New courses for me in 2022 were awesome. How about you?

[mike_malone]

Essex County
Inwood
Quaker Ridge
Mid Pines
Pine Needles
Southern Pines
Tobacco Road
Southport Ainsdale
Wallasey
Formby
Hillside
Lytham and St. Anne’s
Liverpool
West Lancs
Hollinwell
Woodhall Spa(2 courses)


Quaker Ridge was my favorite new US course and West Lancs was my favorite English course. Tobacco Road was an unique experience.


They  had a variety of shots that I found fun.

[Ronald Montesano]

My only new courses were in Ontario or through my lens.


Absolutely loved Niagara On The Lake golf club. It plays away from, then back to, the town. Wish the other nine holes had been preserved. Thrilled with the tree annihilation, that opened up all the vistas of Lake Ontario and the entirety of the course. Some internal tree removal would help, but those trees are all old hardwood and way more important than golf.


Absolutely loved Twenty Valley. Great rural Ontario course. If you've never met Canadian sportsfolk, you should. They find a way to imbue golf with their hockey mentality, with no checking, high sticking, or jerseying. Twenty Valley has crazy carries that look menacing, but are all manageable. The Scrambler hit one of the world's great drives on 18, but the 2nd eluded him. Alas...


I enjoyed Niagara National, Port Colborne, and Peninsula Lakes. I would recommend all of them as reliable places to enjoy your golf and be treated with great Maple Leaf cordiality.


As for photography, the opportunity to finally shoot Oak Hill West and East was unexpected, and had me salivating. Knowing that I would shoot the East just before it began its transformation into major championship site, was humbling. I was very happy with the resulting images. The West course is the essence of a classic, members course. It drifts and traipses across the same hills that parade through the East course, in a kinder way.

[Ian Galbraith]

I've had a standout year for new courses:


Scotland
Archerfield Dirleton
Archerfield Fidra         
Prestwick
Turnberry Ailsa
Askernish                           
Royal Troon Old
Panmure

England     
Alwoodley
Woodhall Spa Hotchkin   
Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
Royal Ashdown Forest Old
Bearwood Lakes               
Hindhead
Woking                             
West Hill
St George’s Hill

Ireland
Royal Portrush - Valley course
Carne - Hackett
Carne - Wild Atlantic Dunes
Enniscrone
County Sligo                     
Strandhill
Rosapenna Old Tom Morris
Rosapenna  Sandy Hills
RosapennaSt Patricks Links               
Portsalon

Gran Canaria              
Melanoras 
Salobre Old

Add in return visits to Dunbar, Golspie, Muirfield, Gullane Nr 1, & Luffness New and 2022 has been a great year for golf. Retirement has a lot to recommend it .

[Richard Hetzel]

I was pretty lucky to get in 48 new courses this year. Covid cancelled some rounds and now another torn elbow tendon is causing me to cancel Streamsong Red and Black over New Years. A few rounds of PRP and I'll be ready in the Spring.


Charleston Municipal (SC)
Wild Dunes Links (SC)
Mossy Oak (MS)
Mississippi State GC (MS)
Pilot Knob CC (NC)
Stryker GC (NC)
Wilmington Municipal (NC)
Southern Dunes (IN)
Hickory Stick (IN)
Sewanee GC (TN)
Redstone Arsenal Warrior GC (AL)
Fighting Joe GC (AL)
Schoolmaster GC (AL)
Shelby GC (TN)
Widows Watch GC (KY)
Lancaster CC (OH)
Pfau GC (IN)
Sahm GC (IN)
South Grove GC (IN)
Fernbank GC (OH)
Culver Academy (IN)
Rock Hollow GC (IN)
Cedarbrook Red GC (PA)
Architect's GC (NJ)
Yale GC (CT)
Fenwick GC (CT)
Copake CC (NY)
Hotchkiss School GC (CT)
PB Dye GC (MD)
Columbus CC (OH)
Streamsong Blue (FL)
Crandon GC (FL)
Mid Carolina Club (SC)
Connemara GC (KY)
Links Lawsonia (WI)
Dakota Winds (ND)
Hawktree GC (ND)
Links North Dakota (ND)
Bully Pulpit (ND)
Elkhorn Ridge GC (SD)
Trout Club (OH)
Covered Bridge GC (IN)
Donald Ross French Lick (IN)
Maysville CC (KY)
Dayton CC (OH)
Urbana CC (OH)
Thoroughbred GC (KY)
Old Toccoa Farm (GA)

[Niall C]

In terms of numbers I've had a relatively poor year which was largely due to recovering from a broken wrist over the first half of the year, however I'd like to think I made up for that with playing some wonderful courses;


St Bees (nine holer) - great fun. In no-ones Top 100 list but still very enjoyable.
Seascale - an unusual links in some respects but has some real highlights, well worth a play.
Portsalon - as above.
St Patricks - lots have already been said about this course and IMO the glowing reviews are spot on.
Old Tom front nine, Rosapenna - lovely, wished I'd time to play the back nine.


