In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by Rob Smith & Jeremy Ellwood, who are in charge of Golf Monthly's Top 100, and Golf Monthly's editor Mike Harris to run through the top 10 of Golf Monthly's Top 100 golf courses in the UK & Ireland for 2023/24. How many of the top 10 have you played?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to Warpleston Golf Club and this video
00:04 in which we're going to take a look at the top 10 golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
00:10 So I'm going to be joined by Rob Smith and Jeremy Elwood who run our Top 100 Courses panel and Mike Harris
00:16 who's the editor of Golf Monthly and we're going to discuss what makes these 10 golf courses so special.
00:22 We're going to run it through from 10 through to 1, so make sure you watch through to the end to find out what comes out
00:26 on top. Right, let's get started.
00:29 [Music]
00:36 Okay, so we're going to start at number 10 and work our way down to number 1 and actually we'll start with 10 and 9
00:42 together because they are the same venue, the same golf club, but two separate golf courses.
00:47 Mike, you're going to kick us off and we're looking at the two Sunningdales here.
00:50 We are indeed and interestingly for a number of years we had the new ranked above the old and I think that
00:59 most people would agree that the new is a harder golf course. I would.
01:04 It's a really, really strong test of golf. If you're not on your game it will really find you out.
01:11 But actually we've promoted the old ahead of the new. I think we did it at the last rankings and it stayed ahead this time.
01:20 I think we've done that just because it is such a delightful 18 holes of golf. Even if you're playing not the best,
01:28 you will still really, really enjoy the old. There are some incredible holes on there.
01:34 I do think the ambiance of the old is such a charming golf course. The new as well, again some amazing holes.
01:43 That sweeping par 5, where big hitters like you take it over the corner and the rest of us go out to the left.
01:50 The par 3 before that, which is the 4th I think, sorry the 5th and then the par 5 is the 6th.
01:57 That's right. And then such a great run of holes around the turn as well.
02:02 The 10th lovely par 3 that goes back to the halfway hut. In fact both of the 10ths go to the halfway hut, don't they?
02:10 And of course no visit to Sunningsdale is complete without a stop at the halfway hut for a sausage sandwich and a drink of your choice.
02:18 But I think together it's the best 36 holes comfortably in GBNI, possibly in the world. And it's a wonderful place to visit.
02:28 As I say, what's unique about Sunningsdale is that you've got two golf courses that are very similar in terms of,
02:33 obviously they're similar in terms of sitting at 10 and 9 on our list, but they're quite different actually to play.
02:38 As you said Mike, one of them's a lot, I'd say a lot harder than the other one, but they do play quite different even though they're on the same bit of land.
02:46 It's not because I find the same at the Berkshire. You have two that are side by side.
02:50 I think the blue is substantially tougher than the red. Maybe it's because of the pars and so on.
02:55 But it seems to be a feature of the Surrey Berkshire ball is that you've got these fabulous 36 hole venues like that.
03:00 So let me put you all on the spot. If you were going to play one of those Sunningsdale courses tomorrow, but only one of them, which one would you go for, Jez?
03:08 I'd go for the new because I didn't play a lot of good golf last year, but one of my best rounds was on the new, so it's fresh in the mind.
03:14 But I particularly like that fifth and sixth back to back combo, which is probably two of the best back to back holes in the UK.
03:20 There you go. Mike?
03:22 It would depend on how I was playing. If I'm playing well, I'd play on the new because it's a great test of golf.
03:28 But if I'm not playing so well, I think it's a pretty relentless golf course.
03:32 So I'd opt for the old, which I think is a bit more, it's a bit more user friendly.
03:37 I think you're going to have an enjoyable round, whether you play well or not.
03:42 And I would opt for the old as well, for fairly obvious reasons, particularly as we're in, now we're recording this in the sort of height of winter, really.
03:49 And I'm not getting a great deal of distance.
03:52 So the old will keep a smile on your face the whole way, whereas the new might actually start to make you frown.
03:59 How about you?
04:00 I'd go for the old too. I'd go for the old.
04:02 But regardless, as you said, I'd definitely take a bit of time at the halfway heart. Whichever one I play.
04:07 OK, so number eight on our list is Royal Portrush.
