The greatest courses you have never played and no longer care if you ever do.

[John Kavanaugh]

1. Merion
2. Pebble Beach
3. TPC Sawgrass
4.  LACC
5.  SFGC
6.  Old Macdonald
7.  Whistling Straits
8.  Hazeltine
9.  Medinah #3
10.Bethpage Black

[John Crowley]

Agree on Pebble. But having played Merion, LACC and Old Mac, suggest you reconsider those.
My list: any Trump.

[John Kavanaugh]

Funny thing.  Hazeltine hurts the most. The Mayo Clinic is one of my most cherished spots on Earth. I always wanted to play there on a visit but the course has passed me by.

[Ronald Montesano]

Gosh, so much to read into this thread title. The ultimate coming-of-age novel/movie is finally here!

After playing Stafford (NY) yesterday, it occurs to me that discovering/rediscovering terrific golf is so satisfying. Photographing wondrous golf is also an incredible treat. When I consider the courses that Pup Taylor has played before his 19th birthday, the phrase "right place at the right time" or "proper career begets proper access" crosses my mind.

If I never, ever, ever play some of the courses that John K. mentioned, that will be fine (as it always has been.) Being a muni golfer as a youth has given me a proper respect for any invitation to any club. I'll close with this anecdote...Kevin Lynch (mi amigo) and I were golfing today at a nice area club. As I sanded divots on a par three, the host noted my enthusiasm for emptying the plastic sand cartridges in fairways as well. KL commented "he'll fill all yours if you let him." I suspect that my over-the-top enthusiasm is simple gratitude for playing this game over any course on any day.

[Patrick_Mucci]

1. Merion
2. Pebble Beach
3. TPC Sawgrass
4.  LACC
5.  SFGC
6.  Old Macdonald
7.  Whistling Straits
8.  Hazeltine
9.  Medinah #3
10.Bethpage Black



JakaB,

Is this the "ignorance is bliss" list ?

[John Kavanaugh]

1. Merion
2. Pebble Beach
3. TPC Sawgrass
4.  LACC
5.  SFGC
6.  Old Macdonald
7.  Whistling Straits
8.  Hazeltine
9.  Medinah #3
10.Bethpage Black



JakaB,

Is this the "ignorance is bliss" list ?

Pat,

These are all courses that at one time in my life I desired to play. I'm sure you understand Bethpage. Who has the patience at my age?  I didn't realize I no longer wanted to play Merion until during the Open one of my good friends asked me if I ever had. Really, why would I? It was laughable because anything less than what we saw on TV that day would be like riding a Pinarello on training wheels.

[Jason Topp]

Funny thing.  Hazeltine hurts the most. The Mayo Clinic is one of my most cherished spots on Earth. I always wanted to play there on a visit but the course has passed me by.

Rochester CC is better and a lot closer.

[John Kavanaugh]

Funny thing.  Hazeltine hurts the most. The Mayo Clinic is one of my most cherished spots on Earth. I always wanted to play there on a visit but the course has passed me by.

Rochester CC is better and a lot closer.

I can't see myself ever taking my clubs. Get cured during the day and then find a bar with a long flight of stairs that keep the sick ones away. If you are lucky you may find a caregiver who is fighting the demons associated with an unselfish life of long hours and under pay.  A couple of hours of stories makes driving past the homeless back home almost effortless.

[Jim Nugent]

John, I'm interested to hear your reasons for the courses on your list. 

[John Kavanaugh]

John, I'm interested to hear your reasons for the courses on your list. 

Even when I was younger I never took my clubs to Hawaii and have never played there. My time was better spent elsewhere on the islands. Each of the courses listed have more or less passed me by for the same reasons. It is not an easy list to make because it says far more about me than the last ten courses I have played.

[JimB]

John. I thought that the question would be courses that I had longed to play and no longer cared once I did. I get that. Top of that list would be English Turn. Off the top of my head I can't think of one that I have wanted to play that I have not and now don't care. Not sure anything I would hear or see in pictures would convince me I shouldn't see a place I once had interest in. It may come to me though. I'll answer again if it does.

[John Kavanaugh]

The maturity of access comes much later in life than the maturity of lust. We all know that girl we wanted for all the wrong reasons that no longer appeals. And she may be perfectly fine for another but not us. Not all courses are for all men. Take LACC for example.  I hate to admit it but I'm more Rolling Stone than Business Week. I love the glam of Riviera.

[John Kavanaugh]

Pebble is an easy story. Tried my entire life to be good enough to qualify for a tournament played there. Not even close. I'm sure if I had enough money I could rent MSG for a pick up basketball game. Not interested.

