Golf Digest's 50 Most Fun Courses

I don't usually get too excited about a new list but Golf Digest's 50 Most Fun is one that could actually have a positive impact on the game. It never hurts given I've only been associated with two courses that were created and built from scratch working with Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, to see Rustic Canyon (#30) and The Horse Course at Prairie Club (#10!) making the 50 Most Fun publics.

Peter Finch explains the thought process for the 50 Most Fun in the September Golf Digest, and there is a slideshow of the diverse group of courses selected. (As an aside for architecture geeks, there is also a recent Joann Dost aerial shot of Cypress Point showing the restored fairway bunkers on the 17th hole.)

The 50 Most Fun Privates, the 50 Most Fun Publics, and the most fun of Great Britain and Ireland.

Comments

[lawrence Donegan]

Great shout by the judging panel on Cruit Island, Donegal - no18 on the GB and Ireland "most fun" list. i cannot recommend this 9-holer highly enough. a magical place.

[Geoff]

When it looks wild on the aerial, you know it's fun! Does the entrance drive come into play as much as it looks on #1 and #9?

[Knee Bend]

Spot on, Lawrence. After 18 at Donegal in the morning, we played a wonderful Guinness and whisky-fuelled nine at Cruit. We walked off saying the 6th hole is the greatest par three in the world. We were only half joking.

[Stiggy]

For those of you who haven't been I thoroughly recommend North Berwick. All the golf history, beautiful scenery, wonderful welcome in the clubhouse and the town is fabulous too. A truly magical place.

[3foot1]

On the U.S. public list, only 12 of 50 are east of the Mississippi, and only 1 is north of Virginia and east of Chicago. Is this raters' bias or does it just stink to live in the Northeast...

[Jeremy]

I have a hard time believing there are 31 private clubs more fun to play here in the US than Newport CC.

Love seeing Rustic on the list. It's worth the drive from Santa Barbara whenever work has me out there over a weekend.

[Boston Golfer]

Congratulations Geoff and Gil on your well earned and deserved recognition.

[D. maculata]

"At a fun course, even less-experienced players have a good chance of finishing their round with the same ball they used on the first tee."

Not at chance in hell at Fishers Island or Sankaty Head. A "light breeze" being the ideal day doesn't wash here. Most of the "fun" will be lost if you can't play in conditions that the course was designed for. And that business about putting "X" on the card and thoughts about quitting? Find a different game to play.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

The Ladies' Putting Club (The Himalayas) at St. Andrews. Love it!

I don't think my mother-in-law's golf h'cap ever dropped below 20 but she played off +1 over The Himalayas ... much to my (scratch playing) father-in-law's disgust!

[jjshaka]

Have to agree with the #1 choices on the Fun 50 Private and Public- loved every second.

[tlavin]

If you're looking for the Fun Golf Poster Child here in the US, his name is Mike Keiser. All five of his Bandon Dunes courses are on the list, and four of them are in the top 6. On top of that, his private entry, the entirely beguiling Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Michigan also makes the list.

[Sari]

Indeed, Old MacDonald was the most fun I ever had on a golf course.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

If we're talking fun courses then perhaps this little beauty should be on the british list ...

http://www.traighgolf.co.uk/

"Any course should never start or end with a par three. A basic American truism in golf. Traigh does, and they are the two best little par threes you ever played. Number one is about a six or seven iron straight up hill, with a waste area short of the green that doesn't say poor shot, it says don't even look."

[Stord]

The US list is great, the UK list is terrible.. who chose these courses again?

[Paboy]

Any Dye courses?

[Anon]

"And that business about putting "X" on the card and thoughts about quitting? Find a different game to play." D. maculata

You seem fun.

[Marky Mark]

Cruit Island?

I am gobsmacked that Chart Hills didn't make the list ............... ................... .................. ............... .................. .................. ................. ................ ................. ............. ............

[D. maculata]

@ Anon

If you go cloth in anything other than match play for the convenience of others, or left the course for reasons other than death, injury or dangerous weather, find a different game to play.

[Greg]

So you would rather have someone hole out for a 15 on a hole than pick up? How is that going to help the pace of play?

[F. X. Flinn]

I'm sorry, but either of our two courses at Quechee are more fun than #25. This is a "fun" list but the lack ot north east USA courses suggests hidden bias in the selection process.....

[KLG]

D. maculata is fun! And F.X. is totally correct about Quechee. That said, I have actually played three of the courses on the public list, which is some kind of record for me. Thanks, Pasa, for 1/3 of them. On the private list, I'm thinking Somerset Hills should be there somewhere...

[Dr. Emil Shaüffenhausen]

Its great to see Golf Digest really come alive with some really good ratings, rather then some of the more ridiculous ones of years, and I mean years and years previous.

Why Rustic Canyon isn't on the Golfweek list is beyond me. Can anyone explain that one? I thought Golfweek was supposed to be the superior ratings for architecture?

[ol Harv]

Dr. Emil, You mean you didn't like the TOP 50 CEO's or TOP 50 ATHLETES?

[Jd]

How can the public list not have tobacco road and the private missing black rock in Id????

[MEATBALL]

Didn't see Tralee in Ireland. One of the best back nines in golf. Hard....but fun.

[Anon]

"If you go cloth in anything other than match play for the convenience of others, or left the course for reasons other than death, injury or dangerous weather, find a different game to play. D. maculata"

Does anyone know what this person is saying? I Googled "go cloth," thinking it was a golf term I never learned, and only found this meaning:
http://hon-eezdiaperservice.com/why_go_cloth

[KLG]

If you're still checking, a synonym for BIP: Ball in Pocket. I think.

[Jim]

It won't have a lasting positive impact unless fun makes its way into the real Top 100 rankings -- which have tended to reward difficult vs fun