redanman: Ayrshire

What do I look at?

I am always asked: What do you use to determine your best or favorite courses?

Routing - How and where the course goes onto the land, use of natural features and shaping of man-made features blending into existing contours

Overall quality of individual holes, par 3's, 4's and 5's as sets, overall design variety and inclusion of strategic features in a cohesive fashion.
Cohesion of the course. How much is it a Golf Course and not a collection of holes?

Green Complexes - variety, quality, mix of contour, speed and relative penalty for missed approaches. This includes not just the greens themselves, but the surrounds. The best green complexes require you to think the hole backwards and the best greens need very few if any bunkers. Non-linear penalty is a part of great golf, to be embraced.

Bunkering schema - appropriateness to the site, especially appearance. One style does not fit all. If appearance were all then the Old Course would be total crap. I generally prefer bunkers without a ring of rough, no matter how wispy and beautiful.

Conditioning - Must be of an appropriate standard of quality. Site appropriate grasses must be used.

Appropriate Vegetation - Useful trees and avoidance of horticultural decoration
Ideally (rare)- A challenge for the talented player, creation of joy for the less-talented one.

The rest of the Club - easy does it. One needs a proper locker room, bar, place to eat and the rest is personal choice. 20 different whiskys and at least ten gins are essential, solid wines expected and Kummel where available. Would I personally be happy here?
Milieu - How, as a place away does the course and club succeed or not?

Recommended Outside US

Alcanada (Mallorca)

Brora

Carnoustie

Crail Balcomie (#18 above)

Crail Craighead

El Saler

Glasgow Gailes

Gleneagles King's

Gleneagles Queen's

Gullane #1

HCEG

Kingsbarns

Luffness (New)

Lundin Links

Machrihanish

Mid Ocean

Nairn

North Berwick West

Panmure

Port Royal

Prestwick

Real Golf de Pedreña

Renaissance Club

Rowallan Castle

Royal Aberdeen

Royal Dornoch

Royal Troon

St. Andrews Eden~most of it

St. Andrews Jubilee

St. Andrews New

St. Andrews Old

St. George's (Canada)

St. George's (NY)

Toronto Golf

Real Club Valderrama (Huge surprise how much I liked it)

Western Gailes

Please Invite Me - I need to get my Passport Stamped More

England still to come

OZ, NZ, France, Spain & Scotland again will include next abroad choice.

redanman

My Top 100 Played

Friday, October 29, 2010

Rowallan Castle