GM Top 100 rankings - live Q&A today 1-3pm

[MikeH]

Summer v Winter page 7….
Rob Smith on winter vs summer visits


As mentioned elsewhere, limited resources mean that we have to make visits at all times of the year during the review cycle. The impact of winter maintenance or the lack of a flower in bloom is unavoidable, but all of our assessors use their experience to take this into account. I once played Kings and Queens at Gleneagles on a day when the rain didn’t stop, the wind was up, and scoring was almost impossible. I enjoyed every minute, loved both courses, and could see just how glorious they would be at other times of the year.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Rob Smith says..
Whilst Broadstone is undoubtedly a lovely course, I think that for it to make the jump from Next 100 to Top 100 would require the successful continuation of the recent work that that has seen, for example, the sixth transformed from a good par three into a great one. Having said that, there are few courses in the Next 100 that aren’t lovely, and there will almost certainly be fans of all of them making the same claim !

As an ex Broadstone member I can tell you that the recently departed General Manager believes it is a future top 50 course. It's good......but not even close to that standard!

 

[MikeH]

OK folks

me and the boys are off to dip our fingers in cold water and have a cuppa

thanks for all the questions - been great to be able to answer so many. Val, top idea!

we will contunue to look at this thread and reply to any other questions over the coming days and weeks

 

[Val]

OK folks

me and the boys are off to dip our fingers in cold water and have a cuppa

thanks for all the questions - been great to be able to answer so many. Val, top idea!

we will contunue to look at this thread and reply to any other questions over the coming days and weeks

Thanks for the insight guys, it's been very interesting.

 

[MendieGK]

As an ex Broadstone member I can tell you that the recently departed General Manager believes it is a future top 50 course. It's good......but not even close to that standard!

Holes like the 7th let it down a bit for me. Bloody stupid hole.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

OK folks

me and the boys are off to dip our fingers in cold water and have a cuppa

thanks for all the questions - been great to be able to answer so many. Val, top idea!

we will contunue to look at this thread and reply to any other questions over the coming days and weeks

Thanks guys, as someone who hasn't played a great many of the top courses I've found it interesting to hear how you make your choices, and may help me to decide where I want to play in future.



...and if you're ever in the golfing backwoods of Derby and fancy a knock on a, hopefully, future top 200 course give me a shout

 

[FairwayDodger]

OK folks

me and the boys are off to dip our fingers in cold water and have a cuppa

thanks for all the questions - been great to be able to answer so many. Val, top idea!

we will contunue to look at this thread and reply to any other questions over the coming days and weeks

Cheers guys, good thread!

 

[AmandaJR]

Excellent thread. Have to wonder how many club General Manager's are wringing their hands having not got in! I'm sure being in there must add to the revenue from green fees (assuming visitors are allowed)...

 

[matt611]

OK folks

me and the boys are off to dip our fingers in cold water and have a cuppa

thanks for all the questions - been great to be able to answer so many. Val, top idea!

we will contunue to look at this thread and reply to any other questions over the coming days and weeks

Thanks guys, very interesting to get a little more insight into the top 100. Especially interesting to get an idea of where courses in the next 100 sit.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Would you say that on average you gets what you pay for when it comes to green fees? Or are there any courses that have shocked you in a good way regarding how good they really?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

How refreshing to read an entire thread that was both informative and interesting without a single bit of argy bargy.

Has the forum turned a corner?

Cheers Mike and Jezz :thup:

 

[Deleted member 1147]

How refreshing to read an entire thread that was both informative and interesting without a single bit of argy bargy.

Has the forum turned a corner?

Cheers Mike and Jezz :thup:

Were some posters barred from the discussion?
Several regulars notable by their absence.

 

[MikeH]

Would you say that on average you gets what you pay for when it comes to green fees? Or are there any courses that have shocked you in a good way regarding how good they really?

a good question. In general you do get what you pay for but there are a few exceptions where we feel it's over priced (Wentworth West and Kingsbarns - both on the slide becuase of this) and more than a few where you get particularly good value...off the top of my head
Silloth
Royal St David's
Royal North Devon
Aberdovey
Liphook
Trevose
Sherwood Forest
St Enodoc
Portmarnock Links

NB a lot of these are what you;d call out of the way courses

 

[Val]

As for Machrihanish Dunes, it is a stirring course that was in our Top 100 but dropped out last time following problems created by the severe winter storms they'd had there. That doesn't mean it's gone forever, but the feedback from assessors this time round suggested there was still some further bedding in of reinstated areas required.

It has improved since you visited on our outing a couple of years ago but my own feeling is the holes particularly down the coast line that did suffer badly that winter will suffer from weather every winter which is a shame because visually and from a golf test some of these holes are fantastic. I didn't get a chance to play the Dunes these year but I'm led to believe they are improving but still a bit short of being in the league of Machrihanish itself which to be fair isn't short of it's own problems.

 

[patricks148]

yes four courses made way this year, Nefyn, Worlington and Newmarket, Killarney (Killeen) and Adare Mannor

the time before that we had a few drop put too - Mach Dunes for one

And would they have been 96-100, so replaced by places moving into the top 100?

What about somewhere that was 60 say, would it be conceivable that a course could drop that far?

 

[MikeH]

And would they have been 96-100, so replaced by places moving into the top 100?

What about somewhere that was 60 say, would it be conceivable that a course could drop that far?

From Rob Smith
The Top 100 rankings are revised every two years. Such is the competition and the need to improve, that clubs that are just as good as they were two years before tend to drop a little. This is because they are overtaken by others that have upgraded or got themselves into tip-top condition. In addition, the oldest of our rankings, 10 years ago, did not have the benefit of such solid criteria, or time and effort from all those involved in the process. There has naturally, and rightly, been some revision to address the early imbalances. So yes, a Top 100 can drop into the Next 100, and a Next 100 can drop into the Third 100…. no don’t get us started !!

MH to add my bit...
Killarney was at 87 but others were indeed in the 90-100 bracket
as Rob said we know a lot more than we did at the start - when I inherited the ranking Dornoch was in the 50s! And, as they progress we feel we get it a little bit more 'right' each year so there is less volatility. It's my view other rankings have excessive volatility to try and stir talking points

 

[richart]

Excellent thread.:thup:

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Excellent read guys and answered every question I had in my head

Glad to see that value for money is effecting courses

Surprised that you feel Ashridge is close though

 

[Duckster]

Brilliant thread. Really enjoyed this one.

 

[chrisd]

I enjoyed reading through that.