In this video, Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland senior panellists Rob Smith and Jezz Ellwood discuss the best holes in the UK and Ireland. They are joined by Golf Monthly editor Michael Harris and the three of them each pick their favour par 3s, 4s and 5s from the Top 100 list. These are some of the most beautifully challenging holes in the world and the team discuss what makes them so special.
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to this video in which we're going to
00:03take a look at some of the best golf holes in the UK and Ireland in association with Peter Millar.
00:09Now the way in which we've worked this video is that I've recruited the help of Rob Smith
00:13and Jez Elwood who run our Top 100 Courses panel and Golf Monthly editor Mike Harris and I've asked
00:19them all for a nomination for their favourite par 3, par 4 and par 5. We're going to discuss
00:25exactly what makes these golf holes so special both in terms of the quality of the test and the
00:30design and also what makes them really exciting to play once you get there. Right we're here at
00:36Wapleston Golf Club, let's get started. Right so we are going to start with par 3s and Rob you're
00:48up first. What are you nominating as your best or one of your best par 3s? Well it's tricky to pick
00:54one out of so many obviously but the one that's always been in my mind. Very often people say
00:59what's your favourite golfing day out? I say Sunningdale because of the two courses. It's the
01:04fifth on the new course at Sunningdale. It is just sublimely beautiful. It's about 180 off the
01:10very back tees, 160ish off the regular tees, big cross bunker hidden down below in front of the
01:17green. Then there's two more that you really can't see that much of on the right of the green
01:21and behind it you see that sixth par 5 heading up into the distance as well.
01:25It is just you could be standing there and be back a hundred years it would just have looked
01:30exactly the same. It's just beautiful and mentioning a hundred years it is centenary
01:34this year for the new course so it seems an appropriate one to put in. Yeah and I think
01:37with all of the par 3s in particular they should all be great photo opportunities really shouldn't
01:43they? So Mike what would you put up as a great par 3? Well so it's really interesting you say
01:48great photo opportunity because it's a hole that whenever I go and play as long as it's not raining
01:54I'll take a photograph of it and it's the 11th at Royal Liverpool. I'm very lucky to be a member
01:58there. I started playing golf there in my 20s when I was at university and very lucky to be a member
02:05there and it's called Alps. All the holes at Hoy Lake have have names and it's just beautiful.
02:12You've got the de-estuary out to your left and it's a beautiful hole it's got a big dune behind it
02:21about 180 yards I think something like that from the you know from the sort of green tees which are
02:26our metal tees at Hoy Lake and it's a really good test. There's normally always a crosswind
02:32very rarely when you've been playing it down or into it's normally off the left so to control the
02:37ball with that length of shot it's always a good normally for me like a hybrid or you know sort of
02:43five wood. It's a great hole they've done some more contouring work behind the green
02:50and it's great runoff there's a big bunk which you think shouldn't be in play at all it's sort of
02:54short and right but it a lot of balls yeah go in there and then it's a really difficult shot to
03:00get it out there but you've got this amazing view I love to you know sort of stand take a picture
03:05just sort of you know look up you know look at the beauty of the hole but it's a really really
03:09great hole but I always think a good test of any holes when you look back is a good view as well
03:14and yeah 11th at Hoy Lake definitely and actually any par three with a crosswind is is tricky getting
03:20the clubbing right is very difficult. Jess what have you got for well yeah as Rob says as a cast
03:25of thousands I actually went for the 15th at St Ennadoc which is a downhill par three mid-length
03:32and why I've particularly picked that out is because at that point in the round without being
03:38too unkind I think you've just played some of the less exciting holes at St Ennadoc yeah because
03:43there are some it's important to say there are some unbelievably exciting holes there are some
03:47fantastic holes and then it just goes into this little section which is a bit quieter shall we say
03:52and then you reach this T and it's downhill and you see the estuary beyond you and it just
