Strange Golf courses

[wannabe]

http://www.deckchair.com/355/

Came across this while searching online. It has pics and a brief description of unique golf courses around the world. Included is the Legends in South Africa with the famous 19th hole par three with the tee box on top of a mountain, green at the base. Also included are:

Brickyard, Indianapolis, IN, USA - some of the holes are in the inside of the automobile racetrack next door.
Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, USA - one of the greens is a motorized movable island green.
Green Zone - situated across the Finland/Sweden border - play in two countries in one course.
Coober Pedy, Australia - all sand & gravel except for the greens, carry turf with you to tee off.
Nullarbor, Australia - stretches 1400 km along the coast.
Stone Harbor, New Jersey, USA - another strange island green.

I've also heard about a cool sounding course in Las Vegas, NV, USA, that (I think) has holes inspired by famous holes around the world.

Anybody ever played any of these courses, or know of another strange/unique course/hole that they've played? Would you play a course like this regularly if it were near you?

[CassinoNorth]

Desmond Muirhead eh?

Fairly sure that's my friend's Grandpa. His dad is also a course architect.

[596]

I played a course in Parker, AZ a few weeks ago. Emerald Canyon. Wow.....that was different. Its built mainly in a set of narrow canyon walls. One hole with a 100ft drop on a par 3. I hit a GW to 5 ft. You can't see the green from the tee its so far straight down and short. You walk to the edge of the cliff, mark the flag stick on something in the distance, then walk back to your ball and hit a blind par 3 approach.

The very next hole is a +400 yard par 4. Your tee shot goes out and up over a hill that is lined with canyon walls on each side that are only about 20 yards apart. Your tee shot MUST go between the walls. Its was a great sight as the tee shot sails through the walls and on over the hill, IF you hit it straight.

As my approaches and tee shots either cleared canyon walls around corners or got above them....there was wind up there and threw the ball all over the place, yet you saw and felt zero wind IN the canyons.

Municipal Course with fees around $30. Its a great course and in beautiful condition.

OH, and one other in Payson, AZ...municipal course......par 3, short, tee shot OVER trees and down a hill, so far down that the flag tip is barely visible. When we got to the green we found the flag was only visible from the tee box because the flag stick was about 20ft long..... : ) Longest flag stick in the world!!!

[OCdude12]

Lake Chabot golf course in Oakland is a fun one that the above poster made me think of with that downhill par 3. They also have a par 3 that you can't see the green from back tee box, instead aim at a pole they have and pray to hit the small ass green. Whole course has small greens but some VERY severe slopes on them that are almost unfair. The course ends with a par 6, straight downhill, dogleg left. I could stand up there and hit tee shots all day, hit the high draw and your ball will roll for DAYS and you can even have a shot of getting on in 2, you just have to hit your second shot off the biggest downhill lie of your life. Real fun course when the greens are in good shape and pretty cheap. Lady at the turn cooks a mean burger too!

[clubchamp]

I've played the brickyard it's really cool when get to the holes inside the track. On another note I played a course the other weekend that was garbage but had one of the more interesting holes I've ever seen. It was a par 4 410 yards but it had a severe dogleg that basically you couldn't hit your tee shot more than 180-190 yards (this is hugging the tree line too) so the best you were going to get was 220-230 yards for a second shot. If you didn't hug the tree line it would have been closer to 240-250 yards to the green. You could in theory cut the corner if you could get a longer club up as fast as a wedge and carry 220ish. They also had another hole that has a large tree directly in front of a green but as long as you hit a good drive you wouldn't have more than a 7 iron in so it wasn't a big deal.

[sam004]

I played a course in Parker, AZ a few weeks ago. Emerald Canyon. Wow.....that was different. Its built mainly in a set of narrow canyon walls. One hole with a 100ft drop on a par 3. I hit a GW to 5 ft. You can't see the green from the tee its so far straight down and short. You walk to the edge of the cliff, mark the flag stick on something in the distance, then walk back to your ball and hit a blind par 3 approach.

Very unique looking course. I'll have to put this on my bucket list.

http://www.co.la-paz.az.us/Main_Page...Golf/frame.htm

[Stretch]

Nullarbor, Australia - stretches 1400 km along the coast.

Think I'll take a cart at that one!

[plum]

brickyard course is on my bucket list. going to try and get there this coming year

[The Recreational Golfer]

1.Fortuna Del Rey Golf Course, Yuma, Arizona. It’s a 9-hole course, 3,069 yards long, par 36, rated 33.8/104. The distinguishing feature of this course is the Palo Verde trees scattered around it. On four holes, there are 15’ versions in the middle of the fairway. They're a protected species, so they can't be removed.
Therefore, you have to hit over them, after spending a bit of time first figuring out exactly where it is you’re supposed to hit, since it's not always obvious where the fairway or the line to the green is.

The par-5 ninth is a real challenge. The fairway goes straight out from the tee for about 220 yards, then turns left about 115 degrees (that’s more than a right angle), heading for the green. There’s no cutting the corner, either. The corner is a cliff about sixty feet above the fairway with homes atop it.

2. Kukuiolono Park Golf Course, Kauai, Hawaii. The second hole is 580 yards long, but downhill all the way on hard ground. Getting on in two is within reason. The next hole is a 330-yard par 4, but it goes back up the same hill and you have to hit your two best shots to reach the green.

[villegolfer]

Planning on playing Brickyard in the next year. By the way, that's not just any "automobile racetrack"; it's the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400.

[chipper2]

I have played the Brickyard Crossing. Remember the course is closed on race days. Going thru the tunnel under the track is fun. You do it twice, going in and coming back out. A must play in Indy.

[tarantula18t]

The Brickyard is definitely worth the play once.  I am not a big racing fan, so I didn't get as much of a kick out of it as others I am sure.  The conditions of the course are top notch.  I liked the layout of the holes as far as each individual one.  I didn't care at all for the proximity of everything.  I understand they had to squeeze this in a very small area.  If they could have spread this out on about 300 acres, I would have really liked it.   Regardless, good course and a must play.