Playing the English Top 100

[El Gringo]

On 3/14/2022 at 2:04 PM, Divot License said:

So for ease of reference I've transposed the list from Top100 golf courses as it stands in March 2022.

 

1  - Royal St George's
2  - Sunningdale (Old)
3  - Royal Birkdale
4  - Sunningdale (New)
5  - Swinley Forest
6  - Royal Lytham & St Annes
7  - Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
8  - St George's Hill (Red & Blue)
9  - Ganton
10 - St Enodoc (Church)
11 - West Sussex
12 - Royal Cinque Ports
13 - Wentworth (West)
14 - Walton Heath (Old)
15 - Alwoodley
16 - Royal Liverpool
17 - Royal West Norfolk
18 - Notts (Hollinwell)
19 - Formby
20 - Silloth on Solway
21 - Saunton (East)
22 - The Berkshire (Red)
23 - Hillside
24 - Rye (Old)
25 - Queenwood
26 - Burnham & Berrow (Championship)
27 - Woking
28 - Hunstanton
29 - Hankley Common
30 - Broadstone
31 - Worplesdon
32 - Liphook
33 - West Hill
34 - Hindhead
35 - Wentworth (East)
36 - The Berkshire (Blue)
37 - Walton Heath (New)
38 - Southport & Ainsdale
39 - Royal Ashdown Forest (Old)
40 - Delamere Forest
41 - West Lancashire
42 - JCB
43 - Woburn (Marquess)
44 - Parkstone
45 - Prince's (Shore & Dunes)
46 - Little Aston
47 - Remedy Oak
48 - Ipswich (Purdis Heath)
49 - Woburn (Duke's)
50 - Aldeburgh (Championship)
51 - Ferndown (Old)
52 - Bearwood Lakes
53 - Moortown
54 - New Zealand
55 - Beau Desert
56 - Sherwood Forest
57 - Coombe Hill
58 - The Addington
59 - Lindrick
60 - Royal North Devon
61 - Saunton (West)
62 - Perranporth
63 - Wisley (Church & Garden)
64 - Wallasey
65 - Hayling
66 - Trevose (Championship)
67 - Littlestone (Championship)
68 - Seaton Carew (Old)
69 - Stoneham
70 - St Mellion (Nicklaus)
71 - Blackmoor
72 - East Devon
73 - Stoke Park (Colt & Alison)
74 - Seacroft
75 - Huntercombe
76 - The Belfry (Brabazon)
77 - Isle of Purbeck (Purbeck)
78 - The Grove
79 - Sheringham
80 - Camberley Heath
81 - North Hants
82 - Royal Wimbledon
83 - Piltdown
84 - Hadley Wood
85 - Ashridge
86 - Crowborough Beacon
87 - Goswick
88 - Blackwell
89 - Knole Park
90 - Woodbridge (Heath)
91 - Thorndon Park
92 - Tandridge
93 - Northamptonshire County
94 - Royal Worlington & Newmarket
95 - Beaconsfield
96 - Woburn (Duchess)
97 - Fairhaven
98 - Sandiway
99 - Prince’s (Himalayas)
100 - Centurion Club

So they are rating the 9 hole Princes Hims as a separate course, but not the other two nines? Very strange given the different combos available. That said, I always thought it was better to have an 18 hole and a 9 hole. I don’t buy the stand alone nines concept.

[Frank_Kasule]

4 hours ago, Chanceman said:

Frank, how did this trip go? 

Ah sorry I never posted! 

It was fantastic, only downside was that the weather on Saturday was horrendous in the afternoon so we ended up playing Seascale on Friday and Saturday morning which everyone was thrilled about anyway. 

Appleby was an interesting experience playing with sheep all around, generally I enjoyed it but the par 3 15th 'bell' was just spectacular. Blind uphill hole played alongside a beautiful stream which you have to cross. The green itself is sunk between two big steep walls of earth on the front and back. I made a par from a 6 iron tee shot which I was pleased with, I was the only one in our group to hit the green. It was odd as I felt this hole had a completely different character to the rest of the course. I did thoroughly enjoy the experience. 