03:58reinvigorates the round for the final push for home and 16 is a fantastic par five along the
04:03the camel estuary and then the last two holes are pretty strong as well but it just
04:07comes at the right time to give you that final push. There's something quite appealing about
04:11downhill yeah I think what is it you feel that you've seen the ball in flight but the whole way
04:16I don't know what it is you see everything don't you which you know an uphill path just inviting
04:20yeah you can't always see that much of the green the element of elevation brings you great visuals
04:26okay Jez well fantastic par three on a brilliant golf course Rob your par four that you've gone for
04:32is the opening hole it is and I think that actually opening holes is another good discussion
04:37point for top 100 but let's talk specifically about the first hole of the course that you've
04:42chosen here. Well I've chosen the the opening hole at Royal Porthcall which is one of my favourite
04:47courses we have it as the and most people do the the best course in Wales it's on a brilliant piece
04:52of lynxland that rises up from the coast and and so as you come out into the first you see those
04:57holes stretching up into the hills beyond you and it really whets the appetite. The first is not
05:02particularly demanding unless the wind is blowing in or out and it very often is. So it is quite
05:07demanding. I remember playing there with a group of a dozen or so of us and and it was absolutely
05:13howling in off the off the beach all of us of course tend to hit with a bit of a cut uh well
05:18one guy with us was delighted because he was a left-hander so it meant he could hit his first
05:22straight shot of the tour we all had to aim out over the beach to keep it back on the hole but
05:26it's a great hole so two or three bunkers down the left one on the right and then you've got a deep
05:30bunker short of the green but it eases you and it's not too difficult but it's really appealing
05:34really attractive and a great start to an absolutely great round. What makes a great
05:39opening I mean Rob you've just described it very well there but what do you think makes a good
05:43opening? Something that's not too hard yeah you've got to get get people away haven't you I think
05:47yeah from a from a golfer's perspective certainly from a design perspective you know it could be
05:52very different but a brutally difficult first hole when I can think of a couple in our top 100
05:58where you're almost guaranteed to make bogey at best is probably not ideal. I think it's something
06:02again it's that pace of play it's like you do not want people spending 15-20 minutes playing the
06:06first hole because it's so hard. Yeah and also when you're playing a medal and you're watching
06:10the group in front of an absolute nightmare on the hole that you're about to play it can get you
06:14off to a slightly iffy spot. I think we're talking about par threes uh you know an opening par three
06:18is not always great because it's usually a fairly lengthy one yeah and you're hitting quite a small
06:23headed club for your first swing of the day and I'd rather be hitting a big headed drive to be
06:28honest. Yes right so Jess I'm going to go back to you again for this one what's your give us a
06:33nomination for one of your one of your best holes as a par four. I've picked a long par four the
06:39ninth at Formby on the northwest coast there and it's 450-460 yards so it's no push over
06:46you do have an elevated tee to give you a bit of a potential advantage in terms of distance so
06:51you're playing straight towards the sea although you don't really realize it because there's a big
06:55stand of pines behind the green and it's just it's a test because you know you've got to get a good
07:01drive away for average golfers to get home in two but then when you get there the green is quite big
07:07not ridiculously sloping so if you do do the hard part and get there in two you have got
07:12half a chance of walking off with a par and feeling very pleased with yourself as you head
07:16to the tenth tee. Is the ninth at Formby a hole that they've made some changes to over the years?
07:20Well I think the ninth has changed recently they've moved the fairway a little bit further
07:24left I think to allow longer hitters to to attack the hole if they want to I think there was some
07:29there was some cross rough before which meant longer hitters were perhaps having to
07:33lay up even on a long hole like that but around that part of the course at Formby there have been
07:38a lot of changes over the years because of coastal erosion so I think the holes before the ninth
07:44were new holes some years ago to replace holes that did actually get much closer to the sea.
