Top 10 Golf Courses UK And Ireland
In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by Rob Smith & Jeremy Ellwood, who are in charge of Golf Monthly's Top 100, and Golf Monthly's editor Mike Harris to run through the top 10 of Golf Monthly's Top 100 golf courses in the UK & Ireland for 2023/24. How many of the top 10 have you played?
Transcript
00:00 Hello, everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly,
00:02 and welcome to Wapleston Golf Club and this video,
00:04 in which we're going to take a look at the top 10 golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
00:09 So I'm going to be joined by Rob Smith and Jeremy Elwood,
00:13 who run our Top 100 Courses panel, and Mike Harris,
00:16 who's the editor of Golf Monthly.
00:17 And we're going to discuss what makes these 10 golf courses so special.
00:22 We're going to run it through from 10 through to one.
00:24 So make sure you watch through to the end to find out what comes out on top.
00:27 Right. Let's get started.
00:29 [Music]
00:36 OK, so we're going to start at number 10 and work our way down to number one.
00:40 And actually, we'll start with 10 and nine together
00:43 because they are the same venue, the same golf club, but two separate golf courses.
00:46 Mike, you're going to kick us off and we're looking at the two Sunningdales here.
00:50 We are indeed.
00:52 And interestingly, for a number of years, we had the new ranked above the old.
00:57 And I think that most people would agree that the new is a harder golf course.
01:03 I would. It's a really, really strong test of golf.
01:07 If you're not on your game, it will really find you out.
01:10 But actually, we've promoted the old ahead of the new.
01:16 I think we did it at the last rankings and it stayed ahead this time.
01:19 And I think we've done that just because it is such a delightful
01:24 18 holes of golf, even if you're playing not the best.
01:28 You will still really, really enjoy the old.
01:31 There are some incredible holes on there.
01:34 I do think the ambiance of the old is such a charming golf course.
01:39 The new as well, again, some amazing holes.
01:43 That sweeping par five, where big hitters like you sort of take it over the floor
01:48 and the rest of us go out to the left.
01:50 The par three before that, which is the fourth, I think.
01:54 Sorry, the fifth and then the par five is the sixth.
01:57 Yeah, that's right.
01:58 And then such a great run of holes around the turn as well.
02:02 The tenth lovely par three that goes back to the halfway hut.
02:06 In fact, both of the tenths go to the halfway hut, don't they?
02:10 And of course, no visit to Sunningdale is complete without a stop
02:14 at the halfway hut for a sausage sandwich and a drink of your choice.
02:18 But I think together, it's the best 36 holes comfortably.
02:24 In GB and I possibly in the world, and it's a wonderful place to visit.
02:28 I should say what's unique about Sunningdale is that you've got two golf courses
02:31 that are very similar in terms of obviously they're similar in terms of sitting
02:34 at ten and nine or our list, but they're quite different actually to play.
02:38 As you said, Mike, one of them's a lot, I'd say a lot harder than the other one.
02:42 But they do play quite different, even though they're on the same bit of land.
02:46 It's not because I find the same at the Berkshire.
02:48 You have two that side by side.
02:50 I think the blue is substantially tougher than the red.
02:53 Maybe it's because of the paths and so on.
02:55 But it seems to be a feature of the Surrey Berkshire Ballers
02:57 that you've got these fabulous 36 hole venues like that.
03:00 So let me put you all on the spot.
03:02 If you were going to play one of those Sunningdale courses tomorrow,
03:05 but only one of them, which one would you go for, Jez?
03:08 I'd go for the new because I didn't play a lot of good golf last year,
03:11 but one of my best rounds was on the new, so it's fresh in the mind.
03:13 But I particularly like that fifth and sixth back to back combo,
03:17 which is probably two of the best back to back holes in the UK.
03:20 Well, there you go, Mike.
03:22 I think it would depend on how I was playing.
