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Terry Lavin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #25 on: August 06, 2015, 11:53:49 AM »
Dunes is great.  I haven't played Sweetens Cove or Whittinsville, but they look spectacular in the photo threads hereabouts.
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.  H.L. Mencken

Jon Wiggett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #26 on: August 06, 2015, 12:18:31 PM »
My take would be

Royal Worlington & Newmarket as the best from a solid course with excellent GCA. For fun I stick with Abernethy or mine but I would say that wouldn't I ::)

Jon

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #27 on: August 06, 2015, 01:01:59 PM »
but a very honourable mention indeed for the St Olaf course at Cruden Bay.
That's quite an endorsement.
Well that certainly makes me feel dumb for having not played it!
I love 9 holers


I reckon you'd love the St Olaf Jeff. I played it 9 times in one day once, many, many years ago - I didn't check the club diary in advance, well pre-web days, and went up for a knock only to find the main course busy with a competition. :)


Atb

Jon Cavalier

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #28 on: August 06, 2015, 01:32:13 PM »
It's between Dunes and Whittinsville for me.

I give the edge to Dunes, but it's awfully close.
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Keith OHalloran

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #29 on: August 06, 2015, 01:34:40 PM »
I really love Quogue Field Club. Great greens and some really cool holes. Feels like you go back in time when you play it.

Benjamin Litman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #30 on: August 06, 2015, 01:36:06 PM »
I'm with Keith (as should be clear by now). Again, full history and photo tour of QFC coming very soon.
"One will perform in large part according to the circumstances."
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Ryan Hillenbrand

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #31 on: August 06, 2015, 01:44:13 PM »
Hideaway Beach in Marco Island FL was probably my favorite, until I played Dunes Club

Mark Provenzano

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #32 on: August 06, 2015, 02:49:24 PM »
Aetna Springs in Napa County, CA. Peaceful and secluded, was like having a private golf playground.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #33 on: August 06, 2015, 03:37:56 PM »
Aetna Springs in Napa County, CA. Peaceful and secluded, was like having a private golf playground.


Aetna Springs was a cool project for us ... I played there in Feburary for the first time in a while, it's a lovely experience.


I have played most of the courses mentioned so far, except for Sweetens Cove which Ran speaks highly of in volume 2 of The Confidential Guide, and the Valliere, which I'll play this fall.  For me, Royal Worlington & Newmarket is still #1, and I have Whitinsville slightly ahead of The Dunes Club. 


They are not all that far apart; all the guys who say it's one or another, "by a mile," are just uninformed souls who haven't played the other two.  But Royal Worlington & Newmarket has nine really good holes out of nine; Whitinsville and The Dunes Club only have seven or eight.

Nigel Islam

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #34 on: August 06, 2015, 04:00:37 PM »
Aetna Springs in Napa County, CA. Peaceful and secluded, was like having a private golf playground.


Aetna Springs was a cool project for us ... I played there in Feburary for the first time in a while, it's a lovely experience.


I have played most of the courses mentioned so far, except for Sweetens Cove which Ran speaks highly of in volume 2 of The Confidential Guide, and the Valliere, which I'll play this fall.  For me, Royal Worlington & Newmarket is still #1, and I have Whitinsville slightly ahead of The Dunes Club. 


They are not all that far apart; all the guys who say it's one or another, "by a mile," are just uninformed souls who haven't played the other two.  But Royal Worlington & Newmarket has nine really good holes out of nine; Whitinsville and The Dunes Club only have seven or eight.


That is an interesting statement, because I would say it is somewhat rare for an 18 hole course to have 18 really good holes.


Brian Bowman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #35 on: August 06, 2015, 04:17:10 PM »
Another vote for sweetens cove, fantastic golf course

Trey Kemp

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Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #36 on: August 06, 2015, 04:27:34 PM »
The best I have played is Sweetens Cove with The Course at Sewanee as a close 2nd.  The two courses are only about 30 minutes apart which makes for a fun day of golf.
twitter.com/TreyKempGCA

Michael Goldstein

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #37 on: August 06, 2015, 04:32:45 PM »
Will be interested to hear Tom's thoughts after playing Valliere.

If Dunes Club is indeed #1 as many claim above this french masterpiece it must be something very very special… [/size][size=78%] [/size]
@Pure_Golf

Ben Hollerbach

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #38 on: August 06, 2015, 05:20:09 PM »
The more I play St. Martins the more I enjoy it. It's rarely discussed, and drastically overshadowed by the other PCC courses, but is fantastic jewel of a course. I can imagine being a kid again and having nearly free reign on that course all summer long. Unfortunately a fun as it is, and perfectly suited for hickory play, it does not have the teeth to compete with the other great 9 holers.


