Fantasy Golf Course, our Dream 18 Holes (revised)

If you could build a golf course of your own with holes from real courses which holes would you choose?

We have compiled our very own Fantasy Golf course, the only stipulation being that the holes must fill the actual position they do on their course. Our dream 18 holes is a tough par 77 and a whopping 8,201 yards from the back tees!

Why not tell us which holes you think should be in your Fantasy Golf Course.

This could be deemed among the best starting holes in golf; the view of the beach and massive dunes from the tee is breathtaking. Pitching your drive onto the downhill fairway you then need to avoid a small pot bunker with your second, leaving an approach to a green protected on three sides by an enormous dune.

A dogleg right with a stone wall running all the way up the left hand side of the hole, the 2nd at Tralee is an early indication of just how visually breathtaking Tralee is as a course, not to mention being both an early birdie chance and a tough test early on in the round. Both the tee and the green are perched on the edge of the headland, with nothing but a glorious sandy beach and the Atlantic Ocean awaiting any stray balls lost to the right.

This hole requires a drive down the left side of the fairway to try and reach the green in two, if not you will have to lay up short of the lake leaving an approach shot that requires the correct club selection, anything near the front of the green will come back off it.

This hole gives you the first glimpses of the ocean in the background although take care with your tee shot since the wall on the right and pot bunkers on the left await any stray drives. A raised green runs deep into the dunes and a mound short of the green could partly block your approach.

This is a tough par 4, the downhill tee shot is played to a fairway that sits at a slight left-to-right diagonal. Large overhanging oaks will block your approach to the green if you stray too far left so you need to hug the right-side cross bunker with your drive. The approach is to a relatively small green that slopes from back to front.

Officially renamed in 2003 as Hogan’s Alley to commemorate Ben Hogan’s Open Championship win in 1953, this hole is where Carnoustie starts to turn up the heat. Often played into the prevailing wind this hole can be a severe par 5. Bunkers and out of bounds await the miss-cued drive and it requires a brave player to drive to that narrow piece of fairway. Care must also be taken with your second shot as once again Jockey’s burn bites deeply into the right side of the fairway.

Playing from an elevated tee, you have to hit straight out towards the Pacific into the ocean winds coming straight back at you. Miss the green and you are either in one of the pit-like bunkers or on the rocks amongst the crashing waves.

The hole, originally called “Ailsa” because of the perfect view of the rocky islet of that name from the tee, was changed when Willie Park said of the tiny green, “A pitching surface skimmed down to the size of a Postage Stamp”. There is no safe way to play this hole, the ball must find the green, two bunkers protect the left side of the green while a large crater bunker shields the approach, any mistake on the right will find one of the two deep bunkers with near vertical faces.

This long par 4 is perhaps one of the most photographed holes in world golf. A blind tee shot is played down the left to a sweeping fairway some eighty feet below to set up the best approach to the green. Too far left and you will find a dense gorse covered dune, more room is available on the right for the shorter hitter, although not providing the best approach.

Dinna Fouter ‘Don’t Mess About’ is a fantastic hole that rewards a brave tee shot down the left to shorten the hole, stray too far left however and the Firth of Clyde awaits. More trouble can be found in the middle of the fairway in the shape of two pot bunkers, while the famous island bunker protects the approach to the green.

Perched high on the cliffs and flanked by an impressive half-moon bay it’s no wonder Tom Watson once described this as one of the toughest holes in golf. Anything going right will disappear into the crashing waves of the Atlantic while anything left will find a terrain of brown and purple dunes.

This long par 5 hugs the coastline with its dogleg right to left shape, tempting many shortcut shots, although the ever changing wind makes it very risky to put your ball out over the sea. Set up an approach from the right to provide a good angle for the third shot down to the middle of the long narrow green, taking the large greenside bunker out of play.

Regularly playing into the wind this hole often plays longer than its yardage suggests. Aim right with your tee shot as there is much more room than is visible from the tee. The very deep and slightly elevated green is mostly hidden for your approach so it will be difficult to tell where the hole is located.

Named ‘Foxy’ this is the only hole on the course without a bunker. The left side of the fairway is full of mounds, while the right side has many grassy peninsulas protruding out towards the fairway and defending the right of the elevated green, which has a steep rise of about 5ft at the front with a 10ft drop left and right.

Make sure you stay on the fairway with your drive as there is a 140-metre cliff on the left and a 20-metre drop on the right. The key to this hole is to keep it simple, three or four straight shots and you are safely on the green.

Who wouldn’t want to play this hole with the pin in the Sunday position, land your ball in the right place on the green and watch it roll towards the hole for a chance of bagging an ace! Played entirely over water to a green secured by three bunkers it is still a tough ask.

The Road Hole at St Andrews is one of the most famous holes in golf with a reputation of being the toughest par 4 on The Open rota. The approach to the green should be up the right, avoiding the Road Hole Bunker at all costs but you also need to make sure you don’t go long and end up on the road.

The final hole at Pinnacle Point plays along the cliff edge of Eden Bay with a fairway that slopes right to left all the way to the hole. A drive up the right is essential leaving a downhill approach that could be pitched short to roll onto the green.