The Best or Your Favorite UGLY GOLF COURSES

[K Rafkin]

Aesthetics matter, probably more than they should.  So...I was wondering what good examples are there of course that aren't all that great to look at, but are still considered great golf courses due to the strategic challenges the course presents.


There is a "Dumb Blonde" award, and now maybe we can add the "Smart Brunette" award.

[Charles Lund]

Carlton Oaks.  Generally looks worn out and tired.  I usually play it in winter when trees are bare.

Charles Lund

[Ryan Coles]

Siloth the obvious uk answer.

[Joe Sponcia]

In Myrtle Beach, at the Legends facility, the Moorland course fits the bill.

[Terry Lavin]

Can't do it. Seems too rude.

[Michael Felton]

I think you need to define pretty. Augusta probably qualifies as "pretty", but if that's your definition, then basically any of the UK links courses would be "ugly" and a lot of them are spectacular.

[BCowan]

Brae Burn GC in Plymouth, MI.  We had a spring SE MI GCA meetup up this spring and had to endure some snow flurries.  The track was on heavy clay soil with poor drainage next to a dumb.  Other then that it was great.  Some grass bunkers that were once bunkers have really evolved well.  Many of the Reid green contours on the back side were very good as well.  The boys need to do a late fall outing again at BB...   

[Cliff Hamm]

Metacomet in Rhode Island would fit the bill.  On top of the visuals outside the course, when I played there very loud construction noise harmed the ambience.  Just as a course can benefit from being on water, a course can also be harmed by negative visuals.

[Joe Bausch]

Can't do it. Seems too rude.

Agreed.

[Mark Pearce]

I don't think of Silloth in this category.  For me the obvious English example is Seaton Carew.

[John McCarthy]

In Zion IL Shepherd's Crook is a fantastic golf course next to a giant garbage dump.  Depending on the wind both the vistas and the smells can be affected.

[Greg Gilson]

In Melbourne Sandbelt  it might be Spring Valley (or Smelly Valley to non members).

[John Kavanaugh]

If you have ever "dated" in a gaggle of sisters and felt short changed you just might feel like I did at the Jubilee at St. Andrews. Perfectly satisfied.

[Kalen Braley]

In related almost reverse fashion....


I'm guessing a place like Wine Valley will suffer big time if they ever implement their housing plan.  I can't imagine a better, more terrific course that would get ruined by a bunch of McMansions...

[John Kavanaugh]

An architect that builds a housing course where no one builds houses is a hack. The greatest compliment any architect can get is I hate all those houses.

[Bob Jenkins]

Kalen, you are bang on regarding Wine Valley. I cannot imagine houses around that place with all of those beautiful open spaces.


Sean Leary could chip in about Furry Creek on the road to Whistler. Beautiful views of the water, mountains, etc. but as a golf course, very ugly.

[Rich Goodale]

Agree with Mark.  Seaton Carew is the poster child for ugly, by all criteria, but it is also a great course.

[Thomas Dai]

Royal Porthcawl overlooks the steel works etc at Port Talbot.......although for how much longer?
Atb

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen, you are bang on regarding Wine Valley. I cannot imagine houses around that place with all of those beautiful open spaces.


Sean Leary could chip in about Furry Creek on the road to Whistler. Beautiful views of the water, mountains, etc. but as a golf course, very ugly.

That makes sense Bob, almost anything will look dreary compared to that backdrop.  British Colombia in general is just gorgeous!!

[Eric Hammerbacher]

Fox Hollow (formerly Longview) in Timonium, MD is a fun course that I play a lot, but there is a graveyard on one side, apartment buildings overlooking the other side, power lines criss-crossing right through the front nine, AND the back nine is built on a dump! 

However, no one seems to notice or mind, and the greens are heavily contoured and some of my favorite in the area.

[Gib_Papazian]

When I think gray, windswept, foreboding and unwelcoming - a charmless, Calvinist exercise in self-flagellation - my first thought is Carnoustie. It is "The Best" - and most mercilessly thorough - rectal examination with a cattle prod that golf has to offer.

If you want to establish a naked baseline of how your game measures up - to paraphrase Bill Parcells:

"You are what your score says your are!"

It was also my father's favorite golf course across the pond.

But damn, is it ugly.

[Jon Wiggett]

I think you need to define pretty. Augusta probably qualifies as "pretty", but if that's your definition, then basically any of the UK links courses would be "ugly" and a lot of them are spectacular.

Or that Augusta is the face of plastic surgery done to the point of looking totally unnatural and fake especially when set against the natural beauty of the links.


Jon

[Terry Lavin]

I think you need to define pretty. Augusta probably qualifies as "pretty", but if that's your definition, then basically any of the UK links courses would be "ugly" and a lot of them are spectacular.

Or that Augusta is the face of plastic surgery done to the point of looking totally unnatural and fake especially when set against the natural beauty of the links.


Jon

Aptly put. ANGC in person still looks like a video game.  Way too many eye lifts.

[Niall C]

When I think gray, windswept, foreboding and unwelcoming - a charmless, Calvinist exercise in self-flagellation - my first thought is Carnoustie. It is "The Best" - and most mercilessly thorough - rectal examination with a cattle prod that golf has to offer.

If you want to establish a naked baseline of how your game measures up - to paraphrase Bill Parcells:

"You are what your score says your are!"

It was also my father's favorite golf course across the pond.

But damn, is it ugly.

Gib


A plain Jane maybe. Austere, certainly. But ugly ? I don't think so. It's definitely a stern test though.


Niall

[Alex Miller]

Cool thread.


I'd agree on Carlton Oaks - what a ball-buster but a great test in every way.




The king of all Ugly Golf Courses has to be Santa Anita for me. If you're a SoCal resident or have hit all the big names down here, GO SEE IT. There's nothing quite like it.