Top 5 Favourites in ENGLAND

[James Boon]

As with other posts I won't mention my home course (Bearwood Lakes) even though it would be in my top 5

Paul,

Why not mention your home course? I know others have, though in my case I only get to Burnham a handful of times a year. I see no harm in enjoying your home course?

Cheers,

James

[Paul Nash]

Hi Scott
Not sure! It is so hard picking 5. I have only played Saunton once - both courses 12 years ago and can't remember too much apart from how much I just loved everything about the site and the course - I was hardly playing golf back then and would need to play again. I would probably drop the Berkshire in favour of Bearwood as it does have a fair few average holes (some of the front 9 on the blue and some of the par 5's and the par 3 18th on the red)

The problem I have with some of the heathland and links courses is that I love them all and find it hard to differentiate between all but a few - for instance, I love Hankley more than any of the other berks/ surrey courses (not played Sunningdale). Re links, I haven't played many and would certainly rate RSG the best - I definitely thought it was better than Deal and Burnham (both of which I also loved) - it is a better site and has an aura/ x-factor to lift it above. Deal, Burnham. Saunton, Pennard, Porthcawl and St Andrews covers the rest of my limited experience - they are all very good and golf/ design-wise I don't find too much between them but there is something about the feel/ aura/ views/ spaciousness/ remoteness etc that makes me favour Saunton and Porthcawl over the excellent others - although Deal and Burnham have some exceptionally fine holes. I loved the site at Pennard but thought the course was a little too natural and lacking in definition (loved the 16th and some of the par 3s on the back 9 - is it the 11th, an awesome hole with a big carry across a valley?). I have only one visited each of these links courses once so it is hard to come to definite or, indeed, informed conclusions as they are all very nice and often quirky. Actually, the same is true of at least half of the heathland tracks - so I am hardly speaking from much experience!

Bearwood is different from the heathland and links courses and there are not many really good courses in England that are. It may not be to everyone's liking but I would never tire of playing there - and it sits on a wonderful piece of land and is only likely to get better condition and design-wise as they are good at making incremental improvements - it would be really exciting to hear what plans Hawtree will suggest when he does his long-rumoured visit! Come and give it a try before you go back home.

[Philip Gawith]

I too was amazed to hear Scott's views on St Endoc - i think the third is a wonderfule hole and the fourth even better. Just about as good a short par four as you can get.

I was also surprised that we had to wait until reply 26 or so to have Royal North Devon mentioned.

My five, excluding Huntercombe and Hoylake, would be:

Royal St George's
Royal North Devon
St Enodoc
Sunningdale
Queenwood

On the basis that the thought of an outing to any of these courses is a delicious prospect. Queenwood is there to add some spice and another name, plus a further inland course! I don't think anyone mentioned Wallasey which was many of us enjoyed a lot when the GCA tour visited there in 2006.

[Bill_McBride]

I too was amazed to hear Scott's views on St Endoc - i think the third is a wonderfule hole and the fourth even better. Just about as good a short par four as you can get.

I was also surprised that we had to wait until reply 26 or so to have Royal North Devon mentioned.

My five, excluding Huntercombe and Hoylake, would be:

Royal St George's
Royal North Devon
St Enodoc
Sunningdale
Queenwood

On the basis that the thought of an outing to any of these courses is a delicious prospect. Queenwood is there to add some spice and another name, plus a further inland course! I don't think anyone mentioned Wallasey which was many of us enjoyed a lot when the GCA tour visited there in 2006.

Philip, I have a lot of affection for Wallasey based on the 2006 Buda Cup round, but I think the weaker inland holes (#7 particularly) take it out of the top 5 class.......

[Jeff_Lewis]

Ganton
Lytham
Walton Heath (old)
Swinley
Royal St. George's
Rye

Sorry, I know that's six.

[Michael Latham]

in no particular order,
Saunton East
Woodhall Spa
Birkdale
Walton Heath Old
Cinque Ports

[Scott Warren]

You have superb taste, Michael. Welcome.

[Bart Bradley]

In honor of my recent trip to England and the upcoming Open at Sandwich, I thought I'd bump this thread forward.  I was able to visit 10 high quality and diverse courses on the trip and my favorites were:

Royal St. Georges
Sunningdale Old
Royal Cinque Ports
Rye
Sunningdale New

All of which deserve strong consideration for World Top 100 status, IMO.

As this thread points out, England offers something no other country can really offer...a diversity of top quality Links golf and top quality Inland golf.  I would highly recommend all those folks considering a trip to UK/Ireland to consider England. 

Bart

[JNC Lyon]

In order, with explanations, live from the Denver Airport with endless amount of time to kill.

