Fore! The Golf Course Review Thread

[Tripping William]

NOT the course that hosted the 1974 PGA Championship, but the other Robert Trent Jones Sr. design on the property. The back nine can get really tight off the tee, and all of the par fives are incredibly strategic. It is in beautiful condition right now, except for poa annua in a number of the greens and poor drainage in a lot of bunkers (due to an unreal amount of rain here lately). Precision is key here, but it's a fun "little brother" kind of track.

[duketaylor]

Well, actually Calabash. Stayed at Brunswick Plantation right on 17. Very cordial, decent courses, but couldn't check in on Thursday until 4PM, which I thought sucked. We had purchased a few perishable items and couldn't get in. Courses were fine. Played Sandpiper Bay on Friday, eventually. Had starting times beginning at 12:25. No carts available until almost 2PM and guys just finishing from the morning way too late. Absolutely horrible experience. Golf course was OK and in decent shape but our group, 2 others and really pissed-off members were livid. Terribly run and I'm gonna share my experience with plenty. Didn't offer us any compensation and made sure their members got carts before we did. They sucked!! Then I'm told a similar thing happened a couple years ago at the same course, so our organizer is largely to blame for going back there. This was my first Myrtle trip with the guys in 15 years. Fun overall, but Sandpiper sucked!

Played golf with guys from Wilmington, South Hill, Raleigh, Henderson and a Richmond guy. Nice getaway for me, for sure. Not sure they enjoyed me as much as I enjoyed them!!

They'll get over me.

[rsvman]

Bayville Golf Club, Virginia Beach, VA

Had the opportunity to play this course (in a 4-man scramble) yesterday. This is a Tom Fazio design and, in my opinion, is the best course in Hampton Roads. I don't think it's really even close. It's a private course with a really high price point, and the membership is pretty small, so it isn't played much. It is always in immaculate condition. It weaves in and out around waterways. There are osprey nests in view of the greens where you can sometimes see the ospreys feeding their babies.

The course from the tips is 7138 yards and I think would be a major monster. We played the whites and it is still challenging. There can be a lot of wind, given the location, and yesterday was no exception. The wind makes the course even more challenging. Yesterday was particularly blustery.

Lots of variety in the types of holes. Par 3s of varying lengths and layouts. Par 4s range from 270 yards to about 410 (from the white tees). The shortest par 4 is very challenging, as the fairway narrows to a tiny ribbon the farther you hit your tee shot, with the entire left 75% of the area a deep, heavily contoured "grass trap" with a forced carry over a large bunker to an elevated green. Just a genious hole.

The greens are as good as any I've ever played (including Pebble Beach, Pasatiempo, the Ocean Course, and many other highly regarded courses). They are contoured and varied, but not ridiculously sloped. They are fast but not ridiculously fast. They vary in size appropriately from medium to quite large. They putt completely true. Just a pleasure to putt on these amazing greens. I'd pay $40 a round to just be allowed to drop a ball on every green and putt all 18 holes.

Finally, the scenery is just spectacular. Almost every hole presents a gorgeous vista. Even a non-golfer would likely enjoy riding along in the cart just to take in the scenery.


I wish everybody could try this course just once, but, as I said, it's really hard to get on.

[Tripping William]

In the northeast corner of Metro Greensboro (up Highway 29), Bryan Park has a pair of 18-holes courses on the shores of Lake Townsend. The Players Course is the older of the two. It was designed originally by George Cobb and opened in November 1974. Rees Jones redesigned it in 1988, before also designing the accompanying Champions Course, which debuted in 1990. We played the Players Course yesterday (and I think I may have played the Champions Course approximately 10 years ago or so, but fading memory and all).

