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
00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to Wapalston Golf Club
00:03and this video in which we're going to take a look at the top 10 golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
00:10So I'm going to be joined by Rob Smith and Jeremy Elwood who run our Top 100 Courses panel
00:15and Mike Harris who's the editor of Golf Monthly and we're going to discuss what makes these 10
00:20golf courses so special. We're going to run it through from 10 through to 1 so make sure you
00:25watch through to the end to find out what comes out on top. Right, let's get started.
00:30Okay, so we're going to start at number 10 and work our way down to number 1 and actually we'll
00:41start with 10 and 9 together because they are the same venue, the same golf club but two separate
00:46golf courses. Mike, you're going to kick us off and we're looking at the two Sunningdales here.
00:50We are indeed and interestingly for a number of years we had the new ranked above the old and I
00:57think that most people would agree that the new is a harder golf course. It's a really, really strong
01:06test of golf. If you're not on your game it will really find you out but actually we've promoted
01:12the old ahead of the new. I think we did it at the last rankings and it stayed ahead this time and I
01:20think we've done that just because it is such a delightful 18 holes of golf. Even if you're playing
01:27not the best, you will still really, really enjoy the old. There are some incredible holes on there.
01:34I just think the ambience of the old, it's such a charming golf course. The new as well, again some
01:41amazing holes. That sweeping par five where big hitters like you sort of take it over the floor and
01:48the rest of us go out to the left. The par three before that which is the fourth I think, sorry the
01:54fifth and then the par five is the sixth. Yeah that's right and then such a great run of holes
02:01around the turn as well. The tenth lovely par three that goes back to the halfway hut. In fact both of the
02:08tenths go to the halfway hut don't they and of course no visit to Sunningdale is complete without
02:13a stop at the halfway hut for a sausage sandwich and a drink of your choice but I think together
02:20it's the best 36 holes comfortably in GB&I possibly in the world and it's a wonderful place to visit.
02:28As I say what's unique about Sunningdale is that you've got two golf courses that are very similar in
02:32terms of obviously they're similar in terms of sitting at 10 and 9 or our list but they're quite
02:37different actually to play. As you said Mike one of them's a lot I'd say a lot harder than the other
02:42one but they do play quite different even though they're on the same bit of land. It's not because
02:47I find the same at the Berkshire you have two that side by side I think the blue is substantially
02:51tougher than the red maybe it's because of the pars and so on but it seems to be a feature of the Surrey
02:57Berkshire borders that you've got these fabulous 36 hole venues like that. So let me put you all on the
03:01spot if you were going to play one of those Sunningdale courses tomorrow but only one of them
03:06which one would you go for Jez? I'd go for the new because I didn't play a lot of good golf last year
03:11but one of my best rounds was on the new so it's fresh in the mind but I particularly like that
03:15fifth and sixth back-to-back combo which is probably two of the best back-to-back holes in the UK.
03:20Ah there you go Mike? I think it would depend on how I was playing if I'm playing well like playing the
03:26new because it's a great test of golf but if I'm not playing so well I think it it's a pretty
03:31relentless golf course so I'd opt for the old which I think is a bit more it's a bit more user-friendly
03:37definitely I think you're going to have an enjoyable round whether you play well or not.
03:42And I would opt for the old as well just for fairly obvious reasons particularly as we're in now we're
03:47recording this in the sort of height of winter really and I'm not getting a great deal of distance so
03:53the old will keep a smile on your face the whole way whereas the new might actually start to make
03:58you frown. How about you? Oh I'd go for the old too. I'd go for the old but regardless as you said I'd
04:04definitely take a bit of time at the halfway heart whichever one. Okay so number eight on our list is
04:12Royal Portrush. Rob are you looking at Royal Portrush for us? Yeah I first played it back in the late 80s
04:18early 90s I think and fell in love with it straight away. It's a classic Lynx but it has
04:22got some fabulous students as well. There's a Harry Colt course and I'm a big fan of Colt as
04:29many people obviously he's one of the greatest architects of all time. It was always a great
04:34course anyway and it kind of came back even higher in the public eye when it got the open back four
04:40years ago for 2019 and of course Mackenzie Kneebert came in and did some changes as well including two
04:45new holes which is quite important because it had a slightly weaker finish so it's kind of come up in
04:49our rankings based on the fact we've got two fabulous new holes as well so you you had the
04:54fifth and the sixteenth which were glorious in the first place you've now got the two new holes as
04:58well it's an absolute cracker from start to finish now. But hard as well though? Very hard as evidence
05:03by the fact it's got the opening already again back in two years time so you know everyone loved it the
05:082019 Open was a huge success and and the public acclaim and the worldwide acclaim is so great that it's
