[Tommy Williamsen]

When I was young my definition of a fun course was one where I could go low. I didn't care about architecture, only score. As I grew older difficulty became important. I wanted a long tough course. Fun was putting up a decent score on a difficult course. Of course, long back then was only about 7000 yards. At 74 I care less about score and certainly don't need tough, although I belong to a difficult course. I don't hit the ball high anymore so shots that require lots of spin from 180 yards are impossible.


Fun now involves guile. I want my golf IQ tested. Do I know where to hit my tee shot so I can have the best angle into the green. Can I pull it off? The best angle now involves being able to hit and hold the green. The best angle in my youth was often different. Back then I would rather hit over trouble than alongside one. I controlled distance better than direction. I like a course that lets me be creative around the greens. I love to visualize a pitch that has to take into account slope and undulation and how much spin I need to have.


A course like Hidden Creek is right up my alley. You need more creativity than brute strength. It is subtle. Some holes, like ten allow me to hit a shot ten yards short of the green and let it roll on. Others, like the redan fourth, require hitting the shot the correct distance and direction to get it close. Number 8 is only 300 yards but to make a three your second shot must take into account both slope and undulation. Hit it the wrong side of the pin and two putts is even difficult. Too bad I live five hours away from the course.

[Thomas Dai]

Seems like I was born akin to a paragraph two person as I don’t recall overall score ever being important. How the score was achieved and where I’m playing have however, always been important.
Atb


PS - occasionally playing during the last few years with hickories and also with retro steel shafted wooden woods and blade irons/wedges has added an extra element of satisfaction and fun to my game.

[Brad Lawrence]

I don’t necessarily equate fun with easiness or difficulty. A hard hole can be fun or miserable. I think Bethpage black is not fun while Merion is tremendously fun. A chimpanzee can be trained to design a difficult hole, but that doesn’t mean it’s any good.


I like a course that lets you pretty much always find and play your ball. It’s fun to be in a spot of trouble and try to manufacture a score. There’s nothing less fun than marching through high grasses looking for your or someone else’s golf ball.


Strategically, I like a hole that forces you to ask yourself the question every time you play it. Is the balance of risk and reward so well done that you don’t simply play the hole the same way each time?


What I don’t understand is what seems like the obsession with all new courses having to be long and at least fairly difficult. As a decent player, I have a blast playing short and fairly easy courses. But I doubt many high handicappers enjoy feeling beat up.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Do you think that fewer new courses are long and difficult than were built twenty years ago?

[Brad Lawrence]

Do you think that fewer new courses are long and difficult than were built twenty years ago?

Are you asking me? If so, I don’t understand the question.

[Jason Topp]

I think it is fun to make a difficult decision and then try to execute.   I am not sure whether that definition has changed dramatically but I notice the situations more now than at one time. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

Do you think that fewer new courses are long and difficult than were built twenty years ago?

Are you asking me? If so, I don’t understand the question.

I think architects built many long and difficult courses twenty years ago. I think recent designs have been more user friendly.

[Brad Lawrence]

Do you think that fewer new courses are long and difficult than were built twenty years ago?

Are you asking me? If so, I don’t understand the question.

I think architects built many long and difficult courses twenty years ago. I think recent designs have been more user friendly.

Gotcha.  I don’t have the data but it doesn’t feel that way to me.  Every short and or easy course I can think of is pretty old. 

[Wade Whitehead]

I think choices are fun.

Options for line and distance from the tee, for types of shots played into and around the green, and for tackling longer putts on the green.

I think that's why I like split fairways, well-placed bunkers, and slopes next to putting surfaces.

I like being asked to make a decision, then to live with the consequences of my choice (and my execution (or lack thereof)).

It also helps to play with a good friend or two...so get well soon, Tommy!

WW

[John Emerson]

Fun golf to me is hitting all 10 clubs in my bag while being presented with multiple ways to attack a shot.  (Ie: while I could throttle a 9 to complete the shot, I could also run up 6, or choke down on 7 and hit a half punch.)  I also like being able to find my ball almost anywhere as mentioned above.  Score is irrelevant to me and I’m still pretty young.

[Stewart Abramson]

I think choices are fun.

I like being asked to make a decision, then to live with the consequences of my choice (and my execution (or lack thereof)).

