Top 100 courses of England 2016

[Snelly]

I've played a lot of great courses this year and would put a few above it. Ganton, Notts and Saunton (east) - wowed me.

I didn't like how open Hankley was. Too many trees have been removed.

That said, I'd happily play every day for the rest of my life

Fair enough. These things are entirely subjective.

I have also played all those courses and all are lovely but would put them in order as:

1. Ganton
2. Hankley
3. Saunton
4. Notts

I am fortunate enough to have played at Hankley Common about 20 times. I have also had some good scores there so am perhaps biased.

What I would say though is that Hankley in peak condition, on a warm day, under blue skies, when the heather is in full bloom is one of the best days of golf you can have. Anyone would be wowed by it under these conditions. It is golfing Nirvana.

 

[User20205]

I've played a lot of great courses this year and would put a few above it. Ganton, Notts and Saunton (east) - wowed me.

I didn't like how open Hankley was. Too many trees have been removed.

That said, I'd happily play every day for the rest of my life

there's a big push to remove trees from all the southern heathland courses. The thinking being that they weren't there when the course was opened & therefore the trees change the characteristics of the course.

I've played a couple and thought mmmm. The Addington is a strange one, I'm not sure I'd rush back & Royal Cinque ports, whilst a really good links course, I'm not sure it's any better than Hayling for example & is really put into context by Royal st Georges (obviously)

 

[Slab]

Alwoodley is immense.

Although, I played Hankley last week and wasn't wowed by it.

What was it really like there, their website doesn't reflect their lofty position

I know a camera isn't supposed to lie but their aerial shots make this place look like a right mess, with the aesthetics of the course destroyed by numerous paths/tracks (looks worse than Birmingham road system) numerous Tee boxes the size of landing strips and a par 5 as straight as a pool cue

And £115 for a round! Must have a lot of 'inner beauty' to be a top 25 course


edit to correct spelling

 

[Deleted member 1147]

For me the real test of a good course is how much you enjoyed it when you played poorly.

I played really well at Woodhall Spa and enjoyed it, really well at Seacroft and loved the place, and the same with Broadstone. But that's why for me, of the 9 I've played, Hillside is the best, because I was woeful when I played there but still thought it a great place to play golf.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

What was it really like there, their website doesn't reflect their lofty position

I know a camera isn't supposed to lie but their aerial shots make this place look like a right mess, with the aesthetics of the course destroyed by numerous paths/tracks (looks worse than Birmingham road system) numerous Tee boxes the size of landing strips and a par 5 as straight as a pool cue

And £115 for a round! Must have a lot of 'inner beauty' to be a top 25 course


edit to correct spelling

I'm assuming you are referring to 6th through to 8th holes which are 5,3,5?

Both par 5's are straight but the first plays uphill followed by the signature par 3 across the top of the hill then a downhill par 5. What is wrong with a straight par 5? As Snelly says, when the heather is out in summer, there are few nicer places to play golf. Hankley own approx 800 acres of fabulous heathland so it is extremely peaceful and secluded out there, no traffic noise just birdsong and wildlife.

 

[MendieGK]

Fair enough. These things are entirely subjective.

I have also played all those courses and all are lovely but would put them in order as:

1. Ganton
2. Hankley
3. Saunton
4. Notts

I am fortunate enough to have played at Hankley Common about 20 times. I have also had some good scores there so am perhaps biased.

What I would say though is that Hankley in peak condition, on a warm day, under blue skies, when the heather is in full bloom is one of the best days of golf you can have. Anyone would be wowed by it under these conditions. It is golfing Nirvana.

Yeah I can see that I would be better in the summer.

Saunton & Notts are both usually ranked above Hankley though.

 

[MendieGK]

I'm assuming you are referring to 6th through to 8th holes which are 5,3,5?

Both par 5's are straight but the first plays uphill followed by the signature par 3 across the top of the hill then a downhill par 5. What is wrong with a straight par 5? As Snelly says, when the heather is out in summer, there are few nicer places to play golf. Hankley own approx 800 acres of fabulous heathland so it is extremely peaceful and secluded out there, no traffic noise just birdsong and wildlife.

The par 5s were exceptional.

 

[Slab]

I'm assuming you are referring to 6th through to 8th holes which are 5,3,5?

Both par 5's are straight but the first plays uphill followed by the signature par 3 across the top of the hill then a downhill par 5. What is wrong with a straight par 5? As Snelly says, when the heather is out in summer, there are few nicer places to play golf. Hankley own approx 800 acres of fabulous heathland so it is extremely peaceful and secluded out there, no traffic noise just birdsong and wildlife.

I went through lots of the holes on their course guide can't recall the hole numbers but certainly a path network that surely cant be as visible when playing and several huge tee boxes (I guess as the course has grown in length) Yeah there's lots of straight holes but far fewer that are dead straight cut at the edges of the fairway, just looked like a bigger landing strip

No doubting the place must be great and the reviewers cant talk highly enough about staff, food etc but it was the inclusion of the aerial shots of every hole that surprised me, someone must have signed this off to be posted online and they do nothing to support all the good things folk are saying

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I'm a bit confused how you can be judging a course by the website and course planner - a course can only be judged when played

Hankley is a beautiful course - i personally prefer Liphook but can certainly see why a number will prefer Hankley

 

[Slab]

I'm a bit confused how you can be judging a course by the website and course planner - a course can only be judged when played

Hankley is a beautiful course - i personally prefer Liphook but can certainly see why a number will prefer Hankley

I'm judging the photographs and what they do (or don't do) to support the accolade of being a top 25 course. A clubs website is their window for everyone to look in and the standards online are a reflection on the club

 

[richart]

I'm a bit confused how you can be judging a course by the website and course planner - a course can only be judged when played

Agree. Read reviews to find out what the course is like. Hankley is a stunning course. Just up the road from me, and I would put on a par with The Berkshire, St Georges Hill. You could build three more courses on the surrounding land. An area of great natural beauty. Would be higher up most rankings if more people knew about it.

