Top 100 Best Value

[Captainron]

The lad who organised this year is known lovingly as Billy the Pig and drinking is the love of his life.
The golf which was 4 rounds at Cleeve Hill, Fulford Heath and Dudley, came in at well under £100 for the lot.
Two nights in a Premier Inn. It should have been a Wetherspoons but we were too slow with the booking.
Two nights away, starting both nights in the spoons and drinking in dives which is Billy's hostelry of choice means copious quantities of ale at minimal cost. The most expensive drinks were those in the clubhouse.
If Carlberg did pubs they would own the one we stayed at in Glossop.
Olde world, 6 rooms on the 2nd floor, Indian restaurant on the 1st and cheap beer on the ground floor. And they had a quiz on the Thursday night.
Brilliant.

We had a one nighter in Leeds last month. 6 of us went to O Neills to watch the Boks beat the Poms. Round was 4 Guiness and 2 Lagers. £40 a round and we had 6 rounds in there. We also had a few Baby Guinness shots. So almost hit that number before we went to dinner and met the other 8 lads. A single proper night out on booze alone is more than £100 per person nowadays. It’s crazy

 

[Imurg]

We had a one nighter in Leeds last month. 6 of us went to O Neills to watch the Boks beat the Poms. Round was 4 Guiness and 2 Lagers. £40 a round and we had 6 rounds in there. We also had a few Baby Guinness shots. So almost hit that number before we went to dinner and met the other 8 lads. A single proper night out on booze alone is more than £100 per person nowadays. It’s crazy

Thing is Cam, not everyone needs a gallon of Grog to have a decent night out...
No right or wrong..just different

 

[Bobthesock]

A guy at our place is also a member at Silloth. They took around 600k in 2024 in Green fees
hence the reason they keep the price relatively low. A few years years a coach load of Americans came and because the Green fees were under £50 they left! Lesson learned; think it was the reason for the rapid increase at North Berwick.

There was no coach load of Americans.
Played at Moray the other year and they claimed the same.
Must have been some tour they had

 

[D-S]

It’s be fascinating to know the % of Americans in the total visitors at mid to low top 100 courses.

It’s a bit like the only pub in the village doubling the price of a pint because a rich family has bought a house locally and pops in a few times a year.

 

[Golfnut1957]

We had a one nighter in Leeds last month. 6 of us went to O Neills to watch the Boks beat the Poms. Round was 4 Guiness and 2 Lagers. £40 a round and we had 6 rounds in there. We also had a few Baby Guinness shots. So almost hit that number before we went to dinner and met the other 8 lads. A single proper night out on booze alone is more than £100 per person nowadays. It’s crazy

Horses for courses. We had the retired firefighters Christmas jumper do last week at a Wetherspoons. I was drinking Abbotts Ale for less than £2 a pint and spent £26 pound. That's the only thing I remember

 

[Bobthesock]

It’s be fascinating to know the % of Americans in the total visitors at mid to low top 100 courses.

It’s a bit like the only pub in the village doubling the price of a pint because a rich family has bought a house locally and pops in a few times a year.

At a guess I'd say somewhere between 0 and 0.1%.
Met a few Americans and they are only interested in playing the top name courses. Dornoch, kingsbarns, Birkdale etc.
They couldn't care less if silloth Charges £50 or £100, they are not going there in any number.

 

[Crow]

At a guess I'd say somewhere between 0 and 0.1%.
Met a few Americans and they are only interested in playing the top name courses. Dornoch, kingsbarns, Birkdale etc.
They couldn't care less if silloth Charges £50 or £100, they are not going there in any number.

Even Americans must have budgets though, on a golf trip they'll not all be able to afford to play just the £300 to £500 courses so will look for the next tier down but local to the big names, and that's probably why Siloth is relatively cheap.

 

[IanM]

At a guess I'd say somewhere between 0 and 0.1%.
Met a few Americans and they are only interested in playing the top name courses. Dornoch, kingsbarns, Birkdale etc.
They couldn't care less if silloth Charges £50 or £100, they are not going there in any number.

Funny this. I'd always made the "jack up the prices to attract more tourists" assumption.

Was in the pub with an American mate last week who is over here 4 or 5 times a year. When this generalisation was muted they disputed it strongly. "We do the same research as you'd do before coming to America!"

Although there are those who just "Do St Andrews " but an increasing number are well informed and do indeed go to Silloth. An increasing number are even doing a Burnham, Saunton, RND, St Enodoc round trip too. There was a big group of Americans at Nefyn when I was there this summer. So it does happen.