Here's hoping I get to play a lot more golf in 2023.


Niall

[Tony_Muldoon]

In terms of numbers I've had a relatively poor year which was largely due to recovering from a broken wrist over the first half of the year, however I'd like to think I made up for that with playing some wonderful courses;


St Bees (nine holer) - great fun. In no-ones Top 100 list but still very enjoyable.
Seascale - an unusual links in some respects but has some real highlights, well worth a play.
Portsalon - as above.
St Patricks - lots have already been said about this course and IMO the glowing reviews are spot on.
Old Tom front nine, Rosapenna - lovely, wished I'd time to play the back nine.


Here's hoping I get to play a lot more golf in 2023.


Niall

Interesting reading your thoughts on the courses. Thank you.




 I skipped the lists above, did I miss anything? Where's JK when we need him?

[Rob Marshall]

Bulls Bay (SC)
Rivertown (SC)
Grasslands Lakeland  FL
The National at Ava Maria FL
Eagle Creek Naples FL


No particular order but Bulls Bay was by far the most impressive. I liked all of them. Grasslands was the biggest surprise. I expected Lakeland to be very remote and the golf course was in great shape and fun to play in a nice wind.


Ken Venturi lived on the 16th at Eagle Creek. It has a tough finish in 17 and 18. Arthur Hills but I heard Venturi helped with some modifications. To what extent I don’t know.

[Paul Jones]

Here is my list of new courses played for 2022:


Camden              SC
CC Birmingham (East)    AL
CC Troy              NY
Cherry Hill         CAN
Coldstream        OH
Dorset Field       VT
Durban              SA
European           IE
Forest Hills         GA
Frederica            GA
Glens Falls          NY
Hamilton (West/South) CAN
Hirono                JP
Kawana (Fuji)     JP
Lookout Point     CAN
Mallard              LA
Memphis            TN
Mid Ocean         BM
Naruo                JP
Nine Bridges      KR
Oakdale (Thompson/Knudsen)   CAN
Oitavos Dunes    PO
Pasadera            CA
Port Royal          BM
Rosedale            CAN
Rutland             VT
Sotogrande        SP
Sunningdale (New)         UK
Sunnyside (Par 3)            NY
The Hay (Par 3) CA
Tokyo                JP
Valderrama       SP
Waterville          IE
Zimbali             SA

[Tommy Williamsen]

Here is my list of new courses played for 2022:


Camden              SC
CC Birmingham (East)    AL
CC Troy NY
Cherry Hill          CAN
Coldstream        OH
Dorset Field       VT
Durban SA
European           IE
Forest Hills         GA
Frederica            GA
Glens Falls          NY
Hamilton (West/South) CAN
Hirono  JP
Kawana (Fuji)     JP
Lookout Point    CAN
Mallard LA
Memphis            TN
Mid Ocean         BM
Naruo   JP
Nine Bridges      KR
Oakdale (Thompson/Knudsen)   CAN
Oitavos Dunes   PO
Pasadera            CA
Port Royal          BM
Rosedale            CAN
Rutland VT
Sotogrande        SP
Sunningdale (New)         UK
Sunnyside (Par 3)            NY
The Hay (Par 3) CA
Tokyo   JP
Valderrama       SP
Waterville          IE
Zimbali SA

Paul, I thought I had an interesting year playing from Israel to Oregon, but England to Japan is pretty awesome. Kudos for getting Hirono. You certainly racked up miles.

[Paul Jones]

Japan was postponed for 3 years...  Also went to South Africa a month after getting back from Japan.  I am not flying for a while :-)

[Brian Finn]

One conclusion I reached this year is that I would be very happy to play lesser-known courses in England and North Carolina on a regular basis. 
New for 2022:

England
West Cornwall GC       
Trevose GC
Perranporth GC
St. Enodoc (Church)
Bude & North Cornwall GC
Royal North Devon (Taylor)
Royal North Devon
Saunton GC - East       
Saunton GC - West     
Burnham & Berrow (Channel)           
Burnham & Berrow (Championship) 
Painswick GC
Minchinhampton Old
Cleeve Hill GC

Scotland
Irvine GC         
Glasgow Gailes           
Dundonald     
Kilmarnock Barassie
Prestwick                   
Royal Troon (Old)       
Turnberry (Robert the Bruce)
Turnberry (Ailsa)         
Prestwick St. Nicholas
Western Gailes           
West Kilbride 
Shiskine

North Carolina
Alamance CC
Biltmore Forest
Cedarbrook CC
Cleveland Country Club
Forest Oaks CC
Kings Mountain CC
Knollwood Fairways
Old North State
Pinehurst #9
Rocky River GC           
Siler City CC     
Sunset Hills - Short Course

Other USA
Cape Arundel
Greenville CC - Chanticleer
Raptor Bay GC
Tiburon GC - Gold

[Sean_A]

One conclusion I reached this year is that I would be very happy to play lesser-known courses in England and North Carolina on a regular basis. 

