Factors for and against choosing courses
Some significant factors for choosing a course is, its history and that it represents the core of the values that I see in golf.
We will be looking for golf courses that, in lack of a better word, have authenticity.
In this context authenticity is about the tradition, the members involvement in the clubs activities, their enthusiasm about the game of golf, the golf course and facilities.
It is the ambience created by the interplay between staff and the players (members as well as guests) on the one hand and the nature, the layout of the course, the architecture and location of the clubhouse in relation to practice areas, putting green, driving range, first tee, etc. It is all these factors that create the energy you feel when you come to a place for the first time. It is what gives authenticity and create ambience. For clarification see here.
A few remarks on chosen and not selected courses.
You may be surprise that we did not include St. Andrews on the list, that is because I have played it several times and because there are so many others who have described the course and told its history.
On the other hand, I have added Musselburgh Links to the list. The sixth oldest golf course still played on in the world. It is a nine holes golf course. I have played it a couple of times, and although it attracts golf tourist, it has not spoilt the local atmosphere.
You can see that I have included courses like Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass. I have visited Pebble Beach, but never played it. The course is undoubtedly fantastic, just like Sawgrass, but there is something about those more business-oriented courses and resorts, with luxurious hotels and high prices for everything, and often an excellent but also very impersonal service that dampens my enthusiasm. However, now the courses are on, and we will have to see if we are going to play them.
From my own list, I have added Torrey Pines from the same area. Torrey Pines have 2 courses, I have played both. It is a municipal course. Arrive at 05.00 in the morning, stand in the queue with the locals, and pay your reasonable green fee. Go to the clubhouse, get some breakfast. Then go to the putting green and the driving range and wait for your name to be called. Then you are ready for an incredible round, and always with people with both feet on the ground.
Basically, it is for the same reasons that from my personal list, I have added Bethpage State Park on the list. A municipal course (now 4 courses, I think) with a long history where private owners gave up, and public authorities took over and spent a lot of money so the golfers who couldn’t afford to play on the nearby private courses could play and enjoy their passion for golf.
There are very few courses from Mexico and South America that are among the 100 courses I had to choose from. However, I have not chosen any of them, mostly because they are spread too far across and too few to justify travel time and expenses.
Finally, some of the courses chosen are not due to the descriptions from Santella and Golf Advisor, but because they are courses that I have always wanted to play, for example, Leopard Creek Golf Course in South Africa.
When you watch the golf tournaments played on that course, you wish that it was you walking around there, swinging your clubs. A nature so amazing and the silence so “unnatural”. It’s rather expensive, but we will go there anyway.
Another course is Thracian Cliffs in Bulgaria and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand. The same applies here. Nature calls and when you see photos of the green fairways and greens, in contrast to the sea, the sand and the rocks, and sense the silence, you are captivated. It is as if it has all been created for golf.
I am also really looking forward to play Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. It is precisely the same — apparently, a great golf course, also with an interesting history behind it. If we are following our plans we will arrive just after the conclusion of the 2020 Ryder Cup. That is exciting. Question is, if we can get a tee time.
Swinley Forrest and Sunningdale are also on the list, and Sunningdale is my own choice. Why?
I have played both courses, and I must say that Sunningdale is one of the absolute best and most exciting courses I have ever played. Moreover, you get incredible and very personal service. You are not just a cash cow coming in with a pot of money, but you are treated like a dedicated and passionate golfer who comes for an exceptional experience. Here you can talk of authenticity. It is surely a members club, but open and friendly to visitors.
Swinley Forrest has its very own unique story, and if we play that course, I will be happy to share the story. To give you a glimpse. This is how the story goes.
In the early 1900, the wife of one the founding members of Sunningdale was a keen golfer, but women were not allowed to play the course. Then her husband together with the help of a group of friends from the royal circles, created Swinley Forrest in 1909 under supervision of the legendary golf course architect Harry Colt who also is the architect behind Sunningdale. Now his wife got a place to play. Swinley has only recently been open to the public.
You will see that there are quite a lot of courses from the Scottish Highlands. In fact, only the first course of the series, the Durness Golf Course, is on Santella’s list. Whether we are going to play all the other courses depends on what we experience. Let me explain.
Again it is about authenticity and ambience. Over the years, I have played in Ireland a lot, and many times it was with my two boys who during that period were aged between 8 and 12. Like other boys, they loved running around having fun and playing golf, and there was/is not much room at courses such as Ballybunion and The European, to do that. Therefore, we played many local courses, often 9-hole courses and the contact we had with the local players, the local people, were amazing.
Once we asked in the clubhouse if they knew of a place where we could pitch our tent, and immediately somebody said, “Just follow me, and you can pitch your tent in the back of our garden!” and the boys played with the local boys. It was a pleasure and sometimes difficult to get them to leave. “But Dad, it is so great right here, why move on?”
I have taken that experience with me on my golf trips. Play one of the great courses, enjoy it and then find one of the unknown local courses. It is cheaper and often more enriching. We have chosen the same strategy for our world tour. We want to get close to the locals, learn about the culture and history of the place.