07:49Yeah and of course Formby I mean just brilliant golf course that proper mix of two different
07:55styles you've got to play it to experience it for yourself it's quite hard to describe
07:59but well worth going to if you can. Mike give us another par four. Yeah I'm afraid I'm going to
08:05talk about another club I'm very lucky to be a member of Royal North Devon, Westwood Hoe as it's
08:13also known and I'm going to go for the par four sixth hole so you've just played this
08:20brilliant uphill par three fiendishly difficult surrounded by bunkers and you walk up and you are
08:27confronted with really inspirational 360 degree view you've got the wild Atlantic out to your left
08:34to go and look across over to Saunton to the golf courses over there and the hotel and then you've
08:39got Westwood Hoe and Northam behind you and it's just a really really incredible
08:47hole in terms of the visuals stand on this tee you've often got a little there's a bench behind
08:54the par three and you have walkers just sort of be sat there and watch you sort of play into
09:00the par three and then tee off at the par four so you've got your own little sort of mini audience
09:05and quite often they'll be chatting away it's like golfsters incidental to them and that's
09:08sort of a bit the whole Royal North Devon experience is you know whether it's sort of cows
09:13and sheep and horses yeah and there's walkers but it's a really great par four it's sort of
09:19400 odd yards big drive down you got out of bounds up the left hand side and then you play
09:26to sort of quite a narrow green some little hidden bunkers in the fairway because it's just such a
09:32natural golf course they're sort of marked out with little grey stones white stones but yeah
09:38really brilliant powerful yeah no wonderful and actually it's that the knowledge that you're going
09:43to play this hole without bounce just runs down the left hand side of the hole plays into your
09:47mind a bit as you're playing the holes before it as well so well worth again well worth the trip
09:51if you get the chance to play Royal North Devon Rob give us a par five to talk about okay I'm
09:56going to stay down then in the southwest actually and I'm going to go into Cornwall and go to Traverse
10:02where Mackenzie and Ebert have made some changes Tom Mackenzie I think in about 10 years ago maybe
10:08a bit less than that the bunkering has been revamped everywhere and looks beautiful now
10:13and the hole where it stands out the most was to me the my favourite hole anyway
10:17it's the a par five which runs parallel to the beach then turns left towards the beach and as you
10:23get to the corner of the dog leg and go around you get ever closer the the right the rugged bank
10:28bunkering is is fabulous you then have the the Atlantic and you actually see the white horses
10:34behind there too you have to be careful which flag you're going for too because if the uh
10:38the lifeguards are out then there's a big big flag on the left and then the green is just below
10:44that it's now a huge undulating green complete different to the way it was before and it's just
10:50a glorious par five because you've got options it's risk reward you can how much of the corner
10:54do you take on and but then the reward regarding regardless of the score is when you get to the
10:59green what a brilliant sight right down by the beach absolutely lovely it's one of the most
11:03beautiful holes for sure within our top 100 courses i would say jess give us another par
11:08five oh well i've gone for lip hook and uh the par five which is now the seventh i think used
11:13to be the 13th they've done a lot of work at lipic recently and rerouted it to make a road crossing
11:18point safer and this hole now comes much earlier in the round it plays down and then up to a green
11:25that's just got the most fantastic visuals as you play up to it heather right and left a couple of
11:29big bunkers pine trees right and left and the drive is fairly generous but if you don't quite
11:35get it there's a penalty area across the bottom of the valley which i'm told actually marks the
11:40hampshire west sussex border and if you're in the heather or you haven't quite got your drive
11:45you're gonna have to decide whether or not to try and take this penalty area on before the final
11:49climb up to the green i've played lip hook a number of times and that's always the hole that
11:54sticks in my mind which is such a good hole it's sort of quintessentially sort of that it's in inland
12:00golf in england uk and ireland at its best i think heather and pines and a little bit of
12:07change of elevation as you go down and up is enough to paint a very pretty picture yes
12:12um and also i quite like the fact that it's it is as you say slightly fairly generous t-shot so it
12:17feels like you can have a go at it well you you would have no trouble getting home in two tapas
12:22it wouldn't even have to go after it and mike give us another uh our last par five i'm i'm
12:28going to cheat a bit and i'm going to say the red course uh at the barge which has uh six par three
12:34six par fours and six par five so it's great it's a really fun golf course i would find it hard to
12:40pick any one of those par fives because they're all great um first is a really good hole really
12:46inviting drive uh probably the third would be my favorite of the par fives and it just plays up to
12:53a really great green um but say they're all good and i just you know none of the par fives feel
13:01overly long you feel like you've got a chance you know get a decent driveway you feel like okay
13:06i've got a you know decent birdie chance you should be coming in if you're a big hitter like
13:09you maybe i'll knock it on in two but for the rest of us you're probably coming in with a shortish
13:13high end for your third shot um but i just love that as i make it i think it's so fun having those
13:19yeah those par fives you know six par fives um there so yeah a bit of a fudge there that i
13:24couldn't you know couldn't hold them on but yeah i particularly like the one just before the bit
13:30the par three across the big dip i can't remember what number that is and i like it because i very
13:34nearly made an albatross there last time i played with rob yeah but i don't like to talk about it
13:40just leave it there very good so there you have it that's our look at some of the best holes in
13:46the uk and ireland we took them from our list of top 100 courses because you know a great one great
13:51hole doesn't make a great golf course but having these top 100 courses and then picking out some
13:56of our absolute favorites is probably worth doing what do you have to say have you played any
14:01absolutely wonderful holes that you want to talk about please do leave some comments below we'd
14:05love to hear what you have to say but that's it for now from wapleston thanks for watching we'll
14:09see you next time