Your top "underrated"

[Will Thrasher]

I know this topic has been discussed previously, but I always enjoy hearing about places folks have played that may not be in the Top 100 but hold a special place in your personal rankings.


For me, three come to mind:

• Blue Mound - hard to find many places where the architect has done more with less. Just pure fun, playable, and masterful Raynor on an otherwise rather bland piece of property.
• Brookside (Canton, OH) - Had the pleasure of playing this summer, so maybe some recency bias here. I was floored by the green complexes and incredible elevation changes. The property could use some more tree removal, but I wouldn't get tired of playing this place on a regular basis.
• Culver Academy - if this place had a locker room with good shower pressure (or whatever else helps rankings) and 9 even mediocre holes, I firmly believe this would be a top 100 contender. I've been lucky enough to play here quite a few times as it's less than an hour from me and absolutely love it every time. The super (Mike Vessley) does an oustanding job and posts incredible pictures on Twitter and Instagram as well.

[Daryl David]

+1000 on Blue Mound.

[Adam_Messix]

Culver is pretty amazing and with the continued work on green expansions that is only going to make an outstanding course even better.  Kudos to Mike Vessley for the great work there.


An easy choice for underrated would be Naruo in Japan but the one course that I enjoy more than most is St. Germain in Paris.  It's Colt at his creative best making outstanding golf holes with a thoughtful routing and clever greens on a very ordinary piece of property.  His bunker designs there should be studied merely for the way they make flat land look appear appealing. 

[Matthew Lloyd]

Leatherstocking gets a vote from me, though maybe I was overly influenced by the overall feel of the town and area. I wanted to stay for a month. And really did enjoy the golf course a great deal. The short downhill par 3 on the back - number 12 maybe? - in particular.

[Phil Young]

 Sands Point Golf Club

[Steve_Lovett]

Northland Country Club - Duluth, MN

[Chris Hughes]

Westhampton CC. 

Raynor's first solo effort. 

Finest set of par 3's I've seen. 

Impeccable restoration which mostly hinged on tree removable.

One of my favorite courses anywhere...

[Matt Schoolfield]

I feel like I always have to say Gleneagles SF, not because it's the best course, but because it's so poorly rated, hated and mocked, that when golf course architecture fans actually play it, they are almost always very impressed by the scruffy course built on the side of a mountain.

[Steve Lapper]

Amongst national rankings:1) Eastward Ho; 1a) White Bear Yacht


New England: Country Club of Fairfield & Sankaty Head



Midwest: Blue Mound & Lawsonia


Local Metro Area: St. Georges Golf & Country & Paramount CC 

[Sean_A]

Five of my favourites which I think are overlooked

Kington
Cavendish
Musselburgh Old
Reigate Heath
Welshpool

Ciao

[Shane Wright]

No order but these are the courses that immediately come to mind:


1. Mid Pines - NC - One of the more pleasant surprises I've ever played.  I could play it every day. 


2. Peachtree GC - GA - there is zero chance in my mind that it has that much space between it and Augusta National in the top 100.  It is that good, amazing actually.


3. Northland CC - Duluth, MN - it has a very short season, and even within the short season, there is a short time period where it is just perfect.  But getting a sunny day overlooking the big pond is unforgettable.  Watching the ball bounce everywhere and being completely perplexed by the greens is a blast. The greens are a top 5 group I've seen. It's an all time experience and locale.


4. Rock Creek Cattle Company - MT - I know it's in the top 100, but it isn't high enough.  It will move up with time.  This one is going to age very well.


5. Somerset - Minnesota - I'll throw a wild card in here.  They don't need or will ever desire a ranking.  But their movement back to the original Raynor intent is fantastic.

[John Blain]

Leatherstocking gets a vote from me, though maybe I was overly influenced by the overall feel of the town and area. I wanted to stay for a month. And really did enjoy the golf course a great deal. The short downhill par 3 on the back - number 12 maybe? - in particular.

