what's the worst course you've ever played?

First topic message reminder :

Mine has to be Haltwhistle - it's basically a golf course made from an old farmers field and to be honest it isn't even good enough for the sheep to graze on! It's the one time I couldn't wait to finish my round of golf and was in dire need for a pint at the end of a very long 4.5 hours only to find that the "clubhouse" (and I say that in very loose terms) was empty and unstaffed to top off a thoroughly miserable day!

Ok let's do it.
I've not been to 606 meet yet so should be a laught. Late Oct suits me

Dynamark - just read through some of your recent posts, recognised the B team final 1st leg storey, I was the guy 2 putting the last for a half, to win the match:D Not proud of what happended later but thanks for your support.

MustPuttBetter wrote:Ok let's do it.
I've not been to 606 meet yet so should be a laught. Late Oct suits me

Nice one. I'm on holiday first two weeks of October. The winter K/O cup starts in October as well so I'll check the dates otherwise it's pretty quiet up there on a Sunday. Could do a Saturday night out followed by a late morning tee off.

There have been a few 606 meet ups recently, always tend to be a pretty good laugh

So who else is up for it?

Blue Fox(dont mention the footy).You must have been eating carrots it was pitch black,my friends son Adam was in your 4. That is very much a coincidence.Couple of good matches fair result but just a touch too much excitement after.I first started playing at your place when it was a basic but long 9 holer ran by a gent called Eddie Callaway.Hired clubs from a shed by the car park.Known Dave R for a long time.Melton next week?

As much as i'm up for a 606 meet and now that i'm back in action and raring to go, even have those weeks free I have to be denied as Mrv's Mav is currently 38weeks preggers and could blow at any time so I'm on Dad duties damn it

Maverick wrote:As much as i'm up for a 606 meet and now that i'm back in action and raring to go, even have those weeks free I have to be denied as Mrv's Mav is currently 38weeks preggers and could blow at any time so I'm on Dad duties damn it

Bring her along too, plenty of towels and hot water in the clubhouse

Sounds good to me D4S
In honesty i'd rather do golf then night out but could cope with the other way round if needs be!

Dyna and BlueFox - you're going to have to tell us what happened after....

Mav - that's a shame. Just bring them!

dynamark wrote:Blue Fox(dont mention the footy).You must have been eating carrots it was pitch black,my friends son Adam was in your 4. That is very much a coincidence.Couple of good matches fair result but just a touch too much excitement after.I first started playing at your place when it was a basic but long 9 holer ran by a gent called Eddie Callaway.Hired clubs from a shed by the car park.Known Dave R for a long time.Melton next week?

Sorry did not make myself clear I was in your fourball for the first leg. Your place has come on well over the last couple of years, thought the greens were amongst the best I've played this year.

Captain has yet to pick the side for Melton, but will be extremely disappointed not to be there given that I am unbeaton in league matches this season.

Eddie Callaway was way before my time, is it true he devised a high tech method of collecting balls from the driving range, involving strapping a sack onto his wifes back.

What dates we looking at wonder if I could get her to put a cork in it so to speak

BlueCoverman wrote:

TM2K wrote:I agree with Doon about Thames Ditton & Esher but outside of the UK I'd have to give Monte Mayor my vote. It's like crazy golf!!

The worst bit about Monte Mayor is trying to find the bloody place! Having said that, I quite enjoyed the challenge of attempting to find the fairways and not the ravines!...

genuinley loved Monte! by the sounds of things they are in big trouble though. staff were striking as they hadnt been payed in weeks.
i played it for 5 days in a row in late May and scores ranged between a 70 at the end of the week and about 95 at th start. its a real thinkers course where you have to play within yourself. be content to hit a few 5 irons off tees when needed.
theres a par 5 (4th i think) that by the end of the week i was playing 7 iron off the tee followed by a 3 wood onto the dance floor!

Ahh even more coincidence.I should inform the members that BF made 5 birdies in about 7 holes(greens must be good)to win his match handsomely at our place last week.week before we were in the same 4 ball as we got back from dormie 4 to lose on the last.I left a chip on the edge and BF 2 putted for the half to win.
After golf the discussion in the clubhouse got well overheated about a rules query between the fella sat next to myself and others incl BF who ended up getting some nasty abuse after attempting to clear the matter up.Im sure he wouldnt mind me saying that he decided to leave and as I was getting sick of this fella in my ear I did the same.bad atmosphere and things may have got worse.
Back to bad courses the 9 hole municipal at Whitwick,Coalville is a clear winner.Ansty is prettty poor and I felt that Bondhay at Worksop was very poor almost unplayable/unenjoyable considering the desgner and budget involved.

Dyn - just had one of those games at your place, little use for putter though as I either stiffed it or chipped in. The second time I've got 5 birdies in a round the first was also in a B team match at FH about 10 years ago. perhaps I should move.