WW

+1 on the above. For me, the main decision on each shot  is based on an analysis of the likelihood of my executing the shot and what the results of  possible misses will be.... What are the consequences of different misses and which one presents the best chance for recovery. I like courses that provide for better options on missed shots. That analysis and decision making is fun. Avoiding the worst results and pulling of a good recovery when I do miss is fun and increases the likelihood of   a good  score, which is also fun.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Do you think that fewer new courses are long and difficult than were built twenty years ago?

I think so.  I can't really speak for the entire industry or profession, but I know I have certainly backed off difficulty in the little design work I do.  I know management companies seem to realize that all those hard courses got players in the door once or twice, but that courses of average playability tend to pick up rounds over time. 


One business consultant postulates that the most popular courses are those that allow golfers to shoot about their normal score most days.  Another goes statistically further, saying your course design ought to aim for the national average slope rating of 116.  In reality, some say the real average is 120, and IMHO, in any urban area with 1980-2005 era country clubs for a day, the average slope from the middle tees may be as high as 125, meaning the average player is probably shooting his average score on a course with slopes around that number.


Of course, that raises the interesting question of whether a course ought to be purposely designed somewhat hard, with flashy looks to open, knowing that changes will come in a few years, again purposely, because that is what happens in many cases anyway.  Given it is often time to change or replace sand in 3-7 years, reducing bunkers at that time makes a lot of sense (to me, anyway)


And, back to the OP, for me, not really.  I never really cared about score, and have always been willing to try the bump and run, curved shots, etc. just for fun, even if their chances of success go way down.


I agree choices are fun, but wouldn't they be more fun if on select holes the local rules would allow you to play it both ways just to see?  It occurs to me that "making choices fun" would be a great separate topic for consideration.


Lastly, I am waiting for JK or other similar jokesters to make some comments like, "As I age, my definition of fun is trying to not go to the bathroom until the 9th hole, and laughing my ass off if I don't make it and wet myself........"

[David Wuthrich]

Tom,
I know my idea of fun has changed as I age!  I too don't care about score anymore, just a number, like my age!  I do want to come off the course and head right back to the first tee.  That is my definition of fun these days.  Not the number that you shoot, but where I am playing and who I am playing with defines fun for me these days!!

[Steve Lang]

   What David W just said...


plus having something for the highlight reel!

[Kalen Braley]

I think anyone who says they don't derive at least some pleasure of having a nice day of ball striking and going low (by thier standards) is probably not being truthful.  That's always gonna be enjoyable to hit it nicely, get some birds, and even par a few difficult holes.

That being said, what I find fun on the course is mostly unchanged in the last 20 years:

A course with plenty of variety when it comes to hole lengths and difficulty, where you have a handful of ball busters mixed in with a few other ones that can be had.  Throw in some interesting shots with real choices to make along with a bit of quirk, intrigue, and whimsy, and its a great day on the links.

[Ken Moum]

At age 73 I honestly don't remember what I thought was fun when I started playing fairly seriously 60 years ago. Although I do remember that I inherited a love of club tinkering from my dad, even when I was pretty young.


As far as golf courses and fun, it's taken until fairly recently (10-15 years) for me to have played enough variety to form some firmish opinions. Brauer is right, though, I'm not interested in playing a course that requires my best day to shoot 10 shots over my average. Nor am I looking for a course that lets me shoot 10 shots under it every time either.


If that sounds vague, I accept that my standards are pretty vague.  To put it in perspective with courses that a lot of you have played and are well known,  Brora is fun...and Royal Dornoch isn't.  I'll still probably try to play RDC if I get back to Scotland, but my wife and I would more likely take an overseas membership at Brora or Golspie and try to find a place to rent there for a couple of months.


Fun is getting close enough to greens in regulation figures that I have a chance to make some short-game magic for a par. If I fail, so be it.  But having to hit 13 or 14 fairway woods into greens in 18 holes makes golf too much like work.


These days, 5200-5500 yards with the mix of lengths Kalen mentioned and genuinely challenging green complexes makes me happy almost every time I play.

[Steve Lang]

I think anyone who says they don't derive at least some pleasure of having a nice day of ball striking and going low (by thier standards) is probably not being truthful.  That's always gonna be enjoyable to hit it nicely, get some birds, and even par a few difficult holes.

That being said, what I find fun on the course is mostly unchanged in the last 20 years:

A course with plenty of variety when it comes to hole lengths and difficulty, where you have a handful of ball busters mixed in with a few other ones that can be had.  Throw in some interesting shots with real choices to make along with a bit of quirk, intrigue, and whimsy, and its a great day on the links.

Kalen, How many years have you been playing golf?   


