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Your Diamond in the Rough best places to play
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Gotta be Yocha Dehe Golf Club, kind of between Sacramento and the Bay Area, part of the Cache Creek Indian Casino and Resort. Really good course, and for being so close to the Bay Area it is really off the beaten path.
From the 1st tee:
Looking down at the 17th:
From the 1st tee:
Looking down at the 17th:
That place really kickstarted my golf addiction. Always loved golf, but after graduating High School I got a junior membership there for $200. I'd play just about every day. My buddies who didn't golf never understood why I was always head over there.
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If you play NSW , you will be glad you made the effort. And people say Royal Sydney is a very friendly place. ....and you can go to Doyle 's for the seafood.
5150
Well-known member
Great thread; I'm adding several of these to my list...
Here's my addition, in the STL area - great family owned course - https://www.annbriar.com/
Here's my addition, in the STL area - great family owned course - https://www.annbriar.com/
I feel like everywhere in Nebraska West of Lincoln is pretty 'off the beaten path', so there are a bunch there. Sandhills golf is special though. Once in a lifetime experience imo, but so remote most don't do it. The Prairie Club up in Valentine is amazing and you don't have to be a billionaire to play it. Dunes course is something, and they offer lodging for destination golfers.
The one every single golf enthusiast in the Midwest should play but won't is Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg. Prairie links at it's finest. Small town, lovely people, beautiful course, right off I-80 and Hwy 30 and 45 minutes from Hwy 83, and anyone traveling N, S, E, or W across the state should stop and play an amazing round with beautiful views, challenging and unique features, natural sand bunkers and 'Wooga' native grasses for about $60. Best price per wow I've ever played. It's an absolute delight. Countless pictures can be found in the live round thread.
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I have a couple buddies that have this and we all have it on the list.Gotta be Yocha Dehe Golf Club, kind of between Sacramento and the Bay Area, part of the Cache Creek Indian Casino and Resort. Really good course, and for being so close to the Bay Area it is really off the beaten path.
From the 1st tee:
Looking down at the 17th:
We get over to Laughlin once in a while to play Mojave Resort. Being on the reservation they get free water, so it's always green and lush. Plenty of strategically placed bunkers, so you're almost guaranteed to get to enjoy them at least a couple times in a round! I don't give it high marks for scenery in the surrounding area - Emerald Canyon is much more scenic - but it's a good track and fun to play, and almost always in great condition.
Tons of other things to do if you stay at the Avi Casino, and within a reasonable (30 minutes or less) drive you have several other good courses across the river on the Fort Mohave/Bullhead City (AZ) side - Laughlin Ranch (very good course!), El Rio and Los Lagos. Huukan golf course (in Fort Mohave) is also owned by the Avi, but it became a goat track under previous ownership and they're still working to rehabilitate it - haven't played there yet just because of its reputation and a lot of negative reviews, but hopefully the Avi ownership will bring it up to snuff.
Agent Jay
Grandaddy Alumni
The two I would list would be Firekeeper Golf Course (at the Prairie Band Casino) just north of Topeka, KS.
It's a little expensive compared to other course in the state....with a cart, $80 Monday - Thursday.....$90 Friday - Sunday.
It's a little expensive compared to other course in the state....with a cart, $80 Monday - Thursday.....$90 Friday - Sunday.
- Thread starter
- #35
Nice, You mention two....Are there two at Firekeeper?
Agent Jay
Grandaddy Alumni
And the other is Colbert Hill's in Manhattan, KS. Home to the Kansas State Wildcats Golf Team (my Alma mater)
Once of if not THE longest courses you'll ever play, from the tips or otherwise!
7 miles of cart path!
From the tips...7525 yards...Par 72.
They said the only reason they don't use this as a rotational Tour stop is the fact that there is to much distance between the green and next set of tees on most of the holes.
Monday - Thursday $65
Friday - Sunday $75
K-State Students (with ID) $39!!!
They also have a really nice little walkable 9 hole Par 3 course right off the clubhouse next to the driving range.
Built right into the prairie, views around the course are great.
This is #7....it plays 600 yards from the tips (this view)....90 foot drop to the fairway.
Here is one of the signature par 3's...#5
Notice the purple sand in the Wildcat paw print.
Once of if not THE longest courses you'll ever play, from the tips or otherwise!
7 miles of cart path!
From the tips...7525 yards...Par 72.
They said the only reason they don't use this as a rotational Tour stop is the fact that there is to much distance between the green and next set of tees on most of the holes.
Monday - Thursday $65
Friday - Sunday $75
K-State Students (with ID) $39!!!
They also have a really nice little walkable 9 hole Par 3 course right off the clubhouse next to the driving range.
Built right into the prairie, views around the course are great.
This is #7....it plays 600 yards from the tips (this view)....90 foot drop to the fairway.
Here is one of the signature par 3's...#5
Notice the purple sand in the Wildcat paw print.
Agent Jay
Grandaddy Alumni
livegolf
Well-known member
For local courses near I'd say that Pecan Hollow is an incredible city course and very underrated in the DFW golf scene.
