Your personal best 18 - hole by hole

[b101]

This has been on my mind for a while and I thought it'd be good to make a thread of it, to see what people come up with. What would be the best 1-18 you've ever played? As in, your favourite first hole, then favourite second etc. I thought I'd start with mine and add some photos for interest. I tried to keep it as a realistic par, so there are fewer of the short holes than I might otherwise put. Don't feel you need to add photos, but definitely helps 

Curiously, some of my absolute favourite courses (Western Gailes, Turnberry, Hankley Common and Lytham) have fewer holes than I would have expected before I started comparing.

Hole 1 - Saunton (East) - par four

A long par four to start, with a great view over the dunes. A tough tee shot, mentally, but allows you to get the driver out. Not a birdie chance, but an awesome hole.

Hole 2 - Royal Lytham and St Annes - par four

Picture doesn't do it justice, but another tight tee shot with a variety of options for your approach to the green. Just a class par four.

Hole 3 - Woburn (Marquess) - par four

Another stunning par four playing anything between 420 and 473 yards. A good drive, ideally with a bit of draw is required, before you hit an approach to an elevated green. Lots of misdirection, too, with a couple of bunkers some 50 yards short to play with your eyesight.

Hole 4 - Royal North Devon - par four

A short par four that requires a blind drive over the giant (yet pretty much obsolete) bunker. You then have a wedge from a downhill lie into a green that slopes away from you, so a lot of creativity required with the approach. A really fun hole.

Hole 5 - Hankley Common - par four

Another class par four that requires two really good shots - the first job is getting the tee shot away from the bunkers, before hitting a good mid-iron into the green. There is room to miss short and long, but left or right will likely leave a bunker shot. 

Hole 6 - Western Gailes - par five

 

First par five, which is a gem - the tee shot is tough, second shot is tough and the green is tucked away nicely with all sorts of fun slopes. Just a class hole.

Hole 7 - Rye - par three

See above. Simply gorgeous.

Hole 8 - Formby - par five

Another par five which is stunning from every angle. Requires thought, too, as a drive of over 250 will run out of fairway unless you get the draw. As above, the green is slightly hidden, meaning it's a slightly tougher wedge in.

Hole 9 - Turnberry - par three

See profile picture. Hard to think of many more iconic par threes.

Hole 10 - Turnberry - par five

The next hole features an infinity green, with your approach aiming dead into the ocean. Just mesmeric and a classic hole.

Hole 11 - Hindhead - par four

 

A tough tee shot to hold the fairway with, as everything slopes right once it hits the short grass. The approach is one of the toughest shots I've played, as the green slopes from front to back, meaning that in summer, you may choose to bounce it some 30 yards short and a front/mid pin will mean that you cannot land the ball on the green. 

Hole 12 - Burnham and Berrow - par four

Another tough tee shot, which can lead to a blind, uphill approach to this tough green. The drop off at the front is huge and the approach plays very differently depending on where the flag is. A hole that always plays differently, particularly with the wind.

Hole 13 - The Addington - par three

I'm not normally a fan of long par threes, but this hole is a beauty and rewards a good shot (albeit of 200 something yards).

Hole 14 - Saunton (East) - par four

Another tough par four that rewards a long drive (the fairway is generous enough for the drive), but demands an accurate approach. Needs two good shots.

Hole 15 - Burnham and Berrow - par four

Pictures don't do the undulations justice. The landing zone for the drive is tight, but the approach can be played in so many different ways - I've seen people take putters from over 100 yards, whilst others fly it all the way (and in fact, everything in between). A great hole that's again changed massively depending on pin location.

Hole 16 - Saunton (West) - par three

The picture really doesn't do this hole justice - it's a very elevated tee with outstanding views across the whole course. The green isn't that tricky, but it's a beautiful hole.

Hole 17 - Hindhead - par four

 

Another really interesting par four that requires a good tee shot to a sloping fairway and gives a choice of how you play the approach. Take the four and move on.