03:24 If I'm playing well, I'd like to play on the new because it's a great test of golf.
03:28 But if I'm not playing so well, I think it's a pretty relentless golf course.
03:32 So I'd opt for the old, which I think is a bit more.
03:35 It's a bit more user friendly, definitely.
03:37 I think you're going to have an enjoyable round, whether you play well or not.
03:41 And I would opt for the old as well, for fairly obvious reasons,
03:45 particularly as we're in now, we're recording this in the sort of height of winter, really.
03:50 And I'm not getting a great deal of distance.
03:52 So the old will keep a smile on your face the whole way,
03:55 whereas the new might actually start to make you frown.
03:58 How about you?
04:00 I'd go for the old too.
04:01 I'd go for the old.
04:02 But regardless, as you said, I'd definitely take a bit of time at the halfway hut.
04:06 Whichever one I play.
04:07 OK, so number eight on our list is Royal Portrush.
04:13 Rob, are you looking at Royal Portrush for us?
04:14 Yeah, I first played it back in the late 80s, early 90s, I think,
04:19 and fell in love with it straight away.
04:20 It's a classic Lynx, but has got some fabulous students as well.
04:24 There's a Harry Colt course, and I'm a big fan of Colt, as are many people,
04:29 obviously, he's one of the greatest architects of all time.
04:31 It was always a great course anyway, and it kind of came back even higher
04:36 in the public eye when it got the open back four years ago, for 2019.
04:41 And of course, Mackenzie Nebert came in and did some changes as well,
04:44 including two new holes, which is quite important because the work
04:46 had a slightly weaker finish, so it's kind of come up in our rankings
04:50 based on the fact we've got two fabulous new holes as well.
04:53 So you had the fifth and the 16th, which were glorious in the first place.
04:56 You've now got the two new holes as well.
04:58 It's an absolute cracker from start to finish now.
05:00 But hard as well, though.
05:02 Very hard, as is evident by the fact it's got the opening already again
05:05 back in two years time.
05:06 So, you know, everyone loved it.
05:08 The 2019 opening was a huge success and the public acclaim
05:12 and the worldwide acclaim is so great that it's going back there straight away.
05:15 Right. Moving on, we need to get to course number seven.
05:18 Jez on our list, which is Canusti.
05:20 Canusti is, people will often say about Canusti, it's a fantastic golf course.
05:25 The views are not great.
05:27 You know, it's enclosed by houses and it's not a great sea view golf course.
05:33 But I think bunkering and burns are what Canusti is all about.
05:36 The two B's.
05:37 They're always in the wrong place for where you as a golfer tend to hit it.
05:40 Some fairways have bunkers both sides in the driving zone.
05:44 Some just on one side.
05:45 And then you get this added
05:47 factor of the burns, not just on the closing stretch, but on early holes
05:51 like the third where I think now some of the big hitting guys
05:55 can get pretty close to the green on the third corner and knock it on.
05:57 Yeah. But for me and more, of course, you're factoring in having to clear that burn on the second shot.
06:02 I just think it's such a brilliantly bunkered golf course.
06:06 And then as tough a finish as you'll encounter anywhere.
06:09 Yeah, I think that you're right, Jez, that feeling with some of these golf courses,
06:13 the ones where maybe they don't have the breathtaking views of Royal Port Rush
06:17 or another one that appears on our list a bit further down.
06:20 They do then need to have that amazing bunkering, that definition
06:23 that you get off the tee at places like Canusti.
06:26 And it is a lot of people say it's the best bunkered golf course in the UK and I
06:31 and I probably wouldn't disagree with that.
06:34 Yeah. Right.
06:35 So on to number six on our list and Rob, you're going to take a look at Royal Dornand.
06:38 But before you talk about the golf course itself, just talk a bit about the club,
06:41 because I've no doubt in my mind it's one of the friendliest
06:44 courses I think I've ever been to.
