In this video, the Golf Monthly team take a look at the Top 100 UK & Ireland golf courses. Rob Smith, Jezz Ellwood and Mike Harris all pick two courses outside of the top 25 that you might not already be aware. They discuss what makes these golf courses so good and why they are well worth a visit!
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00:00 Hello and welcome to this video on hidden gem golf courses.
00:03 If you're looking for some golfing inspiration this year,
00:06 then this video is definitely for you.
00:08 You're gonna hear from Rob Smith and Jeremy Elwood
00:11 who run our Top 100 Courses panel,
00:13 and Mike Harris, the editor of Golf Monthly as well.
00:16 And I've asked them all to take a look
00:18 on our top 100 courses in the UK and Ireland,
00:21 and pick two courses that don't feature
00:24 maybe at the top end of that top 100,
00:27 but that are well worth the visit that you may,
00:30 may not have already heard about before.
00:33 We're here at the beautiful Wapleston Golf Club.
00:36 Let's get started.
00:37 (upbeat music)
00:40 Right, so let's focus on some hidden gems.
00:50 I think it's fair to say that when we talk
00:51 about our top 100 courses,
00:53 there aren't that many hidden gems amongst them
00:55 because a lot of them are very well known.
00:57 So the challenge that I set these three
00:59 was to take out the top 25.
01:01 So you're not allowed to pick anything
01:02 that's in the top 25,
01:04 but I do want you to highlight some courses
01:06 that people watching this video
01:07 may not have already considered
01:09 if they're thinking about playing somewhere
01:11 that's a real wow golf course.
01:13 So, Jez, I'm gonna start with you.
01:15 What's your, two each,
01:17 what's your first nomination as a hidden gem?
01:19 - Okay, well I'm gonna go with Doonbeg,
01:21 which is in County Clare, West Coast of Ireland,
01:23 now called Trump International Golf Links,
01:26 I believe, Ireland.
01:27 I played it just after it opened in 2003, I think.
01:32 And I'd played quite a few classic old links by then,
01:35 but never anything quite like this
01:37 in amongst the towering dunes.
01:38 And to be honest, it just blew me away.
01:40 It was just a fantastic golfing experience
01:43 from start to finish, real wow factor.
01:45 And that sort of sparked my enthusiasm
01:47 for modern links with the towering dunes
01:50 like Trump Aberdeen and Rossapenna Sandy Hills.
01:53 And some purists probably balk at the idea of modern links,
01:58 whereas I actually really embrace them
02:00 and enjoy them as much as possibly, if not more so,
02:04 than some of the older links.
02:05 - Yeah, I would throw Castle Stewart into the mix
02:07 on that front, 'cause I think that's a fantastic golf course.
02:09 Now, Jez, what number is it on the list?
02:11 - It's 47th, so just inside the top 50.
02:15 - And if those people who are maybe putting a trip together
02:17 and they want to play somewhere else,
02:18 where else could they play in the area?
02:21 - Well, the obvious one is Le Hinge,
02:23 which is higher in the rankings,
02:25 much older traditional old links.
02:27 But actually when they built Le Hinge,
02:29 they looked at the plot of land
02:31 where Doonbeg was subsequently built
02:33 and decided to build it elsewhere.
02:34 But it was earmarked for potential golf course
02:37 sort of a hundred years before it became a golf course.
02:40 - Okay, okay, so that's Doonbeg
02:42 or Trump International Golf Links, Ireland.
02:44 Mike, over to you.
02:45 - So my first one is Wallasey.
02:48 It's a new entry in the list, this time at number 89.
02:53 It has been on the verge of getting in for a while,
02:58 I would say, but the level of work
03:00 that's been going on at Wallasey in the last few years
03:04 under the stewardship of John McLaughlin,
03:07 his course manager there,
03:09 really I think it's fully deserving of its place.
03:12 And interestingly, I first played it,
03:14 I think on my stag weekend.
03:15 So talking about 20 odd years ago,
03:18 and I've been back and played it
03:19 a number of times subsequently.
03:21 I always felt like it's a really great golf course.
