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Your Diamond in the Rough best places to play

BagBoy
PapaJohick said:
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
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One of their best decisions was bringing in Jacob Mast as Head Golf Professional. He does a fantastic job.
 
RayG said:
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?
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Love the spirit of your post.... In my 11 trips to Ireland, once I ventured out to Dingle, to play Dingle. An excursion out the Ring of Kerry to Waterville has been the repeatable trip. Dingle was worth a visit once. You mention famous US courses and say you won't see the family out there...The same is true at the famous Irish courses as well. You will see the laughing family with dog rumbling around similar places as you note here in the US. The best experience I have had similar to that you noted was a round around Portsalon. So remote and picturesque. Kids were playing around the first tee when I teed off and they were still there when I finished. With the creation of St Patrick at Rosapenna a return to Portsalon could be in the offing.
 
Sequoyah National near Cherokee, NC, and Olde Mill in Laurel Fork, VA, are two somewhat remote courses I'd like to play again.
 
Golfing | Yosemite National Park CA | TravelYosemite.com

I was driving around California in 1996 with my parents. We stayed a night at Wawona hotel and I discovered a little nine hole course. Not the most challenging from a golf point of view but without doubt the most beautiful scenery. And dirt cheap wooden tees.
 
Duffer Waldorf said:
Sequoyah National near Cherokee, NC, and Olde Mill in Laurel Fork, VA, are two somewhat remote courses I'd like to play again.
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Smoky Mountain CC is fun too!
 
Perranporth pix......This really is a diamond in rough...That 3rd pic is from the tee box....threading the needle as you hit at the stake shown. There is also a blind par 3. Up and down and around this hill alongside of the village next to the sea on the outer reaches of SW England. These from May 2019.IMG_20190501_1110549.jpgIMG_20190501_1415160.jpgIMG_20190501_1450097 (1).jpg
 
Duffer Waldorf said:
That and Mount Mitchell GC are on my list, one day.
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Smoky Mountain has a really fun signature hole. It’s a Par 4. You have to lay up around 175 yards of the tee, then you basically just chip your second shot off the side of the mountain to the green below. It’s a fun zig zagging cart ride down there too!
 
GolfTravelDude said:
Do you ever get out on Cape Fear CC?
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Not yet. I need to take my friend up on his offer to play there. He’s a member and we never have time off at the same time!👎
 
J.B. Cobb III said:
Not yet. I need to take my friend up on his offer to play there. He’s a member and we never have time off at the same time!👎
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March 9th....If you can make it. You'd be our 4th. Bud member, and my bud who is member at Pine Valley Wilmy joining. They have a new short course too. We'll play all. $100 for day of golf. We plan on meeting up around 10. If interested, Let me know via pm.
 
nu720 said:
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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Popular grove is the only course I've ever seen a naked person on. There is that short par-3 on the back nine with all the bunkers then a few holes later there is a house to the left. Dude was walking around in his yard with nothing on. And now I need another drink lol
 
Mt. Mitchell GC in Burnsville, NC
Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort in Boerne, TX
Paraiso del Mar GC, El Magote - La Paz, BCS Mexico
 
Poplar Grove has been on my list for awhile.

Devil's Knob is a must play at least once. It is not your typical Ellis Maples design.
 
Eastern Long Island on the tip, Montauk State Downs. Public track and part of the state park system (like Bethpage), and designed by Robert Trent Jones. Toughest par 4s around and always gives me a run for my money when I play the blues. I don’t even think about playing from the tips or would shat myself.
 

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JZ777 said:
Eastern Long Island on the tip, Montauk State Downs. Public track and part of the state park system (like Bethpage), and designed by Robert Trent Jones. Toughest par 4s around and always gives me a run for my money when I play the blues. I don’t even think about playing from the tips or would shat myself.
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Yikes 140 Slope from the Blues?! That makes for along day.
 
Leftyuk said:
Dunedin Florida - Tampa Bay Golf Course - Dunedin Golf Club
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Dunedin was better than it looks when you first pull up. There's a ton of elderly, so pace of play can be an issue, but the greens and fairways were in very good shape. Plenty of bunkers, as is typical with D Ross courses, including a Par 3 that punishes you if you miss anywhere off the green (don't remember what number - probably end of the front 9).
 
J.B. Cobb III said:
Smoky Mountain has a really fun signature hole. It’s a Par 4. You have to lay up around 175 yards of the tee, then you basically just chip your second shot off the side of the mountain to the green below. It’s a fun zig zagging cart ride down there too!
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have played there will the family and it was actually a bit treacherous going downhill at times.
 
mjkladis said:
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.
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I have not played Mystic Creek but many of my friends have and they say it is a super nice course but fairly difficult.
I've played Chamberlyne at least a dozen times and really like the course. It's a bit quirky and possibly not as finely manicured as some of the HS Village courses, but it's still one of my favorite tracks.
Another of my favorites is Glenwood Country Club in Glenwood, AR. It's a fun and challenging tree line course with lots of elevation changes and unique hole layouts. The staff there has always been super nice and if you can talk them into letting you fish the lakes on the course, there are plenty of crappie and bluegill to be caught.
 
GolfTravelDude said:
WE all have one or two. Let's hear about them. What is your favorite off the beaten track golf course? I'll post 3.
The Shattuck in Jaffrey New Hampshire....It's crazy tough, beautiful scenery A 2nd would be Crumpin Fox in Massachusetts great course tests all clubs in bag. Last is a place on SW coast of England Perranporth....Fantastic, old school, blind shots, crazy elevation changes, little village on horizon next to coast 400 feet below.
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I don't get away from CT, for golf, very often... so, aside from Connecticut Courses ( where I guess all of CT could be considered off the beaten path) i don't have a ton of outside experience... That said:

World Woods in Brooksville, FL - either the Pine Barrens OR the Rolling Oaks course - take your pick. Played down there a couple of years ago when i was visiting a buddy in Citrus Hills, FL It was a great time. Two completely different feels between courses, definitely not just a continuation of one course or the other. Both are Fazio designs.... I would definitely play there again when i'm down there visiting. Not sure i've ever seen a practice range as big as the one at World Woods... it is enormous.
 
NeverWiff said:
I don't get away from CT, for golf, very often... so, aside from Connecticut Courses ( where I guess all of CT could be considered off the beaten path) i don't have a ton of outside experience... That said:

World Woods in Brooksville, FL - either the Pine Barrens OR the Rolling Oaks course - take your pick. Played down there a couple of years ago when i was visiting a buddy in Citrus Hills, FL It was a great time. Two completely different feels between courses, definitely not just a continuation of one course or the other. Both are Fazio designs.... I would definitely play there again when i'm down there visiting. Not sure i've ever seen a practice range as big as the one at World Woods... it is enormous.
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World Woods is fabulous. So I was in CT a long time. Son who was at Xavier HS I would take him south for a start up to golf season...For about 4 years we would go to World Woods. Loved those tracks. They have had some ups and downs though.
 
GolfTravelDude said:
World Woods is fabulous. So I was in CT a long time. Son who was at Xavier HS I would take him south for a start up to golf season...For about 4 years we would go to World Woods. Loved those tracks. They have had some ups and downs though.
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Glad you enjoyed World Woods too... i was just amazed with the place....
Uh oh.... Xavier, eh?? My son was an FP kid (he will be 27 this year). Plenty of rivalry in athletics between those schools over the years!
 
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