Top 10 Golf Courses of 2017

They say any day on the golf course is better than a day at work. While that is certainly true, there are a few golf courses I played this year that are heads and shoulders above the rest. Courses that I will remember for a very long time. Check out the list and let me know what courses you played this year in the comments!

10. Warren Golf Course

http://www.coorecrenshawquest.com/2017/10/warren-golf-review.html

Often ranked one of the best courses in Indiana, I can't see what can top it. The back 9 is spectacular and the front 9 gives you the best of parkland golf. The staff is super friendly and I can't wait to play this again after they host the US Senior Open in 2019.

9. Aviara

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/02/aviara-golf-club-review.html

Aviara is one of the prettiest courses I have ever played. In amazing shape, the shape of the course leads to amazing shots and everything here is just fantastic. I was looking forward to playing the 18th hole and it didn't disappoint. It is a real capper to the round and I highly recommend playing here if you are in the San Diego area.

8. La Quinta Mountain

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/02/la-quinta-mountain-review.html

This course has it all. An amazing routing, crazy mountain views and really fun greens. I am such a fan of this course you might call me a fanatic. Every time I go to Palm Springs I ask, can we play the Mountain? I hope the answer every time is "yes"!

7. En-Joie

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/07/en-joie-golf-review.html

Perhaps my favorite parkland course I have ever played. I am originally from Upstate NY and while I don't see myself relocating back there from California, if I did, I would join this course in a heartbeat and try to play it as much as possible. In a state with world-renowned golf courses, En-Joie holds its own with the best of em and is a must play if you are in the Southern Tier.

6. Old York CC

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/07/old-york-country-club-review.html

There are plenty of top tier golf courses in New Jersey but OYCC flies under the radar and shouldn't. The course is super interesting to play and engages all facets of your game. I want another crack at this apple when I am back East which is a great testament to the course!

5. Sand Valley

http://www.coorecrenshawquest.com/2017/09/sand-valley-golf-resort-review.html

What can be said about the Top New Course of 2017 that hasn't already been said? Well, it is a bear but a fun bear with a tremendous amount of sand, one of the best routings I have played since Sand Hills and one of the best 19th holes in the business. As the course matures, it is going to be really something.

4. Mission Hills- Dinah Shore

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/06/review-mission-hills-dinah-shore-course.html

This course is a classic and home to an LPGA major for good reason. Tight fairways, tough pin placements but it adds up to a whole lot of fun. It is perhaps my favorite Palm Springs course and definitely one of the top 10 courses I played in 2017.

3. Mammoth Dunes

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/09/mammoth-dunes-golf-review.html

This course might be one of the most fun golf courses I have ever played and I only played half the holes! There are so many ways to play each hole that you could just play this course over and over again and never play it the same way twice. Truly a gem I can't wait to get back to play.

2. Black Sheep

http://www.re-gripped.com/2017/09/black-sheep-golf-club.html

I had such high expectations for Black Sheep and they met and exceed them. The club is friendly, the logo is fantastic but more than that, the course is sublime and mindblowing (a links-style course amongst the corn). If I lived in Illinois, I would be a member in two seconds.

1. Clear Creek Tahoe

http://www.coorecrenshawquest.com/2017/10/clear-creek-tahoe.html

This course has it all. Pine trees, mountain views, serenity, fascinating hole layouts, undulating greens. As soon as I played it, I wanted to play it again. It was the most relaxing/engaging round of golf I have played in a long time. If I could play this every day, I would!

Well that is it for the list! I had a great 2017 on the links and can't wait for 2018!

Silver Oak Golf Review

Welcome to Carson City, a true rugged, western town in Northern Nevada which is home to several world class golf courses including Clear Creek Tahoe and Montreux.

I had heard tell of a great public course in Carson City, Silver Oak, a course where the front 9 and back 9 were two totally different experiences and boy, they weren't wrong!

The front 9 side might be short but what it lacks in length it makes up for in elevation. Every hole seems to use the severe terrain to its advantage and while you might laugh at playing a sub-500 yard par 5, when you see the mountain you have to climb, you start sweating.

The course was in fantastic shape. The fairways were running fast, the greens were in excellent condition and the views were outstanding.

Speaking of outstanding, I don't think I have ever played a hole quite like the 337 par 4 5th hole.

The hole is a severe dogleg right but don't go too far right or you do down into the canyon. You aren't quite sure how much room you have to maneuver around the dogleg as you are partially blocked out by trees. Your best bet to stay far left and hit about a 200 yard shot.

The downside of that strategy is then you are faced with one of the most severe second shots I have ever seen.

Hmm, that doesn't quite show the craziness, let me see here...

ah yes, there we go. Basically I hit 3 iron, 8 iron, and prayed to the golf gods I hit my SW close (I did) and I escaped with a par. Of all the holes at Silver Oak, I would love to play this one over and over again.

Upping the craziness factor after that par 4 are back to back par 3s one, set on top of a plateau

and the next one going down a wild and wooly mountainside

Alas, the crazy front side cannot last and the course settles down into somewhat normality for holes 8 and 9.

Eventually all good things must come to an end and you come to the disappointing backside. I am not a huge fan of Palm Springs because most of the courses feel wedged into a housing development. Silver Creek takes that concept to the extreme by putting houses not just on one side of the fairway, not just two side of the fairway but rings the houses around all sides.

Especially when compared to the front 9, I have never felt like I had been playing in a fishbowl until I played the back 9 at Silver Oak.

After slogging through the claustrophobic back 9, 18 brings it home with a fantastic par 5. A blind tee shot (with no houses!) leading to a risk/reward second shot to an island green. Walking over the bridge to the green and looking back over the course, it gets you energized to play Silver Oak all over again.

Overall, Silver Oak's front 9 is a crazy, hilly ride which is almost completely marred by the back 9 until the last few holes brings it home. If you ever wanted to play the definition of a schizophrenic course, Silver Oak is it.

For more information about Silver Creek, check out this link: http://silveroakgolf.com/

Clear Creek Tahoe

This place is outrageously good and you can probably tell my excitement in how I wrote up my recent adventure. Check it out!

http://www.coorecrenshawquest.com/2017/10/clear-creek-tahoe.html