04:13 Rob, are you looking at Royal Portrush for us?
04:14 Yeah, I first played it back in the late 80s, early 90s, I think, and fell in love with it straight away.
04:20 It's a classic Lynx, but has got some fabulous students as well.
04:25 There's a Harry Colt course and I'm a big fan of Colt, as are many people, obviously.
04:29 He's one of the greatest architects of all time.
04:32 It was always a great course anyway, and it kind of came back even higher in the public eye when it got the open back four years ago, in 2019.
04:41 And of course, Mackenzie Nebert came in and did some changes as well, including two new holes, which is quite important because the work had a slightly weaker finish.
04:48 So it's kind of come up in our rankings based on the fact we've got two fabulous new holes as well.
04:53 So you had the fifth and the 16th, which were glorious in the first place.
04:56 You've now got the two new holes as well. It's an absolute cracker from start to finish now.
05:00 But hard as well, though.
05:01 Very hard, as is evident by the fact it's got the opening already again, back in two years' time.
05:06 Everyone loved it. The 2019 opening was a huge success.
05:10 And the public acclaim and the worldwide acclaim was so great that it's going back there straight away.
05:14 Right, moving on. We need to get to course number seven, Jez, on our list, which is Canusti.
05:20 Canusti is, people will often say about Canusti, it's a fantastic girl, of course.
05:25 The views are not great. It's enclosed by houses and it's not a great sea view golf course.
05:32 But I think bunkering and burns are what Canusti is all about.
05:36 The two Bs.
05:37 They're always in the wrong place for where you as a golfer tend to hit it.
05:40 Some fairways have bunkers both sides in the driving zone, some just on one side.
05:45 And then you get this added factor of the burns, not just on the closing stretch, but on early holes like the third,
05:51 where I think now some of the big hitting guys can get pretty close to the green on the third, can't really knock it on.
05:57 But for me and more, it was your factoring in having to clear that burn on the second shot.
06:02 I just think it's such a brilliantly bunkered golf course and then as tough a finish as you'll encounter anywhere.
06:08 Yeah, I think that you're right there, Jez.
06:10 That feeling with some of these golf courses, the ones where maybe they don't have the breathtaking views of Royal Portrush
06:16 or another one that appears on our list a bit further down.
06:19 They do then need to have that amazing bunkering, that definition that you get off the tee at places like Cunnington.
06:25 Yeah, a lot of people say it's the best bunkered golf course in the UK and I probably wouldn't disagree with that.
06:33 Yeah. Right, so on to number six on our list.
06:36 And Rob, you're going to take a look at Royal Dornan.
06:38 But before you talk about the golf course itself, just talk a bit about the club because I've no doubt in my mind,
06:42 it's one of the friendliest courses I think I've ever been to.
06:47 Just so you get that sense immediately as you arrive that you're almost like a member of the club for the day.
06:51 Well, you certainly do. And that's because going back, it was a real pilgrimage to go there.
06:55 Again, going back some time when I first went, you had to take the ferry from Inverness.
06:59 You didn't have to, but it was the quickest way to get the ferry across the Cromwelly Foot.
07:03 And therefore, once you got there, it was a very special place to go to.
07:06 And because it was off the beaten track, it was, of course, a little less stuffy than some of the other clubs
07:10 and has always therefore been welcoming as a result.
07:13 Yeah. And it's welcoming. But then you get out onto the golf course and it's a fantastic place to play golf.
07:18 Tell us a bit about the golf course.
07:20 Well, the setting is just dream, isn't it? It's so remote.
07:23 You've got kind of almost like a two level thing working your way down to the shore.
07:26 And you look back across and it's just a traditional out and back, some super tough holes.
07:32 If you play in a strong wind, you might really find it quite tough.
07:36 But of course, like elsewhere, it's improving all the time, too.
07:39 So they have since the last rankings, they have a new 7th hole, half 4, which has been realigned
07:44 to kind of open up the views across the Firth Moor and make it even more sexy to look at as you play.
07:51 They're working currently, as we speak, on the 8th to build a new tee to create the views again and then open that up as well.
07:58 So like many places, it's not resting on its already very high laurels. It's improving all the time.
