Courses where the best hole is the 1st

[Ian Andrew]

Spring Brook Country Club


I always thought the opener was great short hole with an awesome ("almost severe") Walter Travis Green





Video is here:

https://www.springbrookcc.net/Default.aspx?p=dynamicmodule&pageid=407724&ssid=334807&vnf=1


The close up of the green at the end helps tell the story ...

[Charlie Goerges]

Spring Brook Country Club


I always thought the opener was great short hole with an awesome ("almost severe") Walter Travis Green





Video is here:

https://www.springbrookcc.net/Default.aspx?p=dynamicmodule&pageid=407724&ssid=334807&vnf=1


The close up of the green at the end helps tell the story ...

That’s an appealing-looking hole. I think it would look even better with the fairway mowed wider on the left too.


And the video of the green looked fantastic!

[Ronald Montesano]

I second what Charlie said. As a die-hard Travis fan (I've seen Ian's great, restorative bunker work at Cherry Hill and Orchard Park) I love Travis greens. So many Travis club committees weakened his greens during the middle part of the 20th century. It's a shame. They had no idea what they had, and some still don't.

Lookout Point (another Travis course) has a sexy, tee-shot-off-a-cliff opening hole, but I think that (to its credit) there are better holes out on the property. I don't know of another Travis course whose best hole might be its opener. I like the first at CCTroy, but there are others out there.

[Tim Gavrich]

The course that really stands out in my experience here is the Country Club of Farmington in Connecticut, which starts with a brilliant drivable par 4 whose green is up against OB but has just the right amount of room short to make you think about pushing your luck with your tee shot, if not trying all the way for the green. It's a fantastic hole and could not be a better introduction to the golf course.

[James Brown]

Machrihanish’s first is often picked as the best first hole in golf and it is great.  The rest of the course is very good, but 1 is probably the best hole there.

I wondered if someone would say that! Machrihanish is my favourite course in the world (I don't say it is the best, but it is my favourite) but I think the first hole is rather over-rated. The drive is obviously epic, but the approach is a bit dull, and there's no strategic advantage for playing your tee shot close to the beach. And the terrain, compared to the rest of the course, is quite flat. IMO Machrihanish really starts when you cross the burn on the second hole.

Agree.  It might be the most dramatic first tee shot anywhere, but it’s not the best hole on the course by far.

[Sean_A]

Might Berkshire Blue be one such course?

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Views seem to be important in this thread.
Might not be the best hole on the course, but then again it may be, it's certainly the most memorable, but the 1st at Royal Jersey where the tee shot is played over the 18th green with the beach all along the right, the various military fortifications and the gorgeous yee olde castle in the far distance isn't a hole your likely to forget in a hurry. It also happens to be where Harry Vardon and Ted Ray learnt to play.
atb

[Ian Andrew]

I love when I see something and begin thinking,
"where is that ... and how do I build a trip around going there"


Thanks for the share ...

[Paul Jones]

RTJ Trail - The Judge outside Montgomery. Ironically, the 18th is the worst hole.

[Mark Pearce]

Might Berkshire Blue be one such course?

Ciao

No.

[Adam Lawrence]

I love when I see something and begin thinking,
"where is that ... and how do I build a trip around going there"

Thanks for the share ...

Royal Jersey is a very cool place. The opening tee shot is quite terrifying -- the gap between the sea wall (which was built by the occupying Germans during WW2 to prevent an amphibious landing by tanks -- and Fort Henry, the building from the Napoleonic Wars that serves as the greenkeeping yard -- is almost exactly 45 yards. If you're a card and pencil golfer, or playing in a medal event, you had better warm up properly!

[Thomas Dai]

I love when I see something and begin thinking,
"where is that ... and how do I build a trip around going there"
Thanks for the share ...

Royal Jersey is a very cool place. The opening tee shot is quite terrifying -- the gap between the sea wall (which was built by the occupying Germans during WW2 to prevent an amphibious landing by tanks -- and Fort Henry, the building from the Napoleonic Wars that serves as the greenkeeping yard -- is almost exactly 45 yards. If you're a card and pencil golfer, or playing in a medal event, you had better warm up properly!

The prevailing wind is also from the left. Fun for right-handers who slice and left-handers who hook!
atb

[Ian Andrew]

I think this being the best is debatable with a few of the back nine fours, but it certainly is many people's favourite hole at Lookout Point CC in Fonthill, Ontario. The backdrop i the distance is Niagara Falls

[Michael Felton]

I think one of the reasons it's hard to find these and that it's not one in 18 courses is it's pretty hard to say which is the best hole on most courses. I can't think of many courses I've played where I could comfortably pick one hole as the best hole on the course. How many courses can anyone think of where say the 14th hole is the best hole on the course? To pick an answer it kind of needs to be a clear winner.


By way of example, the 1st at NGLA is a great hole. It's a friendly opening tee shot, that still asks questions and with a fabulous green complex. Is it the best hole on the course? There are 17 other contenders. I couldn't tell you it's a better hole than any of the others (certainly not than all the others).

[Kevin Pallier]

I love Royal Liverpool's layout with the internal OOB.

[Jason Topp]

While Wolf Point in Mesquite, NV would be a candidate for the course I most disliked based on one play, I very much liked its first hole. 

[Daryl David]

While Wolf Point in Mesquite, NV would be a candidate for the course I most disliked based on one play, I very much liked its first hole.

I was slow. I waited until the 7th hole to quit. 

[Brett Hochstein]

I might be able to make a case for Prestwick, but it can't be definitive as the rest of the course is loaded with great holes. When I think about it though, it holds up pretty well. There's certainly nothing else on the course that can match its combination of strategy, charm, and terror, the terror amplified of course by it being the first swing of the day. 

[Sam Morrow]

I don't know if it's the best hole on the course but 1 on The Campus Course at Texas A&M is a unique opener. It's basically a donut, or bagel depending on your preferred snack. You have a fairway wrapping around the hole and at the top there is a green that's designed to be played from both sides but the approach to anything but a far left pin is best from the right side. The longer hitter can also get pretty close in the right conditions but can find some nasty rough in the hole if not carried.

[Stewart Abramson]

While Wolf Point in Mesquite, NV would be a candidate for the course I most disliked based on one play, I very much liked its first hole.

It's Wolf Creek, not Wolf Point