When it comes to publishing Top 100s, it’s safe to say there is no publication as prolific as Today’s Golfer. They have a plethora of different rankings but, for many, the bi-annual GB&I Top 100 is the most anticipated.
There are several different lists ranking the best courses, but this one is my favourite. All courses are eligible for inclusion in the Today’s Golfer list, whereas some other lists don’t include private courses. I understand why they make this choice, but if a list is designed to identify the best courses then I think it needs to include them all.
Today’s Golfer also concentrates purely on the golf course. The quality of the practice range facilities, or the bacon sandwich in the clubhouse, isn’t taken into consideration.
I should also say that I have sat on this panel for the last few years. Obviously I am just one voice in more than 20, it but there aren’t many positions I vehemently disagree with! I am stepping down from the panel though so I’m interested to see how the list continues to develop over the next few years.
The criteria for ranking are explained in the magazine as follows:
Design (40 marks): A key category, split into three sub-sections: Does the course take advantage of its landscape? (20), the green complexes (10), and the routing (10)?
Setting (15 marks): The aesthetic value of the surrounding views and the course itself. The overall ‘atmosphere’ of the course.
Memorability (15 marks): How easy is it to recall the holes? Are they distinctive, varied and interesting? Are they strategic and heroic?
Playability (10 marks): Is it just too tough, possibly even unfair, for the majority? Or is it easily enjoyed by all?
Consistency (10 marks): Does every hole deliver all of the above, or is it let down by a few poor ones?
Presentation (10 marks): Two aspects: Is maintenance at ease with its surroundings? And the conditoning of tees, fairways, bunkers and greens.
So here is the list itself, followed by an interview with the editor, Chris Bertram, where he talks about some of the movements and his personal views on the rankings.
David Jones (UK Golf Guy): One observation is that, at first glance, the list looks a bit boring because nothing in the top 10 actually changed! Why do you think that was, and do you think it’s set now?
Chris Bertram: It takes a lot for something to move even just one place in the top 10, so I think it’s fair to say that it’s quite settled now. I don't really see the top three changing too much; they feel like they're a little bit separate from the rest to me. But I could see someone putting pressure on the lower places like North Berwick, and let’s see what the Birkdale changes are like - they might be good or indifferent, so it could move either way. Portrush is getting consistently good reviews these days so I wouldn’t be amazed if that threatens the top four.
I certainly never think ‘do we need to sex this up a bit?’ if there isn’t big movement; quite the opposite… I can’t wait to see lots of ‘no movement’ arrows and up/down 1 place arrows on your graphic!
DJ: Obviously, the eye goes to the big moves. Three of the biggest come in Ireland. Adare Manor (up 12 to 43), Tralee (up 11 to 61), and Portstewart (up 15 to 84) are all big risers. Is it just a coincidence that the big movers come in Ireland?
CB: Pure coincidence, other than the fact three have done a lot of work lately, which has now settled down, and more people have seen them. A good number of the panellists have been to Adare now and solidified what everyone else has said. There's not one person who has gone there and not enjoyed it, or not thought that it is an incredible improvement. It genuinely feels like a different course.
In fact, I've never known a course to change in character so much. Before Fazio’s work, the rough was brutal and the fairways were narrow, and now, famously, there's no rough whatsoever. There was nothing to write home about regarding the green complexes before, and obviously, now they are very entertaining, to say the least.
DJ: Tralee is another one. I remember when the last ranking came out, some Irish people were complaining it was ranked too low and saying you didn’t know what you were talking about. Have you put it higher up the rankings just to shut them up?! What was the thinking, and what were the panellists telling you about it?
CB: You're absolutely right, and those same people will probably still think it's way too low. Again, though, the work they have done there has been excellent. Beforehand there was famously one nine that was spectacular and the other not so much. Now they're much more evenly balanced. In fact, I would say now that if you asked people who came in blind which was the better nine, I think you would get a 50/50 split. That definitely wasn't the case before, and that's the reason it's gone up. If it was threatening the top 50, I don't think it would be madness.
