haven't played Green Gables.

Next week I'm going to get to play the Plantation Course at Kapalua. Any tips or advice?

chateau is easily the worst of the 3 whistler courses. it might be the most memorable because it's on the side of blackcomb mountain, but the layout is limited by the terrain and there's a lot of objectively bad golf holes. whistler golf club isn't outstanding, but it's a solid palmer layout. nicklaus north is easily the best of the 3.

big sky in pemberton is often considered a "whistler" course and is probably the best of the bunch. the views of mt currie are spectacular.

could NOT disagree more... stanford golf team specifically asked if they could play it on an off-day.

but i forgot you know everything.

i do like big sky but it's to a certain very wide open like tens of thousands of golf courses. and it's not links. so it's basically a "resort course" ..... big problems with their greens these days.

nicklaus north is wide open field and then condo/townhouse golf near the end.

whistler golf course is interesting........ would rank it #2

Thanks for this. We suspected as much. We aren't fans of mountain courses. Furry Creek, The Rise, Osoyoos, so many ridiculously inappropriate hole routing decisions. We will certainly play Big Sky during our Whistler visit, in September.

yeah, a bunch of guys from california who saw it ranked higher on the internet must know better than a guy who plays these courses every day

you clearly haven't been to big sky since the greens were all redone. i don't know why you feel the need to point out that an obviously non-links course is not links, but lol.

if any of the three courses is wide open field it's whistler. nicklaus north has exactly one condo/townhouse hole. your opinion on these matters is clearly worthless.

chateau is like a grownup version of furry creek. i'll play chateau a few times a year, but furry is an "only when everything else is closed" course for me. furry's first tee shot is fun but it's not golf. i suspect rivercitybirdie would love it.

why don't you two just hug and make up and quit making this thread about your personal dislike for each other?

back to the original topic.
the courses i've played are limited to the PNW, but there are some great ones here (and i'll expand past just 6).

1. Pacific
2. Bandon
3. Old Mac
4. Crosswater
5. Pronghorn Nicklaus
6. Tetherow
7. Salish Cliffs
8. Pumpkin Ridge Ghost Creek

lol, i dont even recall seeing that name until this thread

It was blowing hard/consistent when I played it last year, you just don't realize how much more difficult that makes 4-10 footers.

I guess my tip is avoid the wind gods, don't know that they leave too often though.

Private:

1) Merion East
2) Saucon Valley (Grace, Old & Weyhill)
3) Aronimink
4) Gulph Mills
5) Gallaway
6) Philly Cricket ( Wissahicken & Militia Hill)
7) Indian Creek (Miami Beach)
8) Pine Tree (The legit one in Boynton Beach)

Private track honorable mention:

1) Chester Valley
2) Philly Country ( Spring, Mill & Centenial nines)
3) Merion West
4) Overbrook
5) Spring Ford


Public:

1) Doral (Blue from tips & White from tips)
2) Wyncote (Oxford, Pa.)
3) Hartfeld National
4) Turtle Creek
5) Hickory Valley
6) Ledderach
7) Flying Hills


Public track Honorable mention:

Cobbs Creek (old)


**Full disclosure: dont play many public tracks, they tend to either suck or be waaaaay overpriced........Im lucky to be able to play some really really good private tracks for $0 every week.

I've had the fortune of playing a lot of the better well-known courses through work. So here are my six courses open to the public that might not be as well known, in no particular order:

Crumpin' Fox (Bernadston MA)
Harvester (Des Moines)
Knoll West (Parsippany NJ)
Paa-Ko Ridge (outside Albuquerque)
The Shattuck (Jaffrey NH)
Mayfield Sand Ridge (outside Cleveland)

Since you posted this I've played both Ocean Links and Oak Marsh for the first time. Golfnow has had some resident deals for $59 which seems like stealing on these courses. I guess they don't have public tee times for the Long Point course, huh?

Anyways, these are beautiful and challenging courses. They don't really fit my game very well though and both of these tracks beat my brains in. I'm around a 15 handicap and shot in the high 90s at both courses. The best part of my game right now is my driving on longer, more open courses. I could never get comfortable off the tee at either course here due to the tight fairways, especially Ocean Links with six par threes. The 18th at OL being a short par 3 is kinda weird I must say.

Of the two, I think I liked Oak Marsh better. They are pretty similar courses but a more normal par 72 fits me better. I will be back for sure. Thanks for the rec...

That's cool you played both Ocean and Oak Marsh! OM is definitely the harder of the two. Both are treacherous, though...so easy to find a triple or worse on any of the holes.

Long Point is a private club - it's mostly for the home owners on the Plantation...but next time I'm home I'll post it here, and if you're in the area, I'll invite you come play.

Lopesan Costa Meloneras GC (Gran Canaria) is my favorite (and where I have had 3 of my top 10 scores).

I spent 23 yrs in the Air Force traveling about and played several courses from South Carolina to California, from Korea to Germany... with about 120-150 rounds of golf (most of these were from several courses in Las Vegas while I lived there for ~10yrs).

