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These last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about what my answer would be.  I mean, I could go with the obvious choices of Pine Valley Golf Club, Merion Golf Club or Castle Pines Golf Club…and yes I have played them…but those seem too easy to pick.  Maybe some people think if a course is listed annually on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Golf Courses list it should be a favorite.  But what happens if when you get a chance to play it, it ends up being one of your worst rounds of the year?  Do you just forget the score and still list it as a favorite?  What makes a golf course a “favorite” anyways?  Is it the course itself, the scenery or how you play?  I guess it all depends on the player…

I asked my friends to names their favorite golf courses and they all picked different courses for different reasons.  Some said famous courses such as Cypress Point or San Francisco GC in California because they offer amazing ocean views, while others picked local courses where they live because it was the first course they ever played or they shot a great round one time.  I even had one friend mention Pacific Dunes, of the Bandon Dunes family, which is about 25 minutes from where I grew up on the Southern Oregon Coast.

Pacific Dunes has been talked about in all the major golf magazines and listed on every Top “whatever” list imaginable and it still boggles my mind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful piece of property that hugs the coastline in Bandon.  But Bandon…really?  I remember growing up in Coos Bay and my mom making us drive to Bandon every time we had out-of-town guests so we could show off the Bandon Cheese Factory.  I mean, that was the highlight in Bandon, and now it’s this amazing golf resort that is compared to some of the world’s most famous courses.  I once heard some one quoted as saying, “If Pebble Beach were across the street, no one would cross the street”!   When I worked at Philadelphia Country Club members would make the trek to Bandon for a “guys” golf trip instead of heading to Scotland!  I’ve not played any of the courses at Bandon Dunes but my friend listed it as a favorite because of the “beauty, terrain and sheer aura”.  Having been there, I definitely agree and if you have the chance I would recommend a visit, but be advised it’s off the beaten path and takes some time getting to.

I think I list golf course as favorites for many different reasons.  I remember growing up playing junior golf in Washington & Oregon thinking that the par-3 courses we played in the 10-under division were the greatest because we were the only age group on them.  Then as I got older and moved on to the “big kids” courses, my favorites ended up being the ones where I won trophies.

This continued on until I got to college where I played on the golf team. During my freshman year I didn’t like many of the courses we played.   They all treated me poorly!  It wasn’t until my coach told me to start finding a way to like the courses because I had three more years of playing them, that my mindset changed.  I started mentally playing the holes over and over again on the various courses until they became so familiar to me, it was like playing my home course.

And that is how I would describe my favorite golf course(s).  It’s like going home.   There is that indescribable feeling for me of comfort where I can relax and “kick my feet up” in some sense.  Inevitably, I tend to play great on my favorite courses which in turn makes me happy.  A friend said it best when asked what her favorite was, “…the course you always play well on!  Why?  Because that course likes you!”  Here’s a list of my favorite golf courses, not because of beauty or location, but because they are my “friends”:

Sahalee Country Club
Stanford University Golf Course
Cherry Hills Country Club
Merion Golf Club – I know…from the obvious list…but I really do like it!
Palmilla Golf Resort
Kapalua Resort – The Bay Course
Broadmoor Golf Club
Coos Country Club – where my dad spent the last 20 years of his career as the Head Pro and truly “home” to me!

These last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about what my answer would be.  I mean, I could go with the obvious choices of Pine Valley Golf Club, Merion Golf Club or Castle Pines Golf Club…and yes I have played them…but those seem too easy to pick.  Maybe some people think if a course is listed annually on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Golf Courses list it should be a favorite.  But what happens if when you get a chance to play it, it ends up being one of your worst rounds of the year?  Do you just forget the score and still list it as a favorite?  What makes a golf course a “favorite” anyways?  Is it the course itself, the scenery or how you play?  I guess it all depends on the player…

I asked my friends to names their favorite golf courses and they all picked different courses for different reasons.  Some said famous courses such as Cypress Point or San Francisco GC in California because they offer amazing ocean views, while others picked local courses where they live because it was the first course they ever played or they shot a great round one time.  I even had one friend mention Pacific Dunes, of the Bandon Dunes family, which is about 25 minutes from where I grew up on the Southern Oregon Coast.

Pacific Dunes has been talked about in all the major golf magazines and listed on every Top “whatever” list imaginable and it still boggles my mind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful piece of property that hugs the coastline in Bandon.  But Bandon…really?  I remember growing up in Coos Bay and my mom making us drive to Bandon every time we had out-of-town guests so we could show off the Bandon Cheese Factory.  I mean, that was the highlight in Bandon, and now it’s this amazing golf resort that is compared to some of the world’s most famous courses.  I once heard some one quoted as saying, “If Pebble Beach were across the street, no one would cross the street”!   When I worked at Philadelphia Country Club members would make the trek to Bandon for a “guys” golf trip instead of heading to Scotland!  I’ve not played any of the courses at Bandon Dunes but my friend listed it as a favorite because of the “beauty, terrain and sheer aura”.  Having been there, I definitely agree and if you have the chance I would recommend a visit, but be advised it’s off the beaten path and takes some time getting to.

I think I list golf course as favorites for many different reasons.  I remember growing up playing junior golf in Washington & Oregon thinking that the par-3 courses we played in the 10-under division were the greatest because we were the only age group on them.  Then as I got older and moved on to the “big kids” courses, my favorites ended up being the ones where I won trophies.

This continued on until I got to college where I played on the golf team. During my freshman year I didn’t like many of the courses we played.   They all treated me poorly!  It wasn’t until my coach told me to start finding a way to like the courses because I had three more years of playing them, that my mindset changed.  I started mentally playing the holes over and over again on the various courses until they became so familiar to me, it was like playing my home course.

And that is how I would describe my favorite golf course(s).  It’s like going home.   There is that indescribable feeling for me of comfort where I can relax and “kick my feet up” in some sense.  Inevitably, I tend to play great on my favorite courses which in turn makes me happy.  A friend said it best when asked what her favorite was, “…the course you always play well on!  Why?  Because that course likes you!”  Here’s a list of my favorite golf courses, not because of beauty or location, but because they are my “friends”:

Sahalee Country Club
Stanford University Golf Course
Cherry Hills Country Club
Merion Golf Club – I know…from the obvious list…but I really do like it!
Palmilla Golf Resort
Kapalua Resort – The Bay Course
Broadmoor Golf Club
Coos Country Club – where my dad spent the last 20 years of his career as the Head Pro and truly “home” to me!

Check back often as I promise to keep you up-to-date and “in the fairway”…