Most overrated golf course?

The 3 most overrated courses I have ever played are the West Course at Wentworth, Loch Lomond and Oitavos Dunes in Portugal. All fine but all have hugely over-inflated opinions of themselves and are very, very poor value for money. I would not care if I never played any of them ever again.

And the Brabazon is of course, overrated. Usually lauded by people who haven't played much at some of the better, traditional golf courses that don't shout from the rooftops about themselves.

For example, West Hill where I am playing tomorrow. I played this back to back over 2 days with Loch Lomond and there is no contest. West Hill is better in every respect apart from the setting which is quite obviously, absolutely magnificent at Loch Lomond. The 3 W's (add in Worplesdon and Old Woking) in that neck of the woods are much better in a general sense than the clubs I note above but many people haven't even heard of them.

Just my opinion of course. Cue Celtic backlash! :)
 
I apologise as I know that there are a few members on here however I think the Troon municipal courses are the most overrated courses around. Some people rave about them and I can't understand why. To me theh are poor both in condition and layout.

I also think Kingsbarns and the PGA at Gleneagles are vastly overrated.

Local to me East Renfrewshire is overrated in my opinion and I'd rather play Whitecraigs or Cathcart Castle. Haggs Castle is another that punches way above its weight. It's a decent track but never a great track, Pollok across the river is twice the course that Haggs Castle will ever be.

(All just my opinion! )
 
The West Course at Wentworth.

Costs an arm & a leg, has NO memorable holes, just a slog. Oh and as a visitor you are about as welcome as an unpleasant smell in a space-suit.

Admitedly, i have never paid to play here (and am very lucky about that) and maybe that changes my opinion, but how anyone can say there are no memorable holes is clearly a little loopy.

The 1st is a fantastic opening (and gentle as a par 5), the 2nd is great par 3. and i can go on and on. 7 is a brilliant par 4, as is 8 and 9.

In fact i genuinely believe every single hole can be classed as memorable, with only maybe 16 the exception!

In terms of visitors being welcomed, you must have caught them on a bad day, as i have always been treated like royalty. 'Morning Sir' at every single part of the club!

Obviously this is all about opinion, and i fully accept it, but i felt the need to argue its case.
 
In my opinion, i found Trevose to be vastly overrated as a golf course. The hospitality and value of the round was second to none, but there were far too many really boring holes.

When comparing courses in the same region (Perrenporth, St Enodoc and Sautnon) i just didnt think it deserved to be put in the same league.

Oh and has someone seriously said that they though Burnham & Berrow was overrated?????? WOW that suprises me, first for everything i guess.
 
I wasn't endeared to Tylney Park. Heard fantastic things about it and was so disappointed. Long and it felt a slog. If you missed a fairway (which were silly narrow for a members course) by 5 feet either side you were in knee high rough and a lost ball and this rough extended around the greens so any missed green ran the risk of being lost too. Can't think of a single hole that stands out
 
Admitedly, i have never paid to play here (and am very lucky about that) and maybe that changes my opinion, but how anyone can say there are no memorable holes is clearly a little loopy.

The 1st is a fantastic opening (and gentle as a par 5), the 2nd is great par 3. and i can go on and on. 7 is a brilliant par 4, as is 8 and 9.

In fact i genuinely believe every single hole can be classed as memorable, with only maybe 16 the exception!

In terms of visitors being welcomed, you must have caught them on a bad day, as i have always been treated like royalty. 'Morning Sir' at every single part of the club!

Obviously this is all about opinion, and i fully accept it, but i felt the need to argue its case.

I, too, have never paid to play there and after three visits I never would.

As you rightly say it is a matter of opinion but to suggest that all 18 holes are memorable is in your own words "loopy".

I did not suggest that the staff were discourteous just totally insincere and unwelcoming.

The East Course, however, could rightly claim to be underrated, trouble is you would still be faced with the Wentworth welcome (?).
 
Some interesting (and a few bizarre) thoughts so far.

I am going to join those who dislike The Brabazon. Let me explain why. You often hear golf architects talk about pieces of land suited to building great golf courses - that piece of land Trump built his course on, the piece of land near Portrush for the new resort and so on. You never hear people say that a former potato field near Brum is such a great site. The Belfry is built on a dull boring boggy piece of land and will never be a great site. The course they built might have been fine as a local club with modest ambitions, but falls massively sort as a world class course. Sure, they had the Ryder Cup, but that is given to anyone with a big enough wallet. If Lydd fronted the millions needed, they would get the Ryder Cup too.

The Brabazon course contains many forgettable holes. I would specify why they are forgettable, but I have forgotten. The first decently memorable hole on the front 9 is the 9th, and I am not sure it is a good hole. The 10th is a stupid little hole, 11-17 are forgettable again and the 18th is another stupid hole.

Wentworth is a very different matter. OK, it is eye-wateringly expensive and horribly corporate and the car park is full of Porsches parked by yahoos who have sprinted out from their hedge funds in the city, but the course itself is basically a decent Surrey heartland course. The course has interesting holes, a mix of styles, elevation changes (none of which the Brabazon has). A number of those holes are pretty outstanding ones, mostly on the back 9.

