Most underrated country for golf

[Scott Warren]

It's not the US, Ireland, Scotland, England or Australia.

Which country is it and why?

[Mark Bourgeois]

Scott, if you can show us your country ratings, or whichever list you're basing your question on, I'd be happy to try to help you out.

[Scott Warren]

Not based on anything as uncouth as a list, Mark, rather more thinking of general concensus, level of interest and discussion relative to the best of the golf.

There's enough there for anyone to define this how they wish, I'd just be amazed if a strong case could be made for any of the above countries.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Wales is one.... Holland and Belgium others... Overall I might go with France once you choose the right spots... But I think Holland has got the best setup and is showing that golf can grow when administrators get it right... Spain and Portugal overrated but sunshine wins every time with all but the hardy European golfer...

[Brian_Ewen]

Denmark has always intrigued me.

Burma is a lot better than most people would expect.

[David Harshbarger]

From what I've read, both The Netherlands and Japan have some top class golf.  Of the two, I would think Japan gets the nod as culturally, I understand golf is very popular, something I've not heard about The Netherlands.  Both countries benefit from Colt & Alison, but Japan has a homegrown aesthetic, that adds to the mix.  All from reading, though.

[Tom_Doak]

I was going to give the same answers as Ally.  The Netherlands has relatively few courses, but they have a bunch of very good ones.  France is much bigger than we Americans remember, and the courses are more spread out, but there is a lot of good stuff there.  [It doesn't help that the rankings of European courses put a bunch of modern French courses at the top, to make us assume that the older ones are not so good.]  Also, Sweden, from everything I hear -- one of these years I am going to find out for myself.

New Zealand is underrated, too, especially if affordability is a factor.

But the one we all keep leaving out is Canada.  I don't know why it is so easy to forget.

P.S. to Brian:  Burma  That would be the most underrated in a different sort of way, as in, a country nobody even thinks about.

[Brian_Ewen]

P.S. to Brian:  Burma  That would be the most underrated in a different sort of way, as in, a country nobody even thinks about.

The British left behind some lovely golf courses.

[Micah Woods]

Japan. More than 2,000 courses. Many are excellent, there are a great variety of courses, and some are a very good value.

[Mark Bourgeois]

In that case Scott, going by the general US golfing public (traveling golfers) I'd say unquestionably England. Other than the wingnuts on this board and those trying to complete random magazine lists I know of the fewest people going exclusively to England on golf trips, and that includes Canada and probably Australia.

I've never heard of anyone I know going to London for a golf trip when not only is it the world's greatest city but the best golf city, too. In contrast I hear all the time of people going to Melbourne or the New York area specifically for golf. I can't count the number of golfers I've tried to convince of a London golf trip. They look at me as they would a man with two heads.

Furthermore, although I do come across normal golfers taking trips to the Liverpool area it is in no way commensurate to the depth of quality for that region as compared to Scotland or Ireland.

Lastly, those who do take England trips almost always do so only after they feel they've exhausted the opportunities in Ireland or Scotland -- and many times after they've knocked out a big trip to Australia.

On depth and variety, England deserves to be considered either 1 or 2 in the world yet outside the members of this marginal board never is. Just because a "country" shows up as #4, 5, or 6 in some ranking -- or is considered a "great" "country" for golf -- doesn't mean it's not underrated.

[jeffwarne]

England,
by a mile

perhaps less on this site, but certainly by the average traveling golfer crossing the pond

[Mike McGuire]

The Dominican Republic might be on the list somewhere.

[Anders Rytter]

Denmark has always intrigued me.

Burma is a lot better than most people would expect.

Could you elaborate Brian? (I'm from Copenhagen, Denmark)

I was about to say The Netherlands (but haven't been there) or Sweden (Played there quite a bit)

[Padraig Dooley]

How about South Africa?

[Ivan Morris]

Scott- I've played golf in 17 countries (14 of them in Europe) - and feel qualified to say that French golf is highly satisfying and is definitely underrated. Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are clearly outstanding countries to play golf in but whether they are underrated is hard to say because I haven't managed to play in any of them yet but, if I can keep breathing, I will. Clementader near Paris is a little rough condition-wise but it is a helluva challenge. There are half-a-dozen courses in the Biarritz area that are highly memorable. 'Experts' who have played Montfontaine and Les Bordes - claim them as 'the best in France' which would make them exceptional in my book.   

[Brian_Ewen]

Could you elaborate Brian? (I'm from Copenhagen, Denmark)

Anders
There has been a few mentions on the forum over the years, of wonderful heathland courses in Jutland.

As I said, they intrigue me.

[David Davis]

I guess I can't help but to chime in on this thread. Here's my comment on most of the countries you've mentioned so thus far.

The Netherlands: of course I know this like the back of my hand. It depends on what we are talking about. First as most of you may know The Netherlands is a tiny little place with only 16 million people but the most densely populated country in the world (or maybe #2, to lazy to google it to check now). 200 some odd golf courses. Certainly home to some of the worst courses in the world I'm guessing. After all there is nothing worse than playing golf in a Dutch Polder (reclaimed land that was under water, I call it swamp). Mind you I'm being very opinionated with this answer. Anyway these course are all perfectly flat and muddy if you simply think about rain. There are some 300,000 golfers here and while there are 200 courses there are perhaps 10 that are worth playing and arguable 5 or 6 that are great ie, world class links and heathland courses. I'm not sure if that makes NL the most underrated country or not.

