Has Anyone Played Pasture Golf?

[Kenny B]

Probably many of you have played courses that were not pristine country clubs and called the course a cow pasture (or something similar). But have you really played pasture golf? Check out:

 

http://www.pasturegolf.com/index.htm

 

This website catalogs and features golf courses that have the distinction of not being excessively manicured but which are fun and affordable to play. These courses are a surviving link to the original Scottish links courses, golf's historical grassroots.

 

This link from the website is a PDF list of courses around the world that more closely resemble what Scottish golf was hundreds of years ago:

 

http://pasturegolf.com/archive/library/pasturegolfcourses.pdf

 

There are courses all across the US, some in Canada, UK, and even Australia and New Zealand. One of the nice features about Pasture Golf is the price; they're cheap compared to manicured courses and you are most assuredly going to get bad lies. A true test of golf.

 

I have played a couple of the courses here in Washington state and it's different than anywhere else I have played. Pend Oreille Golf & Country Club in Metaline Falls is a nine hole course with sand greens. During the week it costs $1 to play and on the weekend it's $1.50; put the money in a box.

 

On the website above there is a link that shows you how to play and rake sand greens as demonstrated at the course in North Dakota.

 

If you want to try something different next year, visit one on these courses and see what golf was like back in the days of Old Tom Morris. Go Play!

[GolfSpy Tim]

As a kid I lived on a 4 acre property and built my own "course" with a few tee boxes and couple "greens"

[wbealsd]

I've got 20 acres and play out of the "rough" in the spring before the courses are open.  It's not a course, but it's good practice - lol 

[Kenny B]

One course was less than an hour away, so my wife and I gave it a try. It was nine holes out of a cow pasture. The owner had a little shed by the first tee with a box for green fees. I think it was $15 for all day. He had brand new gas golf carts that he got through a grant to repurpose farm land. The carts were nice because it was a hilly course. Greens were small but reasonably mowed, not too quick. The fairways were OK, but the rough was brutal. It was mowed a little longer than the fairways but the grass was "tough" and the ball sat down; actually hard to find it unless you were standing on top of it. Very challenging layout.

[wbealsd]

The last course I played this year was like that, the greens were "fuzzy" and the fairways were as rough as most courses 2nd cut.  But I played with friends and enjoyed myself, so it was all good

[Kenny B]

The last course I played this year was like that, the greens were "fuzzy" and the fairways were as rough as most courses 2nd cut.  But I played with friends and enjoyed myself, so it was all good

IMO, that's what golf is all about!!

[Jmikecpa]

I grew up playing one and took my son back there this summer to play there.  Nothing like using a 5 iron to putt, but any day on the course with my son is a great day and conditions are not going to change that for me.

[jmwils81]

I play pasture golf at this crazy 9 hole track outside of Olafsvik, Iceland. The clubhouse was this little unmanned shack and you would just drop in a few krona in a locked box.  

I thought well, I brought some of my clubs in a Sunday bag this should be fun. Fun was NOT the correct term to use. This proved to be the hardest 9 holes I have played. Wind, grass, more wind, higher grass lava rocks. The fairways were nice and greens were fuzzy.

 

My son got to play with me so it was a great experience.

[hckymeyer]

Not true pasture golf, but my parents live on 50 acres and my dad and I would invent our own holes around the yard.  We would just pick one club and then pick spots around the yard.  First to hit the big rock in the clearing, first to chip into the flower bed, first to bounce it off the LP tank etc...

 

The house only got dented once and no broken windows

[JBones]

Same with Tim and Hcky. I grew up on a 10 acre farm, so I created a par 3, 4, and 5. Also used to leave the hayloft doors open so I could hit balls into from backyard; it was about 185yds from back door.

[whiskey golf]

That course in Iceland looks like a fun experience. 

[jmwils81]

Whiskey it was a great time. We played an actual course on the Westman Islands that was right on the ocean. Challenging wind as well. Gorgeous views though

[whiskey golf]

Whiskey it was a great time. We played an actual course on the Westman Islands that was right on the ocean. Challenging wind as well. Gorgeous views though

 

I just checked out some pictures of the Westman Islands, it looks great. What made you choose Iceland as a vacation destination? It seems like an interesting but fun place to be.

[jmwils81]

I just checked out some pictures of the Westman Islands, it looks great. What made you choose Iceland as a vacation destination? It seems like an interesting but fun place to be.

 

I am 50% Icelandic, My father stole my mother from the motherland in the 70s. We try to go back every other year and the last two times I started bringing my clubs. There are a lot of great courses around there. I teed off at 1230am the first round I played there. Got in 18 before the 23.5 hours of sunlight dipped down to dusk for about 15 minutes then back to sunny.... it was a great start.

 

Still have 5 Aunts and Uncles there and about 20 cousins. Good times in June-Aug..... not so much in the winter too much darkness.

