Famous courses that disappointed

[rtraudt]

For those of you who don't love BWR River, I wholeheartedly recommend coming up in the spring at the beginning of the season and playing the Original 18 layout at Blackwolf. There is a reason that they have staged their championships there on that original layout, and I find it to be a wonderful routing with a lot of variety in terms of the land that the holes work their way through (with 9 from both the Meadow and River). And if Erin Hills was more affordable, I would play it regularly given how close I live to it. I love the severity of the slopes, including around the greens, the variety of holes including postage stamp par 3s, driveable par 4s, true par 5s, and par 5s that you can get home in 2 on, albeit with significant risk. The closing hole on 18 is a beast, especially into the wind, but until you've stood in that fairway you can't appreciate just how good JT's fairway wood to that front pin was. I have no idea how a human being is able to place a ball so perfectly on that green to such a challenging pin with a wood. Also, I rather enjoyed the walk, but I'm in my 30s and almost exclusively walk when playing (and I will admit that it is a more tiring walk than your average 6900 yard course, but the hills provide wonderful vistas and it is a far more engaging walk than any designed for carts piece of rubbish course...).

 

I'm not sure that I can say I've felt any top courses that I have played yet to be truly overrated, but for what it's worth, I would play both Sand Valley courses, Erin, and Lawsonia before I went back to Whistling Straits. Granted, a lot of that has to do with price, as I truly enjoyed my round at Whistling, and I would absolutely not describe it as disappointing. The routing along the lake makes for some spectacular vistas (which for some folks clearly is the main determinant in their rankings), and when the wind is blowing you need to be striking your ball well out there to play well. No surprise that it can play tough, as it was designed with major championships in mind! I do love playing the Irish at least once a year during shoulder season for silly low rates compared to what they usually ask and I find it to be an exceptionally fun course and far from the difficult course that others described it as.

[BigBlue7]

PGA National Championship Course

Nothing more than a glorified resort track

[Schley]

Torrey Pines - The routing doesn't use the land IMO well at all, the cliffs and water front have the holes set quite a bit of the ways back. Permitting nowadays would probalby not allow any changes so she will stay as she sits.

Royal County Down - Just way too hard IMO. I was pumped until about 5-6 holes in when I got depressed for it was just too unforgiving. Way too much gorse and my caddie couldn't find my tee shots, didn't tell me to play provisionals etc. Wind was probably 20-25, but not 35 mph plus as I played TOC in. I respect the difficulty, but just way too demanding of a course off the tee for me. Very disappointed as a typical links will have more width for the reasons of wind. What do I know as some have it as the best course in the world or at least top 10/5.

[CMCSGolf]

For me, a good sign the course will be a letdown is if it hosted a tour event. This obviously raises the status of a course and it really shouldn't on average. Dubsdread, TPC Scottsdale, Harding Park, Firestone, and Whistling Straits were all a bit overrated for me. I don't love Erin Hills because it is so difficult, but it is a really good course for challenging top level players (if the wind blows). Tour events need a lot of open space for the hospitality and crowds and this topography isn't ideal for a great course.

[Divot License]

Yes, played all three in an open.

 

I agree that the Himalayas is the more enjoyable of the three courses but as you said the least traditional of the three.

[Divot License]

A friend of mine did attend St. Andrews University. She played it every week for 3 years.

[mci711]

That is awesome. Not the same (different country/not college lol), but my company opened an office in Dublin and I was offered a role there. I had to turn it down because of my wife's job, but I would love to live over there for a year or 2 and play amazing courses every weekend. Maybe one day. Sorry to get too far off topic.

[fredstar]

Harding Park for sure

[lazyjc4]

I liked Tobacco Road better the first time I played it... when it was called Royal New Kent.

[duffer987]

I was last there in 2017 and there was certainly more room off the tee than on some of Portrush's fairways IMHO. Maybe some combo of caddie/you getting started offline from the tee making it worse?

Where RCD sits in this or that list aside, overly difficult was not my impression and we played through a storm, which sure didn't help the ability to pull off shots.

[me05501]

There's so much psychology at work when it comes to our relationship to famous courses. Being "disappointed" can come from anywhere. They can be overpriced, too crowded, too hard to access, conditions can vary, your company and how you play will all factor in. And not for nothing, but there's often a huge difference between the course we can play and the course as it is set up for the events we've seen on television.

I don't think there's a course anywhere that features 18 truly remarkable holes. Do we remember the great ones or the not-so-great?

I was invited to play Shoal Creek in Birmingham. It's a really exclusive place, and being there feels special. The gate is manned by an armed guard. Visitors can only visit the pro shop without their member/host...the club building itself is off-limits. The practice area is fantastic. You use caddies. It's expensive. There are very few houses around so it's quiet and relaxing. All of that is really cool.

But on the day I played there the course was recovering from heavy overnight rains. The member who had invited my friend and I was kind of stuck up. Our caddy was nicknamed Budweiser. Within five holes he'd put all the wedges, putters and woods in my bag and all the irons in my partner's. The course played long and tough. It was brutally humid. And I don't remember a single hole on the golf course from tee to green.

We are strange beasts. :D

 

[caniac6]

Tobacco Road is in Sanford, NC. Royal New Kent is in Virginia.

[toddnt]

Spanish Bay... Ugh, never again!

[lazyjc4]

I understand. I've played both, they're near identical.

