Best Course to play outside of the United States

[Tat14]

The Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara Nepal, playing there was simply astonishing, like walking into a hallucination. I took hundred of photos but none of them captured why it was so special

I've seen many a TV show about Nepal and the world's most dangerous roads. I wonder how that affected the trip to this course.

[Cookieboy]

I've seen many a TV show about Nepal and the world's most dangerous roads. I wonder how that affected the trip to this course.

Yeah

When you're in Nepal you hold your breathe in more ways than one.

The taxi drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara took six hours it was only about 130 miles but the roads were so winding we couldn't go any faster. The road was actually smooth and well paved

The plane ride back (on Yeti Airlines no less!) took a brisk 30 minutes

You'd be wise to avoid the monsoon season but otherwise Nepal is as safe as anywhere. I'd go back there, I'd loved to play there again

That course is so demanding it took me about five hours to play with no one else in front of me. I saw only one other player all day

[Cookieboy]

This is another photo of the same course,  Himalayan Golf Course in Nepal from the tee box on the 16th hole, the aptly named "The Abyss"

The green is actually behind the trees in front of that building that looks like a school

[Tat14]

This is another photo of the same course,  Himalayan Golf Course in Nepal from the tee box on the 16th hole, the aptly named "The Abyss"

The green is actually behind the trees in front of that building that looks like a school

Wow. I can't really tell, but assume you mean down and slightly right?

Not sure what I'd hit there - 81mm mortar perhaps.

[Shorty]

Given that Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania has been described as the best course built anywhere in the world outside the U.S. in the last 50 years it would have to be a contender.

[Cookieboy]

Wow. I can't really tell, but assume you mean down and slightly right?

Not sure what I'd hit there - 81mm mortar perhaps.

No the green is on the same level as the camera but to the left of the picture in the middle of the frame, that bit of land jutting out, it's just in front of that building. It was only about 120/130 metres but I had two tries and gave up. For a player of my standard in the exhausted state I was in it was near impossible

Most of the course is on the valley floor, on either side of the river. You cross the river several times. In that photo you can see greens and bunkers

[graham57]

There is no way I would claim to have played the world's great courses, but we play regularly in Thailand and some of the courses there are fantastic (we even played one with a par 6 dogleg!). I have also played some lesser-known courses, such as Kircudbright in Southern Scotland, which afforded me a lot of please with a lot of holes of real character. What I look to get out of threads like this is less a world ranking of golf courses, than personal tips to courses you would never discover otherwise - the "hidden gems" of the golf world.

[Cookieboy]

Yeah

When you're in Nepal you hold your breathe in more ways than one.

The taxi drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara took six hours it was only about 130 miles but the roads were so winding we couldn't go any faster. The road was actually smooth and well paved

The plane ride back (on Yeti Airlines no less!) took a brisk 30 minutes

You'd be wise to avoid the monsoon season but otherwise Nepal is as safe as anywhere. I'd go back there, I'd loved to play there again

That course is so demanding it took me about five hours to play with no one else in front of me. I saw only one other player all day

Yeah well said me! Nepal is "as safe as anywhere"!

That is true if you ignore the Rhinos in the street!

This clip shows exactly what the streetscapes of Nepal are like.

[Tat14]

Yeah well said me! Nepal is "as safe as anywhere"!

That is true if you ignore the Rhinos in the street!

This clip shows exactly what the streetscapes of Nepal are like.

Damn. I wish they'd release the Rhino to American car buyers...

Where's the pre-order list?

[Scotsclaff]

I haven't played many courses in the States,hoping to put that right this year.

Outside America.

Carnoustie Scotland.

Trump International Scotland.

Inverallochy Scotland.

Ballycastle Northern Ireland

Bushfoot Northern Ireland

Rathmore Northern Ireland

Laserena Chile

Old Grangonian Chile.

Siam Plantation Thailand

St Andrews 2000 Thailand

And my local course at the moment Eastern Star Thailand.

There is one I want to play just outside Bangkok called The Alpine,I've had a lot of recommendations about it.

[Cookieboy]

Lastly for Nepal

This is what the course looks like down on the valley floor

[imsys0042]

Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand was a high point for me, golf wise.   I did not know about it, I was playing with someone else who recommended it since I was a visitor to the country.   Not 100% perfect from a design perspective, but on the coast and had very nice views.   The people who worked there were extremely nice and not stuffy.

Pretty much all of the golf in NZ was wonderful.   I traveled around and many places had a drop box to pay, no one on staff, and I walked the courses carrying my clubs.   Very different from the US.

[Fourputt]

Although I never have played outside of the US, and at this point probably never will, the only course that could really tempt me is the Old Course.  For me, that would almost be more of a pilgrimage than it would a round of golf - paying obeisance to the founding fathers of the game.  Otherwise, no matter what the course, it's still just playing golf.

[drewneddy]

I really enjoyed the Norman course at Sandals resort in Exuma, Bahamas.

Great ocean and water view holes... better than Pebble by far. They filmed one of the Big Breaks there.

[DaveP043]

Although I never have played outside of the US, and at this point probably never will, the only course that could really tempt me is the Old Course.  For me, that would almost be more of a pilgrimage than it would a round of golf - paying obeisance to the founding fathers of the game.  Otherwise, no matter what the course, it's still just playing golf.

I've been lucky enough to play the Old Course a couple of times, and those rounds are right around the top of my list of golf experiences, I'd strongly recommend that anyone who loves golf should make the trip to St. Andrews.  If you don't get on the Old, play the New, its immediately adjacent.  Play any of the dozen or more courses within an hours drive that are well over 100 years old.  Go take a peek at the graves of Old Tom and Young Tom Morris.  Just take a walk from your guesthouse down the Scores, and look at the golf courses stretching away into the distance.   Watch the rest of the players struggling to get their drive on the first hole airborne.  Its an absolutely magical place.  And its not even my favorite Scottish golf course.

[Yukari]

I've been lucky enough to play the Old Course a couple of times, and those rounds are right around the top of my list of golf experiences, I'd strongly recommend that anyone who loves golf should make the trip to St. Andrews.  If you don't get on the Old, play the New, its immediately adjacent.  Play any of the dozen or more courses within an hours drive that are well over 100 years old.  Go take a peek at the graves of Old Tom and Young Tom Morris.  Just take a walk from your guesthouse down the Scores, and look at the golf courses stretching away into the distance.   Watch the rest of the players struggling to get their drive on the first hole airborne.  Its an absolutely magical place.  And its not even my favorite Scottish golf course.

That's on my wish list.

Is it true that the course is closed every Sunday so that locals can picnic on the course?

[DaveP043]

The course is indeed closed on Sunday, except for a few tournament weekends.  Anyone is free to walk the grounds.  I can't say I've seen anyone with a picnic, but I believe I was playing somewhere else on the Sundays I spent in town.  Oh, the most recent time was the weekend of the St. Rule Trophy competition, for women amateurs with handicaps of 3 or better.  We played a walk-on round on the New Course on the Saturday we arrived, teeing off about 40 minutes behind the last group of women.  For the first half of the round, we were playing outbound while these fine young women players were playing the inward half right next to us.  The next morning we watched them for an hour or so on the Old Course before our round at Crail.

[WUTiger]

Il Picciolo in Sicily. Below is a picture of a golfer teeing off with Mount Etna in the background.

When I played there, the Etna volcano was emitting smoke and steam into the air.

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