Played the Craythorne near Burton a number of years back hated it, tighter even than my place and all the holes seemed to run parallel to each other.

Agree with MBP re St Mellion beautiful place with some very pretty holes but just made too difficult for most of us.

dynamark wrote:Old shanker.I am a Hickley resident.Would you care to say roughly when you played the course near Hinckley that was for sale.Im thinking maybe Anstey.Intruiged to find out which one.Another 9 holer at bramcote was for sale methinks.

It was before I moved over here, so must have been 25+ years ago. If I remember correctly they wanted £165,000 for it, but there was no clubhouse, pros shop etc. I suppose it was 80-100 acres and arable land was something like £1300 an acre then. So they weren't asking oulandish money, but had probably run short before they could build the infrastructure.

This talk about Hinkley - anyone know Ullesthorpe Court?

I played a two day event with overnight stay there almost 10 years ago. Don't remember much about it myself except I thought it was pretty average at the time but I remember some of the better players complaining bitterly about it. Something about the type of grass used on the greens and how they were mostly sloped from front to back so none of them could get a ball to stop

This is getting close to home.I live few miles from Ullesthorpe Court and it was for sale about 25 years ago (I tried to raise the cash to buy it).Dont know if OS can remember but it is at the back of an old country house that was pretty dilapidated at the time.Now they have a modern club house and leisure club new hotel wing and still owned by the family who bought it back then(About £250k for the lot).
Course wise it could be heck of a lot better without spending a deal and yes does have many greens that slope front to back.Big course on Golfbreaks .com if you would like a look.

Sounds like that could well be the one Dynamark.

The people who bought it have obviously spent a lot on it. I doubt if my mate would have done, so probably a good job he didn't like it!

It really was rough and not very ready then.

OS you should get your mate to look on their wedsite.Shows what can be achieved with 29 years hard work and some investment.Must be thick end of £4m todays money.

super_realist wrote:

gaelgowfer wrote:The "majority of things" S_R? You make it sound like I'd a list of things the length of my arm.

Unless the lumps - sorry, waves - in the middle of the fairways have been removed and greens flattened to something approaching normality then, frankly, I'd rather spend an afternoon with dentilla the hygenist!

Gael, virtually all of the bumps have been removed from the middle of fairways, some burns re-orientated and greens have been made a lot fairer, they're still tough if you are on the wrong side but to put things in perspective I had something like 24 putts the last time I played it, so the greens certainly aren't as harsh as they used to be.
Despite what Mac says from his Doak perspective (despite him never playing it), it's a wonderful course with a good difference between the tees and many ways to play each hole. Definitely worth a revisit.

24 putts. Miss a lot of greens did we? Speaking of which, isn't it nearer the truth that whatever changes were made to the greens were but a token gesture to pacify the critics and that those changes haven't really made them anymore puttable should the correct landing area be missed?

Incidentally, it just so happens that I retained a copy of the original course planner and if the current website overview of the course is correct, then your claim that "virtually all of the bumps" have been removed can at best be described as hyperbole!

Anyone taking a quick squint at the Castle course website below can't fail to notice how contrived the layout is. Disneyworld springs to mind. Indeed, if I'm really bored, I may even get around to counting the number of lumps lining the fairways although it may be quicker to count sheep!

http://www.standrews.org.uk/The-Courses/The-Castle-Course.aspx

To add insult to injury, they even expect you to pay £120 for the privilege!

The only redeeming feature are the views which, fortunately, weren't within McLay Kidd's powers to stuff up!

The worst courses I've ever played are Merthyr Tydfil Golf Club and Morriston Golf Club near Swansea.

The worst golf course in the entire universe is without a doubt Sene Valley in Kent.

Marcus wrote:The worst golf course in the entire universe is without a doubt Sene Valley in Kent.

Marcus you raise a good point there, once played it as was a guest of a friend there the only compliment I can give it is " The company I was in was good"

Worst course I've ever played and it was (for a long time officially classified as the worst in the world) was the 'Two Boats' Golf Club on Ascension Island in the Sarf Atlantic where I had the dubious pleasure of being posted for 18 months when I were a lad. You played off raised tee boxes (deisel and dust - wasn't that an album by Midnight Oil?!) and you hit onto fairways comprised of very fine volcanic ash (klinka). The 'greens' were 'browns' (more sand and deisel) and it was so dusty you came back with sh!te all up yer legs, back etc. Quite a risky venture too. One chap lost front teeth and another hit himself in the b0ll0x when a ball rebounded at a frightening rate off the rocks, pin-ball stylee. I took my ankles out a couple of times and someone almost broke my arm when they sliced one which rebounded back at me. It was something to do between work and getting completely w@nkered most nites tho

There is /was a driving range in lanzarote which is a field of volcanic dust with targets made up of stones.Fella from yorkshire and his wife ran it out of an old caravan.Picks up the balls by hand and they are all pitted.few old clubs for hire real Tin cup style