[Malvern]

I'm disappointed that punters don't like Tobacco Road

[Whiskey_fire]

Augusta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J/K LOL

[Thommo335]

Valderrama. That place is so tight off the tee, you can be in the fairway and have no shot. Too many overhanging tree limbs make the fairways play impossibly narrow. As an example, on the 16th I was on the right edge of the fairway, green obscured by trees. I'm in the fairway so at least I should have a shot right? Nope, too close to go over the trees, too many low branches and rough to go under the trees with a low punch.......I took my time figuring out (there was nobody behind and at E177, why would there be....) that there were no other options, so putted into the middle of the fairway, hit the green, 2 putt bogey....or maybe a 3 putt bogey?

And the trees there are cork. 'Normal' trees you might get the odd bit of luck and bounce the ball back out but these cork tress, the ball just drops straight underneath them.

The aprons to the greens are greens in themselves and super tightly mown. Almost too tight to chip off for normal golfers.....like me.

Best conditioned course I ever played and the least playable and enjoyable.

The Belfry has 2 decent holes, 10 and 18, that's it. Twenty Ten at Celtic Manor ditto, 15th and 18th, rest are meh. Only reason those 2 courses are getting some exposure this summer for the UK based 'European' Tour swing is they have enough rooms on site to accommodate the players etc. Otherwise these 2 would be Ryder Cup relics and forgotten about.

 

[adl300]

I am getting nervous reading all of these posts. is there any course that we are not going to list here?

[Argonne69]

I would be shocked to see any of the Bandon courses on anybody's "disappointment" list. Old Mac doesn't seem to get the love it deserves, but I can't imagine anyone saying it was disappointing.

I'd say the same thing about the Streamsong courses or Sand Valley courses. They might not make it into someone's Top 10, but I'd have to scratch my head if someone said they were disappointing.

 

[adl300]

i played bandon dunes and old mac on two separate occasions. bandon dunes was one of the my favorite golf experiences. I have to be honest and say old mac was...…. it was a little underwhelming. perhaps my expectations were to too high after playing the dunes but I wouldn't play mac again.

 

 

[ChrisSP]

And they're both garbage.

[elwhippy]

North Berwick is a good track, with several really good holes. Its kudos has rocketed since Tom Doak rated it as a masterpiece. A Doak rating is licence to ramp up green fees and stick your logo on everything from tees to napkins. Having seen Renaissance last year Doak's opinion has dropped...flat, the back 9 is boredom city.

[elwhippy]

Glad to see Valderrama get a mention. Pristine condition (and I played it during a drought). Great green complexes but too tight and too hard to offer any enjoyment. Plus the club is ultra aloof as in give us your £400 green fee, get round as fast as possible and clear off.

[raynorfan1]

People on here hated Streamsong Black until it’s design was validated by the rankings.

[az2au]

I moved to Sydney for a couple of years to run a project and played every big course in Australia. Had to make a bit of a personal sacrifice to do it and thankfully that all worked out better than I could have imagined in the end. Thus I say find a way to do it if there’s any possibility it comes up again. Who knows how many chances you’ll get and you might be surprised how much help they can provide in getting your wife a job too.

Haha. So true. I haven’t played Black but it sounds awesome and like it would be a ton of fun, especially when the haters were describing it.

[Chanceman]

Exactly why I was not disappointed with Torrey Pines or TPC Scottsdale - both courses cop merciless dissing and so expectations for me were not so high. I was pleasantly surprised in each case.

[goaliedad30]

Most disappointed? I am not a fan of either Spanish Bay or Spyglass, especially at the inflated prices they charge. I've played Pebble Beach a half-dozen times, and do love it as a golf course, but for the money, the back 9 at Pacific Grove can't be beat. Lovely links golf with PB views, at $50 for 18 holes.

In Scotland / Ireland, I wasn't a big fan of Carnoustie or Doonbeg. Loved the Old Course, loved Lahinch, and also really enjoyed Turnberry for the location and routing.

In Oregon, I'm a huge Bandon fan, but was underwhelmed by Crosswater .... picturesque, but just long, hard, and unforgiving.

[FairwayFred]

Old Mac would be my answer for biggest disappointment. This was somewhat due to my insanely high expectations but still I'd rate it 4/4 at the resort (haven't played new SR yet) and would happily skip it next time I'm at the resort for more time on the other courses. At the time the course was being built I lived in Oregon and owned a vacation home in Bandon. I used to walk my dogs on the land that became Old Mac so I knew it well. I was also at the time in the midst of a mild Raynor/Macdonald obsession and was in the process of trying to play all of their courses. So when I heard they were building a Macdonald tribute course on that specific land I was over the moon excited. In the end, imo, the course just does not deliver on what it's intended to be. I was expecting a course that Macdonald would have built given the same land and its not that. I find the greens to be over the top in alot of places (and I usually like heavily contoured greens) and many of the templates are a miss. It's a better course if you just go play it for what it is rather than expecting Macdonald type templates or inspired holes. Either way I have never been so disappointed walking off the 18th green after playing a new course.

[Mikey5e]

LPGA International fl. , both couses didn't impress our group that much.

[klebs01]

Its interesting the comments on Old Mac. OM and Pacific were my two favorite courses at Bandon. I wasn't expecting a direct copy of templates but a grand Doak interpretation of template ideas. I thought it was a blast and maybe the greens were a bit too tamed down.

I'm having a tough time thinking of a famous course that disappointed. I've had some courses that locals recommended that didn't live up to their hype but no real famous courses. Maybe Streamsong Red, but that's more a case of the Black course being so much more interesting and fun, and the comments from other people about liking the red course more.