Whats the hardest course you have ever played?

[NoTalentLefty]

Kampen at Purdue

Men

Tee	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Black	7465	75.9	143
Blue	6874	73.3	139
White	6411	71.4	135
Gold	6067	69.7	131

 

played the whites and it ate my lunch. The course is a links style and wasn’t use to it at all. Love to try again but going to the golds next time.

 

 

 

[PixlPutterman]

On 9/2/2021 at 7:59 PM, NoTalentLefty said:

Kampen at Purdue

Men

Tee	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Black	7465	75.9	143
Blue	6874	73.3	139
White	6411	71.4	135
Gold	6067	69.7	131

 

played the whites and it ate my lunch. The course is a links style and wasn’t use to it at all. Love to try again but going to the golds next time.

 

 

 

Dang that's harder than anything around here

[caniac6]

On 9/2/2021 at 9:59 PM, NoTalentLefty said:

Kampen at Purdue

Men

Tee	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Black	7465	75.9	143
Blue	6874	73.3	139
White	6411	71.4	135
Gold	6067	69.7	131

 

played the whites and it ate my lunch. The course is a links style and wasn’t use to it at all. Love to try again but going to the golds next time.

 

 

 

Check out Musgrove Mill in Clinton SC. It’s less than 7000 yds., and slope is 153.

[SoCalTitleist]

Pga west stadium , not going back lol 

[rwc356]

Whistling Straits with hickories.... whoa, but it was a beautiful walk!

[caniac6]

I didn't play it, but I saw Ballyhack today. I walked out on #18, and talked with the assistant super while he was changing the hole. #18 is about half an acre, with a lot of slope and undulations. If you were hitting your first shot with a wedge from 100 yards, it would be tough to get a 4.

[Mcfly]

TPC Las Colinas where the Byron Nelson used to be played.  
So hard it really wasn’t enjoyable.  

[YMark]

21 hours ago, SoCalTitleist said:

Pga west stadium , not going back lol 

I played that a few years ago. Concur, that is one hard course.

[Steele47]

The Idaho Club in Sandpoint.   A beast.

 

Someone also mentioned Wolf Creek in Mesquite.  I agree.   But that's their 'schtick' at that course.   I view it as a novelty golf course meant to come across tough as nails.

 

Someone else mentioned La Purisima in Lompoc CA.  Played it once in 2004.  I still think of it as one of the greatest golf courses I've ever had the luck to step onto.   Just fantastic!  Hope to play it again someday.

Edited September 6, 2021 by Steele47

[phizzy30]

Lost Canyons.  Now closed but when they were open to the public, it was the hardest course I've ever played.  If I remember correctly, the slope was high 130's.  It was target golf where you would have to carry the trouble off the tee, then again from the fairway/rough into small greens.  I lost almost a box of balls that day.  The rest of the day was a blur. 

[Quasimoto]

Troy Burn in Hudson Wisconsin.

It was baked out dry and the wind was steady at 25 mph wit gusts to 35 mph.

The fescue was impossible.

[rooski]

Having lived 15 minutes away and working at the Bandon courses through high school and college I'd say any of the days I played the courses in 40+ mph wind, any of them play impossibly difficult in those conditions.

 

I remember caddying for a guy who came out as a single and that day the wind was blowing 40-50 mph and gusting probably close to 65 maybe even 70mph. We were at Pacific on the par 5 third for an afternoon round and he was about 70-80 yards out for his third shot right into the wind.

 

We decided to hit a full 9 iron, partially for fun partially just to see what would happen as he was out there for a good time. I think 9 iron was his 150 club stock.

 

He pured this thing from 70 yards and the wind full gusted at us right as it hit the air. I'm not lying when I tell you the ball finished about 6 feet in front of us. We were doubled over laughing

Edited September 6, 2021 by rooski

[tannyhoban]

The course I grew up on from the tips it was pretty tough, probably the toughest I’ve played. Scorecard ca. ‘77, pretty pedestrian 18 for me back then. Par 70/74.4/7180

 

(Thunder Hills was an insane asylum for golf)

[bobfoster]

10 hours ago, rooski said:

Having lived 15 minutes away and working at the Bandon courses through high school and college I'd say any of the days I played the courses in 40+ mph wind, any of them play impossibly difficult in those conditions.

 

I remember caddying for a guy who came out as a single and that day the wind was blowing 40-50 mph and gusting probably close to 65 maybe even 70mph. We were at Pacific on the par 5 third for an afternoon round and he was about 70-80 yards out for his third shot right into the wind.

 

We decided to hit a full 9 iron, partially for fun partially just to see what would happen as he was out there for a good time. I think 9 iron was his 150 club stock.

 

He pured this thing from 70 yards and the wind full gusted at us right as it hit the air. I'm not lying when I tell you the ball finished about 6 feet in front of us. We were doubled over laughing

 

Ha! Brings back fond memories. I've played some pretty tough US courses, but one of the most interesting was in Aruba - Tierra Del Sol. On the northern tip of the island, right on the windward side of the ocean. The trade winds were constant - like, there was always wind, usually at least 20-25 mph and often much stronger. Nice changes in elevation. Holes into the wind could get fierce - weird to see a full swing with a driver go all of 25. 

