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Mike Hendren

Cult Courses
« on: November 26, 2002, 02:43:06 PM »
Paul Turner's Painswick pics beg the question:  What courses out there could be considered cult courses?   I guess the criteria would be a course you're dying to see or play just for its uniqueness, not because of its pedigree or ranking.  Painswick is the poster-boy, and the 12-holes Shiskine comes to mind.  Are there others?  Any in the U.S?

Regards,

Mike
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2002, 02:45:03 PM »
Won't NGLA always qualify -- no matter its ranking?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

WilliamWang

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2002, 02:45:44 PM »
the oakhurst links in white sulphur springs, WV comes to mind.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

bakerg (Guest)

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2002, 02:45:46 PM »
Cabin Bluff
Sheep Ranch
Camp David's Golf Hole
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

TEPaul

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2002, 02:52:14 PM »
Not so totally unique as some others mentioned but I'd include:

1. Misquamicut
2. Merion West
3. Tarrantine G.C.
4. Astoria
5. Pocantico Hills
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

THuckaby2

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2002, 02:53:12 PM »
Fortrose & Rosemarkie - somewhat near Dornoch, Scotland.

Those who've taken the time to see it always seem to love it.

TH
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2002, 02:56:40 PM »
A request:

Would you guys explain WHY these courses belong in this category?

In other words: What's the uniqueness?

Thanks.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

THuckaby2

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2002, 03:00:05 PM »
I didn't expand on my answer because it's been discussed in here several times before.

But in a nutshell, F&R is unique because it sits on a small peninsula and with the sea very present on three sides... it also has some very quirky humps and rolls, and some damn fun golf holes plain and simple.  It's short and weird and fun and the people are very nice.  I put it with cult courses because so few people have seen it, which is odd given it's geographic proximity to Dornoch.

Here's more on the club:

http://www.fortrosegolfclub.co.uk/

TH
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Michael Moore

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2002, 03:03:45 PM »
Mr. Paul -

I'll take any chance to correct the Doyen.

That is the Tarratine course to which you refer, designed by Alex Findlay.

I was riding my bike around Islesboro in April a few years ago and just stumbled onto the place, a couple of weeks before it was due to open. I got to chatting with a groundskeeper, and before you know it he had scrounged up a seven iron and a few balls for me and sent me off the first tee!

Not a bad way to start the season!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Metaphor is social and shares the table with the objects it intertwines and the attitudes it reconciles. Opinion, like the Michelin inspector, dines alone. - Adam Gopnik, The Table Comes First

Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2002, 03:09:01 PM »
There's a golf course on Islesboro?

The island off Southwest Harbor?

I was there for a couple of hours, four months ago -- and knew nothing of it!

Auuuuggghhhhh!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

GeoffreyChilds

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2002, 03:09:25 PM »
Myopia Hunt Club-  Its a living museum of what a "championship course" looked like in the pre-NGLA era. I believe that 3 of the 4 highest winning scores in US Open history were recorded at Myopia along with a story of someone putting off one of the greens and losing his ball!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Mike Hendren

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2002, 03:14:59 PM »
For those of you with first-hand knowledge,  should Garden City be grouped with NGLA and Myopia Hunt as cult courses?  Looks that way from what I've read and the pics on this site.

Regards,

Mike
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Mike_Cirba

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2002, 03:17:49 PM »
Mike;

GCGC is certainly a course with a great deal of antiquity and character.  I'm not sure that I'd call it a "cult" course, because I'd imagine that its considerable virtues would be easily appreciated by a fairly wide audience, but then again, I would think the same of NGLA.  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:11 PM by -1 »

Michael Moore

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #13 on: November 26, 2002, 03:18:12 PM »
Dan -

Islesboro is close to Camden and Lincolnville and not so close to Southwest Harbor.

I had no idea about this course either. It just appeared in front of me.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Metaphor is social and shares the table with the objects it intertwines and the attitudes it reconciles. Opinion, like the Michelin inspector, dines alone. - Adam Gopnik, The Table Comes First

TEPaul

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #14 on: November 26, 2002, 03:20:58 PM »
Michael Moore:

Right you are--I'm a terrible speller. Did someone tell you it was an Alex Findlay? I expected as much but have never found anyone as yet to confirm that. It would make sense though as Alex Findlay appears to have been Philadelphia based and as you might know Isleboro (or Dark Harbor as I've always called it) was basically a Philadelphia inspired resort originally formed as a corporation in the very beginning.

It's a wonderful little course don't you think? Nice broken ground and probably as close to feeling you're teeing it up in the 19th century as you can find in this country. Did you notice the one bunker depression on #2? Apparently the only bunker the course ever had and for some reason they removed it. I told them it should be restored as it would probably qualify as the simplest course bunker restoration project ever known.

I'll even tell Pat Mucci about that bunker so he can inform Tarratine they need to have an elaborate mission statement before they plan work on it and that he'll need to see it to tell them how to proceed properly.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #15 on: November 26, 2002, 03:27:26 PM »
Michael --

My mistake. I was not on Islesboro, but on Islesford.

We landlocked types get confused around salt water.

Thanks. Dan
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

Michael Moore

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #16 on: November 26, 2002, 03:39:04 PM »
TE Paul -

I have heard from a variety of sources, verbal and electronic, that Tarratine is by Findlay.