Nevertheless, green fee inflation has galloped ahead of RPI. That's not healthy in the long term at all.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I’ve played 12 or 13 of them but mostly some time (decades) ago, and mostly for nowt (most recently paid £150 to play Hollinwell a couple of years back….now £190)….I’d struggle to pay the asking price for most of them today. Pity.

 

[Crazyface]

A guy at our place is also a member at Silloth. They took around 600k in 2024 in Green fees
hence the reason they keep the price relatively low. A few years years a coach load of Americans came and because the Green fees were under £50 they left! Lesson learned; think it was the reason for the rapid increase at North Berwick.

Why not charge all Americans £500 notes a round, and all UK residents £100? Win win

 

[Crazyface]

The Americans can afford it. Their average wage is way over what our is in the UK. So therefore, the ones on above their averge are well heeled. Add to that the exchange rate. Boom!

 

[D-S]

I just checked my old emails. We did a trip to Pennard and Porthcawl, playing in April 2016. There were only 6 of us so no group discounts. Porthcawl green fee was £70 and Pennard was £20 - Premier Inn Swansea 39 per room. Total £139 which is £175 in today’s money. This wasn’t a special deal via an agent, just phoned and booked.
I think golf trip inflation has outstripped the real world a bit.

 

[D-S]

I just checked my old emails. We did a trip to Pennard and Porthcawl, playing in April 2016. There were only 6 of us so no group discounts. Porthcawl green fee was £70 and Pennard was £20 - Premier Inn Swansea 39 per room. Total £139 which is £175 in today’s money. This wasn’t a special deal via an agent, just phoned and booked.
I think golf trip inflation has outstripped the real world a bit.

Looking at that trip now Porthcawl is now 220. Pennard 110 and the Premier Inn 50ish (dependent on the day but we went midweek).

 

[AussieKB]

I’ve played 12 or 13 of them but mostly some time (decades) ago, and mostly for nowt (most recently paid £150 to play Hollinwell a couple of years back….now £190)….I’d struggle to pay the asking price for most of them today. Pity.

Played Hollinwell on my trip in May and got a freebie.....the old saying of not what you know but who you know.

 

[Crow]

Looking at that trip now Porthcawl is now 220. Pennard 110 and the Premier Inn 50ish (dependent on the day but we went midweek).

So,
Porthcawl 314%
Pennard 550%
Premier Inn 28%

 

[stymied]

I'm an american who made my first trip overseas in 2013. I played 60+ rounds in under 30 days primarily at the value courses trying to keep my average cost per round down. That sort of trip with the quality of golf I played isn't possible anymore and for selfish reasons I say it's a bit of a shame.

I do think my timing was good as I got to take a number of trips where I ran around the islands playing a bunch of courses. Due to the explosion of prices after COVID my overseas golf habits have changed. I've joined a couple of clubs and visit those (I still play at other locations when the price is right).

I do appreciate the UK model and think it makes sense. Allow visitors the chance to play the course (not like clubs in the US), but charge them a lot so the local members can pay much less (again the opposite of the US). When you look at it from the clubs perspective would you rather have a one 4-some at 200 quid a player (800 quid total) or four different groups at 50 quid (800 quid total). There aren't as many people able to pay 200 a round but you don't need as many when you charge a lot.

The only thing I do worry about is a market crash. It was only 4 years ago that COVID had a number of clubs really worried about their ability to stay open. Hopefully members of clubs aren't getting used to the luxuries the overseas visitors demand and hopefully club finances aren't entirely dependent on the overseas visitor paying absurd amounts of money. The later can end quickly and it's tough to cut back on the former.

 

[kp17]

Before seeing the list and opening the thread I thought it’s got to be macrihanish. Think yearly membership is a few hundred quid, although it is a headache to get to

 

[simsini]

All top 100 lists have done is allow clubs to massively increase green fees across the board, so you can play 'the 86th rated parkland course in the Cotswolds' or such like. It's ridiculous.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

All top 11 lists have done is allow clubs to massively increase green fees across the board, so you can play 'the 86th rated parkland course in the Cotswolds' or such like. It's ridiculous.

99% of the courses don’t need a top 100 list - they are well known and people search them out because of their history and quality

 

[IanM]

All top 11 lists have done is allow clubs to massively increase green fees across the board, so you can play 'the 86th rated parkland course in the Cotswolds' or such like. It's ridiculous.

Maybe, maybe not. Word soon gets round. Evidenced by the chatter on here when the lists come out