[John Kavanaugh]

Old Macdonald is a bit more complicated. It feels like if I were in a relationship with a life partner where we mixed our sperm together in a petri dish before fertilizing an egg from an anonymous donor. I'm scared I might love or hate it for all the wrong reasons. I just don't need the emotional drama in what is simply a game.

[Ronald Montesano]

this is turning into a really sad thread; here's why:

i'm not a private club guy...i grew up on the pubs and munis, so all that ever mattered was the course, pure and simple. no trappings, no politics, no ancillaries.

John, you have associated ancillaries with some of your selections and that saddens me. it's the course, in the end, that should matter. if it cannot matter for you ever, it is pathetic (in the Papazian sense of the word pathos.)

this website has confirmed for me that what matters is the course and the people that put it in the ground, and the people that tend it.

[John Kavanaugh]

Whistling Straits is just obviously awful for anyone who doesn't enjoy a massage and a good steam. SFGC goes against my policy of giving money to lower the dues of anyone who believes I am below them. I am no courses bitch.

[John Kavanaugh]

this is turning into a really sad thread; here's why:

i'm not a private club guy...i grew up on the pubs and munis, so all that ever mattered was the course, pure and simple. no trappings, no politics, no ancillaries.

John, you have associated ancillaries with some of your selections and that saddens me. it's the course, in the end, that should matter. if it cannot matter for you ever, it is pathetic (in the Papazian sense of the word pathos.)

this website has confirmed for me that what matters is the course and the people that put it in the ground, and the people that tend it.

Of course it is a sad thread. It is a story of lost love. Go back to the last ten played thread if that is what is what interests you. Nothing better than stories of bravado and conquest. Nothing more boring either.

[John Kavanaugh]

Medinah is kind of funny. I've been on property and played the very difficult women's course but...Potts loves Points who wears a LEGO belt buckle. That is a deal breaker for me.

I'll be surprised if I am the only adult who has ten great courses they wouldn't be interested in playing if the invite came yesterday. Cause it won't come after you post the list.

[Tim Leahy]

All the Bandon courses and Chambers Bay. F em if they can't build a dirt cart path.

[Ross Tuddenham]

For me I have really lost the desire to play some of the courses on the open rota;

Birkdale
Lytham
Troon
Carnoustie

I am sure they are all great courses but in most cases I could play something within the vicinity that would interest me more or travel a similar distance to another region.

For example when I lived in Edinburgh there would be a number of exceptional courses on the way I would rather play compared to carnoustie.

If I am in the vicinity of troon I would much rather play prestwick, and a host of other west coast links.

Another factor is seeing the great reports on some of the lesser known courses around the country (from Sean_A in particular), which leave me with more intrigue compared to hearing about the more famous courses that every golfer is aware of.

Thanks to the contributions of so many on GCA it seems no matter where you go in the UK there is a course worth seeing within a reasonable distance from your destination, and a more interesting prospect than many famed top 100 regulars.  Which in general leaves me craving a lot more than the usual suspects.

[Dan Herrmann]

To me, it's much more about the people than the course now. 

[Sean_A]

The greatest courses you have never played and no longer care if you ever do.

Quite a strong statement.  Usually for me, playing the greats is more about opportunity and convenience.  Although there are a few courses I won't play if I have to pay.  Pebble is certainly one.  There may be others that I don't know about.  I will decide to cross that bridge when/if I come to it. 

Ciao

[Mark Bourgeois]

By "no longer care" I take that to mean: "won't make a special effort" as opposed to "will refuse to play," "will turn down an invitation, " etc.

ANGC
Morfontaine
Hazeltine
Medinah 3
Oakland Hills
Wade Hampton
Troon
Birkdale
Sandwich
Stanwich
RTJ
Shadow Creek
Caves Valley
Anything built in Cali since 1980? (Yes, I've played Rustic so it doesn't count for me.)

Erin Hills
Loch Lomond

John there's a whole world out there. Why limit yourself to domestics when you have the opportunity to create a list that's 10, 20 times longer?

[Adam Clayman]

I'm so glad this about John's psychosis over his game. There was a time when he'd have been instantly ridiculed for having pre-conceived notions, likely from photos, about golf course architecture.

Clearly he's wrong on at least one. Merion. It's setup that way everyday.

The list I've been waiting forever for, is which doormen he would ask

[Cliff Hamm]

All the Bandon courses and Chambers Bay. F em if they can't build a dirt cart path.

Tim, if you need to use a cart for medical reasons, Bandon will allow that. No dirt paths required.

Yes, but a caddy is required.  Thus for the disabled you add on the price of a cart, no problem, and the price of a caddy, problem.  They will say you need a caddy so you know where to go.  Some simple signage and instruction would solve the problem.

When I was at Bandon I noted zero carts.  Cabot is the same.  Simply not welcoming for those unable to walk.