Adding to the mystery, I found one web site that claims that the original designer (1896) was one Jamie MacKrell. I can't find anything about this guy anywhere. In fact, other than Herbert C. Leeds at Kebo Valley, it is difficult to find out information about the designers who worked in Maine before 1900, before their courses were done over by the likes of Findlay, Ross, and Travis. Perhaps a trip to the Historical Society is in order here.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Metaphor is social and shares the table with the objects it intertwines and the attitudes it reconciles. Opinion, like the Michelin inspector, dines alone. - Adam Gopnik, The Table Comes First

Steve Wilson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #17 on: November 26, 2002, 03:41:54 PM »
Once again, Huckaby, who apparently has nothing better to do than sit at his computer and pounce on any mention of Fortrose and Rosemarkie, has beaten me to the punch on this quirky funhouse.  I played it in a stiff wind and it's everything he says including a lot of indulation in some of the fairways.

Brora, even though it's profiled on this website, would also qualify.  I think Rich Goodale would vouch for the quality of the land form and the golf there.

And venturing further north there's Reay which is billed as the northernmost 18 hole course on the mainland.  It has a marvelous stretch of holes beginning at the 4th and continuing through the 7th.  4. A long down hill par five which has a fall away green with a burn behind it.  5.  A short par three which can be approached by land or air as it nestles into the dune that separates the course from the ocean.  6.  A par five that curves  left hugging the same dune mentioned on the previous hole.  Keep your tee shot close to that dune and it's reachable (though a blind shot) with a mid iron for some of the long hitters here.  And 7 which is an uphill, all carry, par 3 of 180+ to a plateau.  There are a few more interesting holes but not a string of them.  The last par five on the back is also a beauty as it goes steeply up, levels off, and provides a drop shot third to a green close to the boundary.  
    Reay is also one of those honor system courses where you put your money in an envelope and a tag on your bag.

    Did I mention the nuclear power plant a couple of miles away.
  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Some days you play golf, some days you find things.

I'm not really registered, but I couldn't find a symbol for certifiable.

"Every good drive by a high handicapper will be punished..."  Garland Bailey at the BUDA in sharing with me what the better player should always remember.

TEPaul

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #18 on: November 26, 2002, 03:54:16 PM »
Michael Moore:

Believe it or not the Tarratine course you saw is not the original course built on Isleboro by the bigwigs from Philly, Boston, NY and St. Louis who founded Isleboro.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

ian

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #19 on: November 26, 2002, 04:24:44 PM »
Highland Golf Links, because it requires a long trip. The scenery is stunning, but there is little else to do up at the tip of Cape Breton Island. So only the dedicated Thompson enthusiast will make the trip.

I would also say that pacific and bandon Dunes would fit for the same reason. There isolation requires a trip dedicated to those courses. Again, not for the Myrtle Beach crowd.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Jeff Mingay

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #20 on: November 26, 2002, 04:34:18 PM »
Ian beat me to it!

We might have the best "cult course" of them all here in Canada in Highlands Links.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Doug Wright

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #21 on: November 26, 2002, 04:58:03 PM »
I've mentioned it before--The Mad Russian Golf Course in Milliken, Colorado north of Denver is one at least for Slag Bandoon and me.  ;D  We played it this fall during Slag's tour of the great small town courses of middle America. Totally weird design in a former potato field by the farmer owner, a gentleman of Russian descent a/k/a The Mad Russian. Crossing holes, bizarre greens (one is about 15 feet wide) coupled with some surprisingly solid stuff, including a par 3 that Donald Ross himself could have done. And the Mad Russian's former home abutting the 17th green is a must see--a round house that rotates like one of those restaurants atop the skyscrapers, the Space Needle, etc!  :o

Someday maybe Slag will share those photos he took of this course. Perhaps not Painswick-West, as I'd hoped before I played it, but a GCA cult course nevertheless.

All The Best,
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Twitter: @Deneuchre

Craig_Rokke

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #22 on: November 26, 2002, 04:58:36 PM »
There is a short write up and a couple pictures from
about 1900 regarding Tarratine in "Golf-A Turn of the Century Treasury".  Though original layout was just 1939 yards, it was very popular, especially among Philadelphians.

The clubhouse at the time was a former home of a fisherman,
and the names of the holes were fittingly nautical in theme.
As I believe someone mentioned, Findlay must have come in later to do his work.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

ian

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #23 on: November 26, 2002, 07:21:39 PM »
For private: There is a small club in eastern Montreal with the same 9 holes since 1890. I think its in Seneville (help Jeremy), it has the same name as the community. Nothing has changed in 110 years, same cross bunkers and tiny push up greens. I swear I remember a cross-over too. Its private and you have to live in the community to be a member (very strict-its not money-its community based). They currently have 27 members! The clubhouse has no staff and an assortment of liquor at the bar, where you are expected to leave a replacement if you use one up. I felt like I stepped into a time machine when I went there, it made Prestwick seem modern.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Slag_Bandoon

Re: Cult Courses
« Reply #24 on: November 26, 2002, 09:12:49 PM »
Smilin' Doug Wright,  I concur on Mad Russian cult status.  I'm not sure that's just a spinning round house though at MR.  I think it's a space ship for the cult followers to take them to Lodi 18 in the McKenzian Galaxy quadrant when the next comet comes through.  

  Tobermory, in Scotland, though I have never played it, gets rave reviews for landforms both on and off the course.  

  Auchnafree, Scotland   Lionized in "To The Linksland"

  Sea of Tranquility, Moon   Made famous by Alan Shepherd and his smuggled 6 iron (truncated).

  Red Mike ?

 Honorable mention to Kahuku GL on Oahu.  Still fresh in mind.

 Bruneau Dunes, Idaho,  has a sand dune 380 feet high !  Is not a golf course...  yet.  

 

  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

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