Tobacco Road, West Cornwall
12. Enniscrone - 345   HM: Nefyn, Porthmadog
13. North Berwick - 362   HM: Rye, Strandhill, Prestwick, Tobacco Road, Enniscrone, Governors Club, Prestwick
14. The Island - 318   HM: North Berwick, Cruden Bay, St Enodoc
15. Formby - 403   HM: Prestwick, Burnham & Berrow  
16. North Bewick - 349   HM: Aberdovey, N Wales
17. TOC -  436   HM: Pennard, Prestwick
18. Kington - 285   HM: Carne

Par 71
Total Yards  5841

Ciao
 

[Ian_L]

Patrick, why so adamant about 18 holes.  It seems like a completely arbitrary number to me in this context. 

Thanks,
Ian

[Simon Holt]

1-TOC
4- Kilspindie (if not quirky then one of the best short 4s anywhere)
6- Riv
8- Troon
10- Pasatiempo (disclaimer- original tee so you hit over the road)
12- TOC
13- Sea Hole (The Glen, North Berwick)
16- North Berwick (no brainer- wall in front of the tee, burn at 200yds, the wildest green ever)
17- TOC
18- CPC

If we have to have 18 then fill all the blanks with Brora.  Any hole that has electric fences around the green gets the quirky nod, even if it is not an added difficulty.  You wouldnt say that if you slipped while straddling one!  A Dornoch/Brora 36 hole day is my idea of heaven.

[Matthew Petersen]

Alrighty...here goes...I tried to limit it to one per course AND stick to the correct hole number. Here's my best effort...

#1 Black Mesa
#2 Wolf Creek, NV
#3 Kingsley Club
#4 Lost Dunes
#5 Lakota Canyon Ranch
#6 Riviera CC
#7 Signal Point Club, Michigan (not sure I love this one, but its quirky!)
#8 Crystal Downs
#9 Forest Highlands Canyon
#10 Idaho Club
#11 Black Rock, Idaho
#12 Chambers Bay (love the green)
#13 Blackwolf Run River
#14 Angels Crossing
#15 Rock Creek (not sure how quirky this is, but I needed a #15)
#16 Wolf Run
#17 Cypress Point (trees in the middle count for me)
#18 Southern Highlands, Las Vegas

I agree with Forest Highlands #9. I had it on my list until I decided The Gallery hole was an even stranger experience to play.

[Richard Phinney]

Following Sean's example, a quick stap the top 18 quirky links  holes in Ireland, with holes numbered as they actually are played on the course (or used to be)
1-  Ardglass
2-  Portsalon
3-  Belvoir Park
4 -  Lahinch
5 – Lahinch
6-  Cruit Island
7-   Rosslare
8-   Strandhill
9-   County Down
10-  Ballycastle
11-  Carne
12 - Enniscone
13   Strandhill
14-   Baltray
15 – Ballybunion New
16-  Waterville 
17 - Rosses Point
18-  Laytown and Bettystown

[Doug Wright]

Here’s my list, which features a large number of blind shots, so Prestwick features prominently. I wanted to add something from Dooks like 13 or 18 but I don’t know what the recent renovations have done to those once-quirky holes. 

1. Elie!
2. Talking Stick North (though maybe less quirky than simply a great golf hole)
3. Prestwick Cardinal
4.Lahinch
5.Prestwick Himalayas
6. Pacific Dunes
7.Ballyneal
8.Pacific Dunes (for right side of the green, perhaps my favorite bit of quirk anywhere)
9. RCD
10. Elie
11. RCD (bookend of #9)
12. Fossil Trace
13.North Berwick
14.The Island
15. Boat of Garten (agreeing with T. Doak)
16. Black Mesa
17.Prestwick Alps
18. Golspie (a blind second shot to the home hole?)

[Matt_Ward]

Throw in another hole -- the short par-4 14th at Sand Hollow in Hurricane, UT should be one to consider.

Agree w those who included the 1st at BM -- does provide plenty of quirky outcomes -- much of it tied to the mental games the hole plays with player's heads.

[Tim Leahy]

Lake Chabot in Oakland, Ca.
680 par 6 18th all downhill and reachable in two on dry summer months.
150 yd par 3 ninth with a 100+ ft drop shot
Plenty of elevated and uphill drives including one over the road entrance to the course.

[Sean Leary]

18 at Diablo CC in Danville is one, with trees all over the fairway.....

No mention of 4 at Spyglass i dont think.  Pretty funky green imo...

[jeffwarne]

     I have yet to see the quirkiest hole in America listed:

The 8th at The Maidstone

Gene,
We need to get you to Goat Hill.
#8 at Maidstone would seem downright conventional-i

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick, why so adamant about 18 holes.  It seems like a completely arbitrary number to me in this context. 

Ian,

Feel free to initiate a thread not limited to or requiring 18 holes.

