In this video, the Golf Monthly team take a look at the Top 100 UK & Ireland golf courses. Rob Smith, Jezz Ellwood and Mike Harris all pick two courses outside of the top 25 that you might not already be aware. They discuss what makes these golf courses so good and why they are well worth a visit!
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00:00Hello and welcome to this video on Hidden Gem Golf Courses. If you're looking for some golfing
00:04inspiration this year then this video is definitely for you. You're going to hear from Rob Smith and
00:10Jeremy Elwood who run our Top 100 Courses panel and Mike Harris the editor of Golf Monthly as
00:15well and I've asked them all to take a look at our Top 100 Courses in the UK and Ireland and pick
00:22two courses that don't feature maybe at the top end of that Top 100 but that are well worth the
00:28visit that you may, may not have already heard about before. We're here at the beautiful
00:34Warpleston Golf Club. Let's get started.
00:47Right so let's focus on some hidden gems. I think it's fair to say that when we talk about our Top 100
00:52Courses there aren't that many hidden gems amongst them because a lot of them are very well known.
00:57So the challenge that I set these three was to take out the Top 25. So you're not allowed to pick
01:01anything that's in the Top 25 but I do want you to highlight some courses that people watching this
01:06video may not have already considered if they're thinking about playing somewhere that's a real
01:11wow golf course. So Jez I'm going to start with you. What's your, two each, what's your first
01:17nomination? Okay well I'm going to go with Doonbeg which is in County Clare west coast of Ireland now
01:23called Trump International Golf Links I believe, Ireland. I played it just after it opened in 2003
01:31I think and I'd played quite a few classic old links by then but never anything quite like this
01:37in amongst the towering dunes and to be honest it just blew me away. It was just a fantastic golfing
01:42experience from start to finish, real wow factor and that sort of sparked my enthusiasm for modern
01:48links with the towering dunes like Trump Aberdeen and Rosser Penner Sandy Hills and some purists
01:55probably balk at the idea of modern links whereas I actually really embrace them and enjoy them as
02:02much as possibly if not more so than some of the older links. Yeah I would throw Castle Stewart into
02:07the mix on that front because I think that's a fantastic golf course. Now Jez what number is it
02:10on the list? It's 47th so so just inside the top 50. And if those people who are maybe putting a trip
02:17together and they want to play somewhere else where else could they play in the area? Well the obvious
02:21one is Le Hinch which is higher in the rankings much older traditional old links but actually when
02:28they built Le Hinch they looked at the plot of land where Doonbeg was subsequently built and
02:33decided to build it elsewhere but it was earmarked for potential golf course sort of 100 years before it
02:39became a golf course. Okay okay so that's Doonbeg or Trump International Golf Links Ireland. Mike over to
02:45you. So my first one is Wallasee it's a new entry in the list this time at number 89. It has been on the
02:54verge of getting in for a while I would say but the level of work that's been going on at Wallasee in
03:02the last few years under the stewardship of John McLaughlin who's course manager there. Really I
03:09think it's fully deserving of its place and interesting I first played it I think on my
03:14stag weekend so talking about 20 odd years ago and I've been back and played it a number of times
03:20subsequently. I always felt like it's a really great golf course there's some very spectacular holes
03:25overlooking the sea but they've done a lot of work and they've bought I guess the standard of some of
03:31the weaker holes up and it's a great experience lovely very really really friendly club. It probably
03:37sits in the shadow of Royal Liverpool which is literally just up the road. Okay so Rob over to
03:43you then what's your first nomination? Well like the other two I've gone for a Lynx but sort of
03:48midway between the two so not totally modern but also not traditional. I've gone for Enniscrone in
03:52Ireland which is kind of midway-ish between County Sligo and Caan and it was built in the mid-70s.