Hole 18 - Royal Lytham and St Annes - par four

A brute of a hole, requiring a tee shot that threads all of those bunkers before a good approach to stick the green. Adam Scott's Open challenge faded here with a missed short putt and it's easy to see why. 

Par: 71 (Out: 36, In: 35)

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Definitely took some effort, but it's a fun exercise and there'll be a lot of honourable mentions. Hopefully we'll see a few others!

 

P.S. my personal best would be three over. Pars on all apart from bogeys on 3, 7, 8, 9, 16 and 18, birdies on 11, 15 and 17

Edited December 20, 2017 by b101

[iacas]

Crap. I'm pretty good at remembering courses, but if you just ask me to remember the best third hole I've ever played… ugh. That could take a week. Per hole!

[Ty_Webb]

18 hours ago, iacas said:

Crap. I'm pretty good at remembering courses, but if you just ask me to remember the best third hole I've ever played… ugh. That could take a week. Per hole!

This ^

I am getting up towards 300 courses played and I certainly couldn't list them. I've played 13 of the holes in the OP (I've played Turnberry, but not with 9 as a par three and I'm not sure about 10, so I'm excluding those two) and I'd have to think about each course to remember each hole. Only way I'm doing this is by spending a lot of time looking at my list of my courses played and then googling holes to remember them. 

Easy way to answer this would be to say Pine Valley holes 1 through 18. I think that course is so good that almost all of those holes you could drop into any other course I've played and it would be the stand out hole there.

For @b101 - if you have a LOT of time on your hands and want to continue thinking about this, limit it to one hole per course. I think that's a slightly more interesting question because you have to really think about which hole you're going to pick from each course. You may wind up not picking the best hole on each course because you may have two 12th holes that are spectacular and have to pick one of them, then you're removing that course from the options for the rest of it.

I think if I try to answer this I'm going to have to pick my top 20 courses and just limit my choices to those courses. Otherwise it's just going to be too hard. 

By the way - I've played Burnham quite a bit and you picked two monsters. 12 and 15 are really tough holes. 12 is a beast. Definitely a course with some quirkiness to it. Some great par threes.

[b101]

1 hour ago, Ty_Webb said:

I am getting up towards 300 courses played and I certainly couldn't list them. I've played 13 of the holes in the OP (I've played Turnberry, but not with 9 as a par three and I'm not sure about 10, so I'm excluding those two) and I'd have to think about each course to remember each hole.

For @b101 - if you have a LOT of time on your hands and want to continue thinking about this, limit it to one hole per course.

By the way - I've played Burnham quite a bit and you picked two monsters. 12 and 15 are really tough holes. 12 is a beast. Definitely a course with some quirkiness to it. Some great par threes.

As someone relatively new to playing nice courses, that's why I started now - that way I can mentally update as I play other courses. I like the challenge of a unique 1-18 though... leave that one with me!

With Turnberry, they re-did both 9 and 10 completely (used to both be par 4s) and well worth getting back to play them. As for Burnham, I'm a member there and there are plans to update the 12th to make the fairway flatter and easier to hold - should make the hole even better. I actually haven't got either of my favourite two holes from Burnham (9th and 11th) as there are other options I preferred. Takes a lot of thinking about!

[Groucho Valentine]

Besides the par 5s at Pine Valley, theres really no particular holes that I've played that stand out to me. 

Oh and the 18th at Cherry Hills, not because i liked it but because i doubled the f**king thing all 4 times i played it at the US Amateur. Would have made it to match play if it wasnt for that damn hole...

[billchao]

I am pretty bad at remembering courses, holes, etc., and I haven't even played that many courses. The only ones that are clear in my memory are the ones I've played dozens of times.

This could take a while... 

[Ty_Webb]

39 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Besides the par 5s at Pine Valley, theres really no particular holes that I've played that stand out to me. 

