2013 YANK AWARDS

[hhuffines]

Mark, you scared me... I think you meant Carolina Golf Club... Carolina Country Club is my very humble home course in Raleigh and deserves no other mention.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Whoops, correction made.

[John Mayhugh]

I'll give Sean's categories a try.  This covers 2013 only:

MOST SURPRISING COURSE: Swinkelsche. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the photos that Frank had posted, but found this course to be loads of fun, with thought required on pretty much every shot.  Really wish I could have gotten another round there.  RUNNERS-UP: Glens Falls Country Club - a little-discussed Ross that's wild at times and only a couple of holes from being top 50-60 Golfweek Classic.  Wilshire was also a real treat, with about as good a use of a creek as one could imagine.

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE:  Woodhall Spa.  Not that it's a bad course - it's very good.  But the greens lack the kind of interest needed to be truly great IMO.  RUNNERS-UP:  Both of the Streamsong courses.  I liked them both, but not as much as I hoped to.  I would pick another day at Mountain Lake over a return there.

BEST NEW PLAY COURSE:  Toss-up between Royal Hague and Royal West Norfolk.  Royal Worlington & Newmarket (Sacred 9) was close on their heels.

MOST SURPRISING SECOND (OR MORE) PLAY COURSE:  Lookout Mountain.  Played it in a match and every hole offered drama beyond what the players created.  Not quite as "Raynor-lite" as I previously thought.  Though I didn't play it this year, National Golf Links of America amazed me during the two days I spent at the Walker Cup.  I discovered something new on every hole, which is amazing given how much I had previously absorbed.

FAVORITE LINKS:  Royal West Norfolk (Brancaster) ticks all the boxes.  The course is loads of fun, and the setting and "walk in the park" is fantastic.  I think about returning here all of the time.  RUNNER-UP:  Royal Hague is on a fantastic piece of property.  As good a course as Brancaster, but Brancaster has a couple more charm points.

FAVORITE INLAND COURSE:  Sacred 9.  Baltimore Country Club has a slight edge on the Valley Club in the US division.  

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE:  Sewanee

BEST MODERATELY PRICED COURSE:  Rustic Canyon

BEST COURSE:  Royal Hague was the best course I played, with Brancaster being my favorite for the year.

And one more:
MOST POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVEMENT:  Royal Golf Club des Fagnes (Spa) in Belgium has so much potential.  What's there now is very good, but with better drainage and fewer trees, it could be spectacular.

[James Boon]

Not as many new courses this year as in previous years, but here goes:

MOST SURPRISING: Tain. My first play of this course and there are some wonderful holes out there. A few are a little dull though. I wasn't totally surprised by this but its probably the best to fit the criteria.

MOST DISAPPOINTING: Little Aston. Ranked or talked about highly by plenty of people, and its certainly a decent parkland course and a very decent club, but perhaps not as fine as some seem to rate it?

BEST NEW PLAY: Seacroft. A delightful links that makes great use of a dune ridge for some of its best holes. Wasn't in great condition when we played so if they can sort that out, they should be able to attract more people?

MOST SURPRISING SECOND (OR MORE) PLAY: Golspie. I played this course once when I was a kid but have since accumulated almost 10 plays at Dornoch and 50 plus at Brora, without a return to little old Golspie. My recollection was of a few decent links and heathland holes but the rest rather flat and dull. It turns out there are only a few flat dull holes of which perhaps 14 is the worst, but the rest are wonderful classic and quirky links and heathland. Will make sure I head back sooner rather than later!

MOST DISAPPOINTING SECOND (OR MORE) PLAY (NEW CATEGORY): Woodhall Spa. Really enjoyed it on my last play, probably helped by a decent score. This time around everything seemed a little one dimensional. From the back tees, when you find the bunkers, it must be a brute. From the yellow tees, if you can steer clear of the bunkers, it just seemed a bit dull?

FAVOURITE LINKS: Royal Dornoch, but I enjoyed my round at Hunstanton this year that was my first with my own ball having only previously played it foursomes.

FAVOURITE INLAND: Going to stick with my home club Notts. But played Ganton and Alwoodley this year which certainly push it close.

