What course really exceeded your expectations in 2014?

[Joe Bausch]

I try not to overly research a course before I play it, but I don't do a very good job of doing so!  With the amount of info on this site and other places on the Internet, books, etc, it is usually hard not to have some pre-conceived notions about a course.  So, sometimes I find my actual experience significantly exceeds my expectations going in.  My current thread on Sunnehanna might suggest this was my winner for 2014.  And it was up there.

But for me the place that far exceeded my expectations was Doylestown CC, an older course in the Philly 'burbs that typically isn't the first or second or even 20th course mentioned in our region.  But this Flynn/Gordon design really impressed me.  It has been worked on quite a bit in the recent past by Stephen Kay.

Here is a view of one of the Flynn holes, the downhill par 3 5th:



And the look from behind the green on the uphill par 4 6th, another Flynn hole:



Here is the entire album of 80 photos:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/Doylestown/

What course really exceeded your expectations this year?  Even better if it is a less well-known place.   

[Ally Mcintosh]

Golspie for me I think.

Moray Old was better than I expected too.

[Thomas Dai]

Cruit Island ........... and Dunfanaghy.

The 5th at Cruit - not just scenic quirk, damn fine golf too.


The 9th at Dunfanaghy - extremely nice golf in a wondeful location


Atb

[Eric Smith]

Shore Course at MPCC!

[Michael Essig]

Although I do a lot of research to obtain a consensus on where to play, I try and ignore the "why" people like it.  I assume that if enough people like it, so will I.  But it was so much more than I expected.

The answer: North Berwick

I knew the course was famous for the original Redan, but one hole does not make a golf course.  I knew it was famous for its quirkiness, but I honestly don't know what that really means because I consider that a very subjective word.

In summary, I just loved this place.  Despite having a very good reputation, it still greatly exceeded my expectations.

[Garland Bayley]

Bude and North Cornwall

[Mark Saltzman]

Royal Melbourne East
Peninsula North
Laval sur le Lac (Blue)

[Paul Gray]

Not to be contrary because there's talk about it on another threat but Eastbourne Downs does come to mind. It's not that it was anything special but it did have an authenticity about it which came as a surprise.

Stoneham - Returning after twenty years away I was thoroughly impressed with the work done to restore it.

Woodbridge - Utterly under the radar course out in Suffolk which deserves more recognition.

Pinehurst #2 - Not that I played it but I just loved the US Open because I really didn't think they'd have the balls to do what they did.

[Jim_Kennedy]

McGregor Links CC in Wilton, NY.

[Matthew Essig]

North Berwick
Elie
Jubilee at St. Andrews
Gamble Sands

I can't think of a word to explain how blown away and how much fun I had at these courses. They caught me by surprise.

[Chris DeToro]

I think two places come to mind for me:

Worcester CC--I'd only really heard about the history of this club and the events that they've held, not as much about the course, and was very impressed.  I'm not sure what the course was like prior to the restoration work that they've done but it's phenomenal

Taconic--yes, this place gets talked about, but not raved about and I thought it was rave-worthy.  So much character, lots of really strong, cool holes and an overall great experience

[Chris Roselle]

Royal Melbourne East
Peninsula North
Laval sur le Lac (Blue)

Mark, it's funny you mention Laval sur le Lac (Blue).  I spent a few days there this past August for the playing of the Williamson Cup.  I really enjoyed it and heard that they might be getting the Canadian Open in a few years.


The very demanding par 4, 8th


My favorite hole, the par 4, 12th


The par 5, 1st


The par 3, 3rd

[Tom_Doak]

Joe:

To your point, it's hard to find a course anymore that you know a little bit about, but not too much.  For example, Glens Falls was probably the best course I saw for the first time in 2014, and I'd done my best to stay away from the photo threads about it or from asking too many questions of Ian Andrew, but I still EXPECTED it to be very good based on his report.