The recent changes to the course have damaged it. The owner, Richard Caring, is a fan of the 17th at Sawgrass and wanted an island green, and it is a shame he has butchered the 18th to make it. What was so wrong with a par-5 the players could reach in 2? I seem to remember many moments of great drama there over the years.
 
The West Course at Wentworth.

Costs an arm & a leg, has NO memorable holes, just a slog. Oh and as a visitor you are about as welcome as an unpleasant smell in a space-suit.



I absolutely disagree with what you say with, maybe, the exception of the last bit. The cost is known before you play so if you dont want tp pay you dont have to. The course was just awesome to me and there are several memorable holes !
 
Going to be shot down here most probably as it was a forum arranged visit...but Hoylake for me. It was nice to play a top quality course...but it wasn't massively memorable for me whatsoever. Maybe the 11th (I think...par 3 right next to the "beach") was it's only standout hole.
 
Ethan summed it up, perhaps unintentionally, the West Course is "basically a decent Surrey heathland course."

Certainly not a great one and compares very unfavourably with some of its less gauche neighbours.

The comments regarding buying the Ryder Cup might equally apply to the BMW PGA Championship.
 
Ethan summed it up, perhaps unintentionally, the West Course is "basically a decent Surrey heathland course."

Certainly not a great one and compares very unfavourably with some of its less gauche neighbours.

The comments regarding buying the Ryder Cup might equally apply to the BMW PGA Championship.

Perhaps, but Wentworth has some heavy duty neighbours against which to compare - Sunningdale, Berkshire, Royal Ascot (TFIC). You won't hear me argue it is as good a course as either Sunningdale, but it is still a very good course. The 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, and most of the back 9 are very good holes indeed.

Wentworth West is in an utterly different league to The Brabazon, in my opinion.

The other 2 courses at Wentworth are also pretty good. The Edinburgh course is rather Woburnish.
 
Perhaps, but Wentworth has some heavy duty neighbours against which to compare - Sunningdale, Berkshire, Royal Ascot (TFIC). You won't hear me argue it is as good a course as either Sunningdale, but it is still a very good course. The 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, and most of the back 9 are very good holes indeed.

Wentworth West is in an utterly different league to The Brabazon, in my opinion.

The other 2 courses at Wentworth are also pretty good. The Edinburgh course is rather Woburnish.

Who was comparing the West Course with the Brabazon. The latter is merely a decent enough course given the patch of land that the architects were given to work with.
It has never enjoyed a great reputation and nor should it expect to.
The West Course has, for years, been the beneficiary of a very successful PR campaign and the recent changes were, in my opinion, the final nail in the coffin.
The East Course is, I would suggest, a better, more varied test for the amateur golfer.
 
Who was comparing the West Course with the Brabazon. The latter is merely a decent enough course given the patch of land that the architects were given to work with.
It has never enjoyed a great reputation and nor should it expect to.
The West Course has, for years, been the beneficiary of a very successful PR campaign and the recent changes were, in my opinion, the final nail in the coffin.
The East Course is, I would suggest, a better, more varied test for the amateur golfer.

I enjoyed the east course, but i dont see why its raved about so much, its so short its unreal. admittedly it doesnt have to be long to be good, but only 1 par 5 (which is basically a par 4) is not something i enjoy as much.

I dont see why the west course changes are abused so much, the 18th was quite a bland finishing hole i now think it has the 'wow' factor. When initally designed, they made a mistake, the green was too high, the accepted that and made suitable changes. They have also raised the run off area off the tee, giving players a much better chance of reaching the green.

The bunkers placed around the course as now suitably positioned for the pro playing off the back tees (and probably for most amateurs off the yellows).

Would i ever pay £360 to play the course? absolutely not, but do I begrudge them for charging this? No. They simply do not want there course overun with us amateurs trying to follow in their idols footsteps (pebble beach is no different, and i also criticised as a golf course in a similar vain).
 
You were, only slightly indirectly, or as you might prefer, unintentionally.

You said a few posts before that comments about the Ryder Cup might equally apply to the BMW PGA. Not equally unless the courses were 'equal'. They really aren't.

Interpretation & semantics! I have no axe to grind for the Brabazon or The Belfry but I might question whether others are equally open-minded.

They could be equally held guilty of buying events that could be staged on superior courses and their comparative rankings do not alter this.
 
Interpretation & semantics! I have no axe to grind for the Brabazon or The Belfry but I might question whether others are equally open-minded.

They could be equally held guilty of buying events that could be staged on superior courses and their comparative rankings do not alter this.

I don't have an axe to grind, but have played each course a number of times, and in my opinion, they do not belong in the same conversation.

Wentworth hosted the PGA because the European Tour was based there. It is a fine Harry Colt course and probably belongs in the top 40 or 50 courses in the country.

The Brabazon course was created for the Ryder Cup and as the home of the PGA, was originally intended to host the 1981 event but was not ready. One player at the time described it as not much more than a ploughed field. Not much has changed since. I would not rank it in the top 200 courses in the UK.
 
The opinion of the player who was so dismissive has since been shown to be of questionable merit!
 
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