BEST AFFORDABLE: Cant say for certain but Cavendish or Seacroft didnt seem expensive?

BEST: Royal Dornoch

Cheers,

James

[Neil White]

Despite the obvious '13' connotation 2013 has been fairly good year for golf - thanks in most to some very generous offers of a game at some highly thought of courses.

MOST SURPRISING COURSE: Royal Worlington & Newmarket - Having heard so much about this 'mere' 9 holer I was very impressed with its design and the par 3 fifth didn't disappoint.  The beef and horseradish sandwich was pretty special too.  A definite return is on the cards this coming year.
RUNNER-UP: Cleeve Cloud - A fantastic course over some equally fantastic ground with fantastic views

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE: Wentworth West - I went in with an open mind especially given the raft of alterations that had taken place - very quickly became tired of the overtly muscular bunkering and was left wondering who had nicked all of the heather.
RUNNER-UP: Luffenham Heath - see MOST CLUELESS MAINTENANCE

FAVOURITE LINKS: Brancaster - Although played on a day with heavy squally showers and a biting wind the design was a marvel and especially inspiring.
RUNNER-UP: Seacroft - A cracker of a true out-and-back links which as James has suggested needs a bit of TLC but I imagine the members are pretty chuffed that it is so far off the beaten track......

FAVOURITE INLAND: Walton Heath Old - A naff start and the M25 can't ruin what is a fantastic and fun journey over some spectacular golfing country.
RUNNER-UP: Liphook - Again the start is slow but it is a builder with some great uses of bunkering.
THIRD: Notts

MOST CLUELESS MAINTENANCE: Luffenham Heath - Maybe I caught it on a bad day?  The fairways were pathetically narrow and the rough was punishingly long.  Any modicum of width had been sucked out of the design and it felt claustrophobic pretty much all the way round.

ROSE-TINTED GLASSES 'have come off': Woodhall Spa Hotchkin - Not even a stellar front nine can now salvage this rapidly deteriorating top100 stalwart - the conditioning is tired and the back nine is repetitive and somewhat soggy.  Shame.

MOST POTENTIAL: Cleeve Cloud - It is good already but has the potential to be so much more - even if they just started with the clubhouse..

[Scott Warren]

SURPRISING
HEALESVILLE I'd accepted it would be fun, but thought it might be a bit of a one-trick pony with wild greens making up for the lack of length-based difficulty. The challenges off the tee and into greens were great and the creek is used fantastically. Heaps of variety, a good walk and you walk off the 18th knowing you just played something unique. R/UP - AVONDALE discrete and tucked away in Northern Sydney's leafy suburbs, so it doesn't get much press. May be Ross Watson's best work - wide and subtly shaped, not over bunkered with fun greens that aren't overly contoured. Definitely worth making time to play after you've seen NSW, The Lakes and Bonnie Doon.

DISAPPOINTING
WOODLANDS perhaps just a case of poor expectation management coupled with a really windy day, but I was underwhelmed and left slightly unimpressed! despite really loving half the course like crazy (3-6, 10, 15, 17, 18). Trees ruined a couple of otherwise great holes (7&12) and I thought the vegetation management needed work. R/UP - 18TH AT NSWGC Just a shame that playing somewhere so memorable and special has to end with that letdown.

BEST NEW
MORFONTAINE Everything golf should be in design and conditioning. Presents the case that Tom Simpson was a genius of the trade in his use of the land and ability to leave it alone at the right time, and his greens have just enough in them to be interesting and challenging, but still sit naturally on the ground. The nine-hole Vallaire course is on steeper land and sports wilder greens, which are just as at home as the flatter offerings on the main course. R/UP ELLERSTON maybe the antithesis of Morfy, but still a lot of fun and loaded with thrilling, memorable shots and on beautiful land in a gorgeous setting.