03:59Eddie Hackett was the designer. You start off on the most ridiculously open bit of land you think
04:05well what's going on here and then you turn immediately into the dunes you then come out
04:08of them and you play down some holes down by the river and then you go back for a cliche alert
04:12roller coaster ride for a few holes with some cracking par fives and some dog legs where you
04:18hit down into little valleys and then you go around the corner up to greens on shelves. It's just
04:22enormous fun from start to finish and it really is a lovely lovely golf course. I think it's quite an
04:26important point to make here about the courses on the top 100 that you want there to be an element
04:32of fun don't you and there'll be some courses perhaps that people think is that really a top
04:36100 course but as you just said there when you describe it I can see how animated you are with
04:40it Rob and you're like well it's such good fun to play. Yeah absolutely I think fun is an important
04:45factor we don't really figure it in to the rankings or in terms of the criteria the former criteria
04:50but you have to bear in mind everyone is looking at these courses and as they think about
04:54the categories that we do have you can't actually divorce that from fun because you can't think
04:59it's a great strategic test if you're not enjoying it so you know fun has to be a part of it. I think
05:04hidden gems is an interesting term because you know if you're in that area you'll know all about
05:10that course yes but venture further afield and apart from the very top courses you'd be surprised
05:15how few golfers have really heard of some of these very fine courses that sit you know 50 to 100 or
05:21whatever some of them are quite anonymous outside their home areas. Particularly I think when they're
05:24off the beaten track is you know a lot of the courses I must say that's probably my blind spot
05:29in top 100 is some of those sort of further flung Irish courses I've never been to Ennis Crone
05:35I would love to go particularly having seen some of the photography of it obviously hear your
05:39description of it. Yeah it's a good point actually wherever you are in the world there will be a hidden
05:45gem golf course somewhere near you that we probably haven't even heard of and we'd love to hear
05:49your description of it so please do leave some comments below. Jez back to you your second
05:54course. Well let's go for my home county West Sussex this is the only top 100 course in my
05:59home county and it's called West Sussex there is another course in East Sussex Rye which is in
06:04the top 100 but West Sussex is just a beautiful Heathland golf course you arrive and it's got this
06:11old school clubhouse a big practice ground and then the first is the only par 5 on the course
06:16so there's always this kind of right I've got to make the most of this because there's nothing and
06:20invariably you don't of course and then the fourth and fifth are probably two of the prettiest back
06:25to back holes I've ever played there's a dog leg around to the left not long but testing enough
06:30and then a most beautiful par 3 in amongst the trees and you need to make the most of those
06:35because the hole after that is a quite ludicrous par 3 down the hill 230 240 yards to a green with
06:43banks either side and over water. So Mike you went for Wallasey first and Jez what's your second one?
06:49So my second one is Parkstone which is down in Dorset near Bournemouth part of
06:54three courses that are down there Ferndown, Broadstone and Parkstone probably could have picked
07:00any of them really. Parkstone what I really like about it is there's lots of variety there
07:05some really spectacular holes some nice changes in elevation feels like it's not overly long there's
07:13some really good sporty holes there always thought it's been in fantastic condition when I've been
07:18there love the clubhouse as well it's got amazing view over the 18th which is a par 3 to finish with
07:24so yeah Parkstone I think which we have ranked at 81 if I remember correctly is would be my second
07:32choice for a hidden gem. Bonus prize is one of five in the top 100 that finish with a par 3
07:36if you can name the other four leave a comment below. I was going to start trying but that
07:41wouldn't have made much viewing. Okay very good and so Rob yeah what's your your last one? Well my
07:47second is my first one was less well known because it's kind of in the middle of nowhere
07:52my other is not so well known because it's surrounded by bigger names which is a kind of the feature
07:57which we mentioned really. I'm going for Western Gales which is number 46 in the the new rankings
08:04this is an old school length but delightfully play four holes inland heading north then you reach the
08:12coast and you just have a you just run for nine holes all the way down the beach with some sunken
08:19greens some sort of punch bowl greens it's just a delight if the wind is behaving in the right way too
08:25and then of course you turn for a potentially really tough 14 to 18 back up towards the lovely
08:31clubhouse. I think it's got tons of charm it's less well known because of Turnbury, Prestwick and
08:37Troon which are so close but it really is well worth the visiting for anybody who doesn't yet know it.
08:43Yeah there's a few areas within our top 100 where you can put together a brilliant trip you could go up
08:48to the East Lothian coast or you could go to one of the spots in Ireland to put together it this is
08:52another one you just you just listed off however many top 100 quarters there's a few others actually
08:57in that area too. Well Dundonald links has gone in there. And we actually did that the three of us
09:01did that as a tripper a few years ago we played 72 holes in two days didn't we a two-day trip we went
09:07up and played Dundonald and Westingales on one day and then Troon and Prestwick on next day really
09:14quite tired by the time we flew back. Ayrshire is the third most successful county, joint third most
09:20successful county in our top 100 behind Surrey which excels and then Merseyside which if you
09:27break it down is bits of Lancashire and Cheshire and what have you but that's the second most
09:31successful and then it's Ayrshire and I think Aberdeenshire on four. Wow good knowledge. Yeah I've just
09:37written about it. Very good so there you have it hopefully that offers you some inspiration for
09:42if you're putting a golf trip together or just generally if you live in one of these areas and
09:46maybe haven't played one of these golf courses then they are well worth going out to see for yourself
09:51because I think all of us anyone who's in love with golf loves the chance of playing great golf courses
09:57and these are fantastic golf courses that are well worth a mention. So that's it for now thank you very
10:02much for watching but for now from Warpleston it's goodbye.