06:47 Just so you get that sense immediately as you arrive,
06:49 that you're sort of almost like a member of the club for the day.
06:51 Well, you certainly do.
06:52 And that's because going back, it was a real pilgrimage to go there.
06:56 Again, going back some time when I first went, you had to take the ferry from Inverness.
07:00 You didn't have to, but it was the quickest way to get the ferry across the Cromwelly Firth.
07:03 And therefore, once you got there, it was a very special place to go to.
07:07 And because it was off the beaten track, it was, of course,
07:09 a little less stuffy than some of the other clubs.
07:11 And there's always therefore been welcoming as a result.
07:13 Yeah. And it's welcoming.
07:15 But then you get out onto the golf course and it's a fantastic place to play golf.
07:19 Tell us a bit about the golf course.
07:20 Well, the setting is just dream, isn't it?
07:22 It's so remote.
07:23 You've got kind of almost like a two level thing working your way down to the shore.
07:26 And you look back across and it's just a traditional out and back.
07:31 Some super tough holes.
07:32 If you play in a strong wind, you might really find it quite tough.
07:35 But of course, like elsewhere, it's improving all the time, too.
07:39 So they have since the last rankings, they have a new seventh hole, half four,
07:43 which has been realigned to kind of open up the views across the Firth
07:47 more and make it even more sexy to look at as you play.
07:51 They're working currently, as we speak, on the eighth to build a new tee
07:55 to to create the views again and then open that up as well.
07:58 So like many places not resting on it, it's already very high laurels.
08:02 It's improving all the time.
08:03 Yeah. And it's a, as I say, a brilliant place to play golf.
08:06 OK, so course number five on our list is Royal Birkdale.
08:10 Rob, another open venue, beautiful golf course to look at.
08:13 What makes it so good?
08:14 Well, looking back at the rankings since we've been going,
08:17 which is about 20 years now,
08:19 this has been the leading course in England the whole way through.
08:22 I was lucky enough to play there again last summer,
08:25 and I already knew it was great before I went.
08:28 But going back, I just couldn't believe how good it is.
08:30 It's got 18 strong holes all the way through.
08:33 It's got fantastic dunes for England.
08:36 Particularly for the northwest, which is a cracking coastline all the way through.
08:39 But it's got some of the best dunes.
08:42 I just loved it from start to finish.
08:43 It's also super friendly, strangely enough.
08:45 Yeah, for an open championship venue,
08:47 members are very friendly and welcoming, as are the management team.
08:50 I was absolutely blown away going back again.
08:53 I, when last time I was there for the open, which would have been the year
08:56 the Jordan Speed won, I remember standing on the first tee and thinking
08:58 this is possibly the most intimidating shot ever.
09:01 This is a dogleg right to left, there's wind all the way off the left hand side.
09:04 It's got both ways actually.
09:07 Yeah, for most golfers, you've got to hit it out there and then
09:10 you've got to draw it and then fade it, which is not...
09:12 So let me ask you, what makes it such a good golf course then?
09:16 Well, I mean, I think it was rerouted many years ago
09:21 to play along the valleys rather than up and over the hills.
09:24 And probably for the older English links courses,
09:28 it has some really impressive dunes and you play along valleys between them.
09:33 And every hole is almost like a whale.
09:35 Yeah, I think it's a really fair golf course as well.
09:39 You don't tend to get those,
09:42 you know, sort of quirky links like that you might get at somewhere like
09:47 the Royal St George's perhaps.
09:49 When it comes to ranking a golf course for the top 100 courses in Golf Monthly,
09:53 you guys, you don't just take a look at just the quality of the test and design.
09:57 There are some other factors as well.
09:58 Take a look at the video that's on that subject as well to know more.
10:01 OK, so for number four on our list, we're going back north of the border to Scotland.
10:05 Mike, Muirfield.
10:07 Yeah, well, it's an incredible golf course.
10:10 We had it number one for a number of years.
