Golfweek: GB&I course rankings

[Howard Riefs]

The current issue of Golfweek includes classic and modern rankings for GB&I courses.

Topline: RCD over TOC on classic list; and Kingsbarns leads Castle Stuart on modern.  

http://www.golfweek.com/news/2012/jan/12/2012-golfweeks-best-gbi-courses/

Any surprises?  Thoughts?  


----------------

 
GB&I Classic Courses: Before 1960

1. Royal County Down
Newcastle, Northern Ireland
1889, Old Tom Morris
9.04

2. St. Andrews (Old Course)
St. Andrews, Scotland
1800, Unknown
8.76

3. Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
Portrush, Northern Ireland
1888, Harry S. Colt
8.57

4. Muirfield
Gullane, Scotland
1892, Old Tom Morris
8.49

5. Royal Dornoch
Dornoch, Scotland
1877 - Old Tom Morris, John Sutherland, George Duncan
8.48

6. Sunningdale (Old)
Sunningdale, England
1900 - Harry S. Colt, Willie Park Jr.
8.36

7. Ballybunion (Old)
Ballybunion, Ireland
1893 - Tom Simpson, P. Murphy
8.26

8. Royal St. George’s
Sandwich, England
1887 - Laidlaw Purves
8.25

9. Turnberry (Ailsa)
Turnberry, Scotland
1949 - Mackenzie Ross
8.21

10. Royal Birkdale
Southport, England
1889 - George Lowe, F.G. Hawtree, J.H. Taylor
8.19

11. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
Woodhall Spa, England
1896 - S.V. Hotchkin
8.07

12. Carnoustie (Championship)
Carnoustie, Scotland
1839 - Old Tom Morris, Allan Robertson, James Braid
7.92

13. Ganton
Ganton, England
1893 - Harry S. Colt, James Braid, Tom Dunn, Harry Vardon
7.87

14. North Berwick (West Links)
North Berwick, Scotland
1832 - David Strath
7.79

15. Lahinch
Lahinch, Ireland
1892 - Old Tom Morris
7.75

16. Rye
Rye, England
1894 - Harry S. Colt
7.66

17. Cruden Bay
Cruden Bay, Scotland
1899 - Tom Simpson 7.62

18. Royal Troon (Championship)
Troon, Scotland
1878 - Willie Fernie
7.58

19. Walton Heath (Old)
Tadworth, England
1903 - Herbert Fowler
7.54

20. Swinley Forest
Ascot, England
1909 - Harry S. Colt
7.54

21. Royal Porthcawl
Porthcawl, Wales
1891 - Charles Gibson
7.52

22. Royal Lytham & St. Annes
Lytham, England
1886 - Herbert Fowler, George Lowe
7.51

23. St. George’s Hill
Weybridge, England
1912 - Harry S. Colt
7.47

24. Portmarnock (Old)
Portmarnock, Ireland
1894 George Ross, W.C. Pickeman
7.41

25. Sunningdale (New)
Sunningdale, England
1922 - Harry S. Colt
7.41

26. Wallasey
Wallasey, England
1891 - Old Tom Morris, James Braid, F.G. Hawtree, J.H. Taylor, Donald Steel
7.33

27. Royal Aberdeen
Aberdeen, Scotland
1800 - James Braid, Tom Simpson
7.32

28. Machrihanish
Machrihanish, Scotland
1876 - Old Tom Morris
7.27

29. Royal Liverpool (Hoylake)
Hoylake, England
1869 - Old Tom Morris, Robert Chambers
7.24

30. Western Gailes
Irvine, Scotland
1897 - Fred Morris
7.23

31. Royal West Norfolk
Brancaster, England
1892 - Holcombe Ingleby
7.20

32. Royal North Devon (Westward Ho!)
Bideford, England
1864 - Old Tom Morris, Herbert Fowler
7.20

33. Nefyn & District
Pwllheli, Wales
1907 - James Braid, J.H. Taylor
7.14

34. The Golf House Club Elie, Scotland
1896 - Old Tom Morris, James Braid
7.13

35. Gleneagles (King’s)
Auchterarder, Scotland
1919 - James Braid
7.05

36. Alwoodley
Leeds, England
1907 - Alister MacKenzie
7.05

37. Wentworth (West)
Virginia Water, England
1924 - Harry S. Colt
7.04

38. Royal Cinque