Most Fun

[Mark Pearce]

Gullane 3 is more fun than Elie?  In whose weird world can that be said with a serious face?

Well I did play Gullane 3 with Archie Baird and John Ashworth, so it might have been the company.

Nah, Gullane 3 is huge fun. It may not be a better course than Elie although haven't played Elie enough to say, but it can certainly hold it's head up in any company when it comes to fun IMO. Of course it also depends on how you define what gives you fun. For me what makes Gullane 3 fun is that its not a slog but it can easily bite your bum if you try to overpower it, but then again it allows recovery shots although you have to work for them. In short (and it is short) you are always in the game while at the same time being tested. 

Niall

I didn't say Gullane 3 wasn't fun.  But Elie is, on any measure, more fun.  Half-par holes?  Check.  Blind shots, check.  Use of contours?  Check.  Interesting greens?  Check.

[Mike Hendren]

The Sandbox, by a mile.

Mike

[Joe Leenheer]

Any course depending on the group (which means playing solo is always a treat  )


I'm also spoiled, so conditions weigh heavily on the fun factor.  I've walked onto the grounds of a top 5 (USA) course that had been punched a week or so earlier and thought "I wonder where else nearby we can get on?". 


I'd much rather play a firm and fast muni then a gem in conditions that don't allow it to be played as it was intended.


That being said....


Oakmont
Pebble
LACC North
any Raynor
Pinehurst #2

[David McIntosh]

Quite a few that have already been mentioned on my list:

North Berwick
Prestwick
Cruden Bay
Brora
TOC
Rye
Elie
Kilspindie

I’d also put forward Dunaverty - had a great time there on a solo early morning round before playing Machrihanish a few years ago and would thoroughly recommend it.

[Jim Nugent]

Do any Jim Engh courses make the grade? 

[Terry Lavin]

Any course depending on the group (which means playing solo is always a treat  )


I'm also spoiled, so conditions weigh heavily on the fun factor.  I've walked onto the grounds of a top 5 (USA) course that had been punched a week or so earlier and thought "I wonder where else nearby we can get on?". 


I'd much rather play a firm and fast muni then a gem in conditions that don't allow it to be played as it was intended.


That being said....


Oakmont
Pebble
LACC North
any Raynor
Pinehurst #2

Love this list.  When I was making mine, I almost put Fox Chapel (Pittsburgh Raynor) in there, but demurred because I already had a Raynor (Shoreacres) and I had only played the Chapel once.  That one time was hysterical fun and entirely memorable.  It was even more memorable because we played Oakmont in the morning and on the previous afternoon.  Not for nothing, I love Pinehurst #2 and LACC North is my second favorite golf travel destination, topped only by Bandon.  If you don't have fun at LACC, it's on you, as they say.

[Jim Franklin]

Rock Creek Cattle
NGLA
Wolf Point
Ballyneal
LACC North

[Kalen Braley]

Do any Jim Engh courses make the grade?

I put Black Rock on my list and I think someone else put Lakota Canyon, which I almost put on my list as well.

[corey miller]

I am blessed in that I only play "fun" courses with people I truly enjoy being with.  Therefore for me the answer is a little different in that I find the "most fun" at Rockaway Hunting because it is so much different than its NYC Metro Area peers.  With the recent work by Jim Wagner and Gil Hanse it is now the best it has ever been.


The advantages all which increase the "fun" factor:


6200 yards
wind
fast n firm
on water with wonderful views
flat
easy walk
trolleys
easily <4 hours
Southside Dark Rum, the only way to have it plus their own secret mixture
Dario  57 year ? club employee, the finest gentleman you will ever meet . 

[Christian Newton]

I'll second:

Carne
Rustic Canyon

And add:

Streamsong Black

Cheers,
Christian

[Ed Homsey]

From a somewhat limited list, I immediately think of Cape Arundel Golf Club--and, as Mike Sweeney suggests-the setting has someething to do with it.  But, beyond that, there's features of the course that I enjoy taking in, and its "old" feeling contributes to same of the fun.  Then, there's Teugaga.  Again, a sense of quirkiness to some of the holes that adds to the pleasure and challenge.  I'd put CC of Troy in same category, and the Durand-Eastman publinx course in Rochester that brings back lots of great memories and, during the rare occasions I've played it in the past few years, always reminds me of what it might have been.  Then, there's Thendara, up in NY State's Adirondacks.  Some features that cause me to smile, or even laugh.  How can you pass that 9th green without laughing?  And then, there's my home course that, over the 45 seasons I've played it, brings a sense of calm enjoyment and fulfillment, with nothing that's going to rip my heart out.  That's fun!!

[Joe Zucker]

Also, what makes golf fun? It might be width. I agree with Conley Hurst that Sunningdale Old was really fun. I didn't enjoy the new nearly as much. I really think my reason is that I thought the fairways being tight with the very penal heather on Sunningdale New wasn't fun for me.