08:03 Yeah. And it's a brilliant place to play golf.
08:06 OK, so course number five on our list is Royal Birkdale.
08:09 Rob, another open venue, beautiful golf course to look at. What makes it so good?
08:14 Well, looking back at the rankings since we've been going, which is about 20 years now,
08:18 this has been the leading course in England the whole way through.
08:22 I was lucky enough to play there again last summer and I already knew it was great before I went.
08:27 But going back, I just couldn't believe how good it is.
08:30 It's got 18 strong holes all the way through.
08:33 It's got fantastic dunes for England, particularly for the northwest, which is a cracking coastline all the way through.
08:39 But it's got some of the best dunes. I just loved it from start to finish.
08:43 It's also super friendly, strangely enough.
08:45 For an open championship venue, members are very friendly and welcoming.
08:49 I saw the management team. I was absolutely blown away going back again.
08:53 When last time I was there for the open, which would have been the year that Jordan Spieth won,
08:56 I remember standing on the first tee and thinking this is possibly the most intimidating shot ever.
09:01 It's a dogleg right to left, there's wind all the way off the left hand side.
09:04 It's got a few things both ways actually.
09:06 For most golfers, you've got to hit it out there and then you've got to draw it and then fade it, which is not...
09:13 So let me ask you, what makes it such a good golf course then?
09:16 Well, I mean, I think it was rerouted many years ago to play along the valleys rather than up and over the hills.
09:24 And probably for the older English links courses, it has some really impressive dunes and you play along valleys between them.
09:33 Every hole is almost like a whale.
09:35 I think it's a really fair golf course as well.
09:39 You don't tend to get those quirky links slides that you might get at somewhere like a Royal St George's perhaps.
09:49 When it comes to ranking a golf course for the top 100 courses in Golf Monthly,
09:54 you don't just take a look at just the quality of the test and design, there are some other factors as well.
09:58 Take a look at the video that's on that subject as well to know more.
10:01 OK, so for number four on our list, we're going back north of the border to Scotland.
10:05 Mike, Muirfield.
10:07 Yeah, well, it's an incredible golf course.
10:10 We had it number one for a number of years.
10:15 Although it's at number four, it is still an epic golf course.
10:19 I think the thing about Muirfield that everybody acknowledges is strength is rooting, it's two concentric nines.
10:26 So you are never playing in the same direction two holes in a row, which means that the wind is constant.
10:33 There's always a wind there at Muirfield, it's constantly shifting.
10:36 You've really got to take that into account.
10:39 A very, very strong test.
10:42 It's a hard golf course.
10:44 There's some really enjoyable holes, but it is a difficult golf course.
10:48 You'll get a lot of great bunkering there.
10:51 So we're staying in Scotland for number three.
10:54 We're going to go to Turnberry, Jez, which has always been one of the most beautiful golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
11:00 But tell us a bit about the test that you find when you get there.
11:03 Well, it was always regarded as the most visually picturesque of the open.
11:08 It's not on the road at the moment, but picturesque of the open road to Venice because it's so close to the coastline there in Ayrshire.
11:15 And the front nine in particular and the turn, you're hugging the shore all the way.
11:19 And I think there was some perhaps some concern when someone came in in 2016 to start doing some changes.
11:25 You know, what can you do to to improve this already fantastic course?
11:29 The masterpiece of a golf course. How do you improve it?
11:31 And, you know, particularly when you found out he was going to be doing holes like 9, 10 and 11, which were already right on that rocky shore.
11:38 And then the results that he managed to create proved that it was all justified because it just raised it, raised the whole thing another notch on the old scale.
11:48 And it is just an immense experience.
11:50 And he's also improved holes on the back nine that traditionally were perhaps a little bit weaker.
11:55 You know, you now play the 14th is now par five, coming back up to where the old ninth fairway was.
12:01 That's making far better use of the land than when the ninth was this kind of unusual par four with the Hogsback fairway.
12:08 And the whole thing has just gone up several notches.
12:12 I think it explains why we do this process every couple of years, because the best golf courses in the UK and Ireland, they are evolving, aren't they?
12:19 They're constantly evolving and changing. And as you said, you can take a masterpiece like Turnberry and make it even better.