BEST REPLAY
ROYAL CINQUE PORTS There's no place like home and it was great to be back. The presence of 10-12 great mates didn't hurt that euphoria, either. Just an incredibly special place, with some of the best links land in the world and maybe the best set of greensites in golf. Great surfaces, some unique features and standing on that balcony with a pint, spying France over the channel and the links spread out before you is one of my favourite things in all the world. R/UP - NEWCASTLE Even better than I recalled and in better nick than ever before. Needs some tinkering to bring it up to what it could be, but if it were half-an-hour closer to home I'd join and get up there once a month.

LINKS
Deal was the only links I played this year, so it's the default winner.

INLAND
ROYAL ADELAIDE such a great property and the course constantly surprised and delighted. The lay-up at 2, the 3rd, approaches to 6 & 8, the quirky, very English 10th, approach at the Quarry hole, the tricky drive at 14... No end of holes and shots I can't wait to play again soon.conditioned just right, a decent walk, a club that gets it. A genuine highlight of what has been a great year.

MAYBE I WAS WRONG
ROYAL SYDNEY is a better course than I have previously given it credit for, despite its obvious shortcomings during the back nine, trees choking a few holes and Ross Watson's over-reliance on sand.

AFFORDABLE PRICE
THE COAST AU$30 is a great price for the setting and the quality of the seaside holes. The rest is hit-and-miss, but I'd still rather play here than St Michaels next door.

MODERATE PRICE
Newcastle for AU$50 is as good value as you'll find anywhere.

BEST COURSE
Hard to crown a champion, but the podium would feature Deal, R. Adelaide and Morfontaine.

[Thomas Dai]

Thomas, I feel slightly at fault as I joined Tom for his round at Beau and I had a bad shoulder and played like a hacker that day! So I couldn't have been much fun and was surely a distraction from the delights of this course!  
James

James,

Your honesty is very commendable:. Hope the shoulder's better now. Two splendid choices of Tain and Golspie in your own awards listing. So many folk must drive past these two without ever realising what they're missing.

Here's a modest attempt to summarise some of those played during 2013 -

MOST SURPRISING: The 9-hole Bann course at Castlerock. Just a wonderful wee links. Other than length, all the features I'd pretty much ever want, and all in a delightful easy walking small package incorporating serenity and lovely scenery

MOST DISAPPOINTING: Change of term to - NOT REACHING MY PRECONCEIVED EXPECTATIONS*: County Sligo/Rosses Point and Portstewart/Strand. I was expecting them both to be better, golf of a somewhat higher level. The former has sensational scenery and splendid conditioning but lacks enough quality holes. As for the latter, an amazing/brutal front-9, but a back-9 that's a bit, well bland. The former had a nice 'clubby' feel to it though, but the latter felt rather, well 'corporate' . Fabulous chipping/putting greens at CS/RP though.

FAVOURITE LINKS: Carne. Magical, mystical, remote, tranquil. Just a splendid place to play golf.

FAVOURITE INLAND: tba - not yet the end of 2013!

BEST AFFORDABLE: Change of term to: LEAST EXPENSIVE CRACKER: Minchinhampton Old (£12 for adults, £4 for juniors). Simple and fun and more taxing on the game than first appears.

BEST: Change of term to MOST ENJOYABLE: Carne. Needs rental power trolleys and a decent chipping green near the clubhouse though.

All the best

* which could be unreasonable.

[Brent Hutto]

I'm thinking hard but can only recall one new (to me) golf course played in 2013. Surely there was another at some point during the year but I guess it's possible to play 110+ rounds with only a single new encounter. Kind of amazing.

[Mac Plumart]

I'll take more time and try to follow Sean's lead in regards to the format...apologies for my lazy first post on this thread.

MOST SURPISING COURSE:  Yale.

I really think with better conditioning this course would be regarded in the same league as NGLA and Fishers Island.  The holes and shots are so incredible and thrilling.  If you like adventurous golf, this thing is awesome!

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE: Eh...I'm not sure I get disappointed anymore in regards to golf courses.

I've studied golf courses pretty intensely for a few years now and all the while I was really paying attention to what I liked and why I liked it.  With this knowledge, I pretty much know what to expect from a golf course.

BEST NEW PLAY COURSE: Friars Head

Shoot...this thing is pretty much perfect.  One great/solid hole after another.  Great walk.  Amazing seclusion.  Perfect conditions for golf...firm turf, firm greens, great contours.  


