Top 5 Courses You Have Played

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I moved from CT in 1984, so I was not a CT resident. All you had to do was request an account online to make tee times. Love that place.

[Tyrus Webb]

INPO:

• Erin Hills (I lied. This is #1 with a bullet.)
• The Honors
• Torrey South
• Peachtree
• Whistling Straits

 

[ESOX ZO]

RCD

Sedge Valley

Manele

St Patricks

Lahinch

 

 

Will most likely change in a month

[Archimedes65]

11 hours ago, Tyrus Webb said:

INPO:

• Erin Hills (I lied. This is #1 with a bullet.)
• The Honors
• Torrey South
• Peachtree
• Whistling Straits

 

 

I’ve had an Erin Hills/Whistling Straits trip booked twice and had to cancel both times due to my back problems.  Would love to play those courses someday.

[act0fgod]

This is always a tough exercise.

 

Looking at the first post it was a list of public and private.  Public/private is tough to define for some places like Netherlands and Australia, I put them in the private category although they allow international visitors to play on certain days and times.  Also, for best courses I'm not listing the highest ranked courses I've played, I'm going with my favorites.  The public list was way harder for me.

 

Public:

Pebble Beach

Carne

Royal Dornoch

#2

Rustic Canyon (Feel like a true daily play public course is needed)

 

 

Private:

Royal Melbourne

Royal Hague

Ballyneal

NCR

Old Barnwell (maybe recency bias but I had a ton of fun on the course)

[drbonesvt]

On 12/10/2024 at 7:34 PM, JKreborn said:

I'm new here so thought I would add my picks. I've been fortunate to play a lot of great courses around the world, so I am going to stick with my top 5 from 2024. As I was thinking about it, it became clear that this was going to be a C&C list. So here we go, in no particular order:

 

Brambles

Friar's Head

Te Arai South

Bandon Trails

Cabot St Lucia

 

I did have some other great courses this year and again in no particular order as runner ups:

TOC

Rock Creek Cattle

Chicago Golf

Sand Hills

 

 

Welcome 

[drbonesvt]

1. Oakmont ( a week after the 2007 U.S. open)

2. Pebble beach

3. Remodeled Pinehurst #2

4. Sea Island - prob my fav vacation spot 
5. Kapalua 

 

honorable mention , played the only golf course on the island of Crete , Greece.  Yes in the name of wrx I lugged the sticks 6,500 miles bc who wants to play with noodles ( some sarcasm there )

 

Edited December 19, 2024 by drbonesvt

[BROD3]

Top "Ranked" Courses I've Played

 

1. Pebble

2. Muirfield Village

3. The Golf Club

4. Scioto CC

5. Spyglass

 

My Favorite courses I've Played

1. Muirfield

2. Chambers Bay

3. Pebble

4. Spyglass

5. The Golf Club

[Mob]

1.) Cypress Point

2.) Merion Golf Club

3.) Oakmont

4.) Cal Club

5.) Wolf Run (now closed, such a shame)

 

Runner Up:

6.) Crooked Stick

7.) San Francisco Golf Club

8.) Whisper Rock ( not necessarily the golf courses themselves architecturally speaking, which are immaculate, but the whole experience.  Very special place)

9.) Pine Valley

 

[mikedejong33]

1. Bandon courses (my order: Bandon Dunes, Trails, Pacific, Old Mac, Sheep Ranch)
2. Cabo: Diamante Dunes, Diamante El Cardonal, Quivira
3. Scotland: St Andrews, Dornoch, Castle Stuart
4. Canada: Tobiano, Greywolf, Jasper, Banff, Canmore courses

[Yoshifan151]

Public

1. Old Macdonald

2. Rustic Canyon

3. Pacific Dunes

4. Bandon Dunes

5. Kapalua Plantation

 

Private

1. LACC North

2. Valley Club of Montecito

3. Lakeside

4. Del Paso

5. Don't really have a 5th I'd necessarily call a favorite

[act0fgod]

9 hours ago, Yoshifan151 said:

Private

1. LACC North

2. Valley Club of Montecito

3. Lakeside

4. Del Paso

5. Don't really have a 5th I'd necessarily call a favorite

Was Del Paso a home club?

