UK & Ireland Top 100 Courses - Your shout!

blade

Your comment above is a perfect example of "one man's meat is another man's poison"

I checked out the pictures on the Druids Glen website, to me it looks totally manufactured and unnatural. I would give it great marks in a gardening competition but I wouldn't pay any of my own money to play it. Living in Ireland you should hang your head in shame for admitting you don't like links courses, the purest and most natural form of this great game. I'd be more than happy to come over and play all your great links with you and hopefully convert you ;)

you checked out the pictures on a website & you feel you know the place ?
i cant for the life of me understand the manufactured part , as debated often before about the purest & natrual for of the game i dont see myself or many other amatuers as good enough to judge bouncing a ball 40 yard short of the green & using the contours of a hard slopey fairway to get it to the flag .. too much luck involved for someone of my ability any how lets not take the thread away from what its about .. what i will do to save you any of your own money if you are ever over this area i will treat you to a game around it , then and only then judge this place ..

P.s i did mention Glaseady links at Ballyliffin , that & the Old course are very nice

Bill,you have a friend her pal,played it and the Heath in 2006 and loved it,a cracking golf course and the Heath aint bad either.

Do you mind me asking what you paid? We got a superb deal of something like 160 euro for 2 rounds and DBB for 1 night.

Would love to go back again,also played The Island which is a belter of a links but way too low in the top 100 IMO.

played it with the society Alan, €50 a head , absolute steal, we played all the decent cources around & subsidised them by holding a raffel to raise extra dosh .. think its a bout €65-€70 to play it . havent played the heath .. good location for a meet maybe ? no im not ofering . well maybe not ha ha
 
blade

I would be delighted to hold you to your kind offer! Played Ballyliffen but I can't remember which one is which although I did enjoy both tracks. Sadly not played the Old course yet, was in St Andrews last month but didn't get drawn in the ballot. Had to slum it round Kingsbarns instead.
 
blade

I would be delighted to hold you to your kind offer! Played Ballyliffen but I can't remember which one is which although I did enjoy both tracks. Sadly not played the Old course yet, was in St Andrews last month but didn't get drawn in the ballot. Had to slum it round Kingsbarns instead.

Well thers no closing date on the offer mate ..
was luck enough to win the GM irish qualifier on the Old Course , (thanks to smanges ability to find balls) still preferred Glaseady for some reason..
 
Well thers no closing date on the offer mate ..
was luck enough to win the GM irish qualifier on the Old Course , (thanks to smanges ability to find balls) still preferred Glaseady for some reason..

Your challenge will be to convert me into a parkland fan :)
 
played a few of list on course that cert shouldnt be up there is saunton west, east course very good but west is far to short

for me

1/ dornoch
2/ turnberry
3/ royal st georges
4/carnoustie
5/ trumps course

course that i think should be rated higher than some in there

tain
royal cinque ports
montrose
cruden bay
machrihanish dunes
silloth
lanark
 
played a few of list on course that cert shouldnt be up there is saunton west, east course very good but west is far to short

for me

1/ dornoch
2/ turnberry
3/ royal st georges
4/carnoustie
5/ trumps course

course that i think should be rated higher than some in there

tain
royal cinque ports
montrose
cruden bay
machrihanish dunes
silloth
lanark

The West course at Saunton is 6500 yards, how can that possibly be too short? Courses don't have to be 7000+ to be good. And the variation of holes on the West is actually much better than the East, as a members course it is more fun to play.
 
The West course at Saunton is 6500 yards, how can that possibly be too short? Courses don't have to be 7000+ to be good. And the variation of holes on the West is actually much better than the East, as a members course it is more fun to play.

its all about opinions, and to me i dont think either course is as good as st enodoc, we played there open week and west was off yellows, which i didnt really enjoy,didnt float my boat but thats just my opinion,
 
its all about opinions, and to me i dont think either course is as good as st enodoc, we played there open week and west was off yellows, which i didnt really enjoy,didnt float my boat but thats just my opinion,

Yes it is about opinions and I actually agree with you about St Enodoc, one of my all time favourite courses. But to say the West course is short is factually wrong.
 
Yes it is about opinions and I actually agree with you about St Enodoc, one of my all time favourite courses. But to say the West course is short is factually wrong.

drive dont no what scorecards your looking at but just double checked

west course yellows 5500 yrds par 69 sss 67
off blues its still only 6100 , like i said we played it off yellows and rather short, are you not getting it mixed up with the east course
 
I haven't played a great number of top end courses but The Hotchkin at Woodhall Spa for me. The ambience, the quality, the surroundings, the value for money, the welcome, the bunkers....

I played it one early autumn Sunday morning, teed off at 8.30 with no one in front of us and no one behind us. We also had a fly past by the Lancaster Bomber stationed nearby which was flying at about 150 feet. And to cap it all off I beat my 2 playing partners which is a very rare occurrence. Simply magical.

As for a hidden gem type then Sherwood Forest is very good. Personally I prefer it to Notts Hollinwell.
 
drive dont no what scorecards your looking at but just double checked

west course yellows 5500 yrds par 69 sss 67
off blues its still only 6100 , like i said we played it off yellows and rather short, are you not getting it mixed up with the east course

I've played the West 4 times this year (once each in the 2 Saunton opens at Easter and August) and twice in the Logan. Off the tournament tees it is just under 6500 yards, add in the obligatory wind and trust me, it doesn't play short.
 
I've played the West 4 times this year (once each in the 2 Saunton opens at Easter and August) and twice in the Logan. Off the tournament tees it is just under 6500 yards, add in the obligatory wind and trust me, it doesn't play short.

without been funny drive, i suggest you go in the saunton website and take a look at the yardages for the west course they only do blues and yellows on there for men around yardages as quoted ,, then come back

are you sure your not getting the east and the west mixed up
 
I think that's the point , Gordon played it off the blues at 6500, you played it off the yellows at 5500. To my mind thats a different course. Did you have the option of playing further back ?
 
point taken ,

but like i said yellows we played off 5500yrds now thats short

We played The West course in strong winds, and played off tees in front of the yellows ! No not the Ladies ! It was still a monster, but playable. The first hole was driveable, and the second hole needed two good woods. The holes are very close to being the same length. Not sure yardage is that relevant on links couses when it is blowing a bit.:mmm:
 
I've not played them all, so in fairness I don't know if Muirfield and Royal County Down are better than Carnoustie. But having played 19 of them my favourite courses are :-

Carnoustie - a tremendous examination which builds towards a fabulous finish.
St Andrews Old - it may not be the best course but add in that butterfly feeling... I'd visit there again and again.
Turnberry - not as strong a finish as Carnoustie but difficult to split.
Woodhall Spa - is there a better inland course? I've not had the pleasure of Sunningdale/Wentworth/Walton Heath...
Ganton - it runs a close 2nd to Woodhall for me.

I've played the Belfry twice, the second time confirming that whilst it has its signature holes that are full of history, and worth a visit for that, it isn't a course I'm in any rush to revisit at all. Silloth in the top 100... another course I've played several times, and enjoyed each time, but worthy of a top 100 spot?

And then there are a few omissions that lead me to question a few of those that are included. Where's Lindrick, Little Aston, Fulford & Southerness?
 
Just a note to add on this. I played Walton Heath Old yesterday. It is a nice course with several interesting holes. However, it is too flat to be a classic inland course. In my view, it is very overrated and cetainly not in the same league as Hankley, Berkshire or Sunningdale.

That said, the lunch is of the highest quality!
 
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