Your Top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises

[Jud_T]

Only 3.  At least good ones.

Belvedere Golf Club, Charlevoix, MI-  really nice use of elevation changes and a great sense of place.  I had been looking forward to getting up there for several years and it still exceeded my expectations.  

Kankakee Elks-  played a late-season round with the usual Chicago GCA suspects.  Original Langford never disappoints. Needs some chainsaw work and a shame about the original par 3 which was relocated for safety (4?), but rivals Spring Valley for quality GCA/dollar.  A little birdie also told us that a couple of the holes (7&13?) are being used as inspiration for Medinah #1.

Briarwood Country Club- finally got the chance to play more than 1 hole at Briarwood, with none other than GCA legend Shelly Solow and legend in the making and Colt expert Frank Pont.  Some surprisingly good original Alison here,  more so than some of the bigger name courses that Frank and I toured and a tastefully understated mid-century modern clubhouse, particularly by North Shore Chicago standards.  Perhaps a full-blown restoration will be Shelly's final legacy.

[Kevin_D]

Mine for this year:

1) Tallgrass. I wasn't expecting too much from a short daily fee course in the middle of (non-Hamptons) Suffolk County. It's a terrific, fun little course with a lot of interesting, cool holes and great greens and bunkering. Land is flattish but Hanse did a great job with what he had. I look forward to playing there many times next year.

2) Bethpage. Not sure if a top 50 world course counts, but I had heard some negative comments, and also expected it to be borderline unenjoyable due to difficulty. It was hard, but that wasn't the case at all - very fun course, and the size and scale of it are really something to behold. The round did take a while, but no longer than other publics anywhere near NYC.

3) Kingsley. I had read mixed reviews, though knew some people were die hard supporters. I can now see why! I was blown away by the place, so much fun, so many great holes, and so visually stunning. Not sure if I can make it back again next year, but this is high on my list of places I want to play again.No idea how this isn't a US top 100 course (not that that matters).

[Tim Martin]

Hi all,

I've been a close follower of the site for about a year and I'm happy to make some contributions of my own.

1. Highland Links - North Truro, MA
2. The Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links - Edgartown, MA
3. Wanumetonomy - Middletown, RI
4. Metropolis Golf Club - North White Plains, NY
5. Red Tail - Devens, MA

Cheers,
Jon

Jon- Wanumetonomy really is a huge surprise the first trip around. Raynor got a lot out of a small piece of land and a particular favorite for me is the # 12 "Eden" hole that has a spine bisecting the entire length of the green. The clubhouse is sited at the properties high point which affords some special views out over the golf course and Narraganset Bay. There is only one par 5 and three par 3's which is not a common configuration leaving a pile of par fours which offer the golfer plenty of variety. The card yardage of 6300 is misleading as the prevailing winds ramp up the challenge. Certainly a course I would never tire of.

[Phil Lipper]

1 Pete Dye Club ('m not a huge Dye fan but I loved this place)
2 Weyhill Saucon Valley (it doesnt have the reputation of the old course but I think its their best course)
3 Baltusrol Upper (I knew it would be good, but IMHO its much better than lower)
4 Grand Cypress New Course (The notion of Jack building a "copy" of the Old Course in Florida is bizzare but its a really enjoyable course)
5 Essex County NJ (Maybe the best back 9 in the state outside of PV)

5b Hamilton Farms Hickory (The par 3 course at Hamilton is amazing, I didnt think you could build 18 great par 3's in one place, no wonder it has a slope and rating)

[Michael Felton]

Baltusrol Upper
La Tourette (Staten Island)
Glasgow Gailes
Southerndown
Galloway National

[Rory Connaughton]

Essex County NJ
White Manor
Yale - expected really good, got more than I bargained for
Kittansett - expected really good Flynn, got unbelievably good Flynn
Enniscrone
Ballyliffin Old

[Mac Plumart]

Hmmmm....

Top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises for 2013.

#1--Yale.  Mind-blower!  I knew it would be good, but I had no idea.

#2--Valley Club.  I thought it would be good, but it was great.  Totally my kinda course and club.

#3--Cliffs at Keowee.  Really pleasant course and vibe at the club.  Great views..fun shots.

#4--Wintonbury Hills.  Affordable public golf done right.  Good stuff!

#5--Pine Dunes.  I knew this would be a good public golf course..and it was.  But it was the type of course I could play everyday.  Great walk, great par 5's.  Really nice.

[Brett Wiesley]

Cal Club
Winged Foot East Cse
Circling Raven
Maidstone (C&C updates are awesome)
Bethpage Black

[Michael Whitaker]

Hmmmm....

Top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises for 2013.

#1--Yale.  Mind-blower!  I knew it would be good, but I had no idea.

#2--Valley Club.  I thought it would be good, but it was great.  Totally my kinda course and club.