The Players Course is a par 72 that plays approximately 7000 yards from the tips. We played the "forward" men's tees which reach approximately 6000 yards, and which is the distance my son will likely play in a two-day event there in August. The middle tees play about 6500. The course is in fantastic shape right now, including their championship bermuda greens (which I think are relatively new to the course). The first five holes (a par 4, a par 5, a par 3, a par 5 and a par 3) are pretty wide open and fairly non-descript. Then the doglegs start. The 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th all have a dogleg feature to them, often with strategically played bunkers or water (on 7). The 12th is probably the signature hole, a reachable par 5 (if you are willing to carry the water hazard on the right side) that runs downhill to the lakeshore. Then 13 and 15 are par 4s with doglegs as well, and 18 is a longer, uphill finishing hole. Fairly forgiving golf course *if* you're able to play the angles well on the dogleg holes, as the greens (overall) are pretty straightforward. (Don't be above the hole on 7, though, as I can attest from sad experience.)

From the photography in the clubhouse, it looks like the Champions Course has more water. Guess it means we'll have to go back.

[Zeke]

Anyone who is serious about golf should treat themselves to a trip to St Andrews. Stay at a B&B, play the Old Course ($$). Have access to New Course, Edens, and Jubilee in St Andrews and Carnoustie about a 45min drive away. Must play the Old Course more than once as you won't like it the first time -just as Bobby Jones (it is different than US courses). In N.Carolina I really like Linnville Golf Club. You may have to stay at Eseeola Lodge to get privileges at golf club. Course is an ORIGINAL and unmodified Donald Ross course and you can play the original Donald Ross tees - they are not easy.Staying at Eseeola Lodge is a treat in itself
Enjoy

[Tripping William]

Many in the thread have alluded to the crown jewel of Donald Ross designs, but there has not been an "official" review yet. Until now. I played it Monday afternoon, in absolutely glorious weather, with a couple of my West Coast partners (from Seattle and Denver). The course is in great shape right now, as I understand they are getting it ready for the 2017 U.S. Amateur Fourball event later this month. But, boy, was it playing hard & fast, even with all the rain we have had recently.

We played the 6300-yard white tees and, tee to green, No. 2 is not all that remarkable (other than the history, with probably every significant golfer from the Turn of the 20th Century forward having walked those fairways). With the redesign by Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, there is no rough at all on the course. You are either in the fairway or in a waste area, marked by sand and wire-grass. This course, though, is ALL about the greens. This was the fifth time I have played the course, and I marvel every time at the greens complexes. They never get old. Frustrating, yes, but never old.
Our caddies said that the official stat is "Greens In Regulation," but they have a term called GVR: "Greens Visited in Regulation." I had quite a number of GVRs, where my ball rolled tantalizingly onto the green, only to keep rolling, and rolling, and rolling, down the turtle's back and onto the fringe. To score on this course, you either have to be super-precise with speed & line playing links-style golf (as most greens have a narrow opening for a low runner) or fly it in very precisely with a TON of spin. And putting has to be mega-precise as well.

A fun test of golf, but any ego I had about my game was thoroughly beaten out of me by Mr. Ross's signature design.

[Tripping William]

My son & I played No. 4 late in the afternoon on Saturday, after he participated in the Drive Chip & Putt local qualifier at Pinewild on Saturday morning. I have previously played three rounds of charity golf on No. 4 over the years, but had never played my own ball all the way around, in order from 1 to 18. Plus, No. 4 will be closing down in the fall to allow Gil Hanse to re-design it.

No. 4 was originally a Donald Ross design, but Robert Trent Jones had his hands on it in the 1970s, Rees Jones had his hands on it in the 1980s, and Tom Fazio did the most recent re-working in 2000. In its current iteration, the course if very Fazio-like, with gazillions of little pot bunkers everywhere. The greens remain probably the last hold-out of bent-grass in Pinehurst, and while they are rolling "okay" (and fairly speedy for bent-grass), it is clear that poa annua has gotten mixed into them a bit.