03:23 There's some very spectacular holes overlooking the sea,
03:28 but they've done a lot of work
03:29 and they've brought, I guess,
03:30 the standard of some of the weaker holes up.
03:33 And it's a great experience, lovely,
03:35 very, really, really friendly club.
03:36 It probably sits in the shadow of Royal Liverpool,
03:40 which is literally just up the road.
03:42 - Okay, so Rob, over to you then.
03:43 What's your first nomination?
03:45 - Well, like the other two, I've gone for Links,
03:48 but sort of midway between the two.
03:49 So not a totally modern, but also not traditional.
03:51 I've gone for Enniscrown in Ireland,
03:53 which is kind of midway-ish between County Sligo and Carn.
03:58 And it was built in the mid '70s.
03:59 Eddie Haddackett was the designer.
04:02 You start off from the most ridiculously open bit of land.
04:05 You think, well, what's going on here?
04:06 And then you turn immediately into the dunes.
04:08 You then come out of them
04:09 and you play down some holes down by the river.
04:10 And then you go back for, cliche alert,
04:12 a rollercoaster ride for a few holes
04:15 with some cracking path eyes
04:17 and some dog legs where you hit down into little valleys.
04:19 And then you go around the corner up to greens on shelves.
04:21 It's just enormous fun from start to finish.
04:23 And it really is a lovely, lovely golf course.
04:26 - I think it's quite an important point to make here
04:28 about the courses on the Top 100,
04:30 that you want there to be an element of fun, don't you?
04:33 And there'll be some courses,
04:34 perhaps that people think,
04:35 "Oh, is that really a Top 100 course?"
04:37 But as you just said there, when you describe it,
04:38 I can see how animated you are with it, Rob.
04:41 And you're like, "Well, it's such good fun to play."
04:43 - Yeah, absolutely.
04:44 I think fun is an important factor.
04:46 We don't really figure it in to the rankings
04:48 in terms of the criteria, the formal criteria,
04:50 but you have to bear in mind,
04:51 everyone is looking at these courses.
04:53 And as they think about the categories that we do have,
04:56 you can't actually divorce that from fun
04:58 because you can't think it's a great strategic test
05:01 if you're not enjoying it.
05:02 So, fun has to be a part of it.
05:04 - I think hidden gems is an interesting term
05:06 because if you're in that area,
05:09 you'll know all about that course.
05:11 But venture further afield.
05:12 And apart from the very top courses,
05:14 you'd be surprised how few golfers have really heard
05:17 of some of these very fine courses
05:18 that sit 50 to 100 or whatever.
05:21 Some of them are quite anonymous outside their home areas.
05:23 - Particularly, I think, when they're off the beaten track.
05:26 A lot of the courses, I must say,
05:27 that's probably my blind spot in top 100
05:30 is some of those further flung Irish courses.
05:33 I've never been to Enniscrown.
05:35 I would love to go, particularly.
05:37 Having seen some of the photography of it,
05:39 obviously, hear your description of it.
05:41 - Yeah, and it's a good point, actually.
05:43 Wherever you are in the world,
05:44 there will be a hidden gem golf course somewhere near you
05:46 that we probably haven't even heard of.
05:48 We'd love to hear your description of it.
05:50 So please do leave some comments below.
05:52 Jez, back to you, your second course.
05:54 - Well, let's go for my home county, West Sussex.
05:56 This is the only top 100 course in my home county,
06:00 and it's called West Sussex.
06:02 There is another course in East Sussex, Rye,
06:04 which is in the top 100.
06:05 But West Sussex is just a beautiful Heathland golf course.
06:09 You arrive and it's got this old school clubhouse,
06:12 a big practice ground.
06:14 And then the first is the only par five on the course.
06:17 So there's always this kind of,
06:18 right, I've got to make the most of this,
06:19 'cause there's nothing,
06:20 and invariably you don't, of course.
06:22 And then the fourth and fifth are probably two
06:24 of the prettiest back-to-back holes I've ever played.
06:26 There's a dogleg round to the left.
06:29 Not long, but testing enough.
06:31 And then a most beautiful par three in amongst the trees.
06:34 And you need to make the most of those,
06:35 'cause the hole after that is a quite ludicrous par three.
