Golf Monthly Top 100

[IanM]

There are some places that give you goosebumps as soon as you pull into the car park.

That's even before you check the quality of the painted lines and tarmac!!

 

[Hobbit]

There are some places that give you goosebumps as soon as you pull into the car park.

That's even before you check the quality of the painted lines and tarmac!!

But don’t park in the captain’s spot!

 

[evemccc]

Wallasey (like almost all of the ones I’ve played — Carnoustie and Dornoch excepted) I’ve only played once…Hopefully in a number of years I’ll have a fuller opinion based on playing my favourites a couple more times…

However, my first impression is that Wallasey strikes me as the course that comprises both some of the ‘best and distinctly average’ holes — the 3rd would easily make my composite list of favourite holes, and the look back from the green up the humps and bumps and borrows up the hill of the 18th fairway is distinctly

A couple of others 6/7 maybe 8 were a little bit…dull in comparison

 

[Rlburnside]

How many days without a wind do you get up there?

Looks a stunning place to play in the summer.
Not sure I would want to play in the middle of December

We do get a lot of wind and can go 2/3 weeks in winter sometimes and it’s not weather to play,but when we get a fine day it is a stunning setting, many a time in the summer i go out after tea for 9 holes and could play up to 10/11 o’clock and the only sounds you hear are the sea and birds singing.

I do wonder if it’s part of the reason I was somewhat disappointed with Royal Dornoch as the setting there is not as spectacular as ours imo.

 

[Rlburnside]

How many days without a wind do you get up there?

Looks a stunning place to play in the summer.
Not sure I would want to play in the middle of December

Come to think of it I think you have played at Machrihanish our course is probably similar to there, we even have a beach we have to drive over although it’s only about 160 yards

 

[Rlburnside]

How many days without a wind do you get up there?

There you go article in this months Bunkered magazine, top 50 courses under £50.

 

[sunshine]

There are some places that give you goosebumps as soon as you pull into the car park.

That's even before you check the quality of the painted lines and tarmac!!

Where’s the top 100 golf club car park ranking?

I would rate Loch Lomond at number 1: someone parks the car for you so you don’t actually get to see it, lots of nice cars there and even a helicopter.

Hunstanton has poor parking reviews

 

[2blue]

39 for me with pretty much half of them through past forum meets or through contacts made here, now sadly very rare. 'Arrange a Game' was a really special place here once upon a time. New forum members don't know what they missed as it's not easy to get affordable prices nowadays.

 

[IJames]

At the exorbitant prices, I'm unlikely to increase from the 35+ played when prices were much more reasonable, though Open venues (8) have always been expensive! As for which is preferred style.....Links as a member because it's a different course every day - or even morning vs afternoon - because of the breeze. Heathland comes a close (and more convenient) 2nd for the colours and underfoot feel.

 

[louise_a]

I have played 7 of the top 14 but only 10 of the next 86

 

[evemccc]

Only Kingsbarns and Portrush will be the only two from the top 16 I won’t have played by the end of this year

I’ve spent a lot of cash but have some incredible memories and am very pleased and lucky to have played them in almost uniformly excellent weather

I have basically given-up spending money on alcohol in bars and pubs and have diverted those funds to golf…I’ve some great memories of days and nights spent in pubs from my younger days but priorities change and alcohol really is bloody expensive and that is something that is REALLY not worth it compared to golf on top links

 

[evemccc]

Always love a good - Links Vs Parkland Vs Heathland debate

my preference

To play at - links

To be a member at - Heathland

Unfortunately being based in the middle there is no links course nearby and no decent heathland so having to slum it at a parkland

It’s funny that Augusta gets the near-universal acclaim that it does, given it’s the ultimate parkland / as parklandy as it gets —- I have heard from people who’ve been that no heathland in the UK comes anywhere near it

I can’t help think that as it’s so familiar as it’s the only course always hosting a major, it’s the familiarity that helps its acclaim. Talk to the average golfer or casual part-time Green Fee golfer and it’s seemingly THE course that is in their consciousness the most

Either that or people’s sort of derision of parkland courses is in part due to heathland and links always dominating rankings is sort of Emperors New Clothes?
Compelled to say parkland is not as good because the rankings don’t rate them…yet think Augusta / Masters is the best major and best place to golf…..Cognitive dissonance?

