Great courses you don't enjoy

[Ally Mcintosh]

Which Top 100 courses would you not enjoy playing day in, day out?... and a why if possible

Let's leave money out of it... And facilities if we are talking membership... Just the course...

[Scott Warren]

The European Club - Too narrow and heavily bunkered with tall rough to enjoy on an off day. Would be supremely satisfying to shoot a score on a day when you're playing well, but would just beat you up too often and, IMO, would get stale quickly.

Possibly The Addington, much as I love it, but I'm not sure about that one. Small misses can get brutalised and that could grate on you after a while. Less so with the rough areas being stripped of undergrowth so balls don't get lost (though you're still up shit creek without a paddle in most of those areas!).

[Sean_A]

I will only mention the courses I like as a visitor and would recommend others see even at the expense of an over-night detour.  

Enniscrone - the walk would grate on me after a while

Addington - its just too tough

Tobacco Road - I don't like the walk and the course is sloppy too often when it shouldn't be

Bulls Bay - cart course

Yeamans Hall - not an architectural effecting reason, but one which is serious - too many bugs!

Ciao

 

[Mike_Young]

Does it have to be one we have seen or played....or will just reading about it suffice???

[Chris_Clouser]

The only top 100 course I've ever felt this way about was Medinah.  It just seemed boring and every hole felt the same.  Even all the par threes felt similar.  I'm just glad I played it at a corporate event and not on my own dime. 

[Keith OHalloran]

I love Bethpage Black, but I am not sure that I would enjoy playing every day. It is a tough walk, a very hard course, and takes almost 6 hours to play and you have to be there an hour before your tee time. The day is just exhausting. IMO

[Tom_Doak]

Wish I had the list in front of me, I'm sure I could find at least a dozen which ought to be singled out.  But, I'm spoiled; the only course I play even semi-regularly [besides a few of my own] is Crystal Downs, and that's one of the last courses I would ever get tired of.

For me, a course would get boring if it didn't have a good enough set of greens that the holes play differently from one day to the next.  So, even a place like Woodhall Spa would get old over time, as much as I enjoy going back there once every few years.

[Steve Hyden]

Allowing that it is in no way a great course, I nominate my home course, Tampa Palms.  Virtually unwalkable at 7 miles, TP punishes every miss.  The course is carved out of a swamp and most crooked shots find the jungle, an automatic penalty stroke as the layout is essentially routed through one huge lateral hazard.  For drainage, the fairways are necessarily higher than the surrounding wilderness, so balls bound away from fair territory.  I.e., miss left or right and you're scrambling just to make bogey.  A number of the cart paths are strategically placed to ricochet slightly pushed shots off the course.

Even a good round is not that much fun.  At the end you just feel relief.

They used to hold a Champions Tour event there and legend has it that Lee Trevino, after making a 7 at what was no. 17 for the tournament, railed to the gallery, "I can't believe you people would pay good money to belong to this place!"  I often ask myself the same question but my wife loves it.

[MikeJones]

Personally when I'm just having a knock around and playing for fun and enjoyment, I want a course to be challenging but not frustratingly difficult.
I've played several great courses that through either setup or prevailing weather conditions were not 'fun'. West Lancs golf club springs to mind which many people rave about but somehow I've always managed to play it in a gale and not enjoyed the experience. I remember back when I was final qualifying for the Open there and picked up a shoulder injury in the first round's gale conditions. I was in two minds about whether to soldier on and play the second round or call it a day knowing that conditions would be tough again. I rang the course and spoke to one of the R&A guys and he told me that play was still ongoing but a lot of the players weren't reaching the first fairway   I withdrew and went back to bed!

Another great course I have never really taken to is Sunningdale New. Given a choice I think I'd always go for the Old course and I think the overall difficulty and 'struggle' factor has something to do with that.

[Mark McKeever]

I love Bethpage Black, but I am not sure that I would enjoy playing every day. It is a tough walk, a very hard course, and takes almost 6 hours to play and you have to be there an hour before your tee time. The day is just exhausting. IMO

Well put Kieth.  I think Bethpage Black (very fun to play sparingly!) would be a tough course to play everyday.

Mark

[Fred Yanni]

OK my list of the best courses I would not want to play day in and day out - not usually a reflection of the overall quality of the course but I will comment when it is (from GD top 100):


1)  Oak Hill East -  (and I am a member so this really hurts)  Fantastic course -  It is just so so hard to score there day in and day out, no breather holes, of course thats why it gets its share of majors - thank god for the west course so I can make some birdies and post a score every now and then.

2)  Whistling Straits - rounds are waaaaaay too long and its a slog to get around - feels like a death march on the back side - like the course don't love it

3)  Bethpage Black - rounds are waaaay too long and its a slog to get around - really like the course

4)  Baltusrol Lower - I have a tough time remembering many of the holes - love 17 & 18 and some of the short par 4s - not that memorable overall

5)  Blackwolf Run - River - really dislike most of the course - you lost me at "you want me to hit it over a tree again..."

6)  The Ocean Course - If I ever see this course in good weather I probably will change my mind - I am  zero for 4 on that front so far... grumble

7)  Tobacco Road - dislike the course but it would be a great scramble course and that is the only compliment I can give it (I saw it in the thread so it must be on a list somewhere),

[JNC Lyon]

1)  Oak Hill East -  (and I am a member so this really hurts)  Fantastic course -  It is just so so hard to score there day in and day out, no breather holes, of course thats why it gets its share of majors - thank god for the west course so I can make some birdies and post a score every now and then.