10:13 And although it's a number four, it is still an epic golf course.
10:18 I think the thing about Muirfield that everybody acknowledges
10:23 is strength is rooting, it's two concentric nines.
10:26 So you are never playing in the same direction, two holes in a row.
10:31 Which means that the wind is constant.
10:33 There's always a wind there at Muirfield, it's constantly shifting.
10:36 You've really got to take that into account.
10:39 A very, very strong test.
10:42 It is. It's a hard golf course.
10:44 There's some really enjoyable holes, but it is, it's a difficult golf course.
10:49 You'll get a lot of great bunkering there.
10:51 So we're staying in Scotland for number three.
10:55 We're going to go to Turnberry, Jez, which has always been
10:57 one of the most beautiful golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
11:00 But tell us a bit about the test that you find when you get there.
11:03 Well, it was always regarded as the most visually picturesque of the Open.
11:08 I know it's not on the Rota at the moment, but picturesque of the Open.
11:12 Rota Venice, because it's so close to the coastline there in Ayrshire
11:15 and the front nine in particular, and the turn, you're hugging the shore all the way.
11:20 And I think there was some, perhaps some concern when someone came in in 2016
11:24 to start doing some changes.
11:26 You know, what can you do to to improve this already fantastic golf course?
11:29 Yeah, the masterpiece of a golf course.
11:31 How do you improve it?
11:31 And, you know, particularly when you found out he was going to be doing holes
11:34 like 9, 10 and 11, which were already right on that rocky shore.
11:38 And then the results that he managed to create proved that it was all justified.
11:43 Because it just raised it, raised the whole thing another notch on the old scale.
11:48 And it is just an immense experience.
11:50 And he's also improved holes on the back nine that traditionally
11:54 were perhaps a little bit weaker.
11:55 You know, you now play the 14th is now a par five,
11:58 coming back up to where the old ninth fairway was.
12:01 That's making far better use of the land than when the ninth was this
12:05 kind of unusual par four with the Hogsback fairway.
12:08 And the whole thing has just gone up several notches.
12:12 I think it explains why we do this process every couple of years,
12:15 because the best golf courses in the UK and Ireland, they are evolving, aren't they?
12:19 They're constantly evolving and changing.
12:21 And as you said, you can take a masterpiece like Turnberry and make it even better.
12:25 I mean, few people would have thought that was even possible.
12:27 Well, particularly when you found out what holes he was going to be tinkering with.
12:31 Yeah. So but it was it was a job well done.
12:34 And OK, so number two is St Andrews.
12:38 The old course at St Andrews had to be high up on the list.
12:41 Of course, it did.
12:42 Mike, tell us a bit about about St Andrews.
12:45 I think everybody knows it's it's the most famous golf course in the world,
12:50 home of golf.
12:50 And when you play there, you are walking in the footsteps
12:54 of everybody who's who of the game.
12:58 Molton Morris, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods.
13:01 And it's an incredible experience.
13:05 What I really like about St Andrews is it is playable for all levels of golfer.
13:11 You've got to do quite well to lose a golf ball.
13:14 You probably would have to hit it in one of the
13:16 wind bushes that are sort of around, although they've taken out
13:20 quite a lot of the winds.
13:21 It's pretty difficult to lose a golf ball.
13:23 Yeah, I've always found that it was not fairly straightforward,
13:28 fairly straightforward to get an OK score.
13:32 Yeah, quite difficult to get a really good score
13:35 because you've got to be a bit more ambitious and a bit more aggressive.
13:38 And you've got to be putting well, because you are going to have a lot of long putts.
13:42 Yes, mega putts.
13:43 Big double greens
13:44 and some, you know, some subtle movements in some of them.
13:49 And you think that, you know, the really hard holes are, you know, hard,
13:53 but then you can easily get caught out.
13:55 I remember playing in a medal which was going really quite nicely.
14:00 I think I was like one or two over,
14:02 stood on the 12th tee and had an eight.
