Foxwood Country Club in Jacksonville, AR is adjacent to the very busy UP main that runs northeast out of North Little Rock.
That’s the Colonial Country Club in SW Fort Worth which is just south of UP’s Davidson Yard (the ex-TP Centennial Yard. You can’t really see the railroad from the golf course as there is a river and lot’s of trees between the two. But you are right, you can hear the whistle signals from the yard at the tournament!
North Conway/Vermont/Maine, etc…might make a good roadtrip this summer.
Ed
From where I am there are a couple of golf courses that immediately come into mind where the tracks are nearby. Between the towns of Hampstead and Manchester, MD is a golf course called Oakmont Green. While it doesn’t cut through the course, Holes 3 and 4 are right next to CSX’s Hanover Sub, with holes 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, and 17 w/in viewing distance. The other course is the Francis Scott Key Golf Club, formerly the River Downs Golf Course. I haven’t played there in quite a while (and the course is a devil to play to begin with) but there are a few holes that parallel or are w/in viewing distance of the tracks. The tracks there belong to the Maryland Midland, which is now owned by Genesse and Western. Neither line sees a lot of traffic (at best maybe one train on the MM and perhaps two trains on CSX during daylight hours) but it is a treat when you do see a train on those courses. Both lines btw are former Western Maryland tracks.
If you’re in the area I would recommend Green River G. C. in Corona. It sits on the BNSF Transcon which guarantees you many opportunities to see some action. There are two courses of which the Riverside has a better view of the ROW from most of its holes. For me, even if my game is in the crapper (quite often) at least I can do some railfanning. Stopping to take pictures however, would be frowned upon by your fellow hackers.
Yes, they have them at Pinehurst, NC along the Aberdeen, Carolina & Western (former Norfolk Southern). The Pinehurst Resort is an former railroad resort - there is an old siding and station and a couple of the holes are right next to the tracks.
My guess is that there are a lot of former railroad resorts which have golf courses right by railroad tracks - places like Hot Springs in Virginia and The Greenbrier in West Virginia were developed either by the railroads or along the railroads.
In Fremont Nebraska the public course has the former CNW cowboy line cutting right thru it , which is now operated by the Fremont Elkhorn Valley line now, It also has the BMSF Sioux City line running along the west side of the course Larry
My step-sister once played a course in, I believe, Golden Valley, Minnesota that had 3 tracks coming in with a junction in the middle. From the air it must look like a 3 spoked wheel. On one side is a 9 nine hole course, and the other 2 sides are an 18 hole course. There is a tunnel under the tracks to get from one section to another. I have no idea as to railroad or how busy it is.
There’s a course east of Frazee, MN that’s just across the highway from the BNSF Minneapolis to Fargo doubletrack. Lots of trains, but because the course is hilly you can only see the trains in certain spots. But you can sure hear them.
In Huron, SD there’s a course within 2 blocks of the DM&E’s viaduct over the James River and you can see the trains from anywhere on the course.
WWhat about Scotland? All our UK posters step in. I remember going north out of Edinberg and traveling along side the coast and there was a golf course between our train and the water, The terrain was gosh awful for playing golf but the course was immaculate…
By the way, only slightly OT, does anybody here remember a PGA pro golfer named Ed Dougherty? He was an excellent golfer but in the bigger picture was just one of the pack in an era of Nicklaus, Trevino, etc. I used to go to all four days of the Greater Milwaukee Open, and since that tourney rarely attracted the biggest names (although I did see Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Hubert Green, Ken Still, Lee Elder, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Gibby Gilbert, and some older stars like Art Wall (who won!) Julius Boros and Sam Snead) guys like Dougherty had a legit chance to win. In fact it may be Dougherty did win it one year, I at least seem to recall a playoff round. Memories grow a little dim on this, sorry.
Anyway his golf bag carried by his caddie said, in big letters “I COLLECT LIONEL TRAINS.” And I think there was a phone number. I actually saw guys go up to him during the round (usually a big no-no in a pro tour event) presumably to talk trains! Any chance Dougherty visits these forums because I bet he really knows what courses are near the tracks!
