Your favorite golf course

[Alma]

With The Masters approaching, thought I'd throw this topic out there again. Always fun to hear about those moments we come in contact with a course architecture we simply love.

It can be a course you've played, walked, or just seen on TV. Let's just, well, hear it.

 

[BigDog]

The Orbitz pop-up ad.

 

[Steak Snabler]

The one with the six-foot deep bunkers where they play the British Open on occasion ... Troon, I think ...

 

[PeteyPirate]

I'm hardly what you would call an avid golfer, but I've played Pinehurst No. 2 twice and walked it another couple dozen times while covering events. It's my favorite because it's the only one (outside of Augusta because of television) where if somebody mentions a hole number, I can immediately visualize it down to the last detail.

 

[Chef]

Favorites I have played;

Buffalo Dunes- Garden City, KS
Sand Creek Station- Newton, KS
United State Air Force Academy Courses- Colorado Springs, CO
Boiling Springs Golf Club- Woodward, OK
Colbert Hills Golf Club- Manhattan, KS *Doubles as one of the toughest I have played as well.

Faves on TV-

Muirfield Village Golf Club- Dublin, OH
Augusta National- Augusta, GA
Castle Pines Golf Club- Castle Pines, CO
Sahalee Golf Club- Seattle, WA
TPC @ Sawgrass- Ponte Vedre Beach, FL

 

[playthrough]

Faves on TV: Augusta, Sawgrass, Pebble Beach, TPC Scottsdale (for the 16th hole) and wherever the U.S. Open is being held.

A few faves I have played: Brickyard Crossing (Indianapolis), World Woods (Brooksville, Fla.), Paiute (Las Vegas), Bulls Bay (Mount Pleasant, SC, my dad's home club).

And I'll reserve some love for the $20 muni five blocks from my house. When the weather's turning and I see the maintenance guys out getting the joint cleaned up, as I did last week, I know golf season is almost here :)

 

[JR]

Hmmm.

Anything designed by Stanley Thompson or Thomas McBroom, particuarly Thompson's Banff Springs in Alberta, Hamilton Golf & Country Club and McBroom's The Links at Crowbush in Prince Edward Isand, one of the great undiscovered courses in North America.

The Old Course. Muirhead. Pebble Beach.

And that course with the clown.

 

[chester]

Got a chance to play Firestone Country Club's South course in Akron once last year, and the thing which struck me was how soft the fairways felt in comparison to any of the normal publics I've played.

It was also strange to play it, because it was about a month before the WGC event there, and they were constructing bleachers and towers and concession stands as well. But it made watching the tournament the next month exciting, because I knew the layout they were playing.

Plus, I could show my wife the concession stands I was constantly hitting with errant drives and approach shots.

As for the best course I've ever played, that would have to be Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda. Played it on my honeymoon, and as nice as the course itself was, I have to say the views were even more impressive of the ocean on Nos. 8 and 16.

 

[dawgpounddiehard]

Two favorites I've played:

— Black Lake Golf Club in Onaway, Michigan

— Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club - An Alister MacKenzie design. I'm not holding my breath I'll ever play Augusta, so this was as close as I'll probably come. Great track.

Favorites on TV:
Ever since I got an HD TV a year ago, damn near every one.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Pirate's Cove in Branson, Mo.

That waterfall just drives me crazy.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Ones I've Played:

1) Portmarnock (Ireland).
2) The Country Club (Ma.)
3) Carton House (Ireland).
4) European Club (Ireland).

 

[John]

TPC at Sawgrass. Played it twice from the blues, never broke 90, only put one in the water at 17. I played well both times, but I don't hit the ball far enough off the tee to avoid some of the waste bunkers.

 

[Chef]

Ones I've Played:

1) Portmarnock (Ireland).
2) The Country Club (Ma.)
3) Carton House (Ireland).
4) European Club (Ireland).

When you were in Ireland, did you get to play the K Club?

