"There is no such thing as a really terrible golf course. If you’re playing golf on it, how awful can it be?"
/On Monday, Charles McGrath wrote about the beauty of even the most apparently wretched courses, even citing one of note that might look a little rough but which is actually great fun and well worth repeat visits: George Thomas's Marion.
For instance, Marion Golf Club, in Marion, Mass. — just down the road from the fancier and far-better-known Kittansett — looks at first glance like nothing much. The turf is a random mix of grass and weeds, and right in front of the first tee, there’s a squarish, unimaginative bunker that serves no purpose. The ninth hole, a dinky par 3 that’s visible from the first tee, has a rock wall in front of it, flashed with sand. But as you play your way around, coming upon other rock walls and old-fashioned-looking bunkers, catching a glimpse of Marion harbor behind the sixth green, you realize the place is a forgotten gem, hidden in a time warp. It was built in 1906 by George C. Thomas Jr., who went on to design Riviera and Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and it’s been left pretty much untouched ever since. It’s an odd, funky little place where worseness edges over into something like greatness.
Today, after inviting reader feedback, the On Par blog at the NY Times follows up with reader suggestions for more underrated and obscure, uh, dogtracks.