Sweetens and Suwanee are fantastic Tennessee cousins, as similar and as different as possible. From tee to green Suwanee is a more demanding course, but that all changes when it comes to the greens. The quality of design and play-ability of the greens around Sweetens is what makes the golf course so special. At times the pin positions demand you to truly plan out your approach, at others your goal is to just feed the ball towards a certain sector of the green and let gravity do the rest. I could see the possibility of playing consecutive 9's there and having an 8-10 shot swing between 9's just because of the greens. Where as Suwanee is predictable, Sweetens can be just simply humbling, but in a way that brings you back every time.


One of my all time favorites is the cow pasture course in Atlanta known as Candler Park. At about $1 per hole for city residence its about as cheap as you can find for golf, and at times you get what you pay for. but there is so much quirk and charm on those few acres of fairway.

Mike Wagner

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #39 on: August 06, 2015, 05:30:10 PM »
SkyRidge - Sequim, WA

Tim Leahy

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #40 on: August 06, 2015, 06:14:45 PM »
A toss up for me  Northwood in Monte Rio CA or Gleneagles in San Francisco.
Have you played Black Oak in Auburn, CA? Very challenging 9 with big old Oak trees, par 34.
Also Gleneagles International near SFO is like Harding Park.
In Sacramento William Land Park is a nice tree lined 9 holer with a tight field goal par 3 between two giant Eucs.
I love golf, the fightin irish, and beautiful women depending on the season and availability.

Jay Mickle

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #41 on: August 06, 2015, 07:23:21 PM »
I have only played a few but the one that stands out is Mulranny and if I could figure out how to post pictures I would put one or more up.  I look forward to Sweetens Cove next month.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2015, 07:25:50 PM by Jay Mickle »
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Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #42 on: August 06, 2015, 07:50:41 PM »
I would say it is somewhat rare for an 18 hole course to have 18 really good holes.


Nigel:


Well, it is a lot harder to go 18 for 18 than it is to go 9 for 9.  It's like the difference between pitching a no-hitter for three innings, or for six.  The front nine at Crystal Downs, to name just one off the top of my head, would beat any of these we are discussing.

Sinclair Eaddy

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #43 on: August 06, 2015, 09:02:02 PM »
I've had chance to play Philly Cricket's St. Martins. A very enjoyable walk with lots of strategy for a shorter course. May I also offer another candidate which many of you may not be familiar-- the Gibson Island Club outside Baltimore situated on the Chesapeake Bay. A unique 9 holer with a CB Macdonald and Seth Raynor pedigree. Intensely private but a real treat for their members and guests. A nice course tour is on the club website:




gibsonisland.com

Greg Gilson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #44 on: August 06, 2015, 09:02:20 PM »
If any of these are better than Valiere at Morfontaine...I have to get out a lot more. That's the funnest 90 minutes in golf.

BCowan

Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #45 on: August 06, 2015, 09:14:45 PM »
Aetna Springs in Napa County, CA. Peaceful and secluded, was like having a private golf playground.

 They are not all that far apart; all the guys who say it's one or another, "by a mile," are just uninformed souls who haven't played the other two.  But Royal Worlington & Newmarket has nine really good holes out of nine; Whitinsville and The Dunes Club only have seven or eight.

Tom,

   The title of the thread is the best 9 hole course You've played. 

Sweetens Cove is the best 9 hole track I have played by a MILE.  Until I played Sweetens I really had little desire to play 9 hole courses.  Others I recall that I've played are

2 of the RTJ AL courses
Quarry Ridge
Can't recall any others

Plan on playing Whittinsville in the next year



Chris Mavros

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #46 on: August 06, 2015, 10:16:53 PM »
Out of the 9 hole courses I played, the best has been Phoenixville CC, of which I was a member for a few years.  A good amount of quirk, variety and character with a lot of the challenge closer to the greens.  I never tired of playing there, even on those rare days I was able to get around a few times. 

Pete_Pittock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #47 on: August 06, 2015, 11:41:44 PM »
Elkhorn Valley (OR), cut out of the forests east of Salem. Unfortunately, imo, it has been expanded to a full 18 hole course with intertwined sides. Total seclusion, playing it was something like entering puberty. We had an annual 32 man tournament in late April, and that was one of the most anticipated rounds of the year. A late friend started birdie, eagle, ace.

I am most of the way through playing all Oregon golf courses, and nothing comes close.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2015, 11:43:58 PM by Pete_Pittock »

Jason Way

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #48 on: August 07, 2015, 12:16:04 AM »
Anyone played Weekapaug?


Dunes Club would be hard to beat, but I intend to put it to the test by getting out the Whitinsville as soon as possible.
"Golf is a science, the study of a lifetime, in which you can exhaust yourself but never your subject." - David Forgan

Will Lozier

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Best 9 hole course you've played
« Reply #49 on: August 07, 2015, 12:36:47 AM »
I've spent just a day at Sweeten's and it is fantastic. I used to play Wawenock on my way from Bath to Turnip Island in Maine and it is a timeless gem with suspect conditioning but great land and a clever little routing.