#3--Cliffs at Keowee.  Really pleasant course and vibe at the club.  Great views..fun shots.

#4--Wintonbury Hills.  Affordable public golf done right.  Good stuff!

#5--Pine Dunes.  I knew this would be a good public golf course..and it was.  But it was the type of course I could play everyday.  Great walk, great par 5's.  Really nice.

Mac - Cliffs at Keowee Falls or Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards?

[Rob Curtiss]

1) Oak Hill- West
2) MOnterey peninsula - Dunes course
3) Olympic Club- Ocean course
4) Sand Hollow
5) Wolf Creek

The first 3 because I cant believe how well they hold up to thier ranked sister courses.

[Mark Pritchett]

Hmmmm....

Top 5 Most Pleasant Surprises for 2013.

#1--Yale.  Mind-blower!  I knew it would be good, but I had no idea.

#2--Valley Club.  I thought it would be good, but it was great.  Totally my kinda course and club.

#3--Cliffs at Keowee.  Really pleasant course and vibe at the club.  Great views..fun shots.

#4--Wintonbury Hills.  Affordable public golf done right.  Good stuff!

#5--Pine Dunes.  I knew this would be a good public golf course..and it was.  But it was the type of course I could play everyday.  Great walk, great par 5's.  Really nice.

Mac - Cliffs at Keowee Falls or Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards?

Or Keowee Springs?  

[Alex Miller]

Not that these courses were held in low esteem before the round...

NGLA (I can't do justice to this course in written word)
North Berwick (Quirk, History, Sea-side, Town-adjacent, fun)
Ballyneal
Elie
St. George's (My first and only Emmet. It's so different than anything I've played on the left coast and provided an introduction to the few Northeast courses I've played)

[Mac Plumart]

Vineyards.

[Michael Goldstein]

My 2 most pleasant surprises of 2013:

1.  Delamere Forest: A classy routing and natural heathland style that almost could have been in Surrey.
 
2.  Royal Haagsche:  From a maintenance and turf perspective - absolutely top notch.

[jim_lewis]

Texarkana CC
Cherokee Plantation
Primland
Lakes Entrance (Australia)
Youghal GC (Ireland)

[Niall C]

My most pleasant surprises tend to be the more modest courses dotted around the outer reaches of the country that don't get much press that you go in blind with little or no expectations. Believe it or not, I'd put Silloth in that category too. The first time I played there was many years before I ended up living down in that part of the country and becoming a member at the club. A friend and his family were on holiday down there staying in a caravan for the week and he asked me down for the weekend saying that there was a nice golf course near by that looked worth a go. Needless to say, that turned out to be an understatement as Mike and Scott can testify to.

So, in no particular order;

1 - Silloth

2 - The Glen - played quite a number of years ago with a pal purely because we had a cheap voucher to play, (£10 a player if I remember rightly). Don't know that it s a great course but it does have some great holes and is a lot of fun. I've played it many times since.

3 - Forfar - drove by on the way to another course and saw a glimpse of the course and thought that looks interesting. Ten minutes later and after paying my £12 (!) greenfee I was on the first tee. Three hours after that I walked off the course a very happy man.

4 - Elgin - supposedly Moray Old is the only great course in Moray but Elgin is a wee heathland gem. If push came to shove, I'd be tempted to say its better than Moray Old.

5 - Wishaw - located in the middle of what used to be Scotlands industrial heartland and surrounded by some fairly grim looking council housing, this Braid course is another terrific track, especially the back nine.

Niall

time to update my list and add the following;

West Lothian - definitiely not a great course overall, too much blindness for one thing but a lot of great things going on.

Huntly - front nine is a s good a use of the given terrain as I can think of. Just a lovely walk in the park.

Inverallochy - Fraserburgh and Invverallochy aren't places I would go on holiday to but that aside this course could be described as archtypical holdiay golf and that is most certainly not meant to be demeaning.

Niall

[Sean_A]

Tough to pick 5, but here goes

Pennard
Cavendish
Castletown
Cleeve Cloud
Lederach

Ciao

I guess in the past year a few courses really surprised me.  

Mid Pines - and I played it more than once previously.  

Alwoodley - and I played it before.  

#1 though has to be The Sacred 9.  The course knocked my socks off and shot straight into top 5 favourites.  

I will be seeing quite a few newbies in the coming weeks and I don't expect to be wowed so it should be interesting.

Ciao

[Mac Plumart]

Busting this out for the 2014 edition.

My Top 5 most pleasant surprises in terms of golf courses played in 2014 are:

1) Royal County Down...I knew it would be good.  But I had no idea it would be THAT good!  Truly stunning.

2) Mountain Park (The Cliffs)...seriously good golf.  Anyone in the area needs to check it out.

3) Sweetens Cove...Could become a legendary course...best nine holer I've ever played.

