Top 3 golf sleeper cities

[RC]

1. Horseshoe Bay, Texas (three Robert Trent Jones courses) 45 miles from Austin.

2. Woodlands area, north of Houston.

3. Aspen/Vail area in season.

[NotAStick]

I think we should re-do this thread and make people exclude their local area. It's too easy to point out the best courses in the area.

Denver has some nice stuff, especially on the plains southeast of the city and the northwest, as well as the 6 courses in the are that have hosted national professional tournaments.

But I didn't go there because it was local and it felt biased.

[McGolf-Doggie]

Garden City, N.Y. ... shhhh!

[AmenCorner]

Washington State

Oh, so we're naming entire states now?

[AmenCorner]

It is certainly hard not to be biased towards an area that you live in or have visited frequently, otherwise you wouldn't know about it if it was truly a "sleeper." Right?

Anyways, we vacation to an area that I think is hard to beat. Linville-Banner Elk, North Carolina. This is in the NW part of the state up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

1) Grandfather Golf and CC: Golf Digest Top 100....Magnificent
2) Diamond Creek CC: Newer course, Fazio Design....Will no doubt be top 100 when Golf Digest sees it.
3) Elk River CC: Nicklaus Design with Mountain and Valley 9's....Outstanding
4) Linville GC: Donald Ross 100 year old course...Charming and Magnificent. and don't get me started on the Esceola lodge.
5) Linville Ridge CC: Highest golf course east of the Rocky Mountains. Outstanding views and ongoing improvements to the course make it even better each year.
6) Hound Ears GC and Lodge: Short but super charming 18 holes with one of the most beautiful par 3's you will ever see. #15.

All of these courses are within 5 minutes of each other. Certainly fits "sleeper" in my book.

1) Grandfather: http://www.grandfatherclub.org/
2) Elk River: http://www.elkriverclub.com/gallery....=nicklaus_golf
3) Linville Ridge: http://www.linvilleridge.com/golf/golf.aspx
4) Linville GC: http://eseeola.com/golf
5) Diamond Creek: http://www.medalistgolfinc.com/past/dc/scenic1.html

couldn't find anything better for #5.

[senorchipotle]

1. Horseshoe Bay, Texas (three Robert Trent Jones courses) 45 miles from Austin.

i don't reckon you can really consider houston or austin ''sleeper'' cities. imo, anything within the radius of both cities, for all intents and purposes, should be considered as part of that city. and both houston and austin are pretty big golfing metropoli.

[senorchipotle]

It is certainly hard not to be biased towards an area that you live in or have visited frequently, otherwise you wouldn't know about it if it was truly a "sleeper." Right?

yeah, great courses... too bad you can't play at any of them unless you're a member.

[AmenCorner]

yeah, great courses... too bad you can't play at any of them unless you're a member.

Not true. Linville and Hound Ears have hotels. You can play if you are a guest there.

[georgep]

Columbus, OH
Privates: Muirfield Village GC, Scioto CC, Columbus CC, Brookside CC, The Golf Club, Double Eagle, OSU Scarlet, Tartan Fields, Pinnacle,... any of these could (or do) host tour events. Then there's a ton of second tier clubs as well.

Very good public courses within an easy drive of downtown: Longaberger, Eaglesticks, Cooks Creek, Northstar, Players Club, Golf Club of Dublin, Tartan East, Clover Valley, Links at Echo Springs, New Albany Links, Darby Creek, Cumberland Trail, Chapel Hill, Apple Valley, Windy Knoll, Granville GC, ... all top notch public tracks with good greens and upkeep.

[jamo]

Boston:

I can play a Donald Ross course call George Wright for $8 and its in great shape. Not to mention The Country Club is only a city away.

[Guest]

Not another word about the MS Gulf Coast! We'll keep that between us.

[chipper2]

Lansing/East Lansing, MI area:
Eagle Eye - Top 100 public course
Timber Ridge
Hawk Hollow
Groesbeck
Forest Akers - West (MSU)
College Fields

[Dizzle]

Im kind of biased but the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area has to many to list. Anything from Interlachen and Hazeltine to some very very nice public courses. Plus Mississippi National is only about 40 minutes away.

[ControlJunkie]

Not another word about the MS Gulf Coast! We'll keep that between us.

What's that all about??? Trying to keep it a secret??

[acj990]

Iowa City/Coralville, IA

1) Brown Deer Golf Club (C'ville)
2) Amana Colonies Golf Club (Amana)
3) Blue Top Ridge Golf Course (Riverside)
4) The Harvester Golf Club

There are alot of courses all around Iowa, but these are four of the best that I have played. Des Moines has awesome courses too.

[abris33]

The surrounding area of Denver and north and south of Denver.
Colorado National Golf Club(previously known as Vista Ridge)
Loveland Olde Course
Bear Creek
Pelican Lakes
Green Mountain
Legacy Ridge(Amazing course)

to name a few

[GamecockMurph]

There's a great selection of courses in the greater Baltimore area (mostly in Baltimore County, 15-30 minutes north of the city). My home course is a 73.5/131 from the tips and it is average for the area. The East course at Baltimore Country Club was somewhere in the 80's in Golf Magazine's latest top 100 poll in the U.S. (74.6/137, 7037 yd par 70) and was designed by A.W. Tillinghast. There is also a private course called Caves Valley that is 74.0/138. In terms of public courses, one called Greystone was ranked #26 out of Golfweek Magazine's top 50 municipal courses, which is a 6925 yd par 72 with a rating of 73.5/139.

[sean_miller]

I'll vote for the Okanagan region of BC (e.g. Vernon, Kelowna). And from whatever direction you're headed there, there are some nice little course along the way to practice.