05:14going back there straight away. Right moving on we need to get to course number seven Jez on our list
05:19which is Canoustie. Canoustie is people will often say about Canoustie it's a fantastic golf course
05:25the views are not great you know it's enclosed by houses and it's not a great sea view golf course but
05:33I think bunkering and burns are what Canoustie is all about. They're always in the wrong place for where
05:39you as a golfer tend to hit it some fairways have bunkers both sides in the driving zone
05:44some just on one side and then you get this added factor of the burns not just on the closing stretch
05:50but on early holes like the third where I think now some of the big hitting guys can get pretty
05:55close to the green on the third can't even knock it on yeah but for mere mortals you're factoring
06:00in having to clear that burn on the second shot and I just think it's such a brilliantly bunkered
06:05golf course and then as tough a finish as you'll encounter anywhere. Yeah I think that you're
06:10right there Jez that that feeling that with some of these golf courses the ones where maybe they
06:14don't have the breathtaking views of Royal Portrush or another one that appears on our list a bit
06:19further down they do then need to have that amazing bunkering that definition that you get off the tee
06:25at places like Canoustie. A lot of people say it's the best bunkered golf course in the UK and I
06:32and I probably wouldn't disagree with that. Yeah right so on to number six on our list and Rob you're
06:37going to take a look at Royal Dornut but before you talk about the golf course itself just talk a bit
06:41about the club because I've no doubt in my mind it's one of the friendliest courses I think I've ever
06:47been to just so you get that sense immediately as you arrive that you're almost like a member of the club
06:51for the day. Well you certainly do and that's because going back it was a real pilgrimage to go
06:56there again going back some time when I first went you had to take the ferry from the Vaness you didn't
07:00have to but it was the quickest way to get the ferry across the Cromerty first and therefore once
07:05you got there it was a very special place to go to and it because it was off the beaten track it was
07:09of course a little less stuffy than some of the other clubs and has always therefore been welcoming as
07:13a result. Yeah and it's welcoming but then you get out onto the golf course and it's a fantastic place to
07:18play golf tell us a bit about the golf course. Well the setting is just dreamy isn't it it's
07:22so remote to your you you've got kind of almost like a two level thing working your way down to
07:26the shore and you look back across and it's just a traditional out and back some super tough holes
07:32if you play in a strong wind you might really find it quite tough but of course like elsewhere
07:38it's improving all the time too so they had since the last rankings they have a new seventh hole par
07:42four which has been realigned to kind of open up the views across the Firth more and make it even
07:48more sexy to look at as you play they're working currently as we speak on the eighth to build a
07:55new tee to to create the views again and then open that up as well so like many places not resting on
08:00it it's already very high laurels it's improving all the time. Yeah and it's a as I say a brilliant
08:06place to play golf. Okay so course number five on our list is Royal Birkdale Rob another open venue
08:12a beautiful golf course to look at what makes it so good? Well looking back at the the rankings since we've
08:17been going which is about 20 years now this has been the leading course in England the whole way
08:22through I was lucky enough to play there again last summer and I already knew it was great before
08:27I went but going back I just couldn't believe how good it is it's got 18 strongholds all the way
08:33through it's got fantastic dunes for England particularly for the north west which is a cracking
08:38coastline all the way through but it has got some of the best dunes I just loved it from start to finish
08:43is also super friendly strangely enough now for an open championship venue the members are very friendly
08:49and welcoming as are the management team and I was absolutely blown away going back again. I when
08:54last time I was there for the open which would have been the year that Jordan Spieth won I remember
08:57standing on the first tee and thinking this is possibly the most intimidating shot ever because
09:01there's a dog leg right to left there's wind all the way off the left as I just... It's both ways actually
09:05yeah really for most golfers you've got to hit it out there and then you've got to draw it and then fade it which
09:12is not... So let me ask you what makes it such a good golf course then? Well I mean I think it's
09:19it was rerouted many years ago to play along the valleys rather than up and over the hills and
09:25probably for the older English links courses it has some really impressive views and you play along
09:32valleys between them and every hole is almost like a wow factor. I think it's a really fair golf course as well
09:39um you don't tend to get those you know sort of quirky link slides that you might get at somewhere
09:47like the Royal St George's perhaps. When it comes to ranking a golf course for the top 100 courses in
09:53golf monthly you guys you don't just take a look at just the quality of the test and design there are
09:57some other factors as well take a look at the video that's on that subject as well to know more.
10:01Okay so for number four on our list we're going back north of the border to Scotland. Mike Muirfield.