We nearly had the course all to ourselves, and played the white tees at approximately 6,200 yards in under 3.5 hours (!). The tips stretch to 7,100. There is more elevation change than probably any course at Pinehurst.

The 13th hole (a par-5 that bends left around a lake on the property, and that is backed by azaleas) is probably the prettiest hole among the Pinehurst Resort courses. The 4th hole isn't shabby, either, a downhill par-3 over a portion of the same lake, with even more and bigger azaleas behind it). I told my son that if Hanse puts even one finger on those azaleas, I'll personally throttle him.

We put this one in the top half of Pinehurst Resort's nine courses, and will be fascinated to play it after this newest re-design is completed sometime later next year.

[Tripping William]

We pre-played this Sandhills course yesterday morning, in advance of my son playing a two-day event at Talamore next month. (**Talamore is the correct spelling, but I can't now change the post title. Oops.). They call this Talamore's "new" course, since it has relatively recently been redesigned to "rejuvenate" the course that Rees Jones laid out in 1991. In doing so, they replaced the bent-grass greens with championship Bermuda, and took out almost 60 (!) bunkers. The renovations are so new that the kinds folks in the clubhouse told me that, although the *distances* in their yardage book were accurate, the displayed bunkering was not accurate due to the removal. Also, you could still see some of the collars on the fringe where the new greens were installed. In renovating the bunkers, though, they have put in a number of deep, Scottish-style sod-wall bunkers, and those things are steep & nasty. I was only in one of them, but was right up against the lip and had no choice but to take my medicine & play almost backwards.

This course plays to a par 71 (36-35). We played it at the "middle school tournament" distance of 5400 yards, which makes it a little shorter than I'd otherwise like. But for the pre-playing aspect, we'd have played the whites at 6000. The tips stretch to 6800 yards. With the greens so new, we were warned that they were very, very firm. That was absolutely true; everything that hit on the green rolled out a fair bit, and it took a super-duper amount of spin to get anything to "bite." The new greens roll very nicely, though, and were fun to putt.

The signature hole is probably the 18th, a longer par four the bends a bit left, with some water up the lefthand side. So, the strategic decision is how much water to try to carry to shorten the hole. And I really like their shorter par'4's (the 6th, 9th, 10th and 17th all played under 310 yards from those forward tees). They also have some llamas on the property, between the 13th green and 14th tee, and I understand they can be used to caddie for you. If you're going to walk, that makes sense because the course is not very walkable at all, between the elevation changes (quite a lot) and the distances between some of the greens and the next tee. It will be interesting to see how the juniors handle that part of it next month.

All told, a solid track for classic Sandhills golf.

[Tripping William]

Now owned by Richard Childress (who purchased the property maybe five years ago), Sapona Ridge is tucked away in a corner of Davidson County just off Highway 52 and just past Childress Vineyards when traveling south on 52. It's an Ellis Maples design from 1968, and I played this course for the second time yesterday.

The course is not overly long, with the tips extending only to approximately 6800 yards. The other three sets of tees play at 6100, 5700 and 5100. It also plays to a par 71, opening with a par-5 on the first hole, and then not showing you another par-5 until the 15th. This is a pretty tight golf course, and is not very forgiving if you get way offline from the tee box. There are also a number of risk/reward, strategic-decision holes. For instance, the fifth hole is a short-ish par-4, dogleg-right with water up the right side. How much do you challenge the water in order to have a shorter iron into the green? Similarly, the 14th is a severe dogleg-left, where you risk hitting through the fairway if you are not able to move the ball significantly from right-to-left. They also have an interesting double-green that houses both the 9th and 18th holes, right near the clubhouse. However, it would take a really, really bad approach on the 9th to be putting from the 18th side of the green, and a similarly terrible approach on the 18th to wind up anywhere near the 9th hole.

It appears that the greens had been aerified approximately two weeks ago. We could still discern the smallest of punch-marks, but they did not at all impede putting. And I was stunned to learn that the greens are Diamond Zoysia, which I usually don't like. These rolled really, really well for that type of grass.