Portstewart was another example of a course that had suffered before with inconsistency; one explosive nine and one more sedate. In the six weeks or so leading up to the list being finalised, we had people firing off all over the country. We were trying to make sure we got to places that we felt were either possibly too low or too high - or should come in or drop out - by getting there right before the ranking was finalised. Portstewart was one we really looked at; we had three people at Portstewart in three or four weeks. The feedback was universally good. Credit to European Golf Design for the work they have done there; I very much doubt its upward journey is finished.
DJ: And staying in Ireland, there was a notable rise again for St Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna. It’s broken into the GB&I Top 20 but not the Irish top 5. Do you think it can one day?
CB: A five-place jump at that end of the ranking is really significant. But I repeat what I said when I first went when it opened, which is that I feel ranking it excessively highly at this stage is actually doing it a disservice because of the expectations that come with a course, say, ranked in the World top 40. Such a new course is never going to be the finished article and I think it's still got a way to go, which is an exciting thing to say, because it’s in the GB&I top 20 already. I don't think it's crazy to say it's got 20% of improvement still to come as nature runs its course and it matures. They will continue to refine it and tinker too. But then again, we had a panellist come over especially from America to play it - it is on everyone’s radar, which is clearly not a bad thing. I just worry that some people will view it as too raw and that detracts from what I think is a phenomenal design and setting. I think it will end up No.3 in Ireland.
DJ: Another really notable rise was for the Addington (up 15 to 73). I've actually held off visiting it because every time I think I will, I read about what is coming next, so I hold off. You have been, what do you think of what you’ve seen?
CB: I was exactly the same, and left it pretty much to the last minute to go and see it - I think I went a week before the absolute final deadline for the same reason. They're about halfway through the work, and it’s already transformed the course. I think a lot of the heavy lifting has been done, but they’ve still got a good way to go. By its nature, doing that kind of work can be a little scarring, but as it matures and develops over time. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it went up the same again after another two years of work and two years of bedding in. I absolutely loved it; it’s just fun, memorable hole after fun, memorable hole. Credit to the owner Ryan Noades and his architects Clayton, DeVries and Pont.
DJ: Often we see courses that drop out gone forever, but two courses came back in this time, Royal Ashdown Forest and Southerness. What led to that?
CB: Previously, with Royal Ashdown Forest, there had been a little bit of a conditioning issue on the West course, and I think that had reflected on the Old too. There was just a bit of a negative vibe, but I admit that was a move that was probably a bit harsh.
As for Southerness, it’s my ‘local’ top 100 course, so I'm always careful of seeming biased with it, but we played it for our Scottish panel get-together two weeks before the list was finished, and I've never seen it in better condition. They've really done some first-class work there. It's a very welcoming club these days and it didn't always used to be. When I was growing up—it was very insular. But now they do a really good job making it a place you want to play.
DJ: I was surprised to see that Wallasey had never been in the top 100, but the panel was obviously impressed with what they saw.
CB: People probably won’t be surprised to see it coming in as you hear a lot on social media about how good it is now. So I was wondering if it really was that good. It is. I’d played it twice before, but probably not for seven years, and I was really impressed.
The head greenkeeper, a local guy called John McLoughlin, is a very good golfer and really knows his stuff. When the job came up, he realised it had the potential to be something really special. And it is - it is in the list to stay. You certainly shouldn't ever go to that part of the world now and play Hoylake and not Wallasey.
The 10th is a great example - it used to have deciduous trees down both sides, and you were just chipping it down trying to avoid trouble, then you played up to a tabletop green. It was probably the worst hole there, not befitting a Top 100 course. Now it’s one of the best holes there—they’ve opened it up to make a great, scenic risk and reward hole.
Hindhead is the other new entry. I hadn't played there until recently and was thoroughly impressed. There are some incredible valley holes made by glaciers on the front nine that are truly spectacular. Then, on the back nine, it becomes a little bit less dramatic but maybe more strategic. It’s a great contrast, and I wouldn’t like to say which nine I preferred. It's something a bit different from the Surrey-Berkshire heathlands but doesn't feel like a whimsical choice; they all feel like entries that are here to stay.
