Your favorite course within 50 miles of your home

[Michael Graham]

Course: Gullane no. 1
Architect: unknown
Classic or modern: Classic
Why?: So many reasons but I'll go with the view from the 7th tee.

Michael

[Adam Warren]

According to Google maps, I am 50.9 miles from my favorite in the "Louisville Metro" area of Chariot Run, which is part of the Horseshoe Casino. Not sure if that counts for me or not.  

I like Valhalla, but honestly it doesn't seem difficult enough to be considered one of my favorites.  Belterra was good too.  I really like Nevel Meade, which is a Steve Smyers.  If Chariot doesn't qualify, Nevel might be my pick.  

I still have a couple places to play since I have only been here since 2009, and only returned to golf in 2012.  I have seen Hurstbourne as a caddy for a friend while I was a pro and he was playing in a tournament.  It would be up there for me.  I also have not seen Big Spring, which I believe Rees Jones did a complete redesign, and have heard it is great.  Louisville Country Club is a Walter Travis that I have also heard is great and probably the best in the area.  Very private though.  

[Tim Gavrich]

Hometown: Avon, CT
Favorite: Yale
Just behind: TPC River Highlands, CC of Farmington, Hartford GC, CC of Waterbury, Wintonbury Hills GC.


Current spot: Pawleys Island, SC
Favorite: Caledonia
Just behind: True Blue, Heritage, The Reserve, DeBordieu, Wachesaw Plantation, The Dunes, Dye Club at Barefoot

[Jud_T]

Course: Shoreacres
Architect: Seth Raynor
Classic or modern: Classic
Why?: Brilliant use of ravines.  Also it's too short to host any serious tournaments so they haven't cocked it up and as a result it's a ton of fun for the average hitting mid handicapper.

Honorable mention:

Chicago Golf Club
Old Elm
Skokie CC
Olympia Fields CC

[Josh Tarble]

Jud,
I don't know if I've ever asked or heard....what makes Shoreacres better than Chicago Golf?  Just the terrain? Seems to me like they'd be pretty close in design and stature.

[Jud_T]

Josh,

It's a pretty tough call, but there's just a certain je ne sais quoi about Shoreacres and the way he weaves in and out of the ravines on the property.  I guess I'm saying it's a better routing.  Chicago Golf, wonderful as it is, isn't as interesting a piece of property. Most lower handicaps would not agree with me as Shoreacres takes driver out of their hands too often.  I even had a 1 hdcp buddy who turned down membership for this reason.

[Michael Felton]

I live in Manhattan and I would say Winged Foot. Tillinghast, classic. As for why, because it's a wonderful test that gets you all the way from tee to green. Small sloping green complexes with some fantastic shaping and contouring, but despite all that it's playable. And there's always the East if the West is too much.

[PCCraig]

Course: White Bear Yacht Club
Architect: Donald Ross
Classic or modern: Classic
Why?: There is a number of fun holes that require thought. There are great green complexes. It usually plays firm and fast.

Hi Jeff,

I generally agree with your nomination of WBYC. I like it mostly because 1) its fun, 2) I love the greens there (wild) and 3) it's just a neat low-key place to play golf. I don't know if I agree yet that it's usually firm and fast as I've played a couple of soggy rounds there.

As much as I really like WB, the more times I play Minikahda the closer it gets to the top spot.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I live in Annapolis, MD. Baltimore CC may be my favorite course within 50 miles, but my home course, Four Streams, is a close second.  It is a Steve Smyers course with great terrain and bunkering.

[Brad Tufts]

Essex County Club
Some of the routing has older roots, but Ross primarily.
Classic, goes back to the 1890s
Why?  Great variety, old-world style, diverse set of greens, where Ross really became "Donald Ross".

[K. Krahenbuhl]

Classic Course: Champions Golf Club - Cypress Creek
Modern Course: Carlton Woods - Fazio

There is a pretty decent gap before the next best in both categories in my mind.

[Neil Davis]

Course: White Bear Yacht Club
Architect: Donald Ross
Classic or modern: Classic
Why?: There is a number of fun holes that require thought. There are great green complexes. It usually plays firm and fast.

Hi Jeff,

I generally agree with your nomination of WBYC. I like it mostly because 1) its fun, 2) I love the greens there (wild) and 3) it's just a neat low-key place to play golf. I don't know if I agree yet that it's usually firm and fast as I've played a couple of soggy rounds there.

As much as I really like WB, the more times I play Minikahda the closer it gets to the top spot.

When I am at Interlachen I think that is my favorite course, but when I am at Minikahda I think Minikahda is my favorite.  A real Sophie's Choice, I know...

[JMEvensky]

When I am at Interlachen I think that is my favorite course, but when I am at Minikahda I think Minikahda is my favorite.  A real Sophie's Choice, I know...

Apologies for being a prick,but I'm guessing you've never read the novel. Sophie's choice was a little more difficult than which golf course to play.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Favorite course within 5 miles:  Karsten Creek

Favorite course within 50 miles: Oak Tree National

Favorite course within 60 miles: Southern Hills

Favorite course with 2.5 hours: Prairie Dunes

Where do I play?  At the local muni.  

