What's the most 'fun' golf course you have ever played?

MikeH

MikeH

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afternoon all

we were just chatting over some ideas for futire features in the mag and we thought a piece on the most 'fun' golf courses might be good.

After all, golf is soemthing we do for 'fun' so which courses you have played fit the bill and also what made them fun?

a starter for 10 from the GM office is the Red Course at Berkshire as it's has a very unusual combination of holes with 6 par 3s, 6 par 4s and 6 par 5s
To our minds that gives you lots of potential excitment as you always think you could birdie (or even ace) a par 3, plus these days many golfers can get up in two at par 5s. Its also a very picturesque course

Over to you....
 
Got to be Shiskine on the Isle of Arran. 12 hole links type course with some amazing views and some very interesting holes. A great course to score well on if it's a calm day, or if the wind blows..... Holes like The Crows Nest and the Himalaya and Hades give a little clue as to the task that awaits when you set off from the 1st tee.

Here
 
The answer to this is easy....

The North Berwick Golf Club. That course is the single most fun i've had playing golf. Played it 3 times now and each time i've come away with a smile on my face. That includes when i was new to the game and played it after only picking a club up for the first time a few weeks earlier. I scored in the region of 130 but had so much fun doing so.

There are so many quirks that make it so much fun. The drive off the first and then playing from the beach on the 2nd. The baddest deepest bunker i thought i'd ever see on the par 3 6th. The burns running across 7th and the 16th. The wall you have to play over on the 13th. THE REDAN. The massive oblong gullied green on the 16th. The drive back to the clubhouse on 18. My favourite hole on any course anyway, the 17th, with its dips and hollows and mounds and that crazy long diagonal slither of a bunker.

I mean, they even have a hole called "Perfection".

I've since scored better than that initial 130(ish) by a long way since i first played that course a couple of years ago. But the thing is, it brought as much of a smile to my face back then as it can now, and that is why it's not just the most fun course i've played, but the absolute best.

Don't believe me, give it a go.

http://www.northberwickgolfclub.com/c_scorecard.aspx
 
Fun would be The Hilton at Templepatrick (near Belfast international Airport), plenty of water and fairways to keep the worst to the best golfer amused. Some of the greens are a nightmare to read but thats part of the fun isnt it?
 
The Shire in Hertfordshire is good fun - 6 par 3's, 6 4's and 6 5's with a mixture of links, target and parkland style golf. Seve certainly must have had a smile on his face when he was designing it!!

Reigate Heath is another fun course - 9 holes / 18 tees of great heathland golf.

Also London Scottish / Wimbledon Common - no bunkers, not very long (apart from most of the par 3's!) and you have to wear 'pillarbox red' tops, but fantastic greens and very enjoyable.
 
For me it would have to be either;

The White Witch of Rose Hall - Montego Bay, Jamaica

By far the most challenging course I've ever played, but all the holes are interesting and as you would imagine, there are fantastic views to be had. Just don't play when it's windy (most of the time). It's extremely difficult to card a respectable score. But you'll have fun trying to tame her!

OR

TPC Snoqualmie Ridge - Nr. Seattle

The Par 4 which gives you the option to shoot around or go directly over a 40ft Gorge sums it up for me! Just a great course with some unbelievable views and some chances to shoot some good scores.
 
The Water Course @ The Players Club nr Bristol.

A couple of clubs and a handfull of balls and away you go. Kind of a discount version of Augusta's par 3 course, great fun.
 
Coming from the frozen North of Scotland I had a 'fear' of the South of England. You know the sort of thing...sardines in a tube in the rush hours, all water having already gone through four lots of kidneys before it hits your glass, etc. etc.

With trepidation I flew to Gatwick, with my passport and 'How to understand English' in my pocket, to play in a comp I had qualified for.

I don't know if it was a 'fun' course as such but it was fun for me to find a Scottish course so near London, complete with sheep tracks through the heather!! Magic!

Loads of mental 'sorry's' to the English race followed.

Take a bow ...Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.

At the dinner on the first night the captain set the tone by explaining to us that all their monies, at that time, had been spent on the course where the enjoyment comes from and not on the rather run down clubhouse. He then proceeded to explain that this made him think of the golfing saying...'A booming drive matterith not if you f*****-up the second shot!'

Super few days on a great course, lots of fun in excellent company and a Highlander made to eat lots of humble pie!
 
Some great suggestions here - we were thinking UK and Ireland only - but perhaps we could do a little side panel on some overseas ones too
Keep em coming!
 
Kirriemuir.

First off, play it in June, and you're playing through virtually every hole lined in whins in full bloom.

Then the course has everything, driveable par 4s, lovely par 3s, elevated greens, sunken greens, and finally you play uphill to the last which has a huge gully just short of the green when you think you've made it round safely.
 
Painswick Beacon just outside Gloucester - like playing links golf on the moon !!!

Pennard - the links in teh sky - seems a theme coming on here

Loch Leven - 9 holes on the edge of theloch - you need oxygen on some of those holes, and climbing gear on the rest !
 
Also London Scottish / Wimbledon Common - no bunkers, not very long (apart from most of the par 3's!) and you have to wear 'pillarbox red' tops, but fantastic greens and very enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Naturally I'm biased but another vote from me. Also, I would have included the old RA inside the racetrack which was quirky, frequently frustrating but really enjoyable.
 
If we're talking 'hidden gems' I'll nominate Glenmalure in Wicklow
http://www.glenmaluregolf.com/
we innocently booked a week in a chalet next to the course and got well and truly lost trying to find it (and again on subsequent days). The course itself is spectacularly steep with great views and plenty of gorse. TBH my memories are a bit hazy now (or was that the Guiness?) but if 'fun' means requiring plenty of puff, this is the one to go for.
AliB
 
Dont know which way you mean "fun", enjoyable or such a tough course you had to laugh or you would cry with frustration.
Enjoyable has to be St Andrews Old course, just for the sake of playing.
Fun as realy enjoyed the course and the banter has to be St Annes Old Links such a wonderful course and in such good condition (142 bunkers)
Tough and frustrating Forfar or Carnoustie in the wind and rain.
 
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