14:05 What is a short...
14:07 It feels like it's a potential birdie opportunity.
14:09 You know, St Andrews gives you decisions to make and it's sort of,
14:14 I really should have hit dry, but I hit hybrid, hit it into one of the fairway bunkers.
14:19 I think it took two to get out.
14:22 Then I, oh I don't know, the red mist came down.
14:24 And then you've got that green with the step in it.
14:27 It's yeah, there are plenty of places to come a cropper,
14:31 but it is quite user friendly.
14:33 It is.
14:33 It's only consolation Paul Casey came a cropper there, didn't he?
14:36 The year when Hoosetails and Marnley opened.
14:38 He made a hash.
14:39 It's yeah.
14:40 I think what sums it up playable for the very first time I played there
14:44 on the two par threes, I had a two on one and a 13 on the other.
14:50 Consistency has always been a hallmark.
14:52 So before we move on to the top ranked course on the list,
14:58 what's it like to play the first and the 18th at St Andrews?
15:02 Still for me, I mean, I must have played the old course
15:05 20 plus times.
15:07 It is still a magical feeling stood on the first tee, hitting down there.
15:12 And then the journey up 18 is, you know, it's amazing.
15:17 Walk over the bridge.
15:19 Waving to the imaginary crowd as you go.
15:21 Photograph on the bridge,
15:24 you know, particularly if it's your first time and if you're taking friends.
15:27 It's a really special experience.
15:29 And then walking up there with
15:31 obviously R&A Clubhouse, Hamilton Grand behind it.
15:35 I know, Neil, you had a room in Hamilton.
15:37 Yeah, it was my hall of residence at university.
15:39 What a room with a view.
15:41 And of course, you've got all these sort of famous building, Bruce Axe
15:44 and all the others up the right hand side.
15:47 Normally got a crowd behind the 18th green, which is
15:51 it's pretty inspiring, can be a little bit daunting, but it's just an incredible
15:56 place to play golf.
15:57 And it's I would recommend it for everybody.
16:00 Put it on. Yeah, I know it's probably on everybody's bucket list,
16:03 but it is well worth the pilgrimage.
16:05 It is. It really is.
16:07 OK, so that leads us to number one on our list.
16:09 And for this one, we're going back over to Northern Ireland
16:12 and Royal County Down.
16:15 Who has played Royal County Down most recently?
16:18 I've played it most recently.
16:20 I've also been right next door to it most recently and not played it.
16:23 But so, so, Jez, right, you've got on this list
16:27 the best inland courses, the best Lynx golf courses.
16:30 Why does this one stand out for you?
16:33 Well, I think people have always a lot of people think it's the best golf course
16:36 in the world.
16:37 That's always been touted as being up there.
16:39 I don't know whether I agree with that or not, but it's as a setting for golf.
16:44 You're surrounded by mountains.
16:46 You've got the sea.
16:47 You've got the iconic town,
16:50 townscape with the towering buildings and the hotel, isn't it?
16:54 Next door. Yeah.
16:56 Sleave Donnard.
16:56 And it's it's got a magical feel about it, the whole place.
17:00 And then you get on the course and the first three holes sort of play
17:04 along the coast, gently uphill, isn't it?
17:07 And you climb up to the to the fourth tee and then look back down
17:11 and get the whole of that view.
17:14 And I know, you know, the views are not
17:17 the major part of our rankings, but given that they are still a decent percentage,
17:22 this one would score as highly as anywhere for the visual appeal.
17:25 And then some of the individual holes are just fantastic to play.
17:30 What do you have to do well to shoot a good score at Royal County?
17:32 So apart from play very well,
17:34 you have to go on a day when it's not windy.
17:37 Stay out of the bunkers.
17:40 I mean, it's a well bunkered golf course,
17:43 and you've got to know your lines on some of the shots
17:47 where you can't necessarily see exactly where you're going.
