A guide to the top 100 UK golf courses rankings

Any list that purports to identify the best, or worst, or most exciting, or any other element of anything must, by its very nature, be subjective. So here at MulliganPlus we embark on the task of identifying the best 100 courses in the UK with a little trepidation but also with some confidence.

 

The trepidation lies in the knowledge that, whatever our final list contains, a few golfers (perhaps many) will disagree with some of our selections – at least we hope so because in that eventuality we can open a dialogue. We would welcome your views on the courses we have included or omitted and believe that this list should reflect not only our, but your opinions. It will be regularly reviewed and revised and an important part of that revision process will be to echo your points of view.

Our confidence is based on the fact that MulliganPlus is a website run for golfers by golfers. For good or bad, we are dotty about the game to the extent that we have made it our career and have also been fortunate to play many, if not most of the courses in the UK (and abroad) that are recognised, for whatever reason, as being a cut above the rest. Of course we have absorbed the opinions of writers, golfers, architects and others in compiling the list but there are few adequate substitutes for personal experience and this is what we believe gives us a platform from which to spout our own views.

So what is that makes a great course? First, and above all else, is the nature of the challenge. It should be taken as read that none of the courses we list is the sort of place where you can slap the ball around and return a half decent score on the days when your game is not as you would like it to be. In order to score well you have to play well, it’s as simple as that because the demands of the layout will not allow you to get away with sloppy play. This does not necessarily relate to heroic carries or a test so stern that you would only pass it by hitting a once-in-a-lifetime shot but rather a sustained examination of every aspect of your game to which you will only be equal if you play at, or near your best.

Second is the idea of beauty, or attractiveness but this, we realise, is probably the most subjective criterion of all. For example, neither Carnoustie in Fife, or Royal St George’s in Kent, has the most attractive backdrop you could imagine but in both cases, once you step onto the first tee the subtlety and visual splendour of the holes you are about to play overcomes the view to the horizon. On a more general note, some golfers find the rugged, windswept, almost moonscape topography of links courses not to be to their liking, although here at MulliganPlus we are unashamed fans of this, the most natural and ancient form of the game.

Third is memorability. There are movies, and books, and pieces of music so well created that they stick in the memory long after lesser pieces have faded, and so it is with golf courses. This does not mean that when you sit back at the 19th you can remember every nuance of every hole – and as we get older we find our capacity to do this greatly diminishes – but that the overall experience is one that will last in the memory bank.

Finally comes balance, which could also be read as variety. For example, if there are four par threes, the challenge is diminished somewhat if all stretch to about the same length, and you therefore hit the same, or similar club, to each. There should also be a good mix of short and long par fours and fives, and they should be dotted throughout the round, so if a course has three excellent, lengthy par fours, for example, they shouldn’t be grouped together. This is the reason why we haven’t put the Old Course at St Andrews in our top-10 – a view with which many of you will disagree – because the bald facts are, it has only two par threes, quite close together (the 8th and 11th), several driveable par fours and the easiest closing hole in championship golf. If the Open rota courses were being decided today, ignoring history, the Old Course would never be included but that’s not why The Open goes there, and amen to that, we say.

In addition, depending on your response, we are considering opening up a second category of quality, called Great Club Courses. These are the places that rarely make it into the top-100 or top-50 lists but nevertheless offer an excellent day’s golf, usually at great value on a layout that offers a challenge but is not daunting – the sort of place where many of us happily play week-in and week-out. From personal experience we would mention unheralded gems such as Faversham GC in Kent, the Burnside course at Carnoustie and Brampton Park in Cambridgeshire – all courses to which we would happily return at any opportunity. If you know of a course that could be included in such a list, let us know about it but most importantly, tell us why it is the sort of layout that would be appreciated and enjoyed by fellow golfers.

Enjoy the list but don’t hesitate to tell us where you disagree.

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