Ralph
With the greatest of respect, I think if you examine the Golf World Scottish Top100 chart a little more closely you’ll find that
there’s more than a modicum of “rhyme or reason” to its composition.
If you take the Golf World “1000 Best Courses in Britain and Ireland” book that Niall and Sean have been referring to earlier on
this thread (I have the 2004 edition) then you will find that a substantial number of the top Scottish courses featured in its
pages appear in this latest Top 100 list.
Going through the ratings in the book:
All fifteen 5-star Scottish courses are ranked between 1 and 43 with thirteen of the fifteen ranked from 1 to 14.
(St.Andrews (New) is at 28 and Gleneagles (Queen’s) at 43).
Thirty eight of forty 4-star Scottish courses are ranked between 11 (North Berwick) and 84 (Duff House Royal).
Only Gullane (No. 3) and Kingussie fail to make the chart from the book’s 4-star rating list.
Twenty four of seventy one 3-star courses and six of forty two 2-star courses also make the new chart.
Sixteen* of the seventeen remaining spots are taken by new courses that have been created since the book was published
so the only REAL surprise to emerge is Hirsel at number 100.
Personally, I was also taken aback by the inclusion of one or two of the new courses listed below but then that’s the nature
of the beast when you get involved in the murky world of ranking golf courses.
Some observers may feel uneasy about the lofty chart positions occupied by a couple of the invite-only courses but I’m more
worried when I see an (albeit charming) 12-holer on a Scottish island break into the national Top 50.
As an aside… at the front of the same “1000 Best” book, it has Royal Worlington & Newmarket ranked at number 3 in a Top 10
of parkland courses so maybe Shiskine really does deserve its position if the sacred nine can make a Top 10 in GB&I
(never mind a Top 100 in England)!!!
You can argue all you want about the relative positions of courses within the Gold World Scottish Top100 chart but it includes
83 well established top tracks that were identified as such by Golf World seven years ago, along with at least a dozen of the
very best new layouts to emerge in recent times which only leaves room to quibble about a handful of positions – and any five
from a dozen very good club courses could fill those slots.
* Castle Stuart, St Andrews (Castle), Renaissance Club, Dundonald, Machrihanish Dunes, Archerfield (Fidra), Archerfield (Dirleton), Tunberry (Kintyre), Spey Valley, Fairmont Torrance, Rowallan Castle, Askernish, The Carrick, Craigielaw, Meldrum House, Earl of Mar.