Top 5 Courses you played in 2018

[adamjstl]

What’s your Top 5 in 2018?

 

I’ll start:

 

1. The Alotian Club, Roland, Arkansas. Opened in 2004, this Tom Fazio masterpiece offers a great layout in a truly spectacular setting. The course debuted at #14 on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses in America many years ago, and now sits at 27th. Holes move up and down as well left and right, featuring elevation changes, mountain backgrounds, and gorgeous views of Lake Maumelle. The conditions border on perfection.

 

2. Whispering Pines, Trinity, Texas. Chet Williams, a Nicklaus protege, calls Whispering Pines his masterpiece. The course is currently ranked 55th on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses in America. The front nine is solid, if unspectacular. From hole 13 on, however, it’s unforgettable. Five consecutive holes border the Trinity River/Caney Creek, with the highlight being the island green par-3 15th. The tees circle 180 degrees, allowing for an endless variety of angles and shots.

 

3. Bluejack National, Montgomery, Texas. Tiger’s first course debuted in 2016, and landed at 37th on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Courses in 2018. The experience here is incredible, and you are treated like royalty. The course is open off the tee, with all the challenge on and around the greens. Bluejack is about as easy or hard as they care to make it due to the slope and speed of the putting surfaces.

 

4. Golf Club of Tennessee, Kingston Springs, Tennessee. This is a Tom Fazio design that opened in 1991. Currently residing at 158th on Golf Digest’s Next 100 Courses in America, the Golf Club of Tennessee is an under the radar gem. The course makes incredible use of the natural terrain, highlighting huge elevation changes, rock ledges, and natural waterfalls. You get all the typical Fazio visuals with a genuinely memorable layout.

 

5. Sycamore Hills, Fort Wayne, Indiana. A Nicklaus design that opened in 1989, Sycamore Hills is currently ranked 139th on Golf Digest’s Next 100 Courses in America. The facilities are to die for here, as is the service. The course is routed through homes on the front nine, and gets back to nature on the back. Like most Nicklaus designs, Sycamore Hills requires power and precision. In the middle of record setting Midwest summer heat, the tees, fairways, and greens were perfect.

[jayhawkeye]

1. Cal Club

2. Prairie Dunes

3. Mammoth Dunes

4. Winged Foot (West)

5. White Bear Yacht Club

[bnp144]

Has been a pretty good past month and a half because of work....

 

Kiawah - Ocean

TPC Sawgrass

The Tribute at the Colony in Dallas

Green Valley Ranch Club in Denver

and the best in my opinion this past weekend. Bethpage Black.

[tiderider]

greywalls in michigan

pinehurst #2 (in november)

sweetens cove (sometime this fall)

streamsong consortium

the bull (over lawsonia; not a popular opinion)

 

i might try bandon the last week of december ... not sure ...

[J_Birdie]

Snake River Sporting Club

TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course

Oak Marsh at Amelia Island Resort

Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis

Kissing Tree

[Manbearpig13]

1. Whistling Straits

2. Erin Hills

3. Bandon Dunes

4. Pacific Dunes

5. Mammoth Dunes

[Doc420]

No order Valhalla, Victoria National, Sweetens Cove, Tpc Sugarloaf, Tobacco Road

[Chomper]

Not including my home course, in no particular order

 

Sand Hills

Prairie Dunes

Maidstone

Colorado Golf Club

Shadow Glen (KC)

and just below those five....

Applebrook GC (Malvern PA)

[Billy__Baroo]

No big trip this year, but it's all good. The midwest is stacked!

 

1. Erin Hills

2. Mammoth Dunes

3. Windsong Farm

4. Minikahda Club

5. Sentryworld

[razor_1]

1. U.S. Naval Academy

2. Mid Pines, NC

3. Achasta- Nicklaus course in GA

4. Pine Needles, NC

5. Cutter Creek, NC

[FairwayFred]

Sand Hills

Cruden Bay

Muirfield

Machrahanish

Pine Valley

[marks21]

Kiawah Island - Oceans Course

Erin Hills

Mammoth Dunes

Windsong Farms

Whistling Straits - Irish

[bcclarke35]

A clear cut top 4 for me this year,

 

Cabot Cliffs

Cabo Links

Interlachen (Minnesoa)

CC of Charleston

[ceejay81]

Pinehurst #2

Bulle Rock

Pine Needles

Tobacco Road

River Bend G&CC (Great Falls, VA)

[NCgolf135]

Wekopa-both

Tob. Road

Dormie Club

TPC Scottsdale -underwhelmed but still a great course

[DoubleorQuits]

ANGC

Milwaukee CC

Lookout Mountain

Bandon Dunes

Pacific Dunes

[third-times-a-charm]

Bay Hill

Bay Hill

Bay Hill

Interlachen Winter Park

Bay Hill

 

...I guess I should travel more

[krtgolfing]

Pebble Beach

Kiawah Ocean Course

Spyglass Hill

Pasatiempo

Poppy Hills

[Frohlich]

Arcadia Bluffs

Forest Dunes

The Loop

Eagle Eye

Stonelick Hills

[Argonne69]

1) Chambers Bay

2) Mammoth Dunes

3) Sand Valley

4) TPC Scottsdale

5) Torrey Pines South

 

 

I'm scheduled to play TPC Sawgrass in mid-December, and I expect it'll kick Torrey Pines out of the top 5.