Sweden on the other hand has about 600 courses and 600,000 golfers. I think there are a lot of nice courses there but most I've played seem to be kind of Parkland type or inland links type courses. The top course in the country is Bro Hof Slot where they play the Nordea Masters and while it a good course and the location is quite beautiful as well as the castle it says enough to me if they call that the best course in the country. It's basically a course set up for the European Tour and can play as long as 8300 yds which they never do of course. Lots of water.

France a few good courses and also a small number of great ones but not more than 3 or 4 in my opinion.

Out of those countries and their relative size, I'd say NL is your best bet for sure. Everything is close by to some extent accessible and a few have been designed by some of the more famous classic architects. ie, Colt.

Japan, I'm up in the air on. It's high on my list of places I'd like to go play that I've not been and I don't dare pass judgement on it until I can experience it first hand and not through the pictures. The culture is indeed fascinating as well.

South Africa may well be the most underrated golf country as well. I can't yet say unfortunately.

England, Ireland, US and Scotland certainly are not, although I think parkland courses in general may well be. Maybe someday I'll be proven otherwise.

[Anders Rytter]

Could you elaborate Brian? (I'm from Copenhagen, Denmark)

Anders
There has been a few mentions on the forum over the years, of wonderful heathland courses in Jutland.

As I said, they intrigue me.

Thanks Brian, I just wondered what you had seen or heard about here.

[Ulrich Mayring]

I'll go for England as well, the golf is just so strong and hardly anyone goes there. Not even the English golfers, they all fly to Portugal or drive to France

France is not underrated, it has some veritable golf tourism going. Sweden has depth, but not so many really great courses. Denmark the same.

I'll add Belgium into the mix, because it has some great courses like the Netherlands, but not the polder problem

Ulrich

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Sweden on the other hand has about 600 courses and 600,000 golfers. I think there are a lot of nice courses there but most I've played seem to be kind of Parkland type or inland links type courses. The top course in the country is Bro Hof Slot where they play the Nordea Masters and while it a good course and the location is quite beautiful as well as the castle it says enough to me if they call that the best course in the country. It's basically a course set up for the European Tour and can play as long as 8300 yds which they never do of course. Lots of water.

David,

Sweden has about 464 courses (down from 486 in 2009) and about 450,000 golfers. I've haven't played that many, but if Bro Hof (Stadium) is the best we have here, that gives you an indication of the quality of Swedish courses. Phillips, Hills, Schmidt/Curley have all built courses here in recent years, but not one of them has broken into a world top 100 list.

The problem with Sweden is that the boom in the 80s and 90s allowed a lot of mediocre architects to build very mediocre courses. There are architects that are totally unknown that have designed 20-30 courses. Of the courses I've played, there is an over reliance of water. It's not unusual to play courses where water comes into play on 75% or more of the holes.

Having said that, I can't wait to get down to Falsterbro, Ljunghusen and Flommen.

BTW, they say that the Castle course is more popular than the Stadium course at Bro Hof. I've walked both many times, and would prefer to play the Castle course everytime.

From what I've seen, I'd go with the Netherlands or England.

[Anders Rytter]

Sweden on the other hand has about 600 courses and 600,000 golfers. I think there are a lot of nice courses there but most I've played seem to be kind of Parkland type or inland links type courses. The top course in the country is Bro Hof Slot where they play the Nordea Masters and while it a good course and the location is quite beautiful as well as the castle it says enough to me if they call that the best course in the country. It's basically a course set up for the European Tour and can play as long as 8300 yds which they never do of course. Lots of water.
 otherwise.

Sweden has some credible links Courses down south, Falsterbo, Ljunghusen & Flommen comes to mind. I haven't been to Bro-Hof but i think it's a fair guess that most people here wouldn't find it to be among Swedens best course.

[Anders Rytter]

double post

[David Davis]

Donal, sorry you are right on with your numbers. I confused two places and was guilting of not double checking the number this time but I actually did think there were 600,000 golfers there. I've played many courses around Stockholm and several around Goteborg as well. Don't get me wrong I've had fun on every course I've played. I agree with your comment about water on some of them. However, several I have played seem to be really long, while I'm at a loss for the name one of the top courses around Stockholm is where Nike has there Swedish fitting centre and sponsor a lot. It's a nice open I guess what I'd call parkland course. It's really long from the back tees and has some significant elevation changes.

I agree with what you've said about Falsterbro, Ljunghusen and Flommen, I've not been there to play yet. I tend to think the average is quite good in Sweden, at least compared to The Netherlands, I mean they don't have Polder courses, thank heavens. The certainly have loads of golfing talent. Again they just lack anything great.

[Daryl David]

But the one we all keep leaving out is Canada.  I don't know why it is so easy to forget.

Summed up in one sentence why Canadians can't stand us Americans.  We just never notice them.

[Tom_Doak]

I have to admit, I didn't even consider England, I assumed it was excluded in the original post.

And it was!