 

But the most fun was a couple of holes right on the ocean. A par 3, that was very short. Hitting from the top of a hill. But to have a remote chance of hitting the green, it is necessary to line up straight sideways, literally hit the ball out over the ocean at about a 45* angle, and hope you gauged the wind right. 

 

Wouldn't want to play it every day (it can get incredibly frustrating) but it certainly is a unique track.

[MtlJeff]

Crowbush Cove in PEI from the tips is <7000yds but plays something like 76/146. It's right on the ocean , when the wind is blowing it's brutal.

 

My home course is not as hard (obviously), but one of the tracks at my home course is one of the most "every day" challenging courses around. There are tougher tests but usually these are courses which have tees their own members don't even use regularly. My home course is 75/140 from the gold tees and there are only 2 sets of tees.

[phizzy30]

On 9/4/2021 at 9:10 PM, SoCalTitleist said:

Pga west stadium , not going back lol 

Plenty of courses harder than PGA West Stadium but it's tough especially on a windy Palm Springs day.  I played the Nicklaus course a couple months ago for my birthday and the Stadium and Norman course were closed for renovations unfortunately.

Edited September 6, 2021 by phizzy30

[ALIF]

#2

[hm59]

Probably Broadmoor East. Not the toughest course tee to green, but easily the most difficult greens I have ever played.

[grm24]

11 hours ago, tannyhoban said:

(Thunder Hills was an insane asylum for golf)

Great description!

[MGMiller]

Ko'olau on Oahu... beautiful to be there but tough to score on

[chillybilly]

Hmmm...difficult to separate 'bad days/weather' from 'tough courses' at times.  There are obvious big names but there are others as well...

-PGA West Stadium was noticeably mean even for a then-chop like me

-Legends Heathland (Myrtle Beach).  I was pounding the ball but in a gale and 40 mph gusts couldn't reach a par 4 with a hammered driver & 3-wood.

-Yes I've played Reserve at Thunder Hill and yes it's a nightmare even though we didn't go anywhere near the tips.

-Wachesaw East (Myrtle Beach) was a long string of nightmarish tight tree-lined tight holes (or so I recall).  I saw that Meg Matthews had the ladies' course record with a 64 or thereabouts so fair play to her.

 

The winner is probably and unsurprisingly Bethpage Black.  It's just Mt Everest-like in its towering, mute, unforgiving disdain for puny humans no matter how well you're striking the ball (and all four of us were).

 

PS - I think we were supposed to be cowed by TPC Sawgrass but we didn't get greedy and therefore it wasn't all that daunting.  4 tee balls onto #17 green with no drama, btw.  It was calm though.

[dlygrisse]

Hallbrook CC in Leawood KS is a course rating of 75 with a slope of 155 from the tips, I didn't play the tips but the rough and hazards make it a tough round.  

 

Spyglass- the day I played it the weather was perfect, the greens a bit soft.  I ended up with a good score on the back nine, however it wouldn't take much to get that course to play extremely difficult.  

[76mpg]

The two toughest I have played:

Sandhills - played a few rounds out there, one with the wind up a fair amount...that was tough but a lot of fun.

Eagle Point - fastest greens I have played, we played it long enough for my skill level, poor approach shots were not treated kindly...:) Beautiful course as well though.

[76mpg]

On 9/1/2021 at 5:57 PM, mark m said:

In my state, Hazeltine. But I am not a fan. It’s lacking in beauty. 

Agreed on Hazeltine. Plan on it being windy out there, and after a handful of holes they all run together.

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Hardest was probably the Judge at RTJ Golf Trail at Capitol Hill:

 

However, I would almost consider it over the top difficult just to be that way rather than a "proper" golf course.

 

Hardest I've played that qualify for the latter category:

Oak Hill East

Whistling Straits

La Purisima in Lompoc, CA (mainly due to wind of the ocean)

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by TLUBulldogGolf

[SecondandGoal]

Prestwick in Myrtle Beach. Pete Dye kicked me in the nuts and still left a smile on my face.

[Mcgeeno]

For our Western Canadians:

 

My favorite course and also the toughest for me.

 

Tobiano from the Iron tees. (Tour tees have never really been put out often when I played)

 

74.1 131 but I think thats way low. Wind off the lake, forced carries, deep gorse (Although they trimmed it this year to speed up play). Roughly 7100 or which isnt the longest I've played but its a monster.

 

I played it as a 1 cap and was happy to break 80.

[Divot License]

Carnoustie in 20mph winds. Fully deserves its nickname and reputation.

[HoosierHacker89]

Pfau or the judge 

[markheardjr]

Both of the toughest courses I have played are not closed.  they used to be on the list of top-10 most difficult.

 

I played Thunder Hill in Madison, OH. 7500y slope 154, rating of 78.5!! It was a fish hatchery turned into a golf course, so most holes had a water hazard, some had 2. Some had forced 250y+ carries off the tee over ponds.  Sadly the course closed due to missmanagement. You can still see it on google maps though. I think I shot 86.

 

I also played Ko'Olau golf course which sadly is also permanently closed. It was 7,300y and slope was 150, rated 75.9 from back tees but at one point the slope was rumored to be 162 (even though the max is technically 155.) I shot 80, with last 3 holes in the rain. Missed an 11 footer for par/79 on 18.

 

I've played PGA West.  if you play the correct tee length, its really just the bunkering that can get you. But as a good bunker player, it was more fun than challenging to me.