Dave Nelson
Four in NE Minnesota that I know of. The Silver Bay Muni is adjacent to the Cliffs Northshore tracks. The Virginia Muni is within sight of the CN tracks. The Hibbing Muni is adjacent to the BNSF tracks through town. The Hoyt Lakes Muni is within sight of the CN line to Two Harbors.
Being innocent of golf, “Play the ball where it lies.” How do you hit a ball that lands between points of a switch?
Terrain is gosh awful for playing golf? Eh? It is as nature intended, seaside links. No hiding from the wind, no trees to keep you safe, no target golf…you have to plot yer way round… To answer the question, on the Open Rota: Carnoustie (feared), Hoylake (the Wirral), Royal Lytham and St Annes (Blackpool), Troon, Turnberry…all these have active railway lines bordering the course. In one case (Lytham) the line is a passenger only unit dominated branch, Hoylake is part of the MERSEYRAIL 3rd Rail network and the Scots courses have a mixture… St Andrews runs partly alongside a dismantled railway from Leuchars Jcn, the 17th (the Road Hole) runsa alongside it. It is now a footpath and the former station is a hotel. There are plans to reopen the branch (the town has a very famous University, well it became so after Prince William - 3rd in line to the throne - attended) but these flare up and die down. On the rota from memory only Royal St. Georges (Sandwich in Kent) is not close to a railway. Other famous clubs such as Wentworth, Sunningdale and the likes also abut the railway. Indeed two have their own stations: Denham Golf Club (on the former GC/GWR line ex Marylebone) and Barry Links (on the former NBR(?) then LNER from Dundee to Aberdeen).
Yeghes da.
K.P. Where are you?
I was waiting for you to step in. Even though its not RR the San Diego trolley goes right through a golf course from Old Town to Fashion Valley station. Last time I was on that leg I could not believe the number of golf balls on the tracks. Must have been at least 500?
Well K.P. where are your pictures?.
So Ridewithmehenry rode MNRR/NJT Thur 3/11 from Port Jervis, NY to Gladstone, NJ and return yesterday but failed to write down golf courses as promised. For one thing, they aren’t marked by name, for another is several places it seemed like there were two or more courses side by side and back to back, and for another reason the snow cover made some courses unnotable! But the train riding was great!
The Landa Park golf course in New Braunfels, TX is bi-sected by the UP main (nee Katy). There is a small crossing across the main for golf carts (although I am not sure if that is still in place).
The Thendara (NY) golf course is next to the tracks, with some intervening trees. Nonetheless, one day when I was calling clearances for our daily push move I spotted a golf ball in the gauge. It disappeared, so either a golfer found it, or someone hiking on the ROW.
If I’m narrating during that trip, I usually refer to spotting the “elusive (day of week) morning golfer…”
blue streak 1 (3-11):
In response to …
Well … This past Saturday I was involved in a wild goose chase on Beaumont Hill (CA) for the thread “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates.”
On the way back, I attempted to photograph some golf greens in San Timoteo Canyon with the tracks in the view, but was thwarted by the proliferation of no parking signs believed to have been inspired by Union Pacific in response to the high cargo theft problem of their trains.
I didn’t have the time Saturday to hike in a few miles to get envisioned photos, but perhaps sometime in the future that might be attempted.
As far as San Diego is concerned … It would be great to get some more photos of the San Diego Trolley Green Line. I have relatives on my wife’s side in the San Diego area … So somewhere within the next six months circumstances might just find me trackside on the Green Line … And it seems all those golf balls on the Trolle
While it’s not a public course, I think it deserves mentioning Oakmont Country Club which one of the best courses in the US has the former Bessemer & Lake Erie (now CN) line running through part of it. Llisten carefully the next time a tournament is held there and you’ll hear trains in the background when they go through.
Brian