MOST SURPRISING SECOND (third or fourth!) LOOK COURSE: Rivermont

I guess I'll say Rivermont.  It just never gets old.  Fun golf with great greens.



FAVOURITE LINKS:  The Old Course

But I didn't play any true links in 2013, so this is not changed.


FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE: The Golf Club

I simply love being there.  I love the course.  I love the walk.  I love the subtle nature of it.  Hidden nuances mixed with bold features.  It is great on the first go 'round, but gets better and better with each successive round.  And it is a true golf club in an ideal setting (per my taste).
  

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE: Rustic Canyon.

Played it late last year...and went back again late this year to see if I had missed something.  Nope.  This thing is the real deal.  I am amazed it doesn't get more rating love.  WOW!


BEST MODERATELY PRICED COURSE:

I'm not overly focused on price, so I am not sure what courses fall into this category.

  

BEST COURSE: Dismal Doak

Crazy good.  Great walk.  Great variety of challenges.  Equifinality on almost every hole.  Views are stunning.   Feeling in awesome.

[Michael Goldstein]

MOST SURPRISING COURSE: Waipu North of Auckland Waipu has some incredible golfing land.  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination with a flawed routing and no irrigation, yet this could be special.  

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE: Noordvisjke remained so on the second play due to the greens & surrounds and a routing that doesn't quite work for me.  I still had another great Noordvisjke experience with epic dutch hospitality thanks to David.  

Runner up:  The Cairns in Tekapo, New Zealand. A new nine hole course that is a genuine contender for the most scenic golf course in the world.  Situated in Tekapo (incidentally, one of the top 3 star gazing sites in the world) the golf course has majestic views across the lake and towards the southern alps.  The Cairns has some of the best green complexes in NZ with natural form that encourages the ground game - but the proportionality of the short fours felt all wrong.  

BEST NEW PLAY COURSE:  Askernish blew me out of the park for golf that really gets under your skin.

Runners up:  Delamere Forest was an unexpected treat. An understated course with a flowing routing that would be a great place to be a member.  Royal Hague was also very very good with excellent terrain and first class maintenance practices.  

MOST SURPRISING SECOND LOOK COURSE:  Royal Cinque Ports is a brilliant example of using the natural terrain to create interesting golf and the class of this course was lost on my first UK trip.   Prestwick also blew me away second time around with it's audacious greens (like the 9th, 13th, 17th) and the brilliance of the narrows.

FAVOURITE LINKS:  The Old Course remains my favourite despite the changes (of which the bunkers on the second hole was of particular annoyance). There were three very close contenders North Berwick, the Machrie and Paraparaumu Beach

FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE:  Royal Wellington has improved considerably following a renovation project however I can't look past  Titirangi in particular it's greens, bunkering and vegetation management.  

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE:  Oreti Sands the southernmost links course in the world and a pure golfing experience to match askernish is unrivaled at NZD$240 for membership (I have subsequently realised that it should have been $100 as I'm a country member).  

BEST COURSE:  The Old Course

Happy New Year to all.  I look forward to a new kiwi course featuring more in the 2014 YANK awards.  

[Sean_A]

Dear God, Arble is a Yank?

He always seemed so cultured and reasonable.

TFIC.

Good Dr, you obviously got the wrong end of the stick.

Boony - keep playing Little Aston - the penny will eventually drop  . Tin Man indeed.  Someone has to reign you crazy bastards in.  

Mark B - I too really like Annapolis.  They aren't really going to bulldoze the course - are they?

Spangles - Stoneham's 13th is so unlike much of the remainder of the course, but jeepers its a great hole.

Tucky - I want to see Royal Hague - make it happen.  Ditto for you Bourgeois - do I have to name the course?

I want to get to the bottom of the love/indifference attitude toward The Sacred 9.  Given this is an architecture site, I wonder what people are really looking for in a course when they don't get Worly.  In some ways, I am afraid to find out.

Ciao

[Martin Toal]

Dear God, Arble is a Yank?

He always seemed so cultured and reasonable.

TFIC.

