What is the worst course you have ever played?

According to my rounds records I have played at 81 different golf courses during my time on GolfShake & as I was going back over my records of which courses I had previously played, which courses I believed were the worst I have ever played. Whether it was either the Brabazon at the Belfry or the Knighton course 9 hole par 3 course at Canford Magna or somewhere between.

Over the last 7 years I would say that my least favourite course that I have played would be Pyrford golf course, closely followed by Merthyr Tydfil (Cilsanws) just because it is very rough but on the positive side it is nice & cheap for the green fee and quite often you have the course to yourself except for the sheep that graze on it.

Just wondering your opinion of Clubs you have visited?

Good question Mark. I cant say i have played many awful courses and i wouldnt put Pyrford at the bottom. The routing leaves a fair bit to be desired and the water crossing the fairways is also poor but the greens were good when i played there. Even after looking through 130 rounds i cant think of a course which doesnt have at least a couple of redeeming features, be it good holes or good greens or good views etc. But if i had to choose my least favourite it would be Surrey National (dont let the name fool you, it used to be called Happy Valley) Its not a terrible course, its just one that i wouldnt go back to. There are some ok holes but the use of slopes is very ordinary in my opinion. As with good reviews, this topic is all about personal opinion but one that i look forward to reading. Thanks Mark.

It is a great question. Although not the worst course I have ever played, my biggest disappointment was last year at the Wiltshire course near Wooton Basset. On the surface, it looks great, beautifully designed and one of the prettiest holes (17th) that you could wish for. I would love to join as a member here.

But, and it's pretty tragic, on this occasion the course was ruined by wet weather, endless trollies ploughing up the pathways, shin high mud, course re-design, the 17th was not even in play. Appreciate it was at the start of Spring but left feeling really disappointed especially as one was paying a full green fee.

And yet a course (basset down) just down the road was playing beautifully.

Without doubt, the worst course I've played would have to be The One Boat Golf Club on Ascension Island. It was akin to playing on the moon. The 'greens' were brown sand liberally mixed with diesel oil. Having said this, we were very grateful to be allowed to play for free on our way down to the Falkland Islands.

Aberdovey North Wales what a dump and £60.00 a day ticket.

Hi Bob I can only take your word for it as i have never played Aberdovey, but to say a course that is ranked no.3 in Wales as the worst you have ever played is a big call !

ROFL about playing at Ascension. Btw did the Falkalnds have any courses? That must be a kind of extreme south atlantic links for the hardy.

Sorry Ben, I'm not up on shorthand. What does ROFL mean please? Yes there is a golf course at Port Stanley, but I didn't get a look at it. Spent too much time dodging Argie aircraft at the time. Cheers!

I've read some mad stuff on here , but saying Aberdovey Golf course is a dump is the craziest statement I've ever read!

Lyons Gate in Dorset - quite simply the worst, followed by Mid Dorset (later Dorset heights) - both now extinct. One thing I often say is that there is no such thing as a bad golf course, for if they are open and survive, then they are needed and used by some - one..............there are many that I would never go back to though, and the two mentioned above above have quite rightly been destined back to nature!!

Walsall Arboretum. It's a 9 hole muni of the worst order. I've played on fairways cut shorter than the greens.

However, a course I don't enjoy playing is Filton in Bristol (annoying as it's literally next door to work). It's not a particularly bad course or too badly kept, I just really don't like it. I can't even explain why but I would rather go without a game than play there

I've read some mad stuff on here , but saying Aberdovey Golf course is a dump is the craziest statement I've ever read!

It's a dump and it was my £60.00, 3 years ago in the summer. There are much much better course all over Wales.

Forums are based on opinions and in my opinion Aberdovey is a dump, who rates it the 3rd in Wales? The Welsh.

Hi Bob, as i have said i have not played Aberdovey so i can only take other peoples opinions, but Todays Golfer have it as no 3 in Wales and in their top 100 courses in the Uk and Ireland and the top 100 courses of the world website also have it at no.3 in Wales. As you rightly point out, it shows just how personal reviews and opinions are for each course.

Tim in the first week of December we always have a Wales trip have done it for years sometimes we golf sometimes we go to a rugby game sometimes we go on a pub crawl so very varied interests.

This month we Played Tenby GC in Pembrokeshire, and if I said it was a 1000 times better than Aberdovey I would not be exaggerating. We were a group of 12 when we played Aberdovey and no one has been back, that must say something. We were recommended to go and told at the time it was in the top 3 and top 100 all I can say is that that list has not been updated in a very long time. In my opinion of course.

This is the Golfshake top 100 in Wales, obviously all very subjective but a reasonable (ish) benchmark.

http://www.golfshake.com/course/top100/wales/

Tenby is ranked well but looks like it may need a few new reviews; Bob, Tim ? >>>

http://www.golfshake.com/course/view/16360/Tenby_Golf_Club.html

I generally enjoy every course I play, if only to tick it off the list and also in the interests of trying somewhere different, but one course that sticks in my mind as being poor is Wishaw, near to the Belfry. I remember a cracking Par 4 over water but holes 2 - 9 (approx) and some others on the back 9 looked like they had been hastily arranged in a field with greens the size of a pitch and putt course. On the upside it was a beautiful day when we visited and lunch on the patio outside in the sunshine was very pleasant.