My thoughts exactly.  The main reason Oak Hill East has become more difficult and gets worse every year is the constant tree encroachment that the club refuses to address. I have begun to doubt whether a course this difficult and penal can actually be considered great  You and I are both single digit handicappers, and the course is too tough for us!

In my mind, if you don't enjoy playing a golf course after multiple plays, it probably isn't a great course.

[Fred Yanni]

JNC - what trees?   I must hit it straighter than you do  

I have played both Winged foot courses and some of the other "great" parkland courses - with more info my guess is I would feel the same about many of them as I do Oak Hill.  I just wanted to comment only on courses I know well to very well in the thread. 

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Tom D,
Interesting that you would single out Woodhall Spa..talk about different opinions....I do not think I could ever get tired of that place, but your point is well taken.

I agree that as much as I like Oak Hill..cannot wait to get back there in a couple of weeks for The Williams.....playing there every day would beat me up, such a tough tough golf course.
The comments on The Addington have me wanting to visit even more.

[Adam Clayman]

Dave, It gets deeper, and worse than that. These successful people actually make hideous changes to thoughtful designs that can never be repaired. It's a function of the game mind. Max was way right!

Olympic Lake.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom D,
Interesting that you would single out Woodhall Spa..talk about different opinions....I do not think I could ever get tired of that place, but your point is well taken.

Michael:

Actually, there are a bunch of courses on the list I would rate lower than Woodhall Spa.  Olympic was actually the first course I thought of when I saw the subject of this thread.  I chose Woodhall Spa as an example instead, because it fit the theme even though I really LIKE the course.  It has a nice style of its own, and it is not as much of a backbreaker as some of the other obvious choices listed above, but it is still a bit straightforward to want to play it every day.

[Tim Leahy]

My alltime favorite course I have played is Olympic Lake, but I think I would get claustraphobic if I had to play it everyday.

[jeffwarne]

!

In my mind, if you don't enjoy playing a golf course after multiple plays, it probably isn't a great course.

Bingo

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

It's weird... i saw this thread and knew there's be Olympic (Lake) entries... too hard to play everyday.  I'm not in that camp!  I love that place, and every exacting shot that it requires (except the new #8 -- although I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

My entry would be Oakmont, for the very reasons above.  The way that course is presented day in, day out would be very demoralizing if you're really struggling with your game.

[Jaeger Kovich]

One golf course I consider great that I wouldn't want to play: Carnoustie. Its not the fact that its hard that bothers me so much, its more do to with the white stakes that run along the boarder of the course (not the boarder of the property) and I feel the place esthetically is close to a 0. I just don't the need to punish myself for like 3 hours before I get to 16-18.

One golf course that most other people consider great (top 100s) that I wouldn't want to play again: Pinehurst #4 (the dotted bunker style makes me want to pull my hair out), Westchester Country Club (there are at least 3 clubs in westchester county that belong in the top100 before WCC).

[John Sabino]

Ally - A very interesting question. The opposite question is much easier to answer, which courses would you play every day. I would include dozens of courses (Camargo, Shoreacres, Cruden Bay, Sunningdale, Somerset Hills, Cypress Point, etc.) My vote for one I wouldn't play every day would be Wentworth's West course because it is so long you would be hitting long irons and woods as your second shot all the time which would wear you down. I would agree on Olympic (Lake), although partly the answer depends upon your handicap. As a mid-handicapper who can't shape shots off of uneven lies it would be hard to play every day. I'm sure a low handicapper might find it more of a challenge and fun to play every day.

Jaeger - I disagree with you on Carnoustie. It is quite playable and a lot of fun. In general, I think links courses you could play every day because with varying wind conditions they effectively play quite differently every day and you'd be hitting different clubs from the same hole, creating a lot of variety.

John

[Patrick_Mucci]

I love Bethpage Black, but I am not sure that I would enjoy playing every day. It is a tough walk, a very hard course, and takes almost 6 hours to play and you have to be there an hour before your tee time. The day is just exhausting. IMO

Well put Kieth.  I think Bethpage Black (very fun to play sparingly!) would be a tough course to play everyday.

Mark & Keith,

From the back tees, I'd agree, but what about from more forward tees ?

The same could be said of Winged Foot, Baltusrol, Ridgewood, etc., etc..
Played from the proper tees, those courses are all enjoyable day in and day out.
Played from the back/championship tees, those courses are overwhelming, day in and day out.

[Paul_Turner]

If you get bored or tired of a "great" golf course, you need a bit more the pencil and card mentality.  Forget the architecture, "walk in the park" and play for a score.

[JLahrman]

My alltime favorite course I have played is Olympic Lake, but I think I would get claustraphobic if I had to play it everyday.

When was the last time you played it?  I've only played it once, but it wasn't clausterphobic, not sure exactly when the trees were taken out.  It was hard, and there were a few narrow shots, but it wasn't clausterphobic.

[Ken Moum]

I haven't played enough top 100 courses to have much of a list, but right now, Royal Dornoch would be on mine.  I have to admit that I was played like poop the one time I was there, but even if I were playing better I suspect the length of it was just too much for me to want to play it all the time.

I think we played the medal tees when we were there, so I would love to go back, and play it from the gents tees, to see if it really was all about the length.

I do know this, I wouldn't want to play a "hard" golf course every day, especially if it featured a lot of places where a marginal shot results in penalty strokes or a lost golf ball.

Yesterday I played Angel Fire Country Club and I don't care if I never play there again.  It's a classic example of my least favorite kind of course.  It would be relatively easy for a low-handicapper, and almost impossible for a 20.

Tomorrow, it's Black Mesa, and I am looking forward to my second trip there with relish.

K