With all due respect to Appleby, Seascale was a noticeable step up. The weather on Friday was unbelievably good and unexpectedly despite a slow start so was my golf! (since typing this I've gone through my scorecard on England Golf and realised it wasn't so amazing after all! I've kept it in though to show the power of rose tinted glasses!) 

The conditioning of the course was fantastic with that lovely links bouncy turf and smooth true greens. The rough was penal, we lost a few balls in our group which is fair enough. 

My favourite holes were the 9th which was a tricky par 4 into the wind to a landing area before playing blind down over dunes to a green penned in by a stream. I was absolutely thrilled to play two great shots and make a very satisfying par. I played the next three holes badly and then thoroughly enjoyed holes 13 to 17 played through the seaside dunes. We played these holes into the wind and it was very tough. I ended up winning the day in our group with 30 points but was definitely one of those what could have been rounds. 

Afterwards we sat in the clubhouse watching the Ryder Cup and eating some genuinely fantastic food. 

Looking at the weather forecast we decided to not play Silloth on Solway as we had a late afternoon tee slot and t was due to rain from 2pm onwards. Luckily we got a morning slot at Seascale and all of us were pleased to have another crack at it. 

Sadly I made the most of it the night before and that played its part on my front 9, but I was happy to have a good back 9 to close on winning the trip with two monster wind assisted drives on the last two holes. On the 18th I ended up chipping back from past the green on the left up onto the putting surface. Was amazing to play two days back to back with different wind on both days. Was a dream ending spending the rest of the day cosy in the clubhouse with fantastic food watching the Ryder Cup. 

We enjoyed it so much that we will be back next year and definitely playing Silloth as well this time. Would highly recommend a trip up to that part of England. 

[Oh Hi Carl]

I have a request from the US for anyone who plays at Worcestershire GC in Malvern.  I used to play there many years ago with family, and it has sentimental value to me.  If you would buy two ball marers and send them by mail to me in the US, I would pay you for the markers, the postage and your time and effort.  Happy to pay by Paypal or Venmo.  Please DM me if you can help.  Many thanks.  

[El Gringo]

2 hours ago, Oh Hi Carl said:

I have a request from the US for anyone who plays at Worcestershire GC in Malvern.  I used to play there many years ago with family, and it has sentimental value to me.  If you would buy two ball marers and send them by mail to me in the US, I would pay you for the markers, the postage and your time and effort.  Happy to pay by Paypal or Venmo.  Please DM me if you can help.  Many thanks.  

I expect to play Boughton Park at some point this year after the rain stops. Happy to help out, but it won’t be soon.

[Oh Hi Carl]

2 hours ago, El Gringo said:

I expect to play Boughton Park at some point this year after the rain stops. Happy to help out, but it won’t be soon.

Many thanks!

[Frank_Kasule]

Haven't updated in a while. 

I managed to get out in late January for a round at The Belfry. I was quite apprehensive about this round as it has such mixed reviews but paying a winter fee for it made it worthwhile. 

I have to say I really enjoyed my round, there were a lot of risk reward holes and my driving was on top form. 

Considering how much traffic they must have, these were the best winter greens I've played in spite of the bad weather we have had. 

Unfortunately we started on the tenth as it was a shotgun start so my first shot was an attempt for the green, it wasn't bad but it hit the tree in front of the green and thankfully dropped straight down for an easy par. I would have liked to have been a bit warm for that effort but it was fun nevertheless. Some of the holes are not so memorable now that I look back on it but the closing holes of the two nines were fun with plenty of risk having to play over water. I played well on the day but some chunked second shots cost me a real worldy of a round. I wouldn't mind a second crack at some point. It was good fun playing the course on Top tracer several times before actually playing it in real life, was quite an unusual way of getting to know the course before the round. 

 

[Frank_Kasule]

A friend of mine from abroad contacted me asking if I was free for a game. Whenever he comes to England we try meet up for a round so I asked where he was; Ramsgate. 