Of course, maybe my views were tainted as we played this course in the afternoon after playing at the Belfry (PGA) in the morning.

Well, it's all relative really isn't it. There's a difference between a bad course and one that's simply in bad condition. Of the least satisfying courses I've played I'd have to list Forest Pines and The Carrick at Loch Lomond, the first because we were on temporary greens when there really was no need and the second because the greens had been so heavily tined and sanded they were unplayable and the course was waterlogged. Would I play them again in better weather? Certainly. However I'd have to say that the worst course I've played is Grassmore near Chesterfield, used to be OK but is getting worse.

Great question, makes a change from the "best ten" lists. Just looked through my ancient Golf Course Guide that has all 278 courses I've played written in the back and there's hardly one I wouldn't be happy playing again right now - same weather, same partners!

Re The Carrick, mentioned above, I would play it again if I was in the area and there had been a dry spell, some good holes and great scenery (that view off 14!). Re Pyrford, I've played it off front and back tees and it's a different beast off the back - off the front you are left with almost all pitches to the greens.

I didn't enjoy the Derby course at the Belfry and wouldn't play it except as a warm-up for the Brabazon or PGA National. Ditto the lesser course (Aylesford?) at the Forest of Arden.

In my own neck of the woods (Hampshire) I know that courses such as New Forest (Lyndhurst), Romsey and Hockley have their supporters but I would avoid them and play Brokenhurst Manor, Blackmoor, Stoneham, North Hants, or my own course, Royal Winchester.

What a great game - how many other sports get you to remember a game you played decades ago?

The worst one I've played is New Malton golf club near Royston. Best analogy would be dog track. No redeeming features.

It is very subjective. Also if you're paying to play on a 'good' course then you do have an expectation. Looking at the Welsh top 100 that Darren gave URL for I see Celtic Manor is top. Personally I wasn't that keen on the 2010 course. Sure there are some good holes but it still smacks of being a new course and I expected more (I much preferred the Montgomery). I think that in general courses are being less well looked after due to greenstaff reductions and it is the state of courses, particularly greens, which people regard as poor courses.

It is a shame that you see New Malton that way. It is a cracking course, and great value for money, with a reallygood selection of holesand really friendly clubhouse. Admittedly the greens did take a battering in August from the birds eating the infested greens, but I was there last week and the greens are in far better state that they were.

As for my worst course: Crowne Plaza Colchester - Links Course. Fairly forgetable.

I had high hopes when asked to play at Ludlow Golf Club. It's steeped in history, built in 1889 and one I'd heard good things about. Sadly I was disappointed.

I couldn't get into the course at all. The racetrack was a feature, but it crossed so many fairways, so many greens and the main road ran through the middle - so, so noisy. I try to see the best in every course I play, they are all unique, but I couldn't see myself playing there anytime soon.

How about the most dangerous. We played a couple of years back in Spain and just to give you an idea the starters hut was in between fairways 1,9,10 and 18. You stood there taking your life in your hands, and when you started to play it got worse. I will have a look and see if I can remember the name of the place.

A tidy course with a very dangerous layout, we did see 1 fellow get struck by a ball quite a bad injury, and of course like everywhere in Spain SSSLLLOOOWWW

I loathe Merrist Wood near Guildford and would more than happy never to go back, and i see Pyrford mentioned above but would say that Traditions just on the other side of the river is far worse!

Ian, I was interested to play Merrist Wood in my society fixture last August having only played once before when it was an absolute mudbath - this time the fairways were as close to dead as any I've ever played on! I commented on the way round that some of the holes were quite good with one or two scenic vistas but, like the Carrick mentioned above, I would only go there if the weather had been neither wet nor dry for a few weeks before. I've played Traditions once and there's not much that's memorable about it apart from my double-bogey on the last - sleepers and hidden hazards don't thrill me! - to lose the scratch prize by one.

Uuummmm.....can't imagine Aberdovey ever appearing on my list of worst courses but each to their own.

My list, in no particular order. Delapre GC (Northamptonshire), Hellidon Lakes (Northamptonshire), Shirland GC (Derbyshire).

Colchester links course? Come off it.

The worst I've played has since been turned into a housing estate - Ingol golf club near Preston. Played it during a wet autumn. Lost at least half a dozen golf balls plugged in the middle of fairways.

The worst I've played recently was Burlish Park & this was via a Groupon. Tees were like overgrown fairways & the greens were only slightly better. The layout was very odd with having to tee off over a different fairway a few times!

I won't be going back even at the £7 each we paid!!

I see Shirland mentioned. I quite liked Shirland, has quite a few par 5's, four I think.

Good question but can be answered in many ways, especially if you have a stinker somewhere, its not normal to still state it was a great track, however, the poorest condition course I have played is a tight call between Rugby & Aylesbury Park, my biggest disappointment was Hoylake and the best course I have played was Moortown followed closely by Formby. I'm surprised to hear Pyrford mentioned, I thought it a quirky course that you had to navigate well, especially with all the water around.

When did you play Rugby Robin? I happen to know a green keeper there and they have had a lot of staff changes in the last couple or years and the course is improving. Out of interest, what was wrong with it?

I played in a B team match their in 2012, the greens were terrible with rough bare patches, mainly on most if not all of the back 9, which seemed in poorer condition than the front 9. If its improved, fair enough, but from when I played it, unfortunately its the poorest course I've played by far