The one course which really exceeded my expectations was Burning Tree.  You don't see many pictures of it anywhere, and the exclusive nature of the club discourages a lot of conversation about the course.  But I thought it was a terrific routing over a very interesting piece of ground, and there were more putts off greens in our three-ball than I saw anywhere else in 2014.

Honorable mention:  McGregor Links; CC of Buffalo; Bulls Bay; Baha Mar

[John Kavanaugh]

My favorite golfing experiences come from cold calls to clubs along the road.  This year it was The Links at Columbia Golf and Country Club in Columbia, Missouri.  I wish I would have had time to grab a tan.

http://www.lindseymanagement.com/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?type=golf&city=Columbia&state=MO&id=52

 

[Dan Moore]

I was going to say Dismal River Red but that was more a case of meeting very high expectations rather than exceeding them.  It does win as best course I saw for first time in 2014 which included some classic links and a few highly regarded Pete Dye courses!!  I also was going to say Coore and Crenshaw's Sand Valley Barrens Course as the more I see of the property, holes getting cleared and shaped and other parts of the property available for course 2-5 the more excited I get.  Another might have been Idlewild in Chicago, but that would have to be based on the potential of a very nice Bendelow routing on a really decent property that is egregiously treed in all the wrong places. 

So my winner is Harry Colt's Broadstone.  I didn't have high expectations but thought it had several world class holes including this one.

[Ryan Coles]

Sunningdale Old.

Knew it would be good and having played the other great heaths over the last 3 years, didn't think it could better them. It did by a distance.

[Pete Lavallee]

The wife and I spent Thanksgiving in the sleepy town of Borrego Springs in the Anza Borrego Desert, 2 hours east of San Diego. The Fazio redo of the original Ted Robinson was called Montesoro; the course had been closed for three years, it reopened on Nov. 14, 2014. I was blown away by the layout and especially the conditioning. That's two Fazios I played and liked this year! The other was Alderra, thanks again Victor!

[Jonathan Mallard]

Crystal Downs.

There are certainly many wonderful photographs, but the routing and the use of the relief was simply amazing.

[ward peyronnin]

For me the Cal Club really exceeded expectation. AS good as the pics are here on the site they simply can't convey how dramatic the property is and how artistic the holes are rendered. Josh Smith is closely connected to the club and  just sketched renderings of the holes for their new yardage book which may become a collectors item.

The Fields by Mike Young in LaGrange GA also far exceeded my expect. Lotsa fun, firm and fast and refreshing to see what is possible with a laughingly tiny maintenance budget

[Tom Dunne]

Hardelot (Les Pins), by a mile. Frank Pont and Patrice Boissonnas did a fantastic job restoring this cool old Simpson design. Hardelot is the kind of course that strikes the perfect balance between fun and challenge--I was engaged from start to finish, but never felt like I didn't have a shot. A great "everyday" course that should be on the radar of SE England travelers, as it's so close to Calais. When Frank and Patrice finish the job at Le Touquet, that'll be all the more reason to jump across the Channel for a day or two.  

Runner Up: Pasatiempo. I went in with high expectations, but those greens just blew me away. A work of art.  

[Bill_McBride]

Ditto for the Fields, a very good and very affordable course.

[Matt Meyer]

Recent visits to Holston Hills in Knoxville and Brookside CC Canton reinforce how masterful these green complexes are. Both courses are a shining example of how fun an uncluttered restored Ross course should play.  

[Matthew Essig]

Recent visits to Holston Hills in Knoxville and Brookside CC Canton reinforce how masterful these green complexes are. Both courses are a shining example of how fun an uncluttered restored Ross course should play.  

Nice first post!

[Jason Topp]

I knew Lawsonia Links was good but it was much better than I expected.

[BHoover]

Recent visits to Holston Hills in Knoxville and Brookside CC Canton reinforce how masterful these green complexes are. Both courses are a shining example of how fun an uncluttered restored Ross course should play.  

Good to see you here, Matt!  I agree that Brookside is an example of a great set of greens.  The restoration work by Silva is simply masterful.  I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it, Brookside is perhaps the best course in Ohio (and my personal (and hometown) favorite).