4) Wilshire CC...FUN golf!

5) Naples National...great walk, nice layout, good golf.

[Jon Cavalier]

Great topic. Here's my list for 2014.

1. Somerset Hills - absolutely blew me away.
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59808.0.html

2. Eastward Ho - I wasn't prepared to be so awestruck by the terrain - it's unlike anywhere I've ever played. http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59919.0.html

3. Whipporwill Club - like Eastward Ho, Whippoorwill is a unique place with some truly incredible terrain. Thinking of doing a photo tour soon.

4. Dunes Club - a wonderful 9-holer and a special experience.

5. Myopia Hunt Club - I knew it would be good, but not THAT good. A true gem. http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59738.0.html

[BHoover]

My top 5 surprises:

1. Kingsley - I figured it would be good but I didn't realize how much I would love everything about it--design, atmosphere and the playing conditions.

2. Indianwood Old - again, figured it would be good but it exceeded expectations and the playing conditions surprised me in terms of how firm and fast it played.

3. Springfield - the epitome of a hidden gem in terms of design, playability and fun factor and that it drains better than any course I've played in Ohio (unlike most courses in the Buckeye state, it's built on sandy soil).

4. Southern Pines - another hidden gem that far exceeded my expectations

5. Oakland Hills (South) - I expected a big, tough test of championship golf, but I was surprised how fun it played.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Dooks
Ellie
Formby
Pennard
Royal Aberdeen
Royal Worlington

Other contenders.
Portsalon
The New course
Littlestone
Wallasey
Portrush valley
Ballybunion Cashen
Seascale

Interesting to revisit.    One problem with GCA is we have such a good idea of what to expect when we visit.
So either I haven't been paying enough attention or

Contenders since 2013

Carnoustie Burnside - a real surpirse which had passed under my radar.
Narin and Portnoo - exceeded expectations

Royal Porthcawl - I though I had this placed as solid but not really inspiring. A second visit and I'm hooked. Forget the fact you can see the sea from all 18 holes, none of the views are world class. But the golf course is.

But the one that makes it is

Royal Aberdeen.  I think it's reputation suffers from the cliche that it's a course of two half's. I did't find much quality difference between the two and it all adds up to a great course.

Which means that Formby narrowly gets bumped to the contenders list.

[Jon Cavalier]

Great topic. Here's my list for 2014.

1. Somerset Hills - absolutely blew me away.
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59808.0.html

2. Eastward Ho - I wasn't prepared to be so awestruck by the terrain - it's unlike anywhere I've ever played. http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59919.0.html

3. Whipporwill Club - like Eastward Ho, Whippoorwill is a unique place with some truly incredible terrain. Thinking of doing a photo tour soon.

4. Dunes Club - a wonderful 9-holer and a special experience.

5. Myopia Hunt Club - I knew it would be good, but not THAT good. A true gem. http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59738.0.html

Almost forgot - honorable mention to Bayonne, which was quite a pleasant surprise for me. Really enjoyed it.

[Chris DeToro]

This has been a fun year of golf for me and definitely filled with surprises:

1)  Yale--so many dramatic and bold holes, exceeded all expectations

2)  Taconic--this was actually my first round of "mountain" golf.  I was blown away.  It was fun, challenging, had character and some great views of the mountains and the campus.  Highly recommend

3)  Whitinsville--I had only read about Whitinsville in the first Confidential Guide and I wonder how much more acclaim this course would get if Ross had built 18 holes here.  Number 9 is one of my favorites anywhere

4)  Streamsong--fun and unique golf in Florida

5)  The Country Club--smallest set of greens I've ever seen.  What a great golf course

[Ryan Coles]

This has been a fun year of golf for me and definitely filled with surprises:

1)  Yale--so many dramatic and bold holes, exceeded all expectations

2)  Taconic--this was actually my first round of "mountain" golf.  I was blown away.  It was fun, challenging, had character and some great views of the mountains and the campus.  Highly recommend

3)  Whitinsville--I had only read about Whitinsville in the first Confidential Guide and I wonder how much more acclaim this course would get if Ross had built 18 holes here.  Number 9 is one of my favorites anywhere

4)  Streamsong--fun and unique golf in Florida

5)  The Country Club--smallest set of greens I've ever seen.  What a great golf course

Most of those are like throwing a ball in the air and being pleasantly surprised when it comes back down again.

[John Foley]

Grand Cypress - New Course - More fun than any other course in FL - so many options and width like you cannot believe.

NGLA - Been on this site and other for 17 years give or take and heard every glowing report, seen every photo. - but when I walked it during the Walker Cup every thing was true.

Leatherstocking - Great setting, great strategy , great playability

Misquamicut - place just ooze's character - so much old school charm.

Dormie - expectations were high but IMHO it's the most under appreciated course around.