Good clubhouse and food. Only downside is the bar closes at 19.00 during the summer.

 

[Snelly]

I'm judging the photographs and what they do (or don't do) to support the accolade of being a top 25 course. A clubs website is their window for everyone to look in and the standards online are a reflection on the club

Perhaps you should google Hankley GC, select images and peruse a few photos. It is absolutely beautiful.

In terms of the website being a great advert to attract people in, I would normally agree but with Hankley, they seem to like their relative anonymity. The membership is full with a considerable waiting list and the society day vacancies are few and far between as almost everyone re-books when they play for the next year.

It is not a club that shouts about itself. They seem very happy to have an extremely satisfied membership and do not like to be in the spotlight. They do have a couple of Opens and regularly hold The Open Championship qualifying events but in general terms, prefer to hide their charms away.

 

[Robobum]

I'm assuming you are referring to 6th through to 8th holes which are 5,3,5?

Both par 5's are straight but the first plays uphill followed by the signature par 3 across the top of the hill then a downhill par 5. What is wrong with a straight par 5? As Snelly says, when the heather is out in summer, there are few nicer places to play golf. Hankley own approx 800 acres of fabulous heathland so it is extremely peaceful and secluded out there, no traffic noise just birdsong and wildlife.

The 6th is far from straight, anything in the left rough or heather off the tee would mean having to aim a long way right to avoid the trees down the left. The tee shot plays gently downhill also and the green is 20 or so feet uphill from the bridle path across the dogleg.

The 7th is perfection through a 70ft valley between tee and green and the 8th plays considerably downhill off the tee and definitely sweeps round to the right.

Love hankley, especially now they have improved 4 (although still the weakest hole on the course)

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

The 6th is far from straight, anything in the left rough or heather off the tee would mean having to aim a long way right to avoid the trees down the left. The tee shot plays gently downhill also and the green is 20 or so feet uphill from the bridle path across the dogleg.

The 7th is perfection through a 70ft valley between tee and green and the 8th plays considerably downhill off the tee and definitely sweeps round to the right.

Love hankley, especially now they have improved 4 (although still the weakest hole on the course)

Actually, thinking about it Darren you are right, there is a bit of a slight dogleg on the 6th.

Unfortunately, Hankley missed a trick when they did the 4th green. There is a perfect natural site long and left of the current green between 2 huge oak trees, almost backing onto the 18th green. Would have made for a much more challenging hole.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I'm judging the photographs and what they do (or don't do) to support the accolade of being a top 25 course. A clubs website is their window for everyone to look in and the standards online are a reflection on the club

You can't judge it by photographs or website to have some sort of relevance towards its standard

A photograph can never appreciate what a golfers view is on the course

Never used a website to reflect the standard

 

[Slab]

You can't judge it by photographs or website to have some sort of relevance towards its standard

A photograph can never appreciate what a golfers view is on the course

Never used a website to reflect the standard

Yes I can in exactly the same way the condition of the locker room reflects on the club

As Snelly points out they may have good reason to understate how great the place is (& as I said, loads online do hold that positive view) but that doesn't mean they're somehow above or excluded from review based on standards of website or locker room

 

[User20205]

Yes I can in exactly the same way the condition of the locker room reflects on the club

As Snelly points out they may have good reason to understate how great the place is (& as I said, loads online do hold that positive view) but that doesn't mean they're somehow above or excluded from review based on standards of website or locker room

Hankley isn't a resort course, it doesn't need to overtly sell itself.

it depends what's important to you, the changing rooms, the website or the actual course.

According to your rational Celtic Manor (Lovely website & amazing changing facilities) is a better course than Swinley Forest?

 

[Mike07]

only played 11 of the top 100. Need to change that in 2016.

If i could only play one course on the list next year it would be Swinley Forest.

Also need to play more links courses!

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Yes I can in exactly the same way the condition of the locker room reflects on the club

As Snelly points out they may have good reason to understate how great the place is (& as I said, loads online do hold that positive view) but that doesn't mean they're somehow above or excluded from review based on standards of website or locker room

Reviewing a golf course based on a website ?!

You're supposed to play a golf course then judge it - not look at a web page

A top golf course doesn't need to sell itself - the standard of the course itself does the selling. If anyone dismisses a golf course based on a website or indeed locker room then they only person missing out would be themselves.

It's not a top 100 golf courses with nice websites - it's Top 100 Courses.

 

[Robobum]

Actually, thinking about it Darren you are right, there is a bit of a slight dogleg on the 6th.

Unfortunately, Hankley missed a trick when they did the 4th green. There is a perfect natural site long and left of the current green between 2 huge oak trees, almost backing onto the 18th green. Would have made for a much more challenging hole.

It just doesn't fit in with the rest of the course does it. Raised green, (relatively) small surface with an American course style bunker in the front left.

I haven't looked at that location Gordon, I'll have a gander when schlapping it round there later next year