1) Royal Cinque Ports.  There are several reasons I joined Deal, and the biggest one is the quality of the golf course.  Deal has a tremendous variety of green complexes, from the stark plateau green at the 6th (one of my favorite short fours in the world) to the brilliant punchbowl green at the 3rd, from the halfpipe green at the 12th to the roly-poly affair at number 1.  The greens present an incredible number of recovery options, and they are all well-connected with the golf holes leading up to them.  Moreover, the terrain at Deal makes for ideal golf, especially on the holes close to the clubhouse.

2) Woking.  It was my favorite inland layout I played on my trip.  The greens are borderline outrageous but decidedly brilliant, with a great balance between subtlety (1, 4, 6, 9, 17) and boldness (2, 3, 12-15, 18).  The bunkering here is pretty much perfect, not too much and not too little.  The routing changes directions constantly and is intimate throughout.  The course is classic heathland, and an absolute joy to play.

3) Royal St. George's.  Solid throughout, with a great dunes setting on the front nine and calmer yet still brilliant holes on the back.  4 is a world class golf hole, and the par fours and 8-10 are tremendously underrated.  I was most surprised by the green complexes here, which are much more varied and bold than I expected at a championship course.  13, 15, and 17 all utilize top-notch greens that are highly unique.  The course's two weaknesses: lack of a good short four, and an average set of par threes (especially at 3 and 11).  I think Sandwich is a hell of a golf course, and I am psyched to see it in the Open this year.

4) Swinley Forest.  A Colt masterpiece, the course starts slowly (the only great hole of the first 6 is the short 4th), but picks up when the golfer climbs the hill at 7.  From then on, the golfer is treated to hole after hole of engaging golf, routed through forest with a scale that is hard to believe considering Swinley's modest length.  A great set of five par threes, along with several great long par fours, make Swinley a definitive heathland layout.

5) Huntercombe.  Willie Park's first layout, Huntercombe uses 13 bunkers and loads of great mounding and greensites to challenge the golfer.  The 4-hole loop to start is one of my favorite opening stretches, and I loved the quirkiness of the blind short par three at the 1st.  The course is definitely on the short side, and it has a couple of average holes (18 is not the most exciting finish, and 11 is a strange short par four).  Yet the use of ground contours makes Huntercombe engaging and a must-see for any modern golf architect.

[JNC Lyon]

In honor of my recent trip to England and the upcoming Open at Sandwich, I thought I'd bump this thread forward.  I was able to visit 10 high quality and diverse courses on the trip and my favorites were:

Royal St. Georges
Sunningdale Old
Royal Cinque Ports
Rye
Sunningdale New

All of which deserve strong consideration for World Top 100 status, IMO.

As this thread points out, England offers something no other country can really offer...a diversity of top quality Links golf and top quality Inland golf.  I would highly recommend all those folks considering a trip to UK/Ireland to consider England. 

Bart

Bart,

Thanks for bumping this up.  I also enjoy recalling my favorite layouts in England.  You are correct, English golf is extremely diverse.  I got to see several great courses on my trip (Addington and Burnham and Berrow just missed the cut here), and I know I only just scratched the surface of golf in England.  Yet my top five still includes five courses that are vastly different from one another--amazing, because two of the them are within a couple of miles of one another, and two are just a hop, skip, and a jump over the dunes on the Kent coast.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Sean,

As a board with a US slant Scotland and Ireland is bound to to well known to a far greater percentage of contributors who often seek out the more diverse courses on their travels there

England although in many respects having a stronger all round set of golf courses, although less wild links courses, is less known to  overseas players. I still think people are missing a trick when they take their 6th or 7th trip to Scotland or Ireland yet have never mixed Deal, Sandwich and Rye with anyone of a dozen of the world's best heathland courses.

Why is this??

Less romance in travelling to England.
Less 4 ball play - between Rye, Sandwich and Deal only 3 days a week.
Less spectacular dunes - althought Rye and Sandwich are pretty rugged in places
Lack of understanding just how good the heathlands are.

Mark I wonder if it’s something to do with England being such a big place, one’s special interest doesn’t seem so special to the locals.  An example: I’ve been to Dublin when there’s a Rugby International on and everyone talks of nothing else, the match dominates the City.  I’ve heard the same is true of Cardiff or Edinburgh.  I grew up a few miles from Twickenham and typically for the average ‘man on the omnibus’ an international is just another event going on that day in London, albeit with worse traffic. 

If you visit St Andrews, North Berwick, Dornoch, Portrush, Lahinch etc people assume you are there to play golf and they will engage you in a conversation about where you’ve been and how their course compares with what you’ve seen.  Where in England can you go, when entering a bar and ordering drinks in a ‘foreign’ accent, do people ask if you’re here for the golf?  It’s certainly not going to happen in the heathlands!   I think that’s something the first time visitor enjoys and would miss even if in England the golf itself has so much to offer.   Having had a good time on the first visit, that’s why so many return to Scotland and Ireland again and again.


I agree that England has work to do promoting its fine golf. But I think it should look at attracting the Jim Finegan type who notices there is interesting history all over the place not just relating to golf.  Pitching for the connoisseur in all things as it were.