FUN

[Anthony Gray]

  What makes a course FUN?

  What architecture features do you like to see on a course?

  What are your favorite FUN courses?

  Bill's thread got me thinking,great for discussion.

  Anthony

l

[Mac Plumart]

Fun on a golf course for me always starts with the people I am playing with.  A great group can make any course fun.

On the architectural side, less water=more fun for me.

EDIT...oh yeah, heavily contourred greens with rolling at the appropriate speed are a total blast for me.  The approach shot, the pitch and/or chips, and the putts are really fun.

[RSLivingston_III]

Quirk, including blind shots, raises the fun quotient for me.

[Brian Potash]

FUN for me is when the difficulty lies most in the approach shot and not the tee shot. - Think Seminole for example amongst top courses I have played.

The feeling of having no place to miss on your tee shot is something I find very not fun.

It is on courses with very little margin for error off the tee where I struggle the most and least enjoy the round.  I hate feeling that I have to place my tee shot.  A good course that gave me that feeling too much was Rockway Hunt Club on Long Island.

Brian

[Bill_McBride]

Half par holes, the more the merrier.

[Cristian]

Diagonal Tee shots! In fact they are worth a thread of their own...

[Keith OHalloran]

I love Punch Bowls, short par 4s and par 5s that make you think on the second shot. In retrospect, I guess Westhampton CC is fun golf for me.

[Philippe Binette]

FUN = North Berwick West Links... period

[Adam Clayman]

Fun elicits audible yucks from the result of certain shots. Both bad and good. Juxtapose from the yawns visible from hitting stock shots that have all the predictabilty associated with ____ (insert commonality most accustomed to)

[Melvyn Morrow]

GOOD GOLF

Melvyn

[Peter Pallotta]

The Mines (Mike Devries) is probably the funnest course I've played.  Everything is there, e.g. diagonal ridges across the fairway, visual deception on approach shots, smartly contoured greens, clever bunkering, reachable fives (especially for Joe Hancock -- his high,fading 3 wood approach is still the best shot I've even seen in person), not too long, variety (in looks, distances etc) --- but everything is done with a light touch, and gently, and nothing is forced.  A courses that I can honestly say I wish I could play every day.

Peter

[Tom ORourke]

Visual intimidation, greens with enough speed and contour that it makes a difference where on the green you hit it, angled greens so picking the right club and line is imperative, not too many par 4s over 440, 5s over 600, 3s over 200. And, if you are hitting it well, you use more than 6 clubs. I loved Tobacco Road but also classics like PV and Merion. Challenge me with more than length and water.

[Matt Bosela]

One word: options.

Courses that allow you to work the ball in both directions, embrace the ground game and have interesting, bold and unique putting surfaces are a rarity these days.

Ballyneal may be the most exhilarating place I've played thus far in that respect, with Sagebrush close behind.

Give me the chance to pull off a shot I normally can't play at my home club, a parkland layout and I'll be smiling for the rest of the round I assure you.

[Bill_McBride]

GOOD GOLF

Melvyn

I don't know, Melvyn. 

Carnoustie:  Good golf, but fun?  I don't think so.

The Old Course:  Good golf AND fun!

[Sam Morrow]

GOOD GOLF

Melvyn

That sums it up perfectly.

[Doug Siebert]

The time from contact with the ball to when the final result is known is roughly proportional to the fun (I can't take credit for it, another GCA poster came up with this formula)  That covers F&F, quirky terrain, and blind shots quite nicely...

[Harris Nepon]

Any course that brings out creativity around the greens. When you play a shot in the opposite direction of the cup and it ends up a few feet away from the cup, I'm in heaven.

I don't know of any other courses exactly like it, but I also had a lot of fun playing the tee options at Ballyneal. Randomly picking tee areas was something I never even thought of and I wish I played a course like that every day.

[JNC Lyon]

Quirk, Options, and Wild Greens.  Those are the three general characteristics of fun golf courses.  Fun golf courses usually include a significant amount of half-par holes, although that is not necessarily true.

I don't think difficulty and fun are inversely related.  However, there are certain types of difficult golf courses that are no fun whatsoever.  A course like Deal or Prestwick is tough, but it is also great fun because of the wild greens and myriad options, especially around the greens.  However, a brutal championship course that chokes choice and encourages defensive play is no fun of any kind.

[Melvyn Morrow]

The Fun is The Challenge to play a Good Round of Golf.

As for Carnoustie, it’s what you make it, if you think challenge then you are on the first rung of the ladder towards enjoying yourself.

Melvyn

[Dan_Callahan]

While I've played lots of courses that I thought were fun, only two come to mind that elicited laughter when I stood on the tee and saw what was in front of me: Tobacco Road and Yale.

[Mark McKeever]

I love greens that have a lot of wild contours.  When I walk onto a green and think to myself  "now this is something you dont see everyday" I really enjoy that.

Mark

[Brian Marion]

I love greens that have a lot of wild contours.  When I walk onto a green and think to myself  "now this is something you dont see everyday" I really enjoy that.

Mark

Mark,

that's exactly what make a course fun for me "something you don't see everyday." I like courses where the land was used as best as it could be and if there is something odd there, well, deal with it. Too many courses have had too many bulldozers shaping and moving dirt with little imagination from the owner and architect. Blah.

Give me a course that gets the creative juices flowing and makes me use my imagination....now that is fun.

[Tom_Doak]

Fun is something different, instead of the same old, same old.

Fun is finishing the round with the same ball you started with.

Fun is a course that gives you a few reasonable chances for birdies, balanced by a few holes where you are thrilled just to make par.  It is not a string of 4's or 5's, but the possibility of everything from 2 to 8.

[Jim Tang]

I love multiple options, different ways to play the same golf hole.  I enjoy golf holes where the architect actually encourages you to play away from the hole in order to get it close.  I love golf courses that require you to use your imagination.

Of the courses I've been lucky enough to play, Ballyneal provides many of these features.  So does Lahinch, Pacific Dunes and Greywalls.

[Keith Phillips]

For me, a FUN course offers variety and playability...penal is NOT fun...a favorite is the East course at Wentworth, which I played several times while living in Virginia Water a decade ago - a par 68 of 6200 yards, with some long par 4s (8, 16), many fun short par 4s (5, 6, 14, 15) and a great set of par 3s (7, 12 and 17 are favorites) - while short overall the course finishes very strongly with long, beautifully bunkered par 4s at 16 and 18 and a fun 215-yard downhill par 3 17th - 18 finishes beneath one of the more classic clubhouses in golf, and I can't wait to go play it again this summer!!