 

[Junior]

I get that pricing can be demand driven, and, that there are cheaper ways to play some of these courses (opens, SGU rates, deals through travel companies etc) but it'll be interesting to see what happens to green fees in the next few years. Eg. £300+ to play Lytham/Birkdale???

Walking in the footsteps of golf legends and playing (some of) these courses is one of the things that sets golf apart. I feel for the younger generation and the many that have most likely been priced out of playing them. I get that costs have increased but its a fine line between managing a balance sheet at profiteering.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

13 for me (more than i thought tbh). Never been a ‘top course’ badge-collector, and given the cost of playing most, if not all, on the list I don’t see myself playing many more in the coming 5 yrs. I could ‘afford’ the green fee, but would prefer to spend the sort of money required creating memories with family.

 

[Shooter McPowick]

That explains a lot - thanks. Although given the huge increase in green fees, some courses are effectively pricing out visitors now.

There’s been a couple of images floating around social media, visitor green fees have gone crazy. Someone did an inflationary comparison too and generally speaking, green fees now are around double the inflationary amount from circa 2005. It’s nuts!

In some sense I can understand it. Post lockdown our course is literally full all day and that’s just the members. Annual subs have gone up significantly, why shouldn’t the visitor rate? The flip side is many of the top 100 are at least £150 for a visitor… I see West Hill is now £220 peak summer… no way I’d pay that! But that’s the point, isn’t it…

 

[IanM]

39 for me with pretty much half of them through past forum meets or through contacts made here, now sadly very rare. 'Arrange a Game' was a really special place here once upon a time. New forum members don't know what they missed as it's not easy to get affordable prices nowadays.

That's fixable if folk make the effort!

 

[evemccc]

If only I’d come to golf about 5 years earlier…even 3 years would have been nice..

 

[BrianM]

Only 5 for me, will hopefully get a few more ticked off this year…….

 

[IanM]

If only I’d come to golf about 5 years earlier…even 3 years would have been nice..

Then some old git tells you that 25 years ago, you got 3 nights with food in a Southport Hotel, and 36 hole days at Birkdale, Lytham and Hoylake for less money than the current green fee at one of them!

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

I find these lists rather frustrating when there isn’t much effort put into it.

To rate some of the heathland courses listed below as highly as they have indicates that they very much enjoy heathland golf. In fact, compared to Top 100 list they clearly look more favourably upon heathland golf and generally rank those courses higher.
However, they seem to love some heathland golf courses and totally disregard others - it’s inconsistent. I would be fascinated to understand why.

I can’t see how the 3 W’s can be spread so far apart, for example. Everyone you speak to has a different “favourite” - hard to say any one is significantly than another (20 places higher!)

I can’t see how you can love Liphook + Hankley and completely exclude Hindhead. Many find it difficult to split Liphook and Hindhead so if you’ve got one at #53, the other has to be quite close by…

Golf Monthly List:
30th Hankley Common
33rd Walton Heath Old
53rd Liphook
57th Walton Heath New
58th West Sussex
60th Worplesdon
68th Moortown
69th West Hill
81st Parkstone
83rd Woking
96th Broadstone

Top 100 Rankings: Arguably a lot of these are bunched closer together, indicating there’s not a lot between them all. It is acknowledgment that they are all rather similar.

31st West Sussex
39th Walton Heath Old
58th Hankley Common
67th Woking
73rd Worplesdon
75th Liphook
78th West Hill
87th Broadstone
88th Parkstone
89th Walton Heath New
91st Hindhead
98th Moortown

And I’m not overly impressed with top 100’s latest rankings either, where they moved Hindhead down 6 places in England (33rd -> 39th) despite not visiting over those 2 years (hmm) and ongoing course improvements.

Yes I’m bitter that I feel my club is constantly hard done by in the rankings. No it does not have any real consequence.