DJ: Of course, for every rise, there is a fall, and if one course goes up a lot of places, it will push a lot of courses down. Pennard (down 9 to 70) and Brora (down 11 to 88) have both dropped significantly, and Royal Worlington and Newmarket and Royal North Devon have left the list completely. Is there a theme here that slightly quirky courses have been punished this time around?
CB: The difficulty in producing these lists is trying to create a ranking that speaks to all types of golfers because not everyone's the same. Not everyone wants a strategic, nuanced, quirky links. Some people want more dramatic scenery. Some people want a lot of water or an amazingly manicured course, for example.
I think that during Covid we were in an echo chamber, and maybe the list after that promoted certain types of courses a little too much. We were just talking to your friends and not being out there playing golf with and hearing views from a wide cross-section of golfers.I think at that point we got a little too much towards the nuanced, quirky courses. They are my personal preference, but they are not for everyone.
Some will criticise us for the falls for those courses but I’d just say we aren’t creating lists for one certain type of golfer. We are trying to include the best courses of all types and for all tastes - that is by far the hardest part of what I do. When a ranking is more focused, such as the ‘X Factor’ ones where it’s all about scenery, drama, it is so much easier. And finally, there are still plenty of nuance, and strategic courses doing well - in fact, I’d say more now than at any other time other than the 2022 list.
Pennard feels a little bit low to me personally, but I understand why it's trending in that direction. I absolutely love it, and I think it's actually close to being the number two in Wales. But we possibly did just get a bit giddy with it previously. It's great, but it's not for everyone, and maybe we just went a little too far last time.
DJ: What about Royal Worlington and Newmarket going out of the list completely?
CB: I think that's just a nine-hole thing. The quality is so ridiculously high now that it's really hard to see a nine-hole course in there - it would have to be absolutely extraordinary. If you look at the end of the list now, they are just superb courses - and that continues right the way into the Next 100.
If someone said to me the course at No.112 is as good as the course at number 90, it would be hard to argue with them. The margins are so fine. It’s therefore very hard for a nine-hole course to break in because, obviously, you only have half the holes.
DJ: You talk in the magazine about conditioning being the main reason for West Sussex’s drop (down 16 to 58). Can you expand on that a bit?
CB: It pains me as it had been on an upward trajectory into the 40s, and I really love it there, but it has suffered with conditioning issues. We have three members of West Sussex as panellists. It's probably the best-represented course on the panel, and the feedback from at least one of them was that they would have it significantly lower. They adore the golf course, they adore the golf club, but they're saying it's just not quite right. Which I really admire from them and which people should consider when they suggest we are biased or can’t be objective.
I know that they're addressing it, and by the time this list actually comes out, they'll be on the road to rectifying it. And I’d love to see it rise next time.
DJ: The list is obviously a product of a panel of raters which you chair. But if it was just up to you, which three courses would you have higher, and which three courses would you have lower?
CB: I would have St Patrick's higher; as I say, it’s still a little bit raw for some people, but that doesn’t bother me as much. Then I’d have Swinley and Prestwick higher too.
I probably wouldn’t have Ballyliffin Glashedy as high as it is, and I wouldn’t have The European as high either. Pat Ruddy will have even less affection for me now. As to the last one, if it was just me, I would probably have Lytham a bit lower.
DJ: And any courses you think were unlucky to just miss out?
CB: We have the full list of 101-200 in the magazine. It’s a really arbitrary cut-off; you could go all the way down to 130, and any of those courses are worthy of inclusion. I absolutely mean that.
Obviously the ones that dropped out were right in the mix and losing Sherwood Forest pains me; I kind of feel that is an easy one to leave out. That is a course that will never be anything other than 95-105 for me.
Anyway, Narin and Portnoo was very close for me. They have done a lot of work which I really liked, but it isn’t universally popular, which surprised me. But they are definitely knocking on the door. There are plenty more like it that are so close to being a top 100 course.
Hayling is another one. That’s gone from being in the lower end of the England list to knocking on the GB&I door.
Panmure and Dunbar are two more; I’d love those in to be honest and I’ll happily admit I think they are as good as anything in the 90s.