So I'm sure there may be some better courses I haven't played, but Lopesan CM blows away Bali Hai both in landscaping maintenance and price.

Glad Circling Raven is getting mentions; might be my favorite course. I'm repeating myself from other threads, I'm sure, but I honestly believe an "inland Northwest" golf tour is one of the best values/experience for a long golf weekend. Fly into Spokane, Washington, and play:

1) Circling Raven




2) The Coeur d'Alene Resort



3) Palouse Ridge



Coeur d'Alene is fine, worth playing at least once for the novelty of the floating green and the greenest grass you'll find outside of Augusta, but Circling Raven and Palouse Ridge are both courses I'd play over and over again.

Private
Sand Ridge outside Cleveland. Outstanding , great layout, excellent condition
Old Memorial - Tampa , walking/caddy only - very nice
Fox Chapel CC. PGH Pa Gotten attention since Sr are playing there - Seth Raynor course

Public
Wilmington Muni. Wilmington NC. Old D Ross restored to original layout. Fantastic !!
Oak Hallow GC High Point NC. - very nice , but long time since I been there. Early P Dye
Tobacco Road GC Sanford NC Mike Stranz. Got to play it 2x. You'll be cussing it 1st time

How did you get on Old Memorial? That's < 5 minutes from my house and I wanna play it.

And yes, I was cussing Tobacco Road the first time I played it. Haven't played it again as of yet.

Old Memorial - we went down soon after open, partner knew a member - I've since heard that it is tough to get on, maybe even all male membership, all guests w/ member type deal. ..if can , must play

We played 36 at Tobacco Road - no clue 1st 18, started to get it on 2nd 18 - highly recommend

Scottsdale National - played it several times prior to Parsons purchase (Golf Club Scottsdale, I think) great track, fabulous condition - had 2 funny odd holes down stretch that I heard Parsons is fixing. The clubhouse was outstanding - I think hes tearing it down or changing it to the maintanance shed , LOL

Definitely!

two years sure goes by fast

since original posting, i will add;

1. Capilano ( http://capilanogolf.com/ ) whatever you got to pay, play this course at least once. Only course i have played where i had no idea if i was putting uphill or down. Stanley Thompson is a genius, and this is one his gems. also views.

2. Jasper Park ( http://www.fairmont.com/jasper/golf/ ) another Stanley Thompson, shortish by modern, play the tips. 13th fairway is a 3-way confluence of vast mountain views heading long valleys. reminded me of the 13th green at Faldo's Wilderness club. knowing how intelligent Faldo is, not likely a coincidence.

3. Banff Springs ( https://banffspringsgolfclub.com/ Stanley Thompson again. weakest of the three courses. best views. rutting elk forced off off the 6th fairway.

4. Palmer Turtle Bay ( http://www.turtlebayresort.com/Hawaii-Golf ) front nine lots of fun. back nine is gorgeous. and tough.

Yeah I can update mine as well. Hard to stop at just 6. In no particular order:

1. Pebble Beach
2. Pacific Dunes
3. Bandon Dunes
4. Bethpage
5. Dormie Club
6. Kapalua Plantation

Honorable Mention: Old MacDonald, Torrey Pines South, Ko Olau, Wolf Creek

Up next over next 8 months: Pinehurst #2, Bluejack National, TPC Sawgrass

I've been in Oregon for 14 years, and finally got my Bandon Dunes golf in last year in March, but only Pacific Dunes. I had a meeting on the southern Oregon coast in the morning, and with fingers crossed I brought my sticks. Sure enough, meeting ended around 11:00 and I called up to get the last tee time at Pacific. Just me and my caddy wandering around on a very sunny but windy down. Loved it. As hard as it is to get to, a Bandon trip should really be on every golfer's wish list.

Interesting seeing this. Didn't even know they restored it, but I've played the course pre-restoration more than any other course. When I was a kid they had a $3 all-day junior rate which was later raised to $4. The summers between 4th and 6th grade me and a friend used to get dropped off there every weekday when there wasn't a local junior tourney when our parents went to work. They gave us $10 and we would walk 36 always playing the 9th hole in the second round with the other guy's clubs (I'm left handed). I still have never birdied the 18th but have birdied every other hole.

I learned to putt by begging my dad to stay on the (what would now seem tiny) putting green for as long as possible after every round. We used to stay as long as he didn't beat me on consecutive putting holes so I had incentive to make sure I never 3 putted in order to force him to make two real putts in a row to leave.

I started playing the red tees here at age 8 and was allowed to move back a set of tees if I broke 100 3 straight times, but if I shot over 100 I had to move up and break 100 three straight times again before getting another shot at the next set of tees. Man, I miss those days.

I would never have guessed its anything special though. Has anyone played it before and after the restoration? I will probably go back next time I'm in the area to play the new version.

Go play Cabot big boy golf in an unreal setting...your welcome.

https://www.cabotlinks.com/