Good Dr, you obviously got the wrong end of the stick.

Sean

If the truth be told, I knew you were American. Being cultured and being American are, of course, not mutually exclusive.

[James Boon]

Sean,

I certainly will return to Little Aston!

And are you sure you don't want to "rain" us in?  (he says sitting at home, looking outside, it looks a bit miserable so I wont bother teeing it up today)  

As for The Sacred 9, I recall a recent discussion on here were the lack of "texture" was put forwards as a possible factor for people not necessarily "getting" the course. No real views of note (hills, sea etc) outside the boundary, little in the way of heather or gorse to bring the interior views to life? You are right that as this is an architectural site we should all perhaps be able to see more than this but its sometimes tricky to look beyond the bland backdrop of a hole, searching for the picturesque, and really focus on its architectural merit. I know I've been guilty of it before and I'm sure I will again.  

Cheers,

James

[Simon Holt]

MOST SURPISING COURSE:  Boston Golf Club

I didn’t read up about BGC before I went to play in October.  My host rightly raved about it but as we all know, that is usually greeted with a polite nod of the head before you actually see it yourself.  It was fantastic.  The Fall appearance of the trees added to the visual drama; the holes flowed beautifully and I love the greens.  Undulating with plenty of options to access the many fun pin positions set that day.  Excellent turf condition.  Nothing not to like.

The club also seem to “get it” off the course, too.  The locker room and clubhouse are well proportioned but still excellently kitted out.  This is not always the case in a land where bigger and more expensive can sometimes prevail!

Runner up- A GREAT day out with Mac Plumart at Rivermont.  This would have easily taken the biggest surprise award if I had been pro-active enough to do a search about BGC before I visited there.  Mac is a great host that I have spent time with both sides of the Atlantic.  The course itself was really good fun and it was only fitting that a North Berwick homer rammed it in for a 2 on their Redan! 

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE: Liberty National

A unique setting and my host was as gracious as it gets.  I enjoyed my day thoroughly but the course, for me, was pretty one-dimensional.  The fact that I had my worst round of the year probably removed a certain amount of objectivity.  The easy comparison would be Bayonne.  I know which one I prefer.


BEST NEW PLAY COURSE: Dismal Red (Doak)

I was very fortunate to be invited to play there for a few days in September; courtesy of CJ and RGD.  I absolutely loved it.  Many say that the best holes are on the lower side of the road but to my mind some of the most interesting shots are to be had above it.

It’s a great walk with diversity that really keeps you on your toes.  A couple of us headed out and played certain shots over and over again, chasing in low 4 irons and working the contours; the most fun I had all year.  We played one shot from the middle tee on 7 down to the 8th green, accessing a back right pin.  About 290 with a serious change in elevation!  The course was more than good enough to keep us occupied but sometimes when you see shots like that you have to take them on!  It goes to show what perfect golfing territory it is out there and how many holes they could have created.

Runners up: Ballyneal (very close second to DR), Lahinch


MOST SURPRISING SECOND (third or fourth!) LOOK COURSE: Kilspindie

Its not the best course out there.  Truth be told, there may only be 2 or 3 holes that really make you sit up.  However, on a sunny day with a decent breeze and the firm conditions that all of East Lothian experienced this year, it never fails to put a smile on your face.


FAVOURITE LINKS:  North Berwick

I caddied for Tom Doak with Jim Colton for 54 of their 100 Hole Hike at St. Andrews this year.  I think it was in the region of my 700th loop around the Old Course but I can never put it above North Berwick.  As an aside, Jim will contest that Tom’s putting on TOC was outrageous.  It gave an excellent insight to how he sees green construction so clearly.  Surely every great architect/green shaper has to be an above average putter?  At least from long range?

The especially firm conditions this year meant that North Berwick was in the best links condition I have seen in close to 20 years of playing there.  I never get bored and I never will.  You could offer me membership anywhere and I would turn it down if I had to give up North Berwick.


FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE:

As I’ve already mentioned a few candidates in other categories, so I’ll go for Garden City.  I had a great day out there and enjoyed seeing one of the old guard of US courses.     