Shall we form a club?

Ciao

[Richard Hetzel]

One conclusion I reached this year is that I would be very happy to play lesser-known courses in England and North Carolina on a regular basis. 

Shall we form a club?

Ciao

That is my goal when I spend 5-6 months in England, Scotland and Ireland (both) when I retire in 3 years. 

[John Foley]

Prairie Dunes
Philly Cricket - Wissahickon
Harbor Town
Liberty National
Glens Falls
Mountain Ridge
Stotains Brae
Essex County Club
Pilgrims Run
The Mines


2022 was fantastic for discovery, hoping to see more in 2023.

[Brian Finn]

One conclusion I reached this year is that I would be very happy to play lesser-known courses in England and North Carolina on a regular basis. 

Shall we form a club?

Ciao

If only I could find a way to spend more time in the UK, I’d say absolutely yes.

[Paul Jones]

One conclusion I reached this year is that I would be very happy to play lesser-known courses in England and North Carolina on a regular basis. 

Shall we form a club?

Ciao

If only I could find a way to spend more time in the UK, I’d say absolutely yes.

I plan to continue going to UK once a year now that British Air has a direct flight from New Orleans to London.

[JLahrman]

I think I only played three rounds of golf this year, but two of them were new courses that I really enjoyed, both here in my new hometown of Grand Rapids:


The Mines
Kaufman

[Jim Tang]

Stone Canyon Course conditions were simply amazing.  What a scenic spot.
TPC Scottsdale - Stadium
We-Ko-Pa - Saguaro Scruffy around the edges but an exciting course
Ventana Canyon - Mountain

Dornick Hills  Tom did fantastic work here

Kapalua - Plantation  I wasn't expecting the course to be so demanding
Kapalua - Bay

Wild Horse Finally made it here and I'm glad I did.  So fun!
Prairie Club - Dunes Big and bold with options galore
Prairie Club - Pines
Prairie Club - Horse


2022 was a very great year connecting with many good friends  Looking forward to what 2023 may bring!

[Ira Fishman]

I either need to retire or get a job that requires me to travel. I also am in awe of the logistics that must be involved in some of your journeys. A weak transition to 2022 entailing only two new courses:


Sleepy Hollow—Even in 97 degree heat and 95 degree humidity, just a true pleasure. A couple of the holes up the hill were repetitive, but the overall variety was energizing. 17 and 18 get a bad rap; people must want the course to finish at 16.


Sheep Ranch—It could use a few bunkers. Seriously. Some really great holes (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 17), but kind of generic except for the awesome setting.


Ira

[Bill Gayne]

I always enjoy these year end threads seeing where everybody went and what they liked.


I saw a lot of great GCA this year that's well worth studying.


Courses that I saw for the first time this year:
Frederica
Blue Mound
Whistling Straits
Renditions
Yale
Somerset Hills
Wannamoisett
Eastward Ho
Myopia
Plainfield
Woodall Spa Hotchkin
Woodall Spa Bracken
Seacroft
Sunnigdale Old
Sunningdale New
West Essex
Addington
Charleston Muni
Country Club of Charleston
Old Town


My top two courses were Sunningdale Old and Somerset Hills. There's probably four or five courses depending on the day that I would put third.

[Philip Caccamise]

One conclusion I reached this year is that I would be very happy to play lesser-known courses in England and North Carolina on a regular basis. 

Shall we form a club?

Ciao

Sign me up!

Didn't play much due to the final stretch of injury recovery but the rounds I did were very high quality.
New- Spanish Bay
Spyglass Hill
The Hay
Soule Park
Sahalee
Chambers Bay
Formby Ladies
Southport & Ainsdale
Formby
Royal Birkdale
Woodhall Spa Hotchkin
Ganton

[MCirba]

For a variety of reasons I played fewer new courses (24) this year than any time I can recall since age 30, and most I played in bunches over a few days on a trip.   Hoping to add a few more the last week of December while visiting family in Phoenix/Scottsdale.  Don't cry for me, though...I also made return visits to 34 previously played courses, many of them stellar.


