Strangest / Quirkiest Course?

[Eagle2]

I’ve enjoyed reading the most daunting hole thread and pleased to see a few members have mentioned the 4th on the Europa course at La Cala. It was such a strange hole to play and one you definitely won’t forget... it got me thinking about the strangest course I have ever played whilst staying at the Center Parcs in Nottingham.

Me and a pal wanted to get our fix in and decided to check out TeeOffTimes which didn’t throw up a lot of options - we went for the course with the earliest tee time so we weren’t ditching the family for too long and never knew it was on the grounds of a racecourse until we saw the signs (following our satnav)

In short... it was bonkers, the front 9 is played inside the track which you have to cross to start your round and just feels so strange. I really don’t know how they can co-exist as surely you can’t have a comp on during Saturday race day ? at times you are teeing off alongside the inner side of the track. although it’s not a long course (as you would expect) it is weird how midway through the front 9 you almost forget you are on a horse Island.

Anyway - it would be good to hear what Is the strangest / quirkiest course you have ever played?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Plenty of courses inside race courses. My own included until they decided to build the new stand and move the home straight. It was short at around 5400 yards but quirky and fiddly. Not many clubs came to play and went away with anything. Definitely a course you had to learn and so a lot of half decent golfers that turned up thinking they could blast it into submission soon got a rude awakening

 

[Eagle2]

Ahh never knew it was so common but just googled it. Seems fairly common in Germany also... good start the topic ? me naming something that isn’t that strange or quirky but from playing most of my golf in the Midlands on regular Parkland courses it seemed really strange to us.

 

[The Autumn Wind]

Royston GC in Hertfordshire has some quirks.
It is set on the side of a hill, is quite exposed, and has many elevation changes. But its the only club I’ve been to where I’ve driven into the club car park, paid a green fee in the pro shop, and then been given instructions by the pro on where to drive my car to get to the 1st tee. Yep, you drive back out of the club car park and down the road.

Its a fun course to play though. Especially on a breezy day.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Great Yarmouth and Caister is inside the racecourse, also quite quirky but some great holes. Always enjoyed playing there.

 

[Tongo]

Royston GC in Hertfordshire has some quirks.
It is set on the side of a hill, is quite exposed, and has many elevation changes. But its the only club I’ve been to where I’ve driven into the club car park, paid a green fee in the pro shop, and then been given instructions by the pro on where to drive my car to get to the 1st tee. Yep, you drive back out of the club car park and down the road.

Its a fun course to play though. Especially on a breezy day.

Similar thing at Furzeley near Portsmouth where you have to drive to the tenth tee after playing the front nine. Tis quite a quirky course too; short but good fun with some picturesque holes.

 

[timd77]

Wyboston lakes. There’s a water sports centre on 1 of the lakes in the middle, several holes skirt around it. Trying to focus on your shot with a bloody speed boat/jet ski revving and motoring a few yards away, with exhaust fumes blowing up your nostrils was certainly the strangest thing I’ve encountered on a golf course!

 

[Backache]

Northumberland Golf club is partly inside a racecourse but not particularly quirky.
Musselburgh is inside a golf course and one I've yet to play and is meant to be definitely quirky.

 

[davidy233]

For quirky see Cullen - brilliant fun course

 

[MendieGK]

Similar thing at Furzeley near Portsmouth where you have to drive to the tenth tee after playing the front nine. Tis quite a quirky course too; short but good fun with some picturesque holes.

Don’t be so lazy! It’s like a 2min walk!

 

[USER1999]

Bamburgh Castle is a strange golf course, as is Scrabo in Northern Ireland. Scenic, bonkers, quirky, picturesque, take your pick. Fun golf at it's best.

 

[Tongo]

Gosport and Stokes Bay certainly qualifies as quirky. Its bordered by MOD properties / forts so has high metal fences that makes it feel like you are playing in a prison! The drive off of the 8th/17th is straight over the bordering fence.

 

[Eagle2]

For quirky see Cullen - brilliant fun course

Looks amazing and commute-able from a family wedding coming up soon ?

 

[cliveb]

Souillac Country Club in The Dordogne. Very short, very hilly and insanely tight. On several holes if you miss the narrow fairway your ball is almost certainly lost in the trees or down a severe slope. One par 3 is less than 100 yards but you can't see the green from the tee(!), and if you miss the green your ball is history.

 

[Liverbirdie]

At Aintree, which is inside the racecourse, you play an approach to one green over Beecher's brook.

 

[Beezerk]

For quirky see Cullen - brilliant fun course

I've driven past there a few times and seen the course, looks mental.

 

[patricks148]

For quirky see Cullen - brilliant fun course

Yes this for me too, quirkiest i've played

 

[KenL]

North Berwick.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Great Yarmouth and Caister is inside the racecourse, also quite quirky but some great holes. Always enjoyed playing there.

It is a good course, If you take away the race track folk would probably have a much higher opinion of it.

I have not played it but the wee 9 holer at The Kyle's of Lochalsh looks interesting, if it is still there.
Basically a big circular green fairway patch with greens and tees set into the rocky hillside. Wonderful views over to the Skye Bridge. https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk...lands/218-kyle-of-lochalsh-golf-club-highland Naw it's gone,

Tobermorey is weird, two great big swales run through the 9 holer and you play across and to the tops of them to stand any chance of a decent score.

 

[Grant85]

I would say Kinghorn, in the southern coast of Fife (looking over to Edinburgh / Leith).

It was an original Old Tom Morris, but I think during the war they reclaimed a portion of the course for growing crops and it was never restored. So they've made a few alterations to fit some holes in here and there in an 18 hole layout.

As a result there are a lot of short holes, under 250 yards, that range between par 3 and 4 on the cards. There's also a lot of cross over holes, where you play back across a previous hole, especially on the medal card.

Yellow tees are par 66, but SSS is 63, given the length.

17 and 18 are both played along the side of a cliff, and 18 severely uphill from the medal tee. Perhaps this was one hole originally, playing to a plateau that is now the 17th green and trying to get into position to see 18 green, or else 'going for it' and playing a blind shot over the plateau to the green.

Tom Coyne said in his book, 'a Course Called Scotland' that Old Tom had managed to lay out a course where nearly every hole plays up hill. Which is not far off, as I can only think of 3 holes that are decidedly downhill.

But whatever the layout, it's tremendous fun and not a long walk, with 2.5 hours plenty for 18. I credit this place with me taking up the game properly, as I had a game here about 10 years ago, having not really played much previously. I'm sure if we'd had a game at a 6,500 yard 'proper' golf course, I'd have been thoroughly fed up and demoralised.