[irvtrain]

For me it has been a good year of getting to courses.

 

Wilshire CC in L.A - Beautiful course in the heart of L.A with restoration done by C & C in early 2000s.

Boothbay Harbor CC in Maine - Redesigned by Bruce Hepner formally of Renaissance (Doak). Another breathtaking course. IMO, the best course in Maine now. It was better than Belgrade which I also played.

Trinity Forest in Dallas - Pretty well known course now. One of C & C's best designs to date.

Ballyneal in E. Colorado - Played it before but now that they've gotten rid of the fescue and replaced with bent, the course plays significantly firmer and faster and a lot more entertaining this time around.

Dedham Country and Polo club in Boston. Originally a Seth Raynor design with Brian Silva doing restoration work including new drainage and greens. Redan, reverse redan, Biarritz, and punch bowl all added.

[DavePelz4]

Haven't got out of state to play this year...too busy working. With that said, here's an IL version of the list.

 

1. Flossmoor CC

2. Highlands of Elgin

3. Bowes Creek

4. Blackstone

5. Arrowhead

[OffTheDole]

1. Pasatiempo Golf Club, an Alister MacKenzie gem in Santa Cruz that is said to be MacKenzie's favorite design, even above Augusta National and Cypress Point. You have to be on your game to score here, and I was for about nine holes. Great and fast poa greens, lots of scenery, and a fantastic experience overall.

 

 

 

2. Reynolds Lake Oconee - Oconee Course, a Rees Jones design at the Georgia resort. Immaculately maintained and solid. I played it on a day after some heavy rain, so the lack of roll cost me some yardage off the tee. Still scored well.

 

 

 

3. Reynolds Lake Oconee - Landing Course, a Bob Cupp design and the original golf course built at Reynolds Plantation. A few very nice holes along Lake Oconee and excellent conditions, even after a rainstorm.

 

 

 

4. Atlantic Beach Country Club, the home of the Web.com Tour Finals. Fast greens for Northeast Florida and always in good shape. One of those courses that can punish you if you miss greens because everything runs off, but it's also very gettable if you're playing well (as the Web.com guys showed).

 

 

 

5. PGA National - Champion Course, a Jack Nicklaus design and home of the Honda Classic. This was my last round before having neck surgery, so I was hoping to play somewhere great. We played there in January, just about a month out from the Honda Classic, and the greens were very sandy and hard. Of the "top" courses I've played, this one was just okay. I should mention that a rainstorm prevented me from making it through to the back nine, so I missed the Bear Trap.

 

 

[raynorfan1]

Dedham Country and Polo club in Boston. Originally a Seth Raynor design with Brian Silva doing restoration work including new drainage and greens. Redan, reverse redan, Biarritz, and punch bowl all added.

 

Originally Donald Ross (9 holes); Herbert Fowler added 9 holes; later renovated / redesigned by Seth Raynor.

[Fairwindsgolfer]

Unfortunately, I dont get to travel much, but I was fortunate enough to go on a golf trip this March.

My top 5 2018 courses reflect that trip:

 

1. Dunes Club

2. Tidewater

3. Wintonbury Hills

4. Tashua Knolls

5. Bronson Country club

[collje26]

1. Lawsonia (links)

2. Greywalls

3. Timberstone

4. Sage Run

5. Lawsonia (woodlands)

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

1) Royal Portrush

2) Royal County Down

3) Lawsonia Links

4) Pacific Grove

5) Portstewart

 

[AuldPLO Swiss Golftrotter]

It's all about Scotland in 2018, with three amazing trips

 

1. Ailsa Course - Trump Turnberry (Ranked 1st on my personnal ranking)

 

2. Castle Stuart (Ranked 4th on my personnal ranking)

 

3. Royal Dornoch - Championship Course (Ranked 6th on my personnal ranking)

 

4. North Berwick (Ranked 12th on my personnal ranking)

 

5. Royal Troon - Old Course (Ranked 21st on my personnal ranking)

[irvtrain]

Dedham Country and Polo club in Boston. Originally a Seth Raynor design with Brian Silva doing restoration work including new drainage and greens. Redan, reverse redan, Biarritz, and punch bowl all added.

 

Originally Donald Ross (9 holes); Herbert Fowler added 9 holes; later renovated / redesigned by Seth Raynor.

 

Thanks for the clarification. No one mentioned Ross nor Fowler to me. Interesting notes. Did Raynor completely redesign the course then or modify the existing 18?

[raynorfan1]

Dedham Country and Polo club in Boston. Originally a Seth Raynor design with Brian Silva doing restoration work including new drainage and greens. Redan, reverse redan, Biarritz, and punch bowl all added.

 

Originally Donald Ross (9 holes); Herbert Fowler added 9 holes; later renovated / redesigned by Seth Raynor.

 

Thanks for the clarification. No one mentioned Ross nor Fowler to me. Interesting notes. Did Raynor completely redesign the course then or modify the existing 18?

 

It's sort of a mystery. The current thinking in the club is that Ross built the first nine holes, Fowler designed nine more, but only built a few of them before a falling out with the club, and Raynor re-routed all 18, using many of Ross' and some of Fowler's greens.

 

Unfortunately, they don't have any of the plans for any of them.

 

FWIW the Ross society considers his work at Dedham to be "NLE".