For a region that South Central Pennsylvania area impresses me for a grouping $40 to $60ish public courses.
For a region that South Central Pennsylvania area impresses me for a grouping $40 to $60ish public courses.
livegolf
Well-known member
Agree with you. This is an area I'd like to golf more! Wild Horse is very good and so is Bayside.
Belmont Lake Golf Club in Rocky Mount, NC.
Possesses a fantastic value/quality ratio. Championship layout, very fun and challenging. Every time I've played there, its conditioning has been excellent.
Didn't play it in 2020, first year I hadn't since moving to NC in 2015. It's 50 miles from my home yet a must play for me, at least a few times per year. Love it.
Possesses a fantastic value/quality ratio. Championship layout, very fun and challenging. Every time I've played there, its conditioning has been excellent.
Didn't play it in 2020, first year I hadn't since moving to NC in 2015. It's 50 miles from my home yet a must play for me, at least a few times per year. Love it.
Love Poplar Grove. Play there when I would visit my son going to college at Liberty. I tell the wife we need to vacation there just so I can play this. I did play 9 holes at Stoney Creek once. Got caught in a rain storm though. Beautiful track. Had shot deals for Golf Now. After Stoney Creek stop at Devils Backbone brewery. What a fantastic place....beer is good also.
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- Thread starter
- #42
Royal New Kent a Mike Strantz gem along interstate 64 just east of Richmond....This pic was taken 3/19/19 the day of grand reopening. Grass not as green as summer.
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I'm from Lynchburg/Forest. Love Poplar Grove. During their slower time before really getting to where they are now, I would come home every summer to play the solstice. 65$ to play all day with lunch included haha. I'd start at 645 and go till 9ish
devils backbone is great haha
Devil’s Backbone has some good food in the restaurant for sure. We used to ride up there to eat quite often but it has been a long time since we did. Offer stands to any THPer, if you make it out this way let me know and we will run out to Poplar Grove. The rates there went way up for a single round about a year ago but guest rates are much better.
I haven't played these two but I bet Mystic Creek in El Dorado, AR, and Chamberlyne Country Club in Danville, AR.
I would also add that Eagle Crest Golf Course in Alma, AR is a great track to play here in Arkansas. Their zoysia fairways are pretty amazing.
I would also add that Eagle Crest Golf Course in Alma, AR is a great track to play here in Arkansas. Their zoysia fairways are pretty amazing.
Yeah like I replied a minute ago they did go way up on the non member rates. The membership there was so low they thought the best way to change that was to make the single round cost so high and offer discounted membership rates. It actually worked pretty well as the membership is about five times as high as it was prior.
Also, if it’s been a while, they have done several million dollars worth of work on the course. They reworked all the bunkers and that was the one thing that always was bad there but no longer. They have also cleaned up a lot of the trees and such to make it more playable, added some cart paths and tee boxes, 2 on course restrooms that are nicer then most homes have, remodeled the Manor House, built a new practice green that will open this spring, and started work on a new underground restaurant. It’s quite different.
My answer to all threads concerning local golf courses. Best course within 100 miles, favorite group outing course, and my diamond in the rough: Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta, GA. Just shy of 7800 yards from the tips, this is a DL3 course and always finely manicured and an absolute test for anyone. From the forward tees for us mortals, as long as you keep the ball in front of you, you can shoot a decent score. Start getting wild and there's a lot of trouble to be brought in to play. Save for 2020, several of us get together there and rent out a couple of their condos every October to spend a weekend there.
yes I have followed their progress on facebook. places looks soooo good now. Need to get back home this spring or summer and play again
It's a tough call to make, since I have played LOTS of 'off the beaten track' courses around the US and mostly in Ireland. But not all of them would compete on a "quality golf" type of contest. Some would win on scenery, but lack condition. Others might be "Sporty" (as my Dad would call them), requiring a target style of golf, but are not exactly in majestic surroundings, so to speak. And in traveling around Ireland during visits to the wife's family, I found plenty of those backroad gems out in the middle of nowhere (to us). Courses perched on mountain sides, nestled in valleys, hard against the sea, etc... BUT- MY all time favorite for location, scenery and fun was "Cúrsa Pháirc & Phoill an Daingin", just on the west side of Dingle Town in Kerry. A little Pitch and Putt overlooking the harbor and village. If you show up later in the day as the sun is going down, that late afternoon "Golden Hour" lighting bathing the harbor and town will be stunning, and is the stuff of travel logs. It was cheap, lots of families and kids playing so there was laughter in the air, and everyone was admiring the view- even those that live there. A ten minute walk back into town for a nice pint and some Fish and Chips by the Quay and maybe a Fungie sighting. Those are the types of Golf experiences I prefer over the big bold $$$$ courses that make the magazines. Sure they all have their marketing departments and hand pick the pictures to sell the place. But when was the last time you saw a family with a couple of kids with their dog, laughing (the kids, not he dog... but who knows) and having a great old time at Pebble Beach, or TPC, or any "Famous" course?