[Yoshifan151]

6 minutes ago, act0fgod said:

Was Del Paso a home club?

Like was I a member there? No, a buddy of mine got me on when I came up to visit (he worked at a club in NorCal). I hadn't heard of it prior but I really had a blast out there. Tough but fun track and it was in phenomenal shape.

[act0fgod]

7 hours ago, Yoshifan151 said:

Like was I a member there? No, a buddy of mine got me on when I came up to visit (he worked at a club in NorCal). I hadn't heard of it prior but I really had a blast out there. Tough but fun track and it was in phenomenal shape.

Gottcha, the first three are heavy hitters and I'd never heard of Del Paso.  Worth a look if in Sacramento I guess.

[cardoustie]

Too lazy too look back and see if I have a previous post

 

Based on my Fall Ireland trip, and summer SW England trip, I would need to add St. Enodoc, Burnham & Berrow, Enniscrone, Carne and Royal Portrush to my top fifteen

 

top ones:

Royal Melbourne Composite

Kingsbarns

The Old Course

Cabot Cliffs 

Carnoustie

Muirfield Village

Bethpage Black

 

[nojohcan]

1. Olympic Club (Lake)

2. Camargo Club

3. Sand Valley

4. Erin Hills

5. We-Ko-Pa Saguaro

 

Honorable Mention:

 

6. Olympic Club (Ocean)

7. Lawsonia Links

8. Kapalua Plantation

9. Quivira 

10. TPC Harding Park 

11. Lost Dunes

[Schley]

On 12/17/2024 at 6:01 PM, ESOX ZO said:

RCD

Sedge Valley

Manele

St Patricks

Lahinch

 

 

Will most likely change in a month

Is Sedge Valley even remotely in the same league as RCD, St. Patrick's, Lahinch?  I don't know what other places you have played, but those are all top 50 courses in the world. Sedge Valley probably isn't even the top course at Sand Valley.

[gm12673]

In terms of personal favourites:

Pine Valley

Merion

Kingston Heath

Royal Melbourne West

Royal Dornoch

 

honorable mentions which are all world good: 

Old Course

Royal Portrush

Royal County Down

Muirfield

Sunningdale 

Swinley

[Serenity Now]

Top 5

Lahinch

Royal Portrush Dunluce

Wine Valley

Elie

Old MacDonald

[tad950]

Thought about it long and hard. 
 

Pebble Beach

Royal Dornoch 

The Old Course

New South Wales 

Te Arai Links South

[golow]

On 12/17/2024 at 7:30 AM, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

I moved from CT in 1984, so I was not a CT resident. All you had to do was request an account online to make tee times. Love that place.

Yale was only public in 22-23 after union destroyed it trying to leverage covid rules to line their pockets. Not in great shape during those two seasons. 

 

Closed 24-25+ for Gil Hanse renovation (25 million bucks). Restoration based on original plans, 1934 aerial photos and lidar info. All greens fully dug out and rebuilt to original size, shape, slopes. Adding length and firming up entire course. Walked it earlier in year and it looked like Mars ..... all rough, fairways, tee and green turf gone. 

 

It will be daily fee and won't be cheap when it re-opens. Been a member for a while and will continue with employee discount which is mandated. 

 

I'll stay at my other club and just play Yale when I feel the itch. 

 

Top 5:

NGLA

Fishers Island

Eastward Ho!

Sleepy Hollow

Brookline

 

Played some good courses in VA, NC, SC, Tx but Northeast is my style

On 12/17/2024 at 7:30 AM, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

 

 

Edited January 25 by golow

[ESOX ZO]

On 1/23/2025 at 5:43 PM, Schley said:

Is Sedge Valley even remotely in the same league as RCD, St. Patrick's, Lahinch?  I don't know what other places you have played, but those are all top 50 courses in the world. Sedge Valley probably isn't even the top course at Sand Valley.