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE: Kilspindie

I don’t know what it costs per round as I played in a 3 day tournament but I’m sure it is around £30-£40.  In 2012 my answer would have been Goswick.

BEST MODERATELY PRICED COURSE:  Cruden Bay    

I’m not going to add anything that hasn’t been said before.  Given the price of place like Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart and Trump (all of which I really rate) I feel it is moderately priced for the quality you get to see.


BEST COURSE: Muirfield

I love this place.  Relative to the time of year, the condition was as good in April and it was in late June, and again in late September. The best course I played in 2013.
 

[Mac Plumart]

it was only fitting that a North Berwick homer rammed it in for a 2 on their Redan!

I'll never forget that, Simon!

Golfing gold.

[Eric Smith]

Just wanted to say thanks to Sean for the thread and everyone for posting their awards as well. Terrific stuff. Thank you.

[Adam Lawrence]

A good year of golf for me. 38 rounds, on 32 courses, in eight countries. Nine links, nine heath.

MOST SURPISING COURSE: Penati (Heritage), Slovakia. I expected, from Jon Davison's extensive photo-posting, and the wholehearted recommendation from Frank Pont, who visited a month or two before I did, that I would like it, but it was much, much better than I thought it would be. The back nine is genuinely world class, and I'm pretty confident the course will find a place in Europe's top fifty in time. RUNNER-UP: La Moye, Jersey - remarkable land and some wonderful holes. Not consistently brilliant from start to finish, but a place everyone should see if they can. THIRD PLACE: Royal des Fagnes (Spa), Belgium. Soaking wet and possibly the most over-treed course I've ever seen, but a European top five course is under there trying to get out.

BEST NEW PLAY COURSE: Riviera. Hard to beat really. Astounding place.

MOST SURPRISING SECOND (third or fourth!) LOOK COURSE: Battle Creek (Sequatchie Valley) in Tennessee. It was my second visit, though first chance to play, and the course wasn't totally finished even then. Still, I've seen enough to conclude Rob Collins and Tad King know how to create brilliantly fun golf. I hope the operational problems of the course are sorted early in 2014 and that lots more GCAers (I know several have been already) get to see the course. I have not seen a lot of nine hole courses in the US, but it's hard to imagine there are a lot that are better than this one.

FAVOURITE LINKS not called St Enodoc: Royal Cinque Ports. Runner-up: St Enodoc

FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE: Woking. I love it more every time I play it.

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE: Swinkelsche, Netherlands (disclosure: I didn't pay. Nonetheless, you get a lot of golf for €50).

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Trump International. My second visit this year. I liked it more in the south wind than the north, but it still strikes me as being too focused on eye candy (especially in the excess of high tees that ruin the playability of many holes) and just not all it is cracked up to be. Maybe in three years they will have been able to thin the rough and establish a decent links sward. But I can't see me ever judging it the best course in Aberdeen (Royal Aberdeen has far more compelling holes in my eyes), let alone the world.

BEST COURSE: Riviera

[Sean_A]

Adam

La Moye - can you give me a bit more?

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Adam
La Moye - can you give me a bit more?
Ciao

yes, I'd be interested to know more too, any photos?, especially as Royal Jersey on the opposite side of the island is a course I really enjoyed playing, plus for Sean's benefit, you can fly to Jersey from Gloucester/Staverton airport.
Tab

[Ulrich Mayring]

MOST SURPRISING COURSE: Kennemer. I knew it must be a good course, but didn't expect as much, because it is a Tour stop and always overshadowed by Royal Hague and Noordwijkse. However, I found that the latter two are in a bit of their own category, so in my world Kennemer is now officially THE classic links course in continental Europe. I loved the van Hengel loop as well, so to me Kennemer has 50% more links golf than the other two and the best clubhouse. RUNNER-UP: The International, surprising how much sand-capping can do for a crappy site.

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE: Ca' della Nave. My first Arnold Palmer course and I expected much due to the beautiful parkland setting and the club's self-description. It turned out to be "too long from any tee". For 90% of the golfing population it has 10-12 par 5s, which ceased to be fun after a while. RUNNER-UP: Cochem Mosel Course, fine plateau location wasted.