I'm now on my 61st year and I don't believe anyone is discounting the joy of a day of fine play... that's always been an enjoyable highlight reel thing, eclectic versus the occasional winning, placing, or showing in my inter-club, club MGA, and Sr events,THOSE always being a grind to the last hole out, delayed gratification... that never changes.  Give me the social fun any day

[Pete_Pittock]

My home course has two 18 hole courses. One I have fun on because I have options and exercise my mind. The other is not fun for me since it seems for me an extension of a driving range, very little decision making. For comparison at Bandon I have fun on Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails, not so much on Bandon Dunes and Old MacDonald. When I travel I prefer links and links style courses. I can't handle Nicklaus courses near home, so have no inclination to make them a trip destination.

[Sean_A]

Fun for me has been the same for about 25 years. Walk an interesting course, with people I enjoy while hitting a few decent shots.

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

The notion of “fun” is inextricably linked to “challenge”. Every single one of us takes pleasure from hitting sweet golf shots the way we meant to. We take exponentially more pleasure if that golf shot overcomes a tricky situation or exciting challenge put in front of us on a particular golf course… otherwise we might as well just be at the driving range with no marker flags.


Every single one of us feels even better if we can put 18 holes of good shots together and hence comes off with a “good score”, even if not scoring.


So nothing’s changed for me. I still enjoy doing the above whilst enjoying a fresh walk on a beautiful landscape. I chat a bit during a round but the company of my partners actually only becomes really important whilst having lunch / drinks / dinner after the golf.

[Thomas Dai]

Interesting how important score was/is or can be in relation to fun.
Played with a chap the other day who shot for him a really good score, several shots under his hcp. He was delighted, full of the fun and joys of life. What he didn’t seem to appreciate was that two shots that were heading OB hit trees and rebounded back into the middle of the fairway and that a thinned bunker shot that was heading way over the green wrapped itself in the flag and dropped by the hole side. Small margins can have big effects. On another day …..
Atb

[Kalen Braley]

I think anyone who says they don't derive at least some pleasure of having a nice day of ball striking and going low (by thier standards) is probably not being truthful.  That's always gonna be enjoyable to hit it nicely, get some birds, and even par a few difficult holes.

That being said, what I find fun on the course is mostly unchanged in the last 20 years:

A course with plenty of variety when it comes to hole lengths and difficulty, where you have a handful of ball busters mixed in with a few other ones that can be had.  Throw in some interesting shots with real choices to make along with a bit of quirk, intrigue, and whimsy, and its a great day on the links.

Kalen, How many years have you been playing golf?   

I'm now on my 61st year and I don't believe anyone is discounting the joy of a day of fine play... that's always been an enjoyable highlight reel thing, eclectic versus the occasional winning, placing, or showing in my inter-club, club MGA, and Sr events,THOSE always being a grind to the last hole out, delayed gratification... that never changes.  Give me the social fun any day

Steve,

Far far less than you! 

However, when I mentioned playing well, I wasn't even thinking about playing in an organized event.  It was more along the lines of that one morning you go out and everything just feels right and you're feeling the flow and hitting great shot after great shot (by your standards) and shoot your PR for the course.  I've done that a few times, perhaps my most memorable one a 36 hole day at Wine Valley where I almost broke 80 twice...which is a shame cause I would have destroyed Garland in the original Grudge Match if my timing was right. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

Score is less important when I play a new to me course. Then I love to discover the little nuances and architectural intricacies of the course. I especially enjoy seeing what different shots do into, on, and around the greens.

[Peter Flory]

I've always equated short and tricky with fun.  Also, holes that cry out for shaping shots and greens with features to work the ball off of. 

[Michael Whitaker]

Tommy - I have fun playing golf when I’m playing a “game” with good friends. I don’t enjoy golf when I’m just playing for me… if you know what I mean. That’s why I don’t enjoy medalplay events. I play in them, but they’re not fun for me.


Sometimes, especially at my old club Musgrove Mill (where you are still a member, I think) guys would announce on the first tee that they were “just playing golf today… no match.” They just wanted to focus on their score or work on some part of their game. I call that “Golf Masturbation.” Doesn’t interest me. Give me a good fourball game for pints afterwards and I’m a happy man. I don’t like playing on crap courses, but if we have a good, spirited game the course is secondary… I still have fun.


I don’t really understand all these guys who only play golf to try and execute shots… just for the sake of executing shots… with nothing at stake except their personal gratification. 🤔 As I said, masturbation.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()