I think it’s interesting that a lot of lists start with a cheap and accessible dog track. Being an old fart my list goes back a long way and seems to be more about what I thought about golf than golf courses. I’ve only played a hundred or so golf courses. I wrote out my subjective history about how I became obsessed with golf and golf courses. It seems pretty boring and pedestrian, but since I enjoyed reading others, here’s goes my personal evolution.
1950’s—1960’s Golf was for sissies who couldn’t play real sports. As a kid, I loved to hang out at Blue Lakes CC, a 9-holer in beautiful, wild landscape (Twin Falls, ID). Mostly doing anything but golf.
1974-75 Helped father grass and grow-in 9 holes at Canyon Springs right across the river from BLCC. At one point it was conceived as 2nd nine for BLCC. That didn’t fly with the membership so my father built it anyway. Grow-in was interesting and difficult. Spent a lot of time with the architect, who had his office in our maintenance building. Wasn’t much interested in golf, but got a hole-in-one the first time I played the course. The architect landed the job of expanding BLCC to 18 holes and was doing the design during our grow-in. Thought these two 9-hole courses were pretty cool and in a special environment.
1975-1994 Played golf once or twice annually when visiting home or entertaining a friend from Japan when he visited LA. Still thought BLCC & CS was a special landscape for golf (both expanded to 18 holes). Used Wilshire CC, Riviera, Lakeside, Sherwood (pre-construction), and others as filming locations. Jogged around the 36 holes at Brookside nearly every day that I wasn’t working or traveling. Golf was a game like pickup basketball, tennis, or bowling. Nice places to take a jog, though. Worked in Scotland for about 3 weeks and have no lasting visual memory of seeing a golf course.
1990-‘94 Moved back to Idaho. Charged with running CS as the owner. Other businesses and family were more important.
1994 Started to learn how to play. Became addicted. Played Sun Valley Resort, the favorite to date.
1994-‘99 Began reading about golf, golf courses, golf history, and the business of golf. Mostly played CS, BLCC, other locals, and Sun Valley courses. Started wondering what made one golf course better or more fun than another. Courses that influenced my thinking: Oasis and Wolf Creek in Mesquite, Coral Canyon and Entrada in St. George, UT. Sun Valley still the fave. Made my first trip to see a golf course I had read about: Old Works in MT. A fun course and a more interesting social project. Golf was mostly about the folks I played with, but beginning to pay attention to the different venues and designs.
2001 Organized first buddy trip to Bandon Dunes after following its development for years. Played BD in a complete whiteout fog. Quit after 9 holes due to injury. Couldn’t see a thing except a final glorious sunset. My world changed. To be honest, had more fun playing at courses along the way-- Black Butte Ranch and Sand Pines (really!), for example—but was hooked on golf along the ground and in the dunes. Bandon and Pac Dunes were inspired golf. Didn’t get to play PD because of injury, couldn’t walk.
2002 Tweaked the routing and built four new greens at Canyon Springs. Improved the course, but the work is embarrassingly amateurish.
2007 Solo trip to Scotland. Discovered gca.com doing the research. Each course was the best I’d ever played: Aberdeen, Cruden Bay, Dornoch, Brora, Machrihanish, New, TOC, Ellie, North Berwick, etc.—all very cool and exciting. Dornoch was the best until TOC. Nothing surpasses TOC. How’s this for luck? I was there in May. An hour-long squall hit while I was playing Brora. In all of the rest of my golf in Scotland, some 44 hours spent playing 14 courses (I play fast), it rained for a total of 10 minutes.
2008 Played my first Pete Dye course: Mission Hills in PS and was amazed how a really good course had been wrecked by the housing—specifically, the ponds put in to separate the housing from the course. TOC still the fave.
2009 Played the best mountain golf course I’ve ever seen: Rock Creek Cattle Company.
2010 & ‘11 Annual pilgrimages to Bandon. Walked The Preserve with the builders. Incredible place. All that great golf in one place. At one point I forgot I was in Oregon and was just lost in some links heaven.
2011 Was blown away by Irish golf: Ballybunion, Lahinch, County Down, and Portrush. Thought that RCD was the best I’d ever played and perhaps Ballybunion the most fun. For pure visual excitement and the grand scale of the dunes, Irish golf can’t be topped. I didn’t even care that the weather sucked.
Now I’m old, back where I started, and hanging out at CS, fairly cheap and accessible, not a dog track, but just a golf course in a nice spot. What’s the best? I don’t know. Does it matter? I’ve enjoyed the journey. Like others here, TOC is a pretty special place.