10:07Yeah well it's an incredible golf course we had it at number one for a number of years
10:15and although it's at number four it is still an epic golf course. I think the thing about Muirfield that
10:21everybody acknowledges is strength is rooting it's two concentric nines so you are never playing in
10:29the same direction two holes in a row which means that the wind is constant there's always a wind there
10:35at Muirfield it's constantly shifting you've really got to take that into account um a very very
10:41strong test it is it's a hard golf course yeah there's some really enjoyable holes but it is it's a
10:48difficult golf course you'll get a lot of great bunkering there. So we're staying in Scotland for
10:53number three um we're going to go to Turnbury Jez which has always been one of the most beautiful
10:58golf courses in the UK and Ireland but tell us a bit about the tests that you find when you get there.
11:04Well it was always regarded as the most visually picturesque of the open but it's not on the
11:09rotor at the moment but picturesque of the open rotor venues because it's so close to the coastline
11:14there in Ayrshire and the front nine in particular and the Turn you're hugging the shore all the way
11:20and I think there was some perhaps some concern when someone came in in 2016 to start doing some
11:25changes you know what can you do to to improve this already yeah the masterpiece of a golf course
11:31how do you improve it and you know particularly when you found that he was going to be doing holes
11:34like nine ten and eleven which were already right on that rocky shore and then the results that he
11:40managed to create proved that it was all justified yeah because it just raised it raised the whole
11:46thing another a notch on the old scale and it is just an immense experience and he's also improved
11:51holes on the back nine that traditionally were perhaps a little bit weaker you know you now play
11:56the 14th is now a par five coming back up to where the old ninth fairway was that's making far better
12:03use of the land than when the ninth was this kind of unusual par four with the holds back fairway
12:09and the whole thing has just gone up several notches I think it explains why we do this process every
12:15couple of years because the best golf courses in the UK and Ireland they are evolving aren't they
12:19they're constantly evolving and changing and as you said you can take a masterpiece like Turnberry
12:24and make it even better I mean few people would have thought that was even possible well yeah
12:28particularly when you found out what holes he was going to be yeah but it was it was a job well done
12:34and okay so number two is St Andrews the old course at St Andrews had to be high up on the list of
12:41course it did Mike tell us a bit about about St Andrews I think everybody knows it's it's the most
12:48famous golf course in the world home of golf and when you play there you are walking in the footsteps
12:55of everybody who's who of the game from old Tom Morris to Jack Nicklaus Tiger Woods
13:03and it's an incredible experience what I really like about St Andrews is it is playable for all levels
13:10of golfers you've got to do quite well to lose a golf ball you probably have would have to hit it in one
13:16of the wind bushes that are sort of around although they've taken out quite a lot of the winds it's
13:22pretty difficult to lose a golf ball yeah I've always found that it was not fairly I say straightforward
13:29fairly straightforwardish to get an okay score yeah quite difficult to get a really good score because
13:35you've got to be a bit more ambitious yeah and a bit more aggressive and you've got to be putting
13:39well because you are going to have a lot of long putts yes mega double greens um and some you know
13:47some subtle movements in um some of them and you think that you know the really hard holes are you
13:53know hard but then you can easily get caught out I remember playing in a medal uh was going really
13:59quite nicely I think I was like one or two over um stood on the 12th tee and had an eight um what is
14:06a short it feels like it's a potential birdie opportunity you know St Andrews gives you decisions
14:13to make and it's sort of I really should have hit driver but I hit hybrid hit it into one of the
14:18fairway bunkers I think took two to get out then I oh I don't know the red mist came down yeah and it's
14:25and then you've got that green with the step in it it's um yeah there are there are plenty of places to
14:30become a cropper but it is quite user friendly it is it's only consolation Paul Casey came a
14:35cropper there did he yeah the year when Hoos Towers among the open okay he made action it's yeah
14:41I think that what sums it up playable for all the very first time I played there uh on the two
14:45par threes I had a two on one and a 13 on the other consistency has always been a whole time
14:52so before we move on to the top ranked course on the list uh what's it like to play the first and
15:01the 18th at St Andrews still for me I mean I must have played the old course 20 plus times it is still
15:08a magical feeling stood on the first tee hitting down there um and then the journey up 18 is you
15:16know it's amazing walk over the bridge waving to the imaginary crowd as you go
15:20you've got to have a photograph on the bridge um you know particularly if it's your first time and
15:26if you're taking friends um it's a really special experience and then walking up there with um
15:31obviously R&A clubhouse and Hamilton uh grand behind it I know Neil you had a room in Hamilton yeah it was
15:37my hall of residence at university yeah what a room with a view quite literally and of course you've
15:42got all these sort of famous buildings Roussacks um and all the others up the right hand side