Oh and the 18th at Cherry Hills, not because i liked it but because i doubled the f**king thing all 4 times i played it at the US Amateur. Would have made it to match play if it wasnt for that damn hole...

Really? Holes like 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 at PV? I played there three times in two days in 1998 and that was it and I remember them all vividly. Can't say that about anywhere else. 

I don't know Cherry Hills, but damn that sucks! I played in a tourney at Bethpage Black this year. Two rounds of strokeplay. Made the cut on the number after making a triple bogey 7 on 18 and then the next day wound up shooting the same score again only this time finishing with a 6, so I feel a little bit of your pain. Stupid hole. Or stupid player. Probably the latter in my case.

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Really? Holes like 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 at PV? I played there three times in two days in 1998 and that was it and I remember them all vividly. Can't say that about anywhere else. 

Don't listen to Groucho. I would almost bet against him having ever played there. That, or he just loves being a troll. There are only two par fives at PV, and there are PLENTY of other WELL renowned and celebrated holes there.

[Groucho Valentine]

8 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Really? Holes like 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 at PV? I played there three times in two days in 1998 and that was it and I remember them all vividly. Can't say that about anywhere else. 

I don't know Cherry Hills, but damn that sucks! I played in a tourney at Bethpage Black this year. Two rounds of strokeplay. Made the cut on the number after making a triple bogey 7 on 18 and then the next day wound up shooting the same score again only this time finishing with a 6, so I feel a little bit of your pain. Stupid hole. Or stupid player. Probably the latter in my case.

That whole course is amazing. I know why its known as the best course on earth. I played in two crump cups there. But the par 5's at PV i can play over and over and over again. There my favorite holes in all of golf. 

How did you double and triple 18, man? You took driver off the tee, didn't you? 

[Ty_Webb]

4 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

That whole course is amazing. I know why its known as the best course on earth. I played in two crump cups there. But the par 5's at PV i can play over and over and over again. There my favorite holes in all of golf. 

How did you double and triple 18, man? You took driver off the tee, didn't you? 

I did. The triple was fun:

Drive in left fairway bunker. Ball settled down a tiny bit, but I figured I could make the green. Hit 9 iron a bit clean, into the face and it bounced back and rolled into my footprint. Then hacked it out sideways, but it didn't make it out. Splashed out in the fairway. Hit a good pitch right at it. Get up there and I'm 40 feet away on the left fringe  Asked my playing partner what happened. It hit the flag and bounced MILES away. Two putts. Seven. Thanks.

The double I don't remember quite so well. I overcorrected from round 2 and put it in the right trap. Hit it heavy half way up the hill, then duffed that one too. Pitch on and two more putts. Six. 

I took 156 shots to play 36 holes and 13 of them were on the last hole. Not that that grates at all...

Seriously on PV - the 5th is far and away the hardest par three I've ever played, the 8th is the best short par four in the world, the 13th is IMO the hardest par four I've played (and I have played TOC). All holes that stick out to me. 7 and 15 are wonderful holes too. My dad loves to say he "reduced" the 15th hole to three 5 woods and a 7 iron. It left him with about a 40 footer for a par. The caddie told him to hit his putt like the hole was at a point about 6 feet away and perpendicular to where the hole was. It went in. Caddie earned his tip that day for sure!

[Groucho Valentine]

5 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

I did. The triple was fun:

Drive in left fairway bunker. Ball settled down a tiny bit, but I figured I could make the green. Hit 9 iron a bit clean, into the face and it bounced back and rolled into my footprint. Then hacked it out sideways, but it didn't make it out. Splashed out in the fairway. Hit a good pitch right at it. Get up there and I'm 40 feet away on the left fringe  Asked my playing partner what happened. It hit the flag and bounced MILES away. Two putts. Seven. Thanks.

The double I don't remember quite so well. I overcorrected from round 2 and put it in the right trap. Hit it heavy half way up the hill, then duffed that one too. Pitch on and two more putts. Six. 