Rackham (MI)
Stonycroft Hills (MI)
Oakland Hills (South) (MI)
Franklin Hills (MI)
Washtenaw (MI)
Hammock Beach (Conservatory) (FL)
Mount Dora (FL)
Ocala (FL)
Hammock Beach (Ocean) (FL)
Ocean Palms (FL)
World Golf Village (King & Bear) (FL)
Hopewell Valley (NJ)
Sandy Run (PA)
Huntingdon Valley (Centennial Nine) (PA)
Rochester (NY)
Gearhart (OR)
Bandon Crossings (OR)
Bandon Trails (OR)
Bandon Preserve (OR)
Old Macdonald (OR)
Eastmoreland (OR)
North Jersey (NJ)
Eagle Rock (Executive) (PA)
Sherwood Forest (MD)

[Thomas Dai]

New courses for me in 2022 that were awesome………… 100% St Patrick’s!
atb

[Jason Topp]

My new courses spanned the range from among the best in the world to the most rudimentary.  All yielded worthwhile experiences but the hilight was the tour associated with BUDA that Mayhugh organized but could not attend:


San Diego Country Club – great setting, fantastically difficult greens.  Tree removal makes this course worth a re-visit for those who have not been there in awhile.
The Lights at Indio – rudimentary par three course.  I primarily used its practice range.  Saw Mac O”Grady hitting balls one evening and enjoyed the league groups headed out in the evening.  .
Gallery North -Tucson – beautiful target golf
Bulrush, MN – convoluted course with ugly humps and some very tight tree tunnels.  Routing only made sense when one realized that the clubhouse has not been built.  When it is it will make more sense.
Lac La Belle (WI)– stretches the concept of lumpy greens to the limit.  Pretty penal on a day when I had lost my golf swing.  For that reason, I would like to see it again with a better game.
Rochester G&CC (MN) –had played before removal of thousands of trees.  Pretty severe site with some quite interesting golf holes.
Gentle Creek (TX) – visited Lou Duran and Greg Clark on way to F1 Race in Austin.  Great conditioned course with plenty of interest but not the best visuals.  Finisher is memorable – not sure it is in a good way.
Hollinwell – very pleasant 9 hole course used by Cambridge golf team.  Perfect first course off the plane.  Plenty of interest an plenty of room for wayward shots.  Tough greens.
Brancaster – some goofy golf near the turn but one of the more memorable locations for a golf course I have ever visited.  I have never had to wait for the tide to go out before I could leave a golf course.
Woodhall Spa –feels a bit like visiting a stern protestant church.  Every shot is imminently playable but the punishment for sin is severe.  Hole variation and great green complexes make this an enjoyable test.  Second 18 plays like an average at best US parkland course.
West Essex – had a great day playing Tony’s course.  Front nine is a bit cramped on a hillside with a wonderful par five near the end.  Back is more expansive with some rather unique hazards that look like they came from a committee.
The Addington – in the midst of a multiyear renovation project.  Has some of the goofiest holes I have ever experienced, some of which I was surprised to see lauded by James Finegan.  I would like to see the finished product.
Sunningdale Old and New – the old course exemplifies almost perfect golf.  The holes appear as they should appear, the property is beautiful and the routing makes great use of two ridges.  New course is also wonderful but on a bit less interesting land than the old and therefor only suffers a bit in comparison.

[Tommy Williamsen]

For a variety of reasons I played fewer new courses (24) this year than any time I can recall since age 30, and most I played in bunches over a few days on a trip.   Hoping to add a few more the last week of December while visiting family in Phoenix/Scottsdale.  Don't cry for me, though...I also made return visits to 34 previously played courses, many of them stellar.


Rackham (MI)
Stonycroft Hills (MI)
Oakland Hills (South) (MI)
Franklin Hills (MI)
Washtenaw (MI)
Hammock Beach (Conservatory) (FL)
Mount Dora (FL)
Ocala (FL)
Hammock Beach (Ocean) (FL)
Ocean Palms (FL)
World Golf Village (King & Bear) (FL)
Hopewell Valley (NJ)
Sandy Run (PA)
Huntingdon Valley (Centennial Nine) (PA)
Rochester (NY)
Gearhart (OR)
Bandon Crossings (OR)
Bandon Trails (OR)
Bandon Preserve (OR)
Old Macdonald (OR)
Eastmoreland (OR)
North Jersey (NJ)
Eagle Rock (Executive) (PA)
Sherwood Forest (MD)

Mike, I played Franklin Hills last year. I loved it almost as much as its more renowned neighbor. I also thought it was one of the best-conditioned courses I have ever played. The greens were firm, but it was the fairways I was most impressed with. There was more grass per square inch than anywhere I have played. While they were tight, I felt I could hit a three-wood because there was some grass under the ball.