I have a standing tee-time if I ever get over there.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Favorite to play: Stone Mountain Golf Club, Stone Mountain GA:

Just a lot of fun. First five holes are pretty much all along the lake and hugged tightly by pine trees; the back nine mixes in the stone that makes up the terrain with the bermuda fairways and the sand bunkers.

Oh, and one tip: the putts always break to the mountain.

Fave as a spectator: Augusta National, Augusta, GA.

It's not Iowa; it's Georgia. And it is heaven.

 

[Pencil Dick]

Favorites I've played:

Shoal Creek Country Club, Birmingham
Atlanta Country Club
Muirfield, Dublin, Ohio
Harbor Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, SC
Turtle Point Yacht Club, Killen, AL

 

[trifectarich]

My top 5:
1) Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland -- a couple of the most magnificent holes you'll ever see.
2) The Honors Course, Chattanooga -- awesome golf course in the most peaceful setting you can imagine; can't hear nearby traffic; no corporate or industrial noise; no airplanes — nothing except a couple of babbling brooks.
3) Shinnecock Hills, Southampton, N.Y. -- not one yard of cart paths. You can stand on the first tee, look out over Long Island Sound and picture that someone standing in the same spot 100 years ago saw exactly the same thing.
4) Prairie Dunes, Hutchinson, Kan. -- terrific collection of golf holes and, when the wind blows, it'll test all your golfing skills. There's nothing contrived on the property. Oh, and the kitchen turns out the world's BEST fried chicken; it alone is worth the trip.
5) Spyglass, Pebble Beach, Calif. -- the first couple of holes that wind down to the dunes and shore . . . what a treat!

 

[EStreetJoe]

Pine Creek - two courses, some water hazards, a nice layout..
Aerial views of the courses can be seen here: http://www.pinecreekgolf.com/aerial.html

 

[93Devil]

I was able to play here for free when I was in college. I was just a valet, but it was a hell of a job.

http://paradisevalleycc.com/

If you ever have some time to kill in Central Virginia and $30 bucks in your pocket, then give this course a try.

http://www.thevistalinks.com/

 

[Chef]

True Story;

I played golf last month at Braeburn Golf Course (Wichita States Course) in Wichita. I was by myself.

Gentlemen was just loading his clubs in a cart, and asked me if I was by myself, and wanted to know if I wanted to tee it up with him.

I said sure.

As he is going to the first tee-box, I noticed his clubs were hickory-shafts.

He plays in hickory only tournaments all over the U.S., and switched to hickory only about 10 years ago.

This gentlemen is from somewhere in Nebraska, and is on a mission to play golf in all 50 states. Only states he has not played in is Alaska, and New York.

Only reason he is saving New York for last is because (this is what he told me) that the oldest course in America is in New York State, and ironically called St. Andrews.

Fascinating man.

Oh, and he shot 75 too. Guy didn't hit it all that far, but with the hickory shafts, and a tiny club head, every shot had to be struck perfectly, and they were.

 

[93Devil]

True Story;

I played golf last month at Braeburn Golf Course (Wichita States Course) in Wichita. I was by myself.

Gentlemen was just loading his clubs in a cart, and asked me if I was by myself, and wanted to know if I wanted to tee it up with him.

I said sure.

As he is going to the first tee-box, I noticed his clubs were hickory-shafts.

He plays in hickory only tournaments all over the U.S., and switched to hickory only about 10 years ago.

This gentlemen is from somewhere in Nebraska, and is on a mission to play golf in all 50 states. Only states he has not played in is Alaska, and New York.

Only reason he is saving New York for last is because (this is what he told me) that the oldest course in America is in New York State, and ironically called St. Andrews.

Fascinating man.

Oh, and he shot 75 too. Guy didn't hit it all that far, but with the hickory shafts, and a tiny club head, every shot had to be struck perfectly, and they were.

Chef, I would love to read a story online about that guy.