MOST SURPRISING SECOND (third or fourth!) LOOK COURSE: Bad Münstereifel, every time I play there the greens have gotten better. Now they're the genuine "tiny, firm, undulated" article and there is an actual ground game in place. RUNNER-UP: Weimarer Land Goethe Course, seems a bit artificial and forced upon the land at first, but it grew on me.

FAVOURITE LINKS not called St Enodoc: Kennemer. RUNNER-UP: Royal Hague, although it might be considered an inland course.

FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE: Hardelot Les Pins, great renovation of the front 9 by Frank Pont. RUNNER-UP: Taunus-Weilrod, because it's the King of Quirk.

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE: Huh? Golf under €25? Where?

BEST MODERATELY PRICED COURSE: Rye at £50. No member introduction, just wrote a letter to the secretary in advance. Very welcoming club. RUNNER-UP: Taunus-Weilrod at €50.

BEST COURSE: not sure what Mr. Arble has in mind for this category, when he lists Deal here, but doesn't mention it at all under FAVOURITE LINKS. The best course that is not one of my favourites? Maybe Utrechtse De Pan?

Ulrich

[Mark Pearce]

MOST SURPRISING Swinkelsche.  From the pictures posted before the event I expected an interesting design on flat land.  I didn't expect to be challenged visually and mentally on every shot, nor to see such interesting greens, enjoy such firm conditions nor enjoy myself so much.  A brilliant example of what can be achieved on a modest budget.  Kingsbarns had a shout here.  I had low expectations and loved the round there, though couldn't help feeling it was designed to flatter the golfer and the Puritan in me didn't like that as much as others might.

MOST DISAPPOINTING I had expected Noordwijkse together highlight of BUDA and to be a great course.  It's very good because it's on great land but what a wasted opportunity.  In the end I enjoyed de Pan, Royal Hague and Swinkelsche more.  Let's hope the changes David Davis suggests are impending will improve things.  There's no doubt a great course could be found on that site.  EDIT : That's all true but Woodhall Spa was, on reflection, more disappointing.  I remembered, from one play many years ago, a wonderful heathland track.  I got a flat, well bunkered but frankly rather dull experience, especially after the joy of Brancaster the day before.

MOST SURPRISING SUBSEQUENT LOOK North Berwick.  No doubt I'll be considered a heretic but I had always found NBWL a little disappointing, given its reputation.  I thought it had a number of great holes but too many mundane ones.  A revisit this year showed me the error of my ways.  The holes I considered weak are better than I thought and the great holes as great as I recalled.  Perhaps an example of a course where extreme expectations served to hide the brilliance of the design.

FAVOURITE LINKS I don't want to name a course twice, so will name Elie here.  It's not in absolute terms as good as Royal Hague, nor, obviously, Muirfield but I do love Elie.

FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE de Pan was my favourite of the courses we played during BUDA.  Nothing dramatic in the way Royal Hague was, no brutal examination of your game like Noordwijkse.  Just a wonderful, gentle, flow.  This is what great architecture is about, using a good piece of land to its best effect.  A course I would happily play everyday.  Better still, a lovely club.  I was fortunate enough to play there twice in July and those two days are two of the best days golf I had in 2013.

BEST AFFORDABLE GOLF Kington is simply brilliant fun.  A week there with the family at Easter was a little spoilt by the weather (the course was under 4 feet of snow at the start of the week) but the reduction on our green fee the club offered, aided by the excellent way it drained, made us all as keen as ever to return.  Swinkelsche is also worth a shout here.

BEST MODERATELY PRICED I didn't get to Silloth this year, so The Eden has to take this category.

FAVOURITE COURSE Muirfield is one of the three greatest coursesI have ever played, the only one I have played multiple times and the only one I played this year.  It's just a great place to play golf and I find it far more engaging than many seem to.  As near perfect as it needs to be.

[David Davis]

I had a great golf year as well in 2013, playing 11 Top 100 World Courses for the first time. 3 others in the UK that were probably Top 100 UK courses, 15 courses in The Netherlands, 3 courses in Belgium and 3 courses in Germany + another 50 rounds at Noordwijkse.