There's a challenge in matching the hole # to the list hole #.

[Gene Greco]

     I have yet to see the quirkiest hole in America listed:

The 8th at The Maidstone

Gene,
We need to get you to Goat Hill.
#8 at Maidstone would seem downright conventional-i

Jeff:

   Give me a call before the season gets in full swing and I'll take the ferry over there with you.

      Gene

[Mike Sweeney]

Gene,
We need to get you to Goat Hill.
#8 at Maidstone would seem downright conventional-i

Many memories......

[Ian Andrew]

The best example I can think of is the original 2nd at Weston (Toronto) designed by Willie Park. I’ll post the old image tonight when I get home.

The approach played under a massive railroad trestle to a green on the other side. Players had to judge not only the distance but occasionally the height of the approach to avoid this most unusual potential hazard.

I have played the hole to that green (which exists but is long abandoned) and the approach is one of the most intimidating and fun I have tried. You certainly would need an incredible sense of humour to play this on a regular basis.

[Brad Tufts]

How bout the Mass. version:

1.  Bass Rocks (Leeds), 340 yards, up over a hill and a public road, with OB on both sides and blind rock outcroppings.
2.  Concord CC (Ross), 420 yards, crazy sloping fairway after a blind drive.
3.  Beverly Golf & Tennis (Stiles), 150 yards, straight uphill to totally blind green.  Flagstick is 25 feet tall!
4.  George Wright GC (Ross), 420 yards, sloping fairway that is tough to hit, blind downhill approach shot with long iron.
5.  Eastward Ho! (Fowler), 525 yards, no flat lies to be found here, and blind at every turn!
6.  Myopia (Leeds), 260 yards, you have to go for it, right?  Small stream short left protects safe-side miss.
7.  Weston GC (Ross), 340 yards, weird layup tee shot requires a draw, shallow green juts out into a pond.
8.  Essex CC (Ross), 430 yards, wildly-sloped fairway, and very small and strange green where you can bounce it in.
9.  Granite Links (Sanford), 310 yards, where do you hit it off the tee?

10.  TCC (Campbell, Flynn), 310 yards, awkward layup and totally blind approach over a berm to a severe green.
11.  Kittansett (Flynn), 240 yards, long par three with weird two-leveled green.
12.  Tedesco (Stiles), 375 yards, shelves on the drive, uneven lies, unforgiving very elevated shelf green.
13.  Salem CC (Ross), 340 yards,  blind bowl fairway to very quirky green.
14.  Far Corner (Cornish), 375 yards, uphill to a VERY narrow and penal fairway that drops off to the left.
15.  President's (Fazios), 510 yards, question mark par 5.  Water off the tee, drop, 6-iron to the green, two putt par.
16.  Myopia (Leeds), 172 yards, good luck holding the green.
17.  Kernwood (Ross), 125 yards.  Blind uphill par 3 to a shallow green.
18.  Essex (Ross), 410 yards.  Fun tee shot over the brow of the hill with many slopes involved.

Harder than I thought...and I'm sure there are many substitutes.  Par 36-34-70, 6052 yards.

[Niall C]

The best example I can think of is the original 2nd at Weston (Toronto) designed by Willie Park. I’ll post the old image tonight when I get home.

The approach played under a massive railroad trestle to a green on the other side. Players had to judge not only the distance but occasionally the height of the approach to avoid this most unusual potential hazard.

I have played the hole to that green (which exists but is long abandoned) and the approach is one of the most intimidating and fun I have tried. You certainly would need an incredible sense of humour to play this on a regular basis.

Ian

I think I know what you mean by a rail tressle, is it basically raised tracks on a timber platform that brdiges a gulley ?

If I'm correct then its like a hole Park designed in 1895 at Glencorse where he has a hole play over a burn and under a viaduct. The club is still going but not sure if they still play over the same course. I'll ask Ed to post the plan on the plans/routings thread.

Niall

[Matthew Petersen]

#18 at StoneRidge in prescott Valley, Az (I had #5 from the same course on my AZ list). Par 5 with a largely blind drive leading to either a "go for it" second shot that seems ridiculous or a lay up that is again blind, leading to an uphill blind third.

One of those holes I hated the first time I played and now like since I'm familiar with it.

[Wade Schueneman]

Great topic, but what constitues a quirky hole? Does the word connote audacity, unfairness, unusualness . . . ?

Anyway, whatever it means I like to think of quirky holes as old friends, and so my list will be by name rather than course and number.  If anyone can identify all of these I will be impressed.

Scots Maiden
Railway
Sea Headrig
Narrows
Klondyke
Dell
Pit
Gate
Whins
Fiachra
The Burrows
Brock's Hollow
Heathery Out
Road
Whym Wham
Black Rock
Blind Pew
Little Devil

Every endearing hole should have a name.