[Neil Davis]

When I am at Interlachen I think that is my favorite course, but when I am at Minikahda I think Minikahda is my favorite.  A real Sophie's Choice, I know...

Apologies for being a prick,but I'm guessing you've never read the novel. Sophie's choice was a little more difficult than which golf course to play.

Apology accepted.

[Dan Kelly]

When I am at Interlachen I think that is my favorite course, but when I am at Minikahda I think Minikahda is my favorite.  A real Sophie's Choice, I know...

You must have read a "Sophie's Choice" different from the one I read!

I haven't played any of the contenders often enough to say which would prove to be my "favorite" within 50 miles -- but Minikahda and White Bear are certainly in the hunt, along with Oak Ridge. I have really enjoyed every round I've played at all three of those courses in recent years. (No comment on Interlachen, which I've never played.)

Put it this way: All of the contenders are Classic courses.

I have never turned down a chance to play Hazeltine or Windsong Farm, but I don't think either course would survive the competition.

My real favorite at the moment is my home course, because I've played it often enough to know it pretty well. Seems to me that frequency of play is an essential part of becoming a "favorite" golf course.

[Chris Clouser]

Purgatory in Noblesville, IN
Ron Kern
Modern

Granted I haven't played it for a long while for various reasons.  But I think the unique challenge on each hole and the green complexes really are cut above anything else in the area.  It is an much easier walk than the Fort and I feel the course as a whole is a little more consistent than Trophy Club (which is a very close second in my mind).  I limited this to public courses because the privates I just don't have the ability to get on them enough to warrant including them in this.

[Lou_Duran]

Favorite course within 5 miles:  Karsten Creek

Favorite course within 50 miles: Oak Tree National

Favorite course within 60 miles: Southern Hills

Favorite course with 2.5 hours: Prairie Dunes

Where do I play?  At the local muni.  

A man of sophisticated tastes and limited means?

I once played with a Newbie who thought that a very average daily-fee nearby was outstanding.  Though I am not sure about the morals, the old Stephen Stills song "Love the One You're With" makes some sense.  Who is better off, the guy who plays Sandpines regularly and thinks he is in heaven?  Or the Golfweek sophisticate who gave it a 0 on his ballot for "America's Best"?

My pick in the 50-mile from home category, Dallas National GC.  Don't play there often.

 

[Josh Tarble]

Josh,

It's a pretty tough call, but there's just a certain je ne sais quoi about Shoreacres and the way he weaves in and out of the ravines on the property.  I guess I'm saying it's a better routing.  Chicago Golf, wonderful as it is, isn't as interesting a piece of property. Most lower handicaps would not agree with me as Shoreacres takes driver out of their hands too often.  I even had a 1 hdcp buddy who turned down membership for this reason.

Interesting.

Just seeing pictures I would tend to agree with you, although Chicago does seem more of a "championship" test.  I suppose you can't go wrong with either one though.

[David Amarnek]

Favorite course within 50 miles of my home:
St. Louis Country Club (walking distance!)

Favorite course within 50 miles of my home town (Philly):
Pine Valley

[Terry Lavin]

Jud,
I don't know if I've ever asked or heard....what makes Shoreacres better than Chicago Golf?  Just the terrain? Seems to me like they'd be pretty close in design and stature.

For me, I give the edge to Shoreacres because of the landforms created by ravines coming off the Lake Michigan shoreline.  This creates some pretty fun and occasionally dramatic landscapes that Chicago Golf lacks.  They are both great, but Shoreacres wins the head-to-head on visual interest.

[PCCraig]

When I am at Interlachen I think that is my favorite course, but when I am at Minikahda I think Minikahda is my favorite.  A real Sophie's Choice, I know...

You must have read a "Sophie's Choice" different from the one I read!

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Neil was trying to be sarcastic.

[Dan Kelly]

When I am at Interlachen I think that is my favorite course, but when I am at Minikahda I think Minikahda is my favorite.  A real Sophie's Choice, I know...

You must have read a "Sophie's Choice" different from the one I read!

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Neil was trying to be sarcastic.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that I was trying to get a cheap laugh.

[Josh Tarble]

Jud,
I don't know if I've ever asked or heard....what makes Shoreacres better than Chicago Golf?  Just the terrain? Seems to me like they'd be pretty close in design and stature.

For me, I give the edge to Shoreacres because of the landforms created by ravines coming off the Lake Michigan shoreline.  This creates some pretty fun and occasionally dramatic landscapes that Chicago Golf lacks.  They are both great, but Shoreacres wins the head-to-head on visual interest.

Terry, very cool.  Just lack of length that keeps the two from swapping spots in the eyes of most raters?  

Not that it really matters, I've just always wondered since they are so similar in design and stature.

[Steve Burrows]

Course: Harrison Hills
Architect: Langford and Moreau (original 9 holes), Liddy (additional 9 holes)
Classic or modern: Classic and modern
Why?: I live out in the farmland of western Indiana, so honestly, there's not really that much golf to choose from, let alone good golf.  The land forms on the original holes are as bold and as full of character as some of the world's best, and the new holes are nothing to scoff at.