 

As I always do I looked on Google Maps as I've mapped out all the Top 100 on there. Lo and behold right next to Princes in Sandwich Kent. This is a course I've wanted to play since I was a teenager so I asked him if he was up for it to which he agreed. I booked us in with excitement despite the 4 hour drive from the Midlands. Shortly after doing so he had a family emergency and it turned out I would be playing alone. Nevertheless I didn't let that dampen my excitement and did a fair amount of research beforehand. 

 

I would be playing Himalayas and Shore, funnily enough it is Himalayas that has always intrigued me despite this being supposedly the lesser 9. The recent work on the 9 has gone some way to dispelling that though. 

 

I set off on my journey and about two hours in started to worry that I wouldn't make my tee time, I managed to get there with 10 minutes to go and the pro kindly let me tee off a half hour later. Worth noting that you get a nice course guide included in the cost of the round. 

 

As soon as you get there it just felt special, the long drive along the shore building excitement, the wonderful chipping area allowing plenty of fun bump and runs through some links bumps and hollows. The greens were slower than my club but were very true, I felt like this allowed me to be aggressive and hole quite a few putts. 

 

I stepped onto the first tee of the Himalayas, thankfully with the course guide in hand. On each tee I needed to pull this out to get some idea of where to try hit my tee shot with regard to bunker distances etc. I found the tee shots really to be the main defence of the course. I played with a 2 iron exclusively on the Himalayas and it worked out to be the best strategy for me. 

 

I enjoyed the Himalayas from start to finish, particularly the tee shots which were really challenging as most of the holes required precise placing or trying to play around a dog leg. It definitely helped that I was literally the only person on the 9, true millionaires golf. 

 

Holes that were memorable for me were 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9. To be honest even some that aren't listed are still in my memory but those listed stand out as really top holes with challenging/fun shots that I had to think about before pulling the trigger. 

 

The Himalayas really met my expectations, it obviously helped that I played fantastic golf but it felt great to be challenged mentally and then pull off the shots required. 

[Frank_Kasule]

I then crossed over to the Shore and immediately knew I was in trouble, a fourball was waiting on the tee as a fourball was playing their second shots. As I found out, I was stuck behind a series of fourballs. The pace was painful to the point where I would chat to the group in front on the tee and then welcome the group behind to the tee as they finished the previous hole. This is not entirely a fair complaint as I was playing as a single but it really made it difficult to play well amongst all this waiting followed by the pressure of knowing that a group behind was watching me hit my tee shot and second shot before being able to tee off. Sadly this did make the experience not as special as the front 9. 

 

Holes that I particularly enjoyed were both the par 3s, in fact all the par 3s on the day were fantastic. My favourite shot on the Shore was the par 3 fifth, playing into the wind and light rain I had 137 yards. I played a 9 iron and watched it disappear onto the green, I narrowly missed a birdie putt down the hill to the back of the green. 

 

 

Finishing the Shore I had the option to continue onto the Dunes but I was quite tired after the experience on the Shore. It was a shame as I think I would have been back to having the nine to myself! Anyway perhaps another trip in the future will take me back onto the Dunes. 

 

That takes me up to 24 of the Top 100, I should be playing Cleeve Hill next month and Silloth on Solway at the beginning of September. 

 

 

[Chanceman]

9 hours ago, Frank_Kasule said:

I then crossed over to the Shore and immediately knew I was in trouble, a fourball was waiting on the tee as a fourball was playing their second shots. As I found out, I was stuck behind a series of fourballs. The pace was painful to the point where I would chat to the group in front on the tee and then welcome the group behind to the tee as they finished the previous hole. This is not entirely a fair complaint as I was playing as a single but it really made it difficult to play well amongst all this waiting followed by the pressure of knowing that a group behind was watching me hit my tee shot and second shot before being able to tee off. Sadly this did make the experience not as special as the front 9. 