12:25 I mean, few people would have thought that was even possible.
12:27 Well, particularly when you found out what holes he was going to be tinkering with.
12:31 But it was a job well done.
12:34 OK, so number two is St Andrews. The old course at St Andrews had to be high up on the list. Of course it did.
12:42 Mike, tell us a bit about St Andrews.
12:45 I think everybody knows it's the most famous golf course in the world, home of golf.
12:51 And when you play there, you are walking in the footsteps of everybody who's who of the game.
12:58 Molton, Morris, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods.
13:03 And it's an incredible experience.
13:06 What I really like about St Andrews is it is playable for all levels of golfer.
13:11 You've got to do quite well to lose a golf ball. You probably would have to hit it in one of the wind bushes that are sort of around.
13:19 Although they've taken out quite a lot of the winds, it's pretty difficult to lose a golf ball.
13:23 Yeah, I've always found that it was not fairly straightforward, fairly straightforward-ish to get an OK score.
13:32 Yeah, quite difficult to get a really good score because you've got to be a bit more ambitious and a bit more aggressive.
13:38 And you've got to be putting well because you are going to have a lot of long putts.
13:42 Yes, mega putts.
13:43 Big double greens and some, you know, some subtle movements in some of them.
13:49 And you think that, you know, the really hard holes are, you know, hard, but then you can easily get caught out.
13:55 I remember playing in a medal, which was going really quite nicely.
13:59 I think I was one or two over, stood on the 12th tee and had an eight.
14:05 It feels like it's a potential birdie opportunity.
14:10 You know, St Andrews gives you decisions to make and it's sort of, I really should have hit driver, but I hit hybrid, hit it into one of the fairway bunkers.
14:19 I think it took two to get out. Then I, oh, I don't know, the red mist came down.
14:24 And then you've got that green with the step in it.
14:27 It's, yeah, there are plenty of places to come across, but it is quite user friendly.
14:33 It's only consolation Paul Casey came and cropped a lead at the end of the year when Hoosetowers of Money opened and he made a hat trick.
14:39 I think what sums it up, Playable for All, the very first time I played there on the two par threes, I had a two on one and a 13 on the other.
14:50 Consistency has always been a hard one.
14:54 So before we move on to the top ranked course on the list, what's it like to play the first and the 18th at St Andrews?
15:02 It's still for me, I mean, I must have played the old course 20 plus times.
15:07 It is still a magical feeling stood on the first tee, hitting down there.
15:13 And then the journey up 18 is, you know, it's amazing. Walk over the bridge.
15:18 Waving to the imaginary crowd as you go.
15:20 You've got to have a photograph on the bridge, you know, particularly if it's your first time and if you're taking friends.
15:27 It's a really special experience. And then walking up there with obviously R&A Clubhouse and Hamilton Grand behind it.
15:35 I know, Neil, you had a room in Hamilton. Yeah, it was my hall of residence at university.
15:39 What a room with a view.
15:41 And of course, you've got all these sort of famous buildings, Roussac and all the others up the right hand side.
15:47 Normally you've got a crowd behind the 18th green, which is pretty inspiring.
15:53 Can be a little bit daunting, but it's just an incredible place to play golf.
15:57 And I would recommend it for everybody. Put it on there.
16:01 I know it's probably on everybody's bucket list, but it is well worth the pilgrimage.
16:05 It is. It really is. OK, so that leads us to number one on our list.
16:09 And for this one, we're going back over to Northern Ireland and Royal County Down.
16:15 Who has played Royal County Down most recently?
16:18 I've played it most recently. I've also been right next door to it most recently and not played it.
16:24 So, Jez, right, you've got on this list the best inland courses, the best Lynx golf courses.
16:30 Why does this one stand out for you?
16:32 Well, I think people have always a lot of people think it's the best golf course in the world.
16:36 That's always been touted as being up there. I don't know whether I agree with that or not.
16:41 But it's as a setting for golf, you know, surrounded by mountains.
16:46 You've got the sea, you've got the iconic town, townscape with the towering buildings and the hotel, isn't it, next door?
16:55 Yeah. Sleave Donard. And it's got a magical feel about it, the whole place.