I took 156 shots to play 36 holes and 13 of them were on the last hole. Not that that grates at all...

Seriously on PV - the 5th is far and away the hardest par three I've ever played, the 8th is the best short par four in the world, the 13th is IMO the hardest par four I've played (and I have played TOC). All holes that stick out to me. 7 and 15 are wonderful holes too. My dad loves to say he "reduced" the 15th hole to three 5 woods and a 7 iron. It left him with about a 40 footer for a par. The caddie told him to hit his putt like the hole was at a point about 6 feet away and perpendicular to where the hole was. It went in. Caddie earned his tip that day for sure!

Oof. Ive done that too. But now this is me whenever i see a better player pull a driver on that hole....

Put yourself in front of those bunkers the worst you're gonna make is a 5, homey. Challenging them just isn't worth it. I learned that the hard way.  

I agree with you on the 5th there. Depending on the wind (it kinda funnels down there sometimes) that hole is pretty much unfair. Ive managed to play it well, though. Its certainly takes a hero shot off the tee because there isnt much room green side. I love the 15th just because of the selection of shots you can play. Its massively inviting off tee. But it squeezes every shot after that. You have to think your way through it even though its more or less strait away. 

[Ty_Webb]

29 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Oof. Ive done that too. But now this is me whenever i see a better player pull a driver on that hole....

Put yourself in front of those bunkers the worst you're gonna make is a 5, homey. Challenging them just isn't worth it. I learned that the hard way.  

I agree with you on the 5th there. Depending on the wind (it kinda funnels down there sometimes) that hole is pretty much unfair. Ive managed to play it well, though. Its certainly takes a hero shot off the tee because there isnt much room green side. I love the 15th just because of the selection of shots you can play. Its massively inviting off tee. But it squeezes every shot after that. You have to think your way through it even though its more or less strait away. 

That made me laugh. Most of the time from the front tee or even where the blue tee normally is I can clear the bunkers and then even if you hit a bad shot, you have a sand wedge in from the rough. From the back tee, the fairway plays reasonably wide because I can't reach where it really chokes. I hit two pretty bad shots to get in the bunkers. And my three wood leaves me quite a ways back. 5 iron up the hill to that green is no picnic, especially when your greenside bunker game is as good as mine. I am definitely capable of making worse than a 5 that way.

[Patch]

I can tell you my best round was a 70, shot on a par 70 course, in SoCal some where. I had shot par several times way back then.  Just never broke par.....ever. Probably my only failure in my golf game. 

As for a hole by hole accounting, I am going to plead "Terminal CRS" since this was a few decades ago .

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Patch said:

I can tell you my best round was a 70, shot on a par 70 course, in SoCal some where. I had shot par several times way back then.  Just never broke par.....ever. Probably my only failure in my golf game. 

As for a hole by hole accounting, I am going to plead "Terminal CRS" since this was a few decades ago .

That's not what @b101 is going for with this thread. He's saying put together your favorite 18 hole course from #1-18 out of all the courses you've played.

[Ty_Webb]

Gonna take a shot at this. It is right now 1:42pm on 12/21/2017. Will be interesting to see when I actually wind up posting this. Also going with only one hole per course to keep things interesting. Update 1:52pm on 12/22/2017. I have 17 holes down, but am struggling with one more. Every time I think oo what about that course, I either don't remember the hole or it's the wrong par. Then I start thinking should I include a hole that I do remember and maybe change out another one. It's like doing a jigsaw where all the pieces change shape every time you take them apart.