MOST SURPISING COURSE:  Wolf Point  RUNNER -UP: Colorado Golf Club

MOST DISAPPOINTING COURSE: Woodhall Spa, can you say Groundhog Day (as in the movie and hitting the same shot more times than I could possibly remember).  RUNNER-UP: Oakmont, don’t get me wrong a great course with wonderful history and one of my favorite ever clubhouses, just not close to as special as I had hoped.

BEST NEW PLAY COURSE: Pine Valley can’t imagine how good it would be if they let a few hundred beavers selectively dine to bring back the luster from some of the old photos.  RUNNER-UP: Wolf Point!

MOST SURPRISING SECOND (third or fourth!) LOOK COURSE: Several revisits impressed me, but I think none more so than Utrechtse de Pan.  RUNNER-UP: Royal Hague  SECOND RUNNER-UP: Kennemer Golf Club.     

FAVOURITE LINKS not called St Enodoc   : Brancaster was really enjoyable. Never played St. Enodoc (sorry Sean, sacrilege I know) 

FAVOURITE INLAND COURSE: Pine Valley!  RUNNER -UP: Sand Hills.   

BEST AFFORDABLE COURSE: I can only think about Europe and The Netherlands for this answer as I’ve not played a single “affordable” course abroad this year. Stippleberg is a new course that while I didn’t pay for I believe runs 55-60 euro making it great value here in NL.  RUNNER-UP: Swinkelsche; at 50 euro a nice second. I’m trying to put on the cap of the average Dutch golfer here as we have a special deal to play all the old courses in The Netherlands for 30 euro making them all likely the best value in the world by comparison but then you have to be a member of one of them.

BEST MODERATELY PRICED COURSE: Don’t have an answer on this one, see best affordable course.   

BEST COURSE: Pine Valley is the undoubted winner this year. RUNNER-UP: Wolf Point which is beating out some tough competition in Sand Hills, Dismal, Ballyneal, Oakmont, Baltusrol and Somerset Hills. 

[Mark Pearce]

David,

Woodhall Spa and Brancaster both very good shouts in those categories.  In fact, perhaps Woodhall should edge out Noordwijkse in my awards.

[David Davis]

David,

Woodhall Spa and Brancaster both very good shouts in those categories.  In fact, perhaps Woodhall should edge out Noordwijkse in my awards.

Mark,

Woodhall Spa was really only majorly disappointing because I had such high expectations of it, had I never heard of it I guess I would of thought, ok well that's not too bad but not that special.

As far as Noordwijkse goes, I guess I find it personally disappointing that some of you guys didn't love it, although I'm not sure what your expectation were exactly going into your first play there. It's hard to see it coming up in a couple peoples most disappointing thread. I would of expected it to show up in yours, however, Michael Goldstein came out and I really had a great time with him and respect his opinion since he's pretty much played everything in the world and it's his most disappointing course of the year, granted he might not have played much golf this year and the quality of the courses he did play were probably amazing, in fact, I'm sure they were.

Still, I've seen an awful lot of golf courses and I really love the place even as is and never get tired of playing it so I'm surprised when people hate it I guess, which is so rare in my experience.

I really doubt if I will ever get the membership on my side enough to do what I'd like to do to truly make the most out of the property. I'd very very happily give our architect Martin Ebert carte blanche and I know he could easily make the most of it. Given the amazing property it's definitely realized about 60% of it's true potential, to randomly throw out a gestimated number.

Still disappointing to make your lists even so.

[Sean_A]

DD

Don't take the indifference to heart.  We are all looking for different things when we travel.  Besides, I am not hearing folks say they thought the course was poor, just that it may not meet their expectations given the lofty ranking.  Do you think the course is too straight forward tough for many to get down to what is really there?  I don't know, but that is always the impression I get when you talk about Noordwijkse.  The focus on difficulty as an attraction, isn't, well, attractive to me.

I chose RAF and Trump Aberdeen for my disappointments, but I still enjoyed the day at both.  I just don't think the designs warrant the praise/rankings.  In the long run, I think more people will question the design choices at Trump.


Ciao