Doesn't matter to me, played Sedge with a good friend and my two brothers. Ranks up there with some of the best, most fun rounds...sometimes it's more about the experience on what makes a top 5 course you've ever played versus which # it falls on the most recent Top 100 article.

 

Golf is subjective and that's the beauty of it 😉 

 

 

 

[TexasTurf]

DN

TF

DAC

NW

RGC

 

CCC, BH, VC, PT, RO, SO, would all be higher than #2 but haven't played them.

 

[hammergolf]

Interesting question, but i would have two different lists.

 

If it’s the 5 “most famous”

TOC

Pebble

Ballybunion

Kiawah

Medinah

 

If it’s my Top 5 favorites

Carne

Pasatiempo

Tralee

Dornoch

Lahinch

 

[NoCaution]

On 4/26/2017 at 11:44 PM, NoCaution said:

I'm fairly cash poor and have only been playing a couple years, so I never thought I could properly contribute to this thread. After a couple of great additions last week though, I finally have five that I can list here:

 

#1 - Reflection Bay

#2 - Wente Vineyards

#3 - Half Moon Bay

#4 - Wolf Creek

#5 - Fossil Trace

 

I'm sure this little list will change as I get to play more amazing courses, but for now, these are what I got.

 

I posted the above response here nearly eight years ago, and just recently, I played my 500th round on my 100th unique, full-length course! I saw the post again and thought it was time to update:

 

#1 - Reflection Bay (Yes, this is STILL my all-time number one! I can't explain why, but no other course has been able to recreate the magic I felt every time I played here.)

 

#2 - Pasatiempo (This place is just magical. I only got to play it once, but I'll be back)

 

#3 - Pacific Dunes (Duh. It's in literally every top-10 for a reason)

 

#4 - Sanctuary (I managed to squirm my way into an event the Colorado Golf HOF was having here. It's bonkers!)

 

#5 - Black Desert (The most recent addition to the high-end of my list. I was asked by a local if I thought the price was worth it. Unfortunately, it's worth every penny!)

 

Rounding out the top 20 are: Wente Vineyards, TPC Harding Park, Chambers Bay, Bear Dance, Yocha Dehe, Pelican Hill North, Wolf Creek, Circling Raven, Reserve Vineyards South, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, Coeur D’Alene Resort, Coral Canyon, Ridge at Castle Pines, Quintero, and Sand Hollow. I probably have a few in my top 50 that some of you would rank much higher. I also have a massive list of courses I haven't been able to play yet that I fully expect to be in my future top 5! I hope I get to update this in another 8 years! 

 

 

[lpitts82]

Peachtree Golf Club

Ansley Golf Club Settindown

Capital City Club Crabapple

Virginia Country Club

Piedmont Driving Club

[SnowbirdTom]

Hmmm (in no particular order)…

 

1. Oakland Hills south course around ‘04 Ryder Cup time

2. Arcadia Bluffs

3. Memorial Park

4.  Nicklaus Tournament course 

5.  PGA West Stadium Course

 

Missed out on a few top courses due to weather. Harbour Town was supposed to be last Friday for example. Snow killed that one.

Edited January 25 by SnowbirdTom

[Serenity Now]

In no particular order:

The Famous

Lahinch

Royal Portrush

LACC North

Pasatiempo

Old Mac

 

The Gems

Wine Valley

Elie

Soule Park

Valley View (Utah)

Rustic Canyon

 

 

[nutmegchoi]

US:

 

Pacific Dunes

Erin Hills

Ocean Course

Bethpage Black

Winged Foot

 

Outside US:

 

The Old Course

Carnoustie

Ballybunion
Old Head

Lahinch 

 

[krollinggreens]

TOBACCO ROAD

PILGRIM'S RUN

PASATIEMPO

MORAINE COUNTRY CLUB

VIRTURES GC (formerly Longaberger)