 

Holes that I particularly enjoyed were both the par 3s, in fact all the par 3s on the day were fantastic. My favourite shot on the Shore was the par 3 fifth, playing into the wind and light rain I had 137 yards. I played a 9 iron and watched it disappear onto the green, I narrowly missed a birdie putt down the hill to the back of the green. 

 

 

Finishing the Shore I had the option to continue onto the Dunes but I was quite tired after the experience on the Shore. It was a shame as I think I would have been back to having the nine to myself! Anyway perhaps another trip in the future will take me back onto the Dunes. 

 

That takes me up to 24 of the Top 100, I should be playing Cleeve Hill next month and Silloth on Solway at the beginning of September. 

 

 

Nicely done Frank. Princes sounds great. A good collection of markers too. My count is 22/100. 

[Frank_Kasule]

22 minutes ago, Chanceman said:

Nicely done Frank. Princes sounds great. A good collection of markers too. My count is 22/100. 

Have you got any pencilled in for the future? 

I'm hoping to do about 6 per year, a fairly leisurely pace but working full time and having a two year old makes this more possible/enjoyable than trying to get more in! 

[Chanceman]

1 hour ago, Frank_Kasule said:

Have you got any pencilled in for the future? 

I'm hoping to do about 6 per year, a fairly leisurely pace but working full time and having a two year old makes this more possible/enjoyable than trying to get more in! 

If I could persuade my mates here, I would do this:

Hunstanton

Brancaster

Woodhall Spa

Sherwood Forest

Moortown

Silloth on Solway

Formby

Hoylake

Little  Aston

 Cleeve Hill

Saunton

Westward Ho!

Ferndown

Stoneham

Worplesdon

Are they all top 100? Anyway that’s would be the trip. 3 or 4 weeks. I would maybe play a few others like Appleby and Painswick. As you can see I like doing a real “tour”! 

[Frank_Kasule]

15 hours ago, Chanceman said:

If I could persuade my mates here, I would do this:

Hunstanton

Brancaster

Woodhall Spa

Sherwood Forest

Moortown

Silloth on Solway

Formby

Hoylake

Little  Aston

 Cleeve Hill

Saunton

Westward Ho!

Ferndown

Stoneham

Worplesdon

Are they all top 100? Anyway that’s would be the trip. 3 or 4 weeks. I would maybe play a few others like Appleby and Painswick. As you can see I like doing a real “tour”! 

Sounds like a dream trip! 

Would love to do a trip like that, I end up usually doing one or two randomly throughout the year. 

[El Gringo]

On 7/29/2024 at 7:53 AM, Chanceman said:

If I could persuade my mates here, I would do this:

Hunstanton

Brancaster

Woodhall Spa

Sherwood Forest

Moortown

Silloth on Solway

Formby

Hoylake

Little  Aston

 Cleeve Hill

Saunton

Westward Ho!

Ferndown

Stoneham

Worplesdon

Are they all top 100? Anyway that’s would be the trip. 3 or 4 weeks. I would maybe play a few others like Appleby and Painswick. As you can see I like doing a real “tour”! 

No love for The Sacred 9?

 

 I played the Highgate Course at Enville yesterday. It’s definitely improving due to tree removal…s*** loads more need to go, but the heather is coming back. I think Enville is in the conversation for top 100 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.
 

Friday I will stop by Blackmoor for a game. In the meantime, below are some pix of Enville Highgate.

Edited August 4, 2024 by El Gringo

[Chanceman]

Yes love to slip in to Mildenhall for a quick 9 on the way. But as you know there’s great golf wherever you go in the UK. And I have played it before so not too worried if I miss it.

[El Gringo]

1 hour ago, Chanceman said:

Yes love to slip in to Mildenhall for a quick 9 on the way. But as you know there’s great golf wherever you go in the UK. And I have played it before so not too worried if I miss it.

Fair enough. If you are going all the way to Silloth, add Seascale to the trip. 

[sabram]

On 7/29/2024 at 2:53 AM, Chanceman said:

If I could persuade my mates here, I would do this:

Hunstanton

Brancaster

Woodhall Spa

Sherwood Forest

Moortown

Silloth on Solway

Formby

Hoylake

Little  Aston

 Cleeve Hill

Saunton

Westward Ho!

