Best golf courses - Places to play ?
 

Here is a list of my favourite courses (that I played at least once) in a few categories:

Best Overall Experience:
Seven Canyons, Sedona, AZ

Best Ocean Courses:
Pelican Hill, Newport Beach, both courses

Best Links:
Bandon Dunes (also 36 holes now)

(Pebble Beach, St. Andrews Old Course tie for second place - I prefer the more spectacular layouts)

Best desert style courses:
Troon North, Greyhawk in Scottsdale and Ventana Canyon in Tucson

Most difficult course:
PGA West Stadium Course

Best mountain courses:
Greywolf, Jasper, Banff Thompson 18 - I will play Silver Tip this August and will probably add it here!

Best central European Course:
Evian in Evian, France

Best courses in Spain:
PGA de Catalunya,
Valderrama

Best in South Africa:
Fancourt (Montague, Outeniqua + Links course), Arabella Estate

Best in Asia:
Blue Canyon courses in Phuket

Australia:
Royal Melbourne, The Pines, Sanctuary Cove, on the Gold Coast

New Zealand:
Waikarea (?) at Taupo (just beautiful lake Taupo)
Paraparamua Beach Links

Best Caribbean:
Hyatt Dorado Beach east course, River and Ocean course at the Westin Rio Mar in Puerto Rico

Best Canadian:
Glen Abbey near Toronto,
Furry Creek, Predator Ridge (difficult and awesome), Westwood Plateau in British Columbia

Please feel free to add categories and courses that you think are worth mentioning!
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Thank you!

Well, the best course in the world hands down is Augusta National. But since you and I won't be playing there anytime soon, the two best courses in the world accessible to the public are St. Andrews and Pebble Beach. No contest.

Pebble and St. Andrews are IMO nowhere near the fun of playing at Greywolf or Bandon Dunes. Very crowded -you have to participate in a lottery to play the Old Course unless you know a member-, very expensive, old style - only bearing a name with a great reputation.

Cypress Point is probably better than Pebble but also member's only as is Pine Valley, the No.1 course according to the latest Golf Digest ranking. Wish I could play there!

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

new category:

Best resort course (continental US):
Aviara at the Four Seasons Aviara (good service, inspiring gardening in the whole resort, challenging of the black Palmer tees)

[This message has been edited by flamboyant 1 (edited 06-22-2003).]

The best course I ever played is Pebble Beach. I am in hopes of playing Augusta National as I dearly love the Masters but I have come to the realization that the closest that I will come to Augusta National is that Masters telecast. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/frown.gif However, I will always have hope.

Most Beautiful Course:
Aviara in CA (I've never been to Augusta Nat'l.)

Most Overated Course:
Ko'olau on Oahu (horrible conditions, there was algea growing in the standing water in the traps. I played here twice, three years apart, a disgrace to the game, both times.)

Hardest Course:
Wolf Run in Zionsville, IN (knee-high heather for rough. Greens at a 12 on the stimp. Nick Faldo said 12-13-14 are the hardest 3 consecutive holes he's ever played.)

Most Fun to Play:
Bob-O-Link in Chicago and Sharon Golf Club in OH. Both are shrines to the game.

[This message has been edited by Billiken (edited 06-22-2003).]

Aviara is always so beautiful for the eyes and great fun to play. Nice clubhouse and pro shop. The 105$ twilight rate is fair including water, cookies, GPS equipped cart,...

RobotDoctor, we will remain hoping.
Good luck.

Best Ocean Course (Asia):

Lao Lao Bay on Saipan. The ocean is more blue than the sky. Amazing. The views are more dramatic than Pebble.

Just got back from Maui yesterday and played the Plantation Course at Kapalua. Incredible course with panoramic ocean views of Molokai Island on EVERY hole. Challenging greens that break uphill in some cases. It's a hefty $220, but a great track and home of the Mercedes Championships. It's a can't miss on Maui.

Thanks for your replies!

There are plenty of great courses in the U.S., but I'm more interested in Europe. I just played the 108 year-old Berlin Land and Golf club which was a hoot. I've played another 100 year old course near Cannes. I've played the only course in the city of Zurich. Any other Euro continental recommendations?

Les Bordes near Orleans is a great course, challenging and always in pristine condition.

Fontana Golf Club and Colony Club Gutenhof south of Vienna are both excellent - but not comparable to the great US courses.

E-mail me if you need addresses!

Golf Club Lausanne and Domaine Imperial are acceptable, a bit better than the Golf Club Zürich Zumikon, which is the one Stimpy probably played.

The amazing thing in the UK is that it is quite easy to play a lot of the top 100 courses (ranked by Golf World Magazine,2002). I.e. all the courses in the Open rotation can be played. Out of the top 100, only 2 do not allow visitors (Rye and Swinley Forest).

Compared to the US Top 100 (ranked by Gold Digest 2002), where 90% are private clubs and do not alow visitors, the UK offers some fantastic,historic and famous courses. Two weeks ago I had a chance to play Woodhall Spa (No.9 in the UK) and Hunstanton (No.39), two beautiful courses that would never be open to anybody but private members in any other country.

I've played the Old Course a couple of times - I thought it was fairly priced. We never had any difficulty getting on: all but once we just walked up to the starter and he said "Go pay your fees, come back, and you can tee off." Once in mid-June we actually had to go through the lottery the day before, but the guy running it said there were more tee times than people wanting them, so everybody got on and most people got to pick their tee time. Best of all: I have always played this course is well under 4 hours. It's a wonderful thing that everybody walks it!

To the original poster's point: the Old Course isn't the most spectacular or most challenging course on planet Earth. Toughest true links course I've ever played is the Jubilee Course at St. Andrews.

In the UK, the Turnberry Ailsa course is another favorite of mine, at least partially because I played really well there and partially because I've always been a Watson honk.

Kapalua Plantation is a beautiful track, but it was totally unmarshalled when I played it. The fivesome (yes, FIVESOME) in front of me should have been removed from the course.

Hapuna Prince is my favorite Hawaiian course. Well marshalled (4 hr round), good service all around, great condition, interesting design. $145pp. for prime weekend tee times, but 2-for-1's are available during the week and after noon.

The caddies at St.Andrews walk fast and make sure that one plays a 4-hour-round. Very good!
Play on some resort courses is soooooooo slow that I get really aggravated because I do not make that many shots and hate hitting only twice in 30 or 40 minutes.

Please also agree with me that golf is a sport requiring mental and physical ability in order to perform well!


Table-tennis is also a sport.

Pro Golf:
Total concentration for 4+ hours is physically exhausting and mentally draining. Watch a US Open, especially when they play in hot, really hot weather!

Golf requires absolutely no running or quick muscle movement - try to hit the ball 300+ yards!

Perfect hand-eye-coordination is not that easy to achieve!