[BIG STU]

When I lived in the upstate of South Carolina (Gaffney) there was a little par 3 course out in the middle of the country. it was literally cut out of a field. He also had a driving range there. It was about a half a mile down from the Volunteer Fire Department that I was a member of. The owner actually had a real job at a manufacturing plant. When he was not there you had an honor system you put the money in a slot in the door of the "clubhouse" or left him an IOU with your name and came by on Saturday and paid him. I think it was $3 for 9 holes walking only.

The darndest  course I ever played was in Texas back in my early mini tour days. It had sand fairways and packed sand greens oiled down with used motor oil. They had a cow trough on each hole between the green and tee to wash your golf ball off in. These people had a lot of money and had put on a big money shootout and it had spread by word of mouth. One of my backers wanted to go so we went from Orlando to there. In fact we had a caravan going from Orlando to there. Had one of my best weeks ever I finished 5th and made close to $5000 on the purse plus won some side money on the skins game and side bets. Can not recall where it was at but I think it was near Odessa. It was fun to me could have stayed there and played forever. I am sure the place is gone now or updated now because of a little thing called the EPA and you know how they are about used motor oil and such

[silver & black]

That sounds and looks like a lot of fun. I'll have to check and see if there is a course like that in my area of Ohio.

[stephensafar]

Not sure if this helps your or not but...

 

 

http://www.amino-vital.com/amino-vital-towel.aspx

 

Yes, I enjoyed the paster golf near my farmhouse with some of my friends and we really enjoyed it. My friends from http://minoritygolfassociation.com/ and we really enjoy a lot.

[stephensafar]

Yes I played it with my frineds

[Aotearoa_Brad]

I played one "course" where I grew up and they literally had electric fences around the greens to keep the sheep off... you really don't want to miss the green - literally the shittiest course I've played.

[Kenny B]

Some people call my little practice course a dog track, but over the last few years it has gotten much better.  Fairways are mostly green and the greens are better than they have even been.  That said, when you are on #3 green and the wind comes out of the NW, you can smell the goats and llamas in the pasture next to the fairway!! 

[wbealsd]

Some people call my little practice course a dog track, but over the last few years it has gotten much better.  Fairways are mostly green and the greens are better than they have even been.  That said, when you are on #3 green and the wind comes out of the NW, you can smell the goats and llamas in the pasture next to the fairway!! 

The local 9-hole muni I play, now has houses next to it but still has it's pasture "roots."  The greens are actually pretty good, although smaller than most in the area, but it's a tough course, since the rough tends to get extremely rough and the turf is mixed and patchy.  Most people will kick their ball out of the bare spots as a "free drop," but it's a great course to practice on.  

 

Through the weekdays, I often have the course to myself and can spend time playing multiple shots out of bunkers, rough, short-game, comparing clubs, etc.

[Kenny B]

The local 9-hole muni I play, now has houses next to it but still has it's pasture "roots." The greens are actually pretty good, although smaller than most in the area, but it's a tough course, since the rough tends to get extremely rough and the turf is mixed and patchy. Most people will kick their ball out of the bare spots as a "free drop," but it's a great course to practice on.

 

Through the weekdays, I often have the course to myself and can spend time playing multiple shots out of bunkers, rough, short-game, comparing clubs, etc.

Are we playing on the same course? Other than the houses, this sounds like my course; a 9-hole exec type with one par 5 and 2 par 3's. Narrow fairways and smallish greens; and the rough is something I don't really hit out of. No grass, mostly dirt and rocks. Since I don't keep score here, kicking it into the fairway is a lot better than dings on my SCORs! Doesn't happen very much as I usually hit the fairway.

 

Most par 4's are driver and wedge so I will practice other clubs by teeing off with hybrids or mid-irons so I have different clubs into the greens. Weekends are packed when the weather is nice, but other than a group of old guys and another group of old ladies called the Golf Bags, weekdays are usually fairly open. That's when I go to practice various shots. For example, the par 5 is usually a half lob wedge for my 3rd. So, I will go to that yardage with a dozen balls and use SCORs from 58 down to my 42. High flops to long bump and runs. I have found that a low 2-3 hopper is about twice as likely to find the green as the high shot.

[wbealsd]

Our practice courses sound similar, although mine has 2 par fives and one of the par 3s is 188 uphill lol

 

It's a pretty tight course, with lots of angles and trouble if you go too long or sideways

[Kenny B]

Yours sounds like a regular length 9-holer. There is no real trouble on my course; just hard to hit fairways. Our two par 3's are 140 and 200. Par 5 is only 480. Par 4's range from 240 to 350.

[wbealsd]

It's just under 3000 yards for the Men's tees, but plays tougher (for me, anyway) than many of the longer courses around here, as accuracy counts far more than distance.  Not that I'm overly long, but the hazards are well within my "margin of error." - lol

[Kenny B]

Sounds like we have similar games.  Hope we get a chance to play sometime.  Hit 'em straight!

[wbealsd]

Sounds like we have similar games.  Hope we get a chance to play sometime.  Hit 'em straight!

Working on it  If we could JUST get some decent weather for more than a couple of days at a time...

 

Soon, I hope!