Completely agree on Leatherstocking. I have played there a bunch over the years. The course is befitting of the village; old and quirky.
The course would be even better with some tree removal, particularly all the ugly willow and pine trees.
You are correct it is #12 you are thinking about, the drop shot par 3 with an outstanding view of the lake and village. The views from #11 tee are spectacular as well.

[John Blain]

Off the top of my head, I would go with these four:


Eastward Ho!
CC of Scranton
St. George's (Toronto)
CC of Buffalo

[Ira Fishman]

Golspie
Crail Balcomie
Elie (maybe not underrated but sure is special)
Hog Neck (Easton, Maryland)
Broadmoor East (if only because we celebrated our honeymoon and 25th Anniversary there, but it is a very good course)
Carne (same comment as for Elie)

[Charlie Goerges]

It doesn't say underrated courses only, so I'm going with conditions.


I've been playing lately on a course clearly built on an old farm field. Probably clay underneath it, the turf can be a bit patchy, but they keep it a little longer and drier and that gives it an excellent bounce and roll. The greens are usually open at the front and I almost always bounce it short and roll it on. It goes to show that they can give you firm and fast conditions on almost any soil, as long as you can accept slower greens and longer turf in the fairways. I really like it! At this point, the spin I lose on irons from the fairway doesn't matter to me at all, I'd rather run that thing on anyway!

[Matt Frey, PGA]

Stonewall's North Course. It's often in the shadow of the club's Old Course, but I think the North is much more interesting, not to mention a lot more fun!

[Brian Finn]

Sand Hills

[Ryan Book]

I appreciate Phil's nomination of Sands Point; the Tillinghast restoration by Keith Foster that gets lost in the conversational weeds, and the genuinely impressive course that gets lost in Long Island's rankings grass. Underrated and, by Tillinghast's standards, understated!


As a Cincinnatian, I notice a bias toward the northern portion of the state in terms of social media representation, and with it a bias towards that region's Rosses. I won't deny the superiority of the Inverness/Scioto/Brookside trio, however I believe Ross's work at Hyde Park and Maketewah, respectively, are the state's fourth and fifth by that architect.

[Shane Wright]

Sand Hills

1 of 1!

[Chris Hughes]

Stonewall's North Course. It's often in the shadow of the club's Old Course, but I think the North is much more interesting, not to mention a lot more fun!

2nd.
Caddied in the 2016 Mid-Am there.  While I was carrying that week, if I were to go back and could only play one it would be the North.  As an aside, from a caddie's perspective The Old is brutal.

[Paul Jones]

CC of Troy and North Jersey - both Walter Travis courses that blew me away.


Does Ekwanok count as underrated?  That is my favorite.

[Tim Gallant]

My standard go-to answer for this is Silloth-on-Solway and Goswick, but since those two are getting more recognition abroad, I'd have to go with Seaton Carew (Old routing). Some genuinely great links holes there. The scenery might not inspire, but the course fits around a central spine ridge that most holes utilise in some way.

[Tim Martin]

Westhampton CC. 

Raynor's first solo effort. 

Finest set of par 3's I've seen. 

Impeccable restoration which mostly hinged on tree removable.

One of my favorite courses anywhere...

Chris-How about a 9 hole warmup at Quogue and then Westhampton?

[Ben Sims]

Said it before and I’ll say it again, the best course in Denver is CommonGround. It’s a Top 100 US relatively easily in my mind. That it’s under 100 bucks is one of the best deals going.


I think Fircrest in Tacoma should get more attention as well.

[Jordan Beasley]

-Church course at St. Enodoc: feels like it is heading towards "properly rated" territory, but I believe it should be higher in the various rankings. It's a perfect blend of pure/classic links holes on an Open-rota scale/style (#1-2, #7-8, #16-18) with an unforgettable buffet of quirky/fun/strategic holes (#3-4, #6, #10, #14-15) that will take you across a road, over a stone wall and the corner of a dairy farm, up to a centuries-old church and graveyard, and past one of the most iconic bunkers/dunes in world golf.


I'll also second the nomination of Crail Balcomie.