17:50 Like the ninth and the eleventh in particular, isn't it?
17:53 Can I ask you a question about blind shots?
17:57 Because when we talked, Mike mentioned earlier about,
17:59 I think it was Burtdale saying it's such a fair golf course.
18:02 And when people talk about fair golf course, immediately,
18:04 the thing that goes off in my mind is that it's fair
18:06 because you can see everything in front of you.
18:08 But Royal County is one of those golf courses
18:10 where you do have a few blind shots to encounter.
18:13 Are they a good thing? Are they a bad thing?
18:16 What how do you feel about that sort of makeup and how it works?
18:19 I've never been against them because I've played a lot of golf
18:22 on quirky old golf courses where you get a lot of blind shots.
18:26 And no, probably no designer would design a blind hole or shot these days.
18:32 But playing them on some of these classic old links seems entirely inky.
18:36 I think when you think of Prestwick and that blind par three straight over the hill,
18:40 if you play that and you can't enjoy the experience
18:44 of coming over the top and seeing where your ball is.
18:46 I have no objection to them.
18:49 I don't know what the other guys think.
18:50 I totally agree.
18:51 It's part of the tradition of the game, isn't it?
18:53 It's part of the stepping back in time, part of embracing
18:56 what golf started off as, just going out there into the elements.
18:59 I'm all for it.
19:00 Because if you're hitting somewhere that's then very quirky,
19:03 I mean, you and I have played at Ainswick.
19:05 This year, which was about as quirky as a golf course.
19:08 Yeah. And so many blind shots.
19:10 And I think you just had to embrace it for what it was.
19:13 But yeah, you're hitting in some pretty funky places.
19:16 Interestingly, I did an interview with Sam Huxby this weekend.
19:20 He played the Irish Open there and he was saying
19:22 he built his practice round around hitting to these marker posts.
19:25 But then for the tournament, they took all the marker posts out.
19:28 Oh no.
19:29 So he's suddenly looking at his notes and it's saying hit towards marker post
19:32 and there is no marker post.
19:34 So, you know, that shows you how there are obviously enough
19:37 blind shots there for someone to be able to do it.
19:39 Now, can I ask you, if you were going to play Royal Countdown tomorrow,
19:41 would you want it to be dead calm, flat calm, or would you want there to be a wind?
19:44 I think I'd want it to be relatively calm because anything more than about a
19:49 two or three club wind and I know I'm not going to be scoring particularly well.
19:53 I think you want when you play Lynx golf, you want there to be some wind
19:58 because it's part of the experience.
20:01 But yeah, it can get, I played it in really poor weather
20:05 and it's still, you know, men's test of golf, great challenge.
20:09 But yeah, sometimes I think that, you know, for ordinary golfers,
20:13 then you don't want the wind to be up too much.
20:14 Maybe, maybe like a two club wind, helping on most holes.
20:18 But you particularly want it on your approach shots, don't you?
20:20 Because it really makes you think.
20:22 On the drive, it can kill you, but on the approach shots,
20:24 you've really got to take into account the extra club or the one club less
20:28 or whatever.
20:29 And then you can start to play bump and run shots.
20:31 I'd say the wind out of play, but no, I'm a bit of wind.
20:34 And maybe that explains why Lynx course is featured so heavily
20:37 in that top 10 list from our top 100.
20:39 So a quick recap.
20:40 So it's Sunningdale new at 10, Sunningdale old at nine,
20:44 Royal Portrush, Carnoustie, Royal Dornoch.
20:47 Number five is Royal Birkdale, then it's Muirfield, Turnberry,
20:51 the old course at St Andrews, and finally in at number one is Royal Counterdown.
20:55 And thank you very much for watching this video.
20:57 If you've played any of the golf courses we've talked about here,
21:01 then we'd love to hear what you have to say about them.
21:03 But for now, from Wapleston Golf Club, it's goodbye.
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