Hole 1 - Merion - par 4 - lovely little gentle handshake opener

Hole 2 - St Georges Golf & Country Club, NY - par 5 - I really enjoyed this hole. Great interest from a set of fairway bunkers in the lay up area (which after the bounce my drive took was all I could do)

Hole 3 - Sunningdale Old - par 4 - short hole, under 300 yards, with lots of interest

Hole 4 - National Golf Links of America - par 3 the Redan. Some other strong contenders here - 4 at Deal, 4 at Royal St Georges, 4 at Bethpage Black

Hole 5 - Royal St Georges - I love this hole and hate it in equal measure. It's so exacting, but a great risk-reward hole. Other contenders - Pine Valley - possibly better, but I don't like back to back par threes and I like the 8th more. Could go with Walton Heath Old as well here

Hole 6 - Walton Heath New - par 3 - I quite like this hole and I need a par 3 here - great green complex and well bunkered

Hole 7 - Ballybunion Old - par 4 - hole along the water. I love this course and I can't leave it out, but I must confess the thing I remember best about this hole is the wall of water that we spotted coming at us across the bay. Seconds later we were drowning in the rain.

Hole 8 - Pine Valley - short par 4 down the hill to the smallest green on the planet. Just outstanding

Hole 9 - Royal Porthcawl - par 4 - great shortish par four around a corner and with a huge valley in front of the green. Beautiful hole

Hole 10 - Royal Cinque Ports - shortish par four dogleg to the left, which can be driveable in some wind conditions. Great hole

Hole 11 - The Creek Club - par three - Biarritz style island green. Brutal, but great fun.

Hole 12 - Walton Heath Old - short to mid-length par four dogleg to the right. Just a great hole and IMO the best hole on the complex - possibly alongside 16 Old

Hole 13 - Effingham GC - par three. It's a pretty short hole, under 150 with a kidney bean shaped green. Very tricky because the green is narrow and it falls away on both sides. Good hole.

Hole 14 - The Old Course - par 5. So much interest along this hole. Every shot you can either play safe to the left or take on the right. Each shot is easier from the right side. Awesome stuff.

Hole 15 - Bethpage Black - monster par 4. One of the hardest around (although I made 3 last time I played it :))

Hole 16 - Turnberry Ailsa - par 4. The burn, very painful, but it's a great hole.

Hole 17 - Muirfield - par 5 - this is a great hole and comes at such a pivotal moment in the round. I remember it much more for the TV than from playing it though

Hole 18 - Winged Foot West - par 4 - scene of many a tragedy, but I chipped in for a birdie here and I'm biased :)

 

Without the one hole per course restriction, this becomes much easier. I think then I have: 1 PV, 2 PV, 3 PV, 4 NGLA, 5 RSG or PV, 6 PV, 7 PV, 8 PV, 9 Porthcawl, 10 PV, 11 RSG, 12 WHO, 13 PV, 14 RSG, 15 PV, 16 PV or WHO, 17 TOC, 18 WFW

 

[b101]

14 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

Gonna take a shot at this. It is right now 1:42pm on 12/21/2017. Will be interesting to see when I actually wind up posting this. Also going with only one hole per course to keep things interesting. Update 1:52pm on 12/22/2017. I have 17 holes down, but am struggling with one more. Every time I think oo what about that course, I either don't remember the hole or it's the wrong par. Then I start thinking should I include a hole that I do remember and maybe change out another one. It's like doing a jigsaw where all the pieces change shape every time you take them apart.

Hole 1 - Merion - par 4 - lovely little gentle handshake opener

Hole 2 - St Georges Golf & Country Club, NY - par 5 - I really enjoyed this hole. Great interest from a set of fairway bunkers in the lay up area (which after the bounce my drive took was all I could do)

Hole 3 - Sunningdale Old - par 4 - short hole, under 300 yards, with lots of interest

Hole 4 - National Golf Links of America - par 3 the Redan. Some other strong contenders here - 4 at Deal, 4 at Royal St Georges, 4 at Bethpage Black

Hole 5 - Royal St Georges - I love this hole and hate it in equal measure. It's so exacting, but a great risk-reward hole. Other contenders - Pine Valley - possibly better, but I don't like back to back par threes and I like the 8th more. Could go with Walton Heath Old as well here

Hole 6 - Walton Heath New - par 3 - I quite like this hole and I need a par 3 here - great green complex and well bunkered

Hole 7 - Ballybunion Old - par 4 - hole along the water. I love this course and I can't leave it out, but I must confess the thing I remember best about this hole is the wall of water that we spotted coming at us across the bay. Seconds later we were drowning in the rain.

