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The hardest golf course in the world
Saturday September 6, 2008 | 19:29:10 408 words, 10674 views
I’m a guy who pays attention to slope ratings, that number they give to golf courses that supposedly tells you how hard it is for the average hacker. So I gasped a little when I played Mystic Rock at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania the other day. I played it from the blues, which are hard enough, but my playing partners pointed out some of the back tees – 7,533 yards from way back there – some of which were 100 yards behind the blues. It got me thinking about the hardest golf courses in the U.S. and the world. The Ocean course at Kiawah has the highest slope rating in the U.S. It’s a Pete Dye torture chamber, 7,356 yards long with a 155 slope, the maximum allowed. I’ve played it twice, once in a strong wind and by the end of the day, I felt like I had gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson in his younger days. The International Pines Course in Bolton, Massachusetts has a slope of 154 – it’s 8,325 yards from the tips. Pine Valley in New Jersey has a slope of 153, but it has the highest slope from the middle tees at 150! Ko’ olau in Hawaii used to have slope of 162. Imagine going out for a friendly game if you didn’t know what to expect. Silvertip Golf Course in Canmore, Canada has 600 feet of elevation change, it’s 7,300 yard with a slope of 153. The Dubai Country Club is a grassless track in the Arabian desert. It’s one, giant bunker with greens made of oil and sand. The Rotorua Golf Club in New Zealand takes you through puddles of bubbling mud and steaming sulphur pits. But, the hardest I’ve ever played was a course in South Africa called Skukuza. It’s inside the Kruger National Park, and you have to sign an indemnity form just to get on. There’s a big sign out front that says: “Beware, Dangerous Animals. Enter at your own risk!” There’s warthogs in the fairways, but the scariest part is No. 1 and 9, where you have to hit over a lake full of hippos, their snouts barely visible above water. They come out in the late afternoons. It’s said elephants and lions roam the fairways and puff adders hide in the bush. There’s some helpful information about climbing the nearest tree when the lions and leopards roam the course. I haven’t mentioned the crocodiles yet. Give me the Ocean course. The only dangerous animals there are the tourists. 
Comments:
Comment from: Ron Mon [Member]
 · http://www.buffalogolfer.com
I'll put Kaluhyat at Turning Stone, from the tips, up against Mystic Rock. A friend swears that Thunder Hill, in NE Ohio, is the toughest course from the tips in the world. It goes about 7700 with ridiculous carries over water that no sane architect would ever create.
09/06/08 @ 21:56
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
Interesting piece. But, really, what is the point? I'm a 3.6 handicap, yet, I have no desire to torture myself with an unrealistically tough course. A layout of more than 8000 yards? I can't even imagine that. I hope that all the really long holes play downhill.
09/06/08 @ 23:26
Comment from: Tim McDonald [Member]
Because the best of us -- in sprit and character, not necessarily an artificial number -- want to be tested against the most formidable enemy.
09/07/08 @ 07:06
Comment from: Booger [Visitor]
I see your point Tim, however 8,000+ courses are only going to lead to more equipment changes. I still use a persimmon driver, because I like the sound of it. I can hit it 280, which is a respectable distance for that club. I'd have to run out and get a metal wood to be competitive on these long courses, and that's not something I am willing to do. There are plenty of 6,500 yard courses where you have to play your absolute best to break 80. Modern architecture is destroying the game.
09/07/08 @ 10:09
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
Booger,
Some years back I played a course called "The Country Club of the Poconos" a few times. It's a new Fazio design course that is UNDER 6000 yards. Yet, it's tough. In fact, it is the toughest short course I've ever played. It has a slope rating of 142, which is higher than most. One interesting thing about it is that it's a course you absolutely cannot walk. There are some really long stretches between holes; in fact, you have to drive about a mile (I'm not exaggerating) between two of them. It's certainly a course you don't forget.
09/07/08 @ 12:13
Comment from: Booger [Visitor]
Thanks Judge, I checked the website and it looks very interesting. I've been meaning to play Shawnee for years and will add CCP to the eventual itinerary.
09/07/08 @ 14:35
Comment from: Brandon Tucker [Member]
· http://www.worldgolf.com/blogs/brandon.tucker
The hardest course I've ever played is the Prince Course at Princeville, if only because the winds can often be so high. There is a hole, I believe the 13th, where from an elevated tee, you have to hit a tiny little fairway well below that looks about as wide as a doorway and on each side is thick jungle. If you gave me 20 balls I don't think I'd be able to put it in play.
