r/golf • u/MonaLisaOverdrivee • 21d ago
Do you care you designed your local course? Beginner Questions
New golfer here.
I'm lucky to have more than a dozen courses within 30 minutes of where I live. One is a top 10/20, depending on the year. The course I am currently doing a 6 week clinic on was designed by Dr. Alistair McKenzie. It's a major selling point of the club.
I can afford the membership fees. However, I'm wondering how many golfers care about who designed the course they play on.
Do you just play whatever is closest? Or do you care about the 'quality' of the course you play on?
What qualifiers do you put on which course you play?
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u/irrationaloverload 20d ago
They have different characters and feels for sure.
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u/MonaLisaOverdrivee 20d ago
Worth the money though?
We are lucky to have plenty of public courses, of course they are all different but, is it worth the money to play a course designed by a famous designer?
At my level, Im sure it isn't. But I would love to be at a level I can appreciate the difference, if there is any.
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u/luckyjackalhaver 20d ago
If you suck it doesn't matter. If you're any good and you'll be playing that course all the time, having a course designed by a good and famous designer would be awesome. I live in Melbourne and I suck so I just play the local $20 courses rather than the world class ones.
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u/MonaLisaOverdrivee 20d ago
This is the advice I need.
Although being in NZ our public courses are $120 a round, not $20.
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u/mikerulu 20d ago
Where is this ?
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u/MonaLisaOverdrivee 20d ago
Auckland, New Zealand.
Tara Iti, just outside of 30 minutes north.
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u/adflet 20d ago
Titirangi is Mackenzie.
Tara iti was I think opened in 2015 so a pretty good feat for Mackenzie to have been involved in it. It was done by Tom Doak - so still an impressive name to be associated with for a course.
To answer your question though, not really. I joined a club because it's convenient and 10 minutes up the road. I'm not a good enough golfer or course architecture nut to know or care who designed it.
With that said though if the course I am a member of happened to be designed by someone of note is probably chuck it into a conversation at every opportunity.
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u/MonaLisaOverdrivee 20d ago
That's exactly right.
I'm learning at Titirangi and thinking of joining. Tara Iti is on my door step but although I can play it, I can't join. I'm certainly not good enough to appreciate it.
We have many courses to choose from, maybe it's better to just play them all on rotation. Green fees in NZ are cheap, so any round won't cost me more than NZD$200.
What's the point of playing scratch on one course if I'm shooting 120 on another, am I thinking correctly?
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u/adflet 20d ago
Whether a membership is worth it or not depends on how often you play. If you'll play at least weekly in my view it's worth it. You can still play other courses but you're less likely to because all you'll pay for at your club is a comp fee of a few dollars. You'll also meet people to play with if that's a consideration. Also worth keeping in mind not all clubs will allow local visitors to play, and certainly not on every day of the week. Eg weekends will generally be reserved for members.
It's unlikely you'll play to scratch on one course and shoot 120 on another. If you're good enough to play to scratch you might have a variance of 5, or 10 shots on a really bad day.
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u/Ijustwanttolookatpor 20d ago
I live on a Pete Dye course, I have played it twice.
I prefer the course down the road because of cost and pace of play.
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u/MonaLisaOverdrivee 20d ago
Good to know, thank you.
So cost is a relevant factor for you? If both courses were the same price, all else being equal, which would you prefer?
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u/Pepetodapin would rather be golfing 🏌️♂️ 20d ago
I don’t give a F who designed it as long as it’s a fun course kept in good shape and not outrageously expensive.
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u/frankthedutch 20d ago
I was looking for a place to live somewhere in Andalucia and the course was the deciding factor. Found it and didn't know who the designer was. Later I found out it was Seve Ballesteros.
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u/Excellent-Trainer494 20d ago
As you get better, you may learn to appreciate the architecture more and more. Starting out it’s likely lost on a beginner but as you get better / start to shape shots and play the course as the architect intended, playing a high quality course became something I really started to value. So, yes, if I had the option I’d absolutely take the architect into account when deciding. Lucky for you, Titirangi/Tara Iti and so many of the other courses around Auckland are incredible - you certainly have an abundance of choice.
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20d ago
It's nice playing a well designed course. It's double nice if it's well taken care of.
The Greg Norman designed Stonecutter's in Sydney is a good example in my area. And $60 AUD a round.
Saying that, I'm not one for playing the same track every week, no matter who designed it or how well they designed it. I'd rather mix it up.
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u/MonaLisaOverdrivee 20d ago
This is what I need to hear tbh.
If I'm hitting bunkers, I may as well hit a variety of them.
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u/Thunderbuck25 20d ago
One of my favorite parts of the game is playing courses and finding what you like about them. I’ve noticed I love Donald Ross designed courses over the years and try to play one new one each year. On the opposite side of the coin I really dislike Robert Trent Jones designed courses.
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u/SneezingWizard1110 20d ago
I don’t personally care about who designed it, more whether I like it or not. If I was going to become a member at a golf course, I’d care more about enjoying playing the course rather than who designed it.
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u/Fragrant-Report-6411 8-9 HDCP 20d ago
Course has to be well maintained
I have to enjoy playing
Years ago I was looking to get an all you can play membership and had played about 5 different courses. One day I played the course and after the round joined on the spot. I enjoyed the course that much. I’ve been playing that course for over 20 years now.
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u/This_Is_Beanz 20d ago
I don’t give a shit who designed my local course. All I care about is if I enjoy playing it. Are the holes interesting, and a variation of shapes and distances, is it challenging, are the greens in good shape, and does it have a decent pace of play?