Ferndown

Stoneham

Worplesdon

Are they all top 100? Anyway that’s would be the trip. 3 or 4 weeks. I would maybe play a few others like Appleby and Painswick. As you can see I like doing a real “tour”! 

These are the the next two visits to England that I'm thinking about. There's a bunch not "top 100". but that are probably top "bang for the buck" gems. I've played about half of the top 100 and rather than galavanting around the Country to play the remaining ones, I'm partly focusing on lesser known gems and great value courses and stay in more focused regions

 

West Hill

Camberley Heath

Minchinhampton (Cherington)

Minchinhampton (Old)

Painswick

Kington

Church Stretton

Cleeve Hill

Tadmarton Heath

Frilford Heath Red

Frilford Heath Green

Huntercombe

Swinley Forest

 

______________________________

Ganton
Alwoodley
Moortown
Lindrick
Fulford
Sand Moor
Reddish Vale
Cavendish
 

[Frank_Kasule]

8 hours ago, El Gringo said:

Fair enough. If you are going all the way to Silloth, add Seascale to the trip. 

We are going to play Seascale, Silloth and Carus Green. My friend is keen on Carus but it doesn't look thrilling in the photos I've seen. 

 

I'm keen to go play Worly, from the research I've done it seems to be a real marmite course. Either you really get it or you're really underwhelmed. If I go I will get a day ticket to play several times and try appreciate the nuances of the course. Seems to be widely rated as the best 9 hole course in the world. 

 

Enville as well is very much on the cards, looks fantastic in your photos. Not so far from me either. 

 

The more top courses I play I am trying to get a better understanding of course architecture which makes the experience more fun.

Edited July 30, 2024 by Frank_Kasule
Added text

[Frank_Kasule]

7 hours ago, sabram said:

These are the the next two visits to England that I'm thinking about. There's a bunch not "top 100". but that are probably top "bang for the buck" gems. I've played about half of the top 100 and rather than galavanting around the Country to play the remaining ones, I'm partly focusing on lesser known gems and great value courses and stay in more focused regions

 

West Hill

Camberley Heath

Minchinhampton (Cherington)

Minchinhampton (Old)

Painswick

Kington

Church Stretton

Cleeve Hill

Tadmarton Heath

Frilford Heath Red

Frilford Heath Green

Huntercombe

Swinley Forest

 

______________________________

Ganton
Alwoodley
Moortown
Lindrick
Fulford
Sand Moor
Reddish Vale
Cavendish
 

Two pretty dreamy trips! I've played a few of those but I would love to play any of the ones listed. 

[Chanceman]

10 hours ago, sabram said:

These are the the next two visits to England that I'm thinking about. There's a bunch not "top 100". but that are probably top "bang for the buck" gems. I've played about half of the top 100 and rather than galavanting around the Country to play the remaining ones, I'm partly focusing on lesser known gems and great value courses and stay in more focused regions

 

West Hill

Camberley Heath

Minchinhampton (Cherington)

Minchinhampton (Old)

Painswick

Kington

Church Stretton

Cleeve Hill

Tadmarton Heath

Frilford Heath Red

Frilford Heath Green

Huntercombe

Swinley Forest

 

______________________________

Ganton
Alwoodley
Moortown
Lindrick
Fulford
Sand Moor
Reddish Vale
Cavendish
 

I like some of the pairings eg Reddish/Cav, Ganton/Aw, Moortown/SM,  Kington/CS, the Minches, Painswick/CH - nice 2 day stops. Both great trips.