06:38 Down the hill, 230, 240 yards to a green
06:43 with banks either side and over water.
06:45 - So Mike, you went for Wallasey first, didn't you?
06:48 What's your second one?
06:49 - So my second one is Parkstone,
06:51 which is down in Dorset near Bournemouth.
06:53 Part of three courses that are down there,
06:57 Ferndown, Broadstone, and Parkstone.
07:00 Probably could have picked any of them, really.
07:02 Parkstone, what I really like about it
07:03 is there's lots of variety there.
07:06 Some really spectacular holes,
07:08 some nice changes in elevation.
07:11 Feels like it's not overly long.
07:13 There's some really good sporty holes there.
07:16 Always thought it's been in fantastic condition
07:18 when I've been there.
07:19 Love the clubhouse as well.
07:20 It's got amazing view over the 18th,
07:22 which is a par three to finish with.
07:25 So yeah, Parkstone, I think, which we have ranked at 81,
07:29 if I remember correctly,
07:30 is, would be my second choice for a hidden gem.
07:33 - Bonus prize is one of five in the top 100
07:35 that finish with a par three.
07:37 If you can name the other four, leave a comment below.
07:40 I was gonna start trying,
07:41 but that wouldn't have made much viewing.
07:43 Okay, very good.
07:44 So Rob, what's your last one?
07:47 - Well, my second is,
07:48 my first one was less well-known
07:50 because it's kind of in the middle of nowhere.
07:53 My other is not so well-known
07:54 because it's surrounded by bigger names,
07:56 which is a kind of a feature which we've mentioned, really.
07:59 I'm going for Westingales,
08:00 which is number 46 in the new rankings.
08:04 This is an old school length,
08:08 but delightfully play four holes inland heading north.
08:12 Then you reach the coast and you just have a,
08:14 you just run for nine holes all the way down the beach
08:17 with some sunken greens, some sort of punch bowl greens.
08:22 It's just a delight
08:24 if the wind is behaving in the right way too.
08:26 And then of course you turn for potentially really tough
08:29 14 to 18 back up towards the lovely clubhouse.
08:32 I think it's got tons of charm.
08:34 It's less well-known
08:36 because of Turnberry, Prestwick and Troom, which are so close,
08:39 but it really is well worth visiting
08:42 for anybody who doesn't yet know it.
08:43 - Yeah, there's a few areas within our top 100
08:46 where you can put together a brilliant trip.
08:47 You could go up to the East Lothian coast
08:49 or you could go to one of the spots in Ireland
08:52 to put together it.
08:52 This is another one.
08:53 You just listed off however many top 100 courses.
08:56 There's a few others actually in that area too.
08:58 - Well, Dundon or Lynx has gone in there.
09:00 - And we actually did that.
09:01 The three of us did that as a trip a few years ago.
09:03 We played 72 holes in two days.
09:06 It was a two day trip.
09:07 We went up and played Dundonald and Westingales on one day
09:12 and then Troon and Prestwick on the next day.
09:14 Really quite tired.
09:15 That's when we flew back.
09:17 - Ayrshire is the third most successful county.
09:20 Join the third most successful county in our top 100.
09:23 Behind Surrey, which excels.
09:25 And then Merseyside, which if you break it down
09:28 is bits of Lancashire and Cheshire and what have you,
09:30 but that's the second most successful.
09:32 And then it's Ayrshire and I think Aberdeenshire on four.
09:35 - Wow, good knowledge.
09:36 - Yeah, I've just written about it.
09:37 (laughing)
09:39 - Very good, so there you have it.
09:40 Hopefully that offers you some inspiration
09:42 for if you're putting a golf trip together
09:44 or just generally if you live in one of these areas
09:46 and maybe haven't played one of these golf courses,
09:48 then they are well worth going out to see for yourself
09:51 because I think all of us, anyone who's in love with golf,
09:55 loves the chance of playing great golf courses.
09:57 And these are fantastic golf courses
09:59 that are well worth the mention.
10:01 So that's it for now.
10:02 Thank you very much for watching,
10:03 but for now from Wapleston, it's goodbye.
10:06 (upbeat music)
10:08 (upbeat music)