Ask the experts
Four Golf Monthly course aficionados select a layout from the 2023/24 Top 100 for which they have a particular fondness
Michael Harris – Wallasey
I have a great affinity with Wallasey, having played the course a number of times over the years. I played it when I was at university, I played it on my stag do and I’m a member at Hoylake just down the road. Wallasey has been close to making it into the top 100 in the past and I, like many links fans, am delighted it has earned its place this time. The course boasts some stunning holes up in the dunes but was let down by weaker stretches in years past.
However, under the guidance of their fabulous course manager, John Mcloughlin, and with some visionary investment by the club, the offering has been significantly elevated in recent years. The links is now thoroughly deserving of its Top 100 spot. Wallasey provides a great example of what clubs can achieve with targeted investment and the right people at the helm.
Jeremy Ellwood – Royal Aberdeen
What’s the best course you’ve played? A simple yet impossibly difficult question we’re asked more than any. I typically narrow it down to three, and Royal Aberdeen’s Balgownie links is always one of them. This surprises people as it’s not so well-known as our great Open links, but I’d defy anyone to pick a finer stretch of links golf than the front nine.
You play towards the sea on the 1st, then turn left and play between the dunes via rumpled fairways and rolling greens. It is spellbinding, and a tough act for the back nine to follow, but it would be a tough act for anywhere to follow!
Rob Smith – Royal Birkdale
Selecting an individual favourite is a tough call and my stock answer for many years has been a non-committal “both courses at Sunningdale”. But a return to Birkdale last summer reminded me just how wonderful, engaging and exciting it is.
It has been the leading English course in Golf Monthly’s rankings since day one and I can totally see why. If the wind was howling, it could be too tough for my mid-teen handicap, but on a sunny August afternoon I was blown away by its 18 different, compelling and beautiful challenges. If I don’t want a round to end, that, to me, is the mark of greatness.
Fergus Bisset – Carnoustie
It’s so difficult to pick a favourite, but I’m quick to answer when the question is, “What is the best course you’ve played?” Carnoustie’s Championship links. For that reason, I must also champion it as my favourite – it’s simply the best.
It may not be in the most beautiful setting, it may not have views of the sea, but the course itself is a joy to look upon as well as to play. The rolling terrain, the perfect bunkering, the meandering burns and ribbons of fairway – it’s a perfect course. It’s no exaggeration to say there really are no weak holes and the pressure ebbs and flows beautifully as you make your way towards that monumental and famously brutal finish.
UP 1
46 Western Gailes GF: £125-£280
This venerable old links’ Firth of Clyde setting brings splendid views across to Arran as the course heads first north, then south for nine shoreside holes and finally north again.
GM verdict: Set on a sliver of linksland, this is the epitome of a true Scottish links.
43 Prestwick GF: £195-£345
Much has changed here since Prestwick hosted the first Open in 1860, but its wonderfully rumpled terrain still provides a tangible link with the test those early Open pioneers faced.
GM verdict: Historically significant yet still hugely relevant and great fun.
40 Dumbarnie Links GF: £207-£286
Elevated tees provide great views across the course. Sweeping fairways lead to impressive, sloping green complexes, while dunes have been sculpted to give a rugged feel. GM verdict: Striking layout set on two distinct elevations on classic links turf.
45 Royal Cinque Ports GF: £125-£210
This two-time Open venue hugs the sea wall closely at times on the front nine. The links has benefitted hugely from Martin Ebert’s judicious and selective design touch in recent years. GM verdict: Some truly stirring moments in among the taller front-nine dunes.
42 Formby GF: £185-£260
On a coast packed with top golf, Formby is one of the best, with the bonus that it contains elements of both links and heathland. The club continues to work hard to future-proof its course. GM verdict: A superb and very distinctive combination of styles.
39 St Enodoc (Church) GF: £135-£145
This eye-catching links lies on Cornwall’s chiselled northern coast 50 miles from Land’s End. The Himalaya bunker on the right of the superb par-4 6th is one of golf’s most photographed. GM verdict: An extremely individual and memorable design hugging the estuary.
44 Rosapenna (Sandy Hills Links) GF: €125-€150
This Pat Ruddy layout opened in 2003 but feels more established. Carved through the dunes, it’s a supremely authentic links and a great example of sympathetic modern course design.
GM verdict: A very natural and evenly flowing course in a stunning location.