This is, technically, a private club, but they have a very open/generous "member-for-a-day" program that allows the great unwashed like me to access the golf course. Definitely worth a visit when in the vicinity.

[Tripping William]

This is the 40th time that Golf Digest has published its "Best in Each State" list. A fun time-suck, and lots of fodder for debate here.

[Channing]

This is the 40th time that Golf Digest has published its "Best in Each State" list. A fun time-suck, and lots of fodder for debate here.

A bit different formulation - best courses in each state public and private. Lets see some bragging - who has played what?

I've got (very regional for me):

Shoal Creek (Al)
Sawgrass (Fl)
Sea Island (Ga)
Wade Hampton (NC)
Ocean (SC)
Yeamans (SC)
Honors (Tn)

[Tripping William]

"PGA Tour" Courses Played:

Copperhead
Harbor Town
Tanglewood Championship
Forest Oaks
TPC Louisiana
Kiawah Ocean Course
Pinehurst No. 2
Bay Hill

Others of Note:

All of Pinehurst's "number" courses (No. 1 thru No. 9)
Mid Pines
Pine Needles
Dormie
Tobacco Road
Crandon (Key Biscayne)
Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes (Orlando)
TPC Las Vegas

[rsvman]

I don't even need to look at the list to put together my "bragging list" of courses I've played:

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island
Poppy Hills in Monterey
Pebble Beach (twice!)
Monterey Peninsula Country Club
Pasatiempo
Stanford University Golf Club
The Golden Horseshoe Gold (Williamsburg, VA)
The Golden Horseshoe Green
The Homestead Cascades course

[rsvman]

After looking at the list, I have to add:

The Pete Dye River Course at Virginia Tech

AND

Kingsmill River Course


(Can't believe I forgot that I had played this two amazing courses)

[Channing]

Pasatiempo

Criminally underrated.

[Tripping William]

After looking at the list, I have to add:

The Pete Dye River Course at Virginia Tech

AND

Kingsmill River Course


(Can't believe I forgot that I had played this two amazing courses)

I definitely want to play the River Course, and have it penciled for when we're in Roanoke toward the end of July.

After looking further at the Golf Digest list, I'll add these to my "have played" humble-brag list:

• We-Ko-Pa Saguaro (Arizona)
• Grand Traverse Bear (Michigan)
• Primland (Virginia)
• Ballyhack (Virginia)
• Glade Springs Cobb (West Virginia)

[rsvman]

Criminally underrated.

Agreed. This is a fabulous course. For what it's worth, insiders say it was MacKenzie's favorite of all his course designs.

[Channing]

Agreed. This is a fabulous course. For what it's worth, insiders say it was MacKenzie's favorite of all his course designs.

...that is high praise. The course is wonderful enough, but the view from the clubhouse is majestic!

[Channing]

As a corollary to this thread ... I hope it goes without saying that if anyone finds themselves in Atlanta they'll let me know so we can arrange a round of golf, time permitting. Same thing if you find yourself in Charleston over a long weekend.

[mkirsh]

I'll post my brag before DukeTaylor blows all our lists away:

Major Championship Courses
Congressional
Medinah
Ocean Course
Torrey Pines
Pinehurst #2
Columbia CC (1921 US Open, but still counts)

RTJ (Presidents Cup)
Baltimore Country Club (Sr PGA)
Caves Valley (Sr PGA)
Lowes Island (before it was Trump (ie, pre-waterfall) - Sr PGA)

PGA Courses
Bay Hill
TPC Avenel
Seaside (Sea Island, GA)
Tiburon (Naples, FL)
U of Maryland (hosted a Nationwide tour event at one point)

Need to make a trip to Pebble/Spyglass/Spanish Bay, Scotland, Ireland, Bethpage, and of course Augusta and/or Pine Valley if anyone needs a fourth!