Hole 8 - Pine Valley - short par 4 down the hill to the smallest green on the planet. Just outstanding

Hole 9 - Royal Porthcawl - par 4 - great shortish par four around a corner and with a huge valley in front of the green. Beautiful hole

Hole 10 - Royal Cinque Ports - shortish par four dogleg to the left, which can be driveable in some wind conditions. Great hole

Hole 11 - The Creek Club - par three - Biarritz style island green. Brutal, but great fun.

Hole 12 - Walton Heath Old - short to mid-length par four dogleg to the right. Just a great hole and IMO the best hole on the complex - possibly alongside 16 Old

Hole 13 - Effingham GC - par three. It's a pretty short hole, under 150 with a kidney bean shaped green. Very tricky because the green is narrow and it falls away on both sides. Good hole.

Hole 14 - The Old Course - par 5. So much interest along this hole. Every shot you can either play safe to the left or take on the right. Each shot is easier from the right side. Awesome stuff.

Hole 15 - Bethpage Black - monster par 4. One of the hardest around (although I made 3 last time I played it :))

Hole 16 - Turnberry Ailsa - par 4. The burn, very painful, but it's a great hole.

Hole 17 - Muirfield - par 5 - this is a great hole and comes at such a pivotal moment in the round. I remember it much more for the TV than from playing it though

Hole 18 - Winged Foot West - par 4 - scene of many a tragedy, but I chipped in for a birdie here and I'm biased :)

Great list - of those I have played (basically just the two Walton Heath courses and Turnberry), I'm a big fan of the 12th - helps that I chipped in when I played there. All of your other UK/Ire courses are on my bucket list as well! That burn on 16 plays havoc with your mind on the approach...

 

[Chanceman]

Has anyone played any of these? - 1. Royal Lytham, 2. Royal Birkdale, 3. Spyglass Hill, 4. Barnbougle Dunes, 5.New South Wales, 6. Pebble Beach, 7. Pebble Beach. 8. Pebble Beach. 9 Turnberry, 10. Cape Wickham, 11. St Andrews, 12. Kingsbarns, 13. Royal Melbourne West, 14. Royal Birkdale, 15. Kingston Heath, 16. Pasatiempo, 17. St Andrews, 18. Carnoustie. 

I could probably have another 3 or 4 PB holes eg 5,9,10,12,17,18. But the beach holes there are the best.

Left out St Andrews 1, Pacific Dunes 13,17, Bandon Dunes 16, Bandon Trails 7,13, Pasatiempo 16, Royal Melb 6,17,  probably a few others.

[FLOG4]

Fabulous post....Very difficult to separate by hole....Good fortune to play about 900 courses.....all over. Best starter is Machrihanish. I'd throw in a hole or two from Merion. A hole or two from Pine Valley . Kingsbarns  St Andrews Old  Old Head 12, Yale 9, Prestwick Alps, Cabot Cliffs, Royal Porthcawl, National, North Berwick, Tralee, Pebble, Old Mac, Pacific, Bandon, Black Diamond, World Woods, Kiawah Ocean, Kauri Cliffs, Cape Kidnappers, Cabot Links, Fishers Island, Streamsong, Bethpage Black,  Tobacco Road, Royal Dornoch, Turnberry, Trump Aberdeen, Cruden Bay, The Country Club, Muirfield, Carnoustie, Carne, Ballybunion, a couple at Royal County Down, a couple at Royal Portrush, Opener at Portstewart is quite good. Do I have 18 yet....Ha