41 The Berkshire (Red) GF: £145-£300
The Red opened in the late 1920s and has an unusual and intoxicating configuration consisting of six of each par. Only at the 11th and 12th do you ever play the same par consecutively.
GM verdict: A scenic and endlessly enjoyable potpourri of par 3s, 4s and 5s.
38 Hollinwell GF: £85-£225
The long entrance drive creates a real sense of anticipation. Consecutive holes rarely run in the same direction, and gentle slopes reward you with both lovely views and tactical challenges.
GM verdict: Expansive strategic test over beautiful undulating heathland.
DOWN 2 37 Nairn (Championship) GF: £50-£298
Nairn delivers typical Scottish links golf. It’s an out-and-back layout with the sea visible on every hole. Recent improvements by Tom Mackenzie have greatly enhanced the offering. The front nine forges out along the Moray Firth, an exacting start when into the wind. The course then turns at the 8th and heads slightly inland for the back nine. It delivers some interesting holes and an unexpected change in elevation up to the 13th green. During the summer, the fairways are fastrunning and covered in humps and hollows. The greens are famously true and can become perplexingly pacy. GM verdict: Beautiful links set right on the Moray Firth that is always maintained in excellent condition.
34 Ganton GF: £90-£200
This Yorkshire course has a tremendous pedigree. In 1891, Tom Chisholm of St Andrews laid out a course at Ganton that would go on to host significant events, including the 1949 Ryder Cup. Several greats have lent their expertise to alterations over the years, including Harry Vardon, James Braid, Harry Colt and Dr Alister Mackenzie. It’s an unusual course; an inland track with links-like playing characteristics. The great amateur Sir Michael Bonallack said of Ganton, “The journey from tee to green on every hole is one of the most enjoyable golfing examinations that a player is ever likely to experience.”
GM verdict: Yorkshire’s finest course oozes history and quality – a true championship venue.
36 Gleneagles (King’s) GF: £80-£450
James Braid’s long-revered Perthshire masterpiece enjoys one of the most majestic settings for golf in the UK&I. It opened in 1919 and carves through the pine trees, rising and falling over springy moorland turf. It may not be the longest, but with blind shots, humps, hollows and sloping greens, it certainly rewards precise and considered play. There are raised greens to contend with, too, capable of repelling any slight miscues, most notably on the wellprotected par-3 5th. In recent years, a number of long-lost Braid features have been reintroduced to maximise the King’s course’s rich heritage.
GM verdict: The glorious Perthshire countryside as a backdrop makes any round here an unforgettable experience.
33 Walton Heath (Old) GF: £135-£395
One of the great English heathland courses, the Old at Walton Heath was opened in 1904 with a match between the great triumvirate of J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon and James Braid. Braid was already the club’s professional and he would continue to hold that position right up to his death in 1950. This is a club with a great history. Designed by Herbert Fowler, it’s a sandy and firm track protected by heather, an eclectic selection of trees and winds that swirl across the open heathland. The opening stretch can play particularly tough, but the greens are famously excellent with subtle borrows. GM verdict: Superb heathland golf in a beautiful setting at a famous golf club with a great history and heritage.
35 Swinley Forest GF: on application
As traditional, uncommercial and private as anywhere in the Golf Monthly Top 100, Swinley Forest is a golf club unlike any other. As for its very delightful Harry Colt layout, if you were asked to close your eyes and imagine in your mind a perfect, beautiful, traditional, heathland golf course more or less as it would have been a century ago, this would be exactly it. It remains one of Colt’s greatest legacies; one that has totally stood the test of time, barring the odd new back tee here or minor tweak there. It exudes charm and character in equal measure and a game here is a true joy.
GM verdict: A thoroughly enjoyable journey forwards through the heather, yet in many ways backwards in time.
32 Old Head GF: €225-€395
Laid out over a vertiginous headland in County Cork, Old Head enjoys a setting that’s hard to beat. Many holes are simply breathtaking, but the 12th and 13th, near the headland’s slender neck, sum up the experience. The 12th tee is cut into the towering cliffs and you play up to a hidden fairway, then along to a precariously narrow target. The relatively new par-3 13th is then a short but dramatic cliff-hugger. Old Head has constantly strived to take as much of the action as possible to the cliff edge to up the drama levels, with that new 13th hole a prime example.
GM verdict: You could run out of adjectives describing Old Head, but jaw-dropping works pretty well!