17:00 And then you get on the course and the first three holes sort of play along the coast, gently uphill, isn't it?
17:07 You climb up to the to the fourth tee and then look back down and get the whole of that view.
17:14 And I know, you know, the views are not the major part of our rankings, but given that they are still a decent percentage,
17:22 this one would score as highly as anywhere for the visual appeal.
17:25 And then some of the individual holes are just fantastic to play.
17:29 What do you have to do well to shoot a good score at Royal Kansas? Apart from play very well?
17:35 You have to go on a day when it's not windy.
17:38 Stay out of the bunkers and it's a well bunkered golf course. And you've got to know your lines on some of the shots
17:47 where you can't necessarily see exactly where you're going, like the ninth and the eleventh in particular.
17:54 Can I ask you a question about blind shots? Because when we talked, Mike mentioned earlier about, I think it was Burtdale,
18:00 saying it's such a fair golf course. And when people talk about fair golf course,
18:03 immediately the thing that goes off in my mind is that it's fair because you can see everything in front of you.
18:07 But Royal Kansas is one of those golf courses where you do have a few blind shots to encounter.
18:13 Are they a good thing? Are they a bad thing? How do you feel about that sort of make up and how it works in golf?
18:19 I've never been against them because I've played a lot of golf on quirky old golf courses where you get a lot of blind shots.
18:26 And probably no designer would design a blind hole or shot these days.
18:32 But playing them on some of these classic old links seems entirely in keeping.
18:36 I think when you think of Prestwick and that blind par three straight over the hill,
18:41 if you play that and you can't enjoy the experience of coming over the top and seeing where your ball is,
18:47 I have no objection to them. I don't know what the other guys think.
18:50 I totally agree. It's part of the tradition of the game, isn't it? It's part of the stepping back in time,
18:55 part of embracing what golf started off as, just going out there into the elements. I'm all for it.
19:00 Because if you're hitting somewhere that's then very quirky, I mean, you and I played at Ainswick this year,
19:06 which was about as quirky a golf course. And so many blind shots.
19:10 And I think you just had to embrace it for what it was.
19:13 But yeah, you were hitting in some pretty funky places.
19:16 Interestingly, I did an interview with Sam Hutsby this week and he played the Irish Open there.
19:21 And he was saying he built his practice round around hitting these marker posts.
19:25 But then for the tournament, they took all the markers they said.
19:28 So he's suddenly looking at his notes and it's saying hit towards marker post and there is no marker post.
19:33 So, you know, that shows you how there are obviously enough blind shots there for someone to be hitting towards.
19:38 Now can I ask you, if you were going to play Royal Countdown tomorrow, would you want it to be dead calm, flat calm?
19:42 Or would you want there to be a wind?
19:44 I think I'd want it to be relatively calm because anything more than about a two or three club wind
19:50 and I know I'm not going to be scoring particularly well.
19:53 I think you want when you play links golf, you want there to be some wind because it's part of the experience.
20:00 But yeah, it can get, I played it in really poor weather and it's still, you know, men's test of golf, great challenge.
20:09 But yeah, sometimes I think for ordinary golfers, then you don't want the wind to be up too much.
20:14 Maybe like a two club wind, help you on most holes.
20:18 But you particularly want it on your approach shots, don't you?
20:20 Because it really makes you think, on the drive it can kill you, but on the approach shots,
20:24 you've really got to take into account the extra club or the one club less or whatever.
20:28 And then you can start to play bump and run shots. I'd say the wind out of play.
20:32 But no, I think a bit of wind.
20:34 And maybe that explains why Link's Course is featured so heavily in that top 10 list from our top 100.
20:38 So a quick recap. So it's Sunningdale new at 10, Sunningdale old at nine, Royal Portrush, Carnoustie, Royal Dornoch.
20:47 Number five is Royal Birkdale, then it's Muirfield, Turnberry, the old course at St Andrews.
20:52 And finally, in at number one is Royal Countydown.
20:55 And thank you very much for watching this video.
20:57 If you've played any of the golf courses we've talked about here, then we'd love to hear what you have to say about them.
21:02 But for now, from Wapleston Golf Club, it's goodbye.
21:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]
21:09 (dramatic music)