15:48normally got a crowd behind yeah the 18th green which is um it's pretty inspiring come a little bit
15:54daunting but yeah it's just an incredible place to play golf and it's I would recommend it for
16:00everybody put it on yeah and it's probably on everybody's bucket list but it is well worth the
16:05pilgrimage it is it really is okay so that leads us to number one on our list and for this one we're going
16:11back over to Northern Ireland and uh Royal County Down um who has played Royal County Down most recently
16:19I've played it most recently I've also been right next door to it most recently and not played it
16:24but um so so Jez right you've got on this list the best inland courses the best links golf courses
16:31why does this one stand out for you well I think people have always a lot of people think it's the best
16:36golf course in the world that's always been touted as being up there I don't know whether I agree with
16:41that or not but it's as a setting for golf uh you know surrounded by mountains you've got the sea you've
16:48got the iconic town townscape with the towering buildings and the hotel isn't it next door yeah
16:56sleeve donard and it's um it's got a magical feel about it the whole place and then you get on the
17:02course and the first three holes sort of play along the coast gently uphill isn't it and climb up to
17:08the to the fourth tee and then look back down and get at the whole of that view and I know you know
17:15the views are not you know the major part of our rankings but given that they are still a a decent
17:21percentage this one would score as highly as anywhere for the visual appeal and then some of the individual
17:27holes are just fantastic to play what do you have to do well to shoot a good score
17:32at Royal County Sound apart from play very well you have to go on a day when it's not windy
17:39stay out of the bunkers I mean it's a well-bunkered golf course um and you've got to know your lines
17:46on some of the shots where you can't necessarily see exactly where you're going like the 9th and
17:52the 11th in particular isn't it um can I ask you a question about blind shots because when we talked
17:58Mike mentioned earlier about I think it was Birkdale saying it's such a fair golf course and
18:02I when when people talk about fair golf course immediately the thing that goes off in my mind
18:06is that it's fair because you can see everything in front of you but Royal County Sound is one of
18:09those golf courses where you do have a few blind shots to encounter um are they a good thing are they
18:15a bad thing what how do you feel about that sort of makeup and and how it works in golf I've never been
18:21against them because I've played a lot of golf on quirky old golf courses where you get a lot of
18:25blind shots and no probably no designer would design a blind hole or shot these days but playing them
18:33on some of these classic old links seems entirely in keeping I think when you think of Prestwick and
18:38that blind par three straight over the hill if you play that and you can't enjoy the experience of
18:44coming over the top and seeing where your ball is um I I have no objection to them I don't know what
18:50the other guys think I totally agree it's it's part it's the tradition of the game isn't it it's
18:54part of the stepping back in time it's part of embracing what golf started off as just going out
18:58there into the element I'm all for it because if you're hitting somewhere that seemed very quirky
19:03I mean you and I just you know I played a pain this year which was about as quirky a goal yeah and so
19:09many blind shots and I think you just had to embrace it for what it was yeah um yeah you're hitting in
19:15some pretty funky places interestingly I played I did an interview with Sam Hutsby this week and
19:20he played the Irish Open there and he was saying he built his practice round around hit into these
19:24marker posts but then for the tournament they took all the markers out so he's suddenly looking at his
19:30notes and it's saying hit towards marker post and there is no marker post oh yeah so you know that
19:35shows you how there are obviously enough blind shots there for someone to be there now can I ask you if
19:40you were going to play Royal Counterdown tomorrow would you want it to be dead calm flat calm or would you want
19:44there to be a wind I think I'd want it to be relatively calm because anything more than about a
19:50two or three club wind and I know I'm not going to be scoring particularly well I think I think you
19:54want when you play links golf you want there to be some wind because it's part of the experience
20:01but yeah it can get I played it in really poor weather and it's still you know men's test golf great
20:09challenge but yeah sometimes I think for you know for ordinary golfers then you don't want the wind to
20:14be up too much maybe maybe like a two club wind help you help you on most holes but you particularly
20:19want it on your approach shots don't you it really makes you think on the drive it can kill you but
20:24on your approach shots you've really got to take into account the extra club or the one club less or
20:29whatever and then you can start to play bump and run shot and save the yeah the wind out of play but
20:33now I think a bit of wind and maybe that explains why links courses feature so heavily in that top 10
20:38list from our top 100 so a quick recap so it's Sunningdale new at 10 Sunningdale old at nine
20:44Royal Portrush Carnoustie Royal Dornock number five is Royal Birkdale then it's Muirfield
20:51Turnbury the old course at St Andrews and finally in at number one is Royal Counterdown and thank you very much
20:56for watching this video if you've played any of the golf courses we've talked about here then we'd
21:01love to hear what you have to say about them but for now from Walpuston Golf Club it's goodbye