09/07/08 @ 15:21
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
Booger,
I played Shawnee around the same time I played TCCOTP. It's also a nice course. Actually, I believe I played a bit at Shawnee when I was a little kid, as we used to occasionally vacation there over long weekends.
09/07/08 @ 19:19
Comment from: Kiel Christianson [Visitor]
I see TM's point: If they're going to build courses so long and hard, it's fun to step up to the challenge and see how we can perform. At the same time I see JS's point, which is, I believe: Why spend so much time, effort and money building courses that are too long and too hard for nearly everyone, even very low handicappers?
And, on a side note, I guarantee I can design an 18-hole course that is, oh, between 3,000 and 4,500 yards that would be so hard no one would ever, ever want to play it. Length does not equal difficulty.
09/07/08 @ 21:06
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
Kiel,
My point is that there's something called the spirit of the game. And my attitude toward a course will hinge on whether or not it is in keeping with it. For instance, I know a course in upstate NY that has a couple of extremely unrealistic holes. One is a par 3 that plays 200 yards and is basically surrounded by water. If you miss the green even by a smidgen, you'll most likely be in the water; in fact, you may even be in if you hit the side of the green and roll off. Now, I'm not one to call courses unfair very often, but that qualifies. There's no transitional area, like bunkers surrounding the green, to catch mediocre shots. No, if you're just a bit off from 200 yards, you can be penalized harshly. That's not golf. The spirit of the game is that if you hit a slightly errant shot, you're penalized slightly; if it's egregiously errant, then you may be penalized harshly. Having a hole such as the aforementioned does a disservice to the game because luck becomes too much of a factor. If two guys are playing such a course and hit the same number of equally errant shots but one does so at the "wrong time," he can lose big. I realize that timing is always a factor in golf, but this element shouldn't be magnified to a ridiculous extent. I mean, the hole in question doesn't even really have a bailout area. It would be fine if you could hit a wedge to 8-iron to the green, but from 200 yards? Forget about it. I've been long-winded, but my point is that it depends on whether or not the course is realistic. You can always design a layout so tough that no one can play it well without getting lucky, but that proves nothing and isn't golf, in my opinion.
09/08/08 @ 00:23
Comment from: Ron Mon [Member]
· http://www.buffalogolfer.com
Here is a question for all to entertain...what irons do you wish to hit into the greens of two-shot holes? If you want to hit wedges all day, move up to the 5800 to 6000 yard tees. If you want to mix in some short and middies, go to the next set. If you're after all your irons, you might have to go to the third set. What do the tips represent for some of us? The opportunity to go back to the game as it was invented, where approach shots to par four holes were played will all clubs, from great to small.
09/09/08 @ 05:52
Comment from: Ron Mon [Member]
· http://www.buffalogolfer.com
I do agree, though, that gimmick holes take away from the spirit of the game. The holes from the middle tees that simply do not allow for bail nor strategy are unfortunate ones. Smails, I'd love to know the upstate NY course you're referencing. Is it in the Catskills, by chance?
09/09/08 @ 05:54
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
Ron,
Yes, it's in the Catskills. It's Hanah Country Club. Most of the holes are fine, but they have a few (two in particular) that are a bit ridiculous.
09/09/08 @ 11:06
Comment from: Ron Mon [Member]
· http://www.buffalogolfer.com
Haven't played it. The Monster was the course I was considering, although it has been a while, my memory is fuzzy, and I heard that they plowed it under for housing this year. What a waste of great property that one was. Stupid wealthy people who tell a half-assed designer to build the hardest course in the world. Now that's integrity. Especially when you compared it with the International, a simple course if ever there was one.
09/09/08 @ 20:21
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
Ron Mon,
I went to the Concord's website, and nothing indicated that the course is no longer in existence. Of course, that's not definitive, however. If they did pave it over, though, wouldn't that make it the "hardest" golf course in the world?
09/10/08 @ 10:05
Comment from: Irv [Visitor]
I'm 57 years old. I only have one arm due to an accident 3 years ago. I just started playing this year. I'm a bad golfer. The hardest course in the world is whatever course I happen to be on at the moment. It still beats working.
10/06/08 @ 14:14 Leave a comment: |
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