[El Gringo]

11 hours ago, sabram said:

These are the the next two visits to England that I'm thinking about. There's a bunch not "top 100". but that are probably top "bang for the buck" gems. I've played about half of the top 100 and rather than galavanting around the Country to play the remaining ones, I'm partly focusing on lesser known gems and great value courses and stay in more focused regions

 

West Hill

Camberley Heath

Minchinhampton (Cherington)

Minchinhampton (Old)

Painswick

Kington

Church Stretton

Cleeve Hill

Tadmarton Heath

Frilford Heath Red

Frilford Heath Green

Huntercombe

Swinley Forest

 

______________________________

Ganton
Alwoodley
Moortown
Lindrick
Fulford
Sand Moor
Reddish Vale
Cavendish
 

If you are travelling some distance, I am not convinced Taddy and the Frilfords are worth your time and money unless you are seeing mates or some such thing. I think the Green was a cracker at one time before it was cut up to make the other two courses. 
 

I recently played Prestbury again and it has a lot of high points however, like many parklands trees muck it up a bit.

[El Gringo]

Hold the show. I just played Blackmoor for the first time. Very impressive.

[Oh Hi Carl]

Thank you to the contributors on this thread.  I love learning about the lesser known and bang-for-the-buck courses in the UK.  All of the recent pics look great.  Makes me envious because I'm on the wrong side of the penalty area.  

[El Gringo]

I recently revisited Blackwell, a little known Fowler-Simpson gem in less than salubrious Worcestershire. The club is slowly breathing life into the old girl and I think the new greenkeeper will continue the push.

[hammergolf]

15 hours ago, El Gringo said:

I recently revisited Blackwell, a little known Fowler-Simpson gem in less than salubrious Worcestershire. The club is slowly breathing life into the old girl and I think the new greenkeeper will continue the push.

Love the bunkering!

[jonnymc44]

On 7/30/2024 at 8:54 PM, Frank_Kasule said:

We are going to play Seascale, Silloth and Carus Green. My friend is keen on Carus but it doesn't look thrilling in the photos I've seen. 

 

I'm keen to go play Worly, from the research I've done it seems to be a real marmite course. Either you really get it or you're really underwhelmed. If I go I will get a day ticket to play several times and try appreciate the nuances of the course. Seems to be widely rated as the best 9 hole course in the world. 

 

Enville as well is very much on the cards, looks fantastic in your photos. Not so far from me either. 

 

The more top courses I play I am trying to get a better understanding of course architecture which makes the experience more fun.

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted on here. I played Carus Green last year. It's fine but if you're in the area maybe try playing Windermere. It looks quite a fun course, much more than Carus Green was. 

 

Going back to your first post in 2022, my dad's friend has played all the top 100 UK courses and is well on his way to completing the top 200. He's bought a ball marker from each course he's played. If they didn't have a ball marker on the day he played, he want back to play again to pick one up!

[Chanceman]

10 hours ago, jonnymc44 said:

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted on here. I played Carus Green last year. It's fine but if you're in the area maybe try playing Windermere. It looks quite a fun course, much more than Carus Green was. 

 

Going back to your first post in 2022, my dad's friend has played all the top 100 UK courses and is well on his way to completing the top 200. He's bought a ball marker from each course he's played. If they didn't have a ball marker on the day he played, he want back to play again to pick one up!

+1 for Windermere. Some great views, no bunkers, quite undulating and an interesting layout. Not a great course but well worth the reasonable green fee.

[Frank_Kasule]

Would love to change to Windermere but sadly it's all booked in. Certainly looked forward to Seascale and Silloth. 

Booked into Cleeve Hill for Sunday also, just as a single but still looking forward to it. 

[El Gringo]

18 minutes ago, Frank_Kasule said:

Would love to change to Windermere but sadly it's all booked in. Certainly looked forward to Seascale and Silloth. 

Booked into Cleeve Hill for Sunday also, just as a single but still looking forward to it. 

I am playing Cleeve Hill tomorrow. First time this summer. I am told there is rough!

[Frank_Kasule]

34 minutes ago, El Gringo said:

I am playing Cleeve Hill tomorrow. First time this summer. I am told there is rough!

Interesting, you can give me some foresight! 

[El Gringo]

I recently played The Sacred 9 and paired the trip with a first visit to Gog Magog Old. I was pleasantly surprised.