I think Wide fairways firm fairways where you can swing away with the driver. Big quirky features and or interesting tumbling land and wild greens and a bunch of half par holes equals fun for me.


I also agree with Peter that fun should equal good. These 5 courses are definitely in my list of favorites all time too. Royal Melbourne West, Deal, Sandwich and Pinehurst Number 2 are also in there with my all time favorites but I think they all had a level of difficulty that makes me leave them out of the list for shear fun. What's strange though is I enjoyed playing them a ton and I had fun.

I agree with a lot of what Rick has said here.  To me, a good portion of how much "fun" I have is how easy the course is.  I love golf, so pretty much any time I play it's fun and I don't want it to be a thoughtless course (I could just go to a driving range), but it shouldn't be hard.  Golf is most fun when you aren't losing balls and you have opportunities to hit approach shots at pins. 


Fun courses get back to our usual refrain of wide fairways and opportunities to recover after a bad shot.  But John makes a good point with Royal Melbourne and Pinehurst.  Even though you won't lost many balls there, the greens might be too severe for fun in the strictest sense.


I think the Old Course is the most fun because it's not very hard.  Unless the weather is wild, it plays pretty easy because it is short and wide open, but it is still never boring.  So for me, fun golf is an easy course that finds away to keep you thinking on shots.

[Morgan Clawson]

Ballyneal
Kingsley
Sand Valley Resort
Sweeten’s Cove
White Bear Yacht Club

[John Kavanaugh]

I have the most fun watching my friends hit horrible shots. I could do it for hours and hours and often do. The harder the course the better.

[David_Madison]

Mid Pines
Eastward Ho
Tobacco Road
Ballyneal
Merion West
Sandhills
Oakmont


Each is fun yet different. All wonderful match play courses, with lots of quirk, opportunities for heroic shots and recoveries, and where double bogies can win holes and birdies lose them.

[Tim Leahy]

Do any Jim Engh courses make the grade?

Fossil Trace was alot of fun. Holes through quarry with fossils on walls and brick chimney in the middle of fairway were fun.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Oakmont

Wow, I was wrong.

And the "wow" is not for "I was wrong." The "wow" is because of what I was wrong about - someone else listed Oakmont as "most fun." 

[Kevin_Reilly]

Off topic, but how can anyone who has played Sand Hills write it as Sandhills.


That would be like writing Pebblebeach or Pinevalley.

[Tim Gallant]

Echoing a few on here, the ones that jumped to my mind:


North Berwick
Elie
Machrihanish
Shiskine
Rye
Prestwick
Myopia Hunt
Hyannisport
Meadowbrook (MI)
Yale
Wilshire
Kilspindie
Reigate Heath
Dunbar

[Eric Smith]

Off topic, but how can anyone who has played Sand Hills write it as Sandhills.

I’ve seen it written that way somewhere else ...


https://mobile.twitter.com/CuttenGolf/status/1081257966790107136/photo/1

[David_Madison]

Oakmont

Wow, I was wrong.

And the "wow" is not for "I was wrong." The "wow" is because of what I was wrong about - someone else listed Oakmont as "most fun." 

Erik - how can you not laugh at yourself when playing Oakmont and seeing how badly a course can expose your every flaw while at the same time rewarding you when you really get something right? Even members who go out there and shoot 110 are having a blast every time. I wouldn't want to have to grind out a medal score every time I played the course, but playing match play or a Stableford format and seeing how many pars or better I can squeeze out of a round is a hoot.

[Chuck Glowacki]

NGLA

[Joe Leenheer]

Oakmont

Wow, I was wrong.

And the "wow" is not for "I was wrong." The "wow" is because of what I was wrong about - someone else listed Oakmont as "most fun." 

Erik - how can you not laugh at yourself when playing Oakmont and seeing how badly a course can expose your every flaw while at the same time rewarding you when you really get something right? Even members who go out there and shoot 110 are having a blast every time. I wouldn't want to have to grind out a medal score every time I played the course, but playing match play or a Stableford format and seeing how many pars or better I can squeeze out of a round is a hoot.

One of my fun aspect comes greatly from when I get to see my ball move after it comes in contact with the ground.  You tend to get this a lot at "The Mont".  Unfortunately, in the North East we don't get much of that.

[Jim Franklin]

Off topic, but how can anyone who has played Sand Hills write it as Sandhills.


That would be like writing Pebblebeach or Pinevalley.

Thought the same thing.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Erik - how can you not laugh at yourself when playing Oakmont and seeing how badly a course can expose your every flaw while at the same time rewarding you when you really get something right? Even members who go out there and shoot 110 are having a blast every time. I wouldn't want to have to grind out a medal score every time I played the course, but playing match play or a Stableford format and seeing how many pars or better I can squeeze out of a round is a hoot.

Oh it was on my "Fun" list too, I just thought I'd be the only one. Most just talk about how it pounds you over the head for 18 holes.