No Such Thing as a Bad Golf Course

I've not been writing lately. I've been on the road, playing golf in the Saint Augustine area--and now at Murrells Inlet near Myrtle Beach. I've played some good courses, and some not-so-good courses, letting the deals on GolfNow and through my travel club pick where I might play.

I say I played some not-so-good courses, but I've rarely met a golf course I didn't end up liking. While I can be a morose character at times, I seem to always see the good in golf courses as long as they are designed as any course should be--to be playable for everyone. That's why truly great courses are great. They are designed to provide options and for a way for everyone to play and enjoy them--no island greens, for example. The Old Course at St Andrews is probably the finest example of such a course. But for the Swilcan Burn, you could play it with a putter. And it demands more than just the ability to hit it far, or hit it high. So old budgies like me still have a fighting chance against the flat bellies if we play it smart.

I remember once being in Newfoundland, with nary a golf course for miles, when I was informed that a local character had made a golf course of three holes on a spit of land jutting into the ocean. It wasn't really a golf course at all, except for the fact that there were three holes dug in the ground with sticks as flags. There were really no fairways, or greens for that matter. There was really no evidence of the hand of man except for those three holes dug. But, I had a ball playing it, as I'm certain any golfer dying to play would.

I figured it must have to some extent resembled the first courses played on links land by sailors, or shepherds, or whoever devised the game. But I had the advantage of using relatively modern equipment and balls that flew true if you hit them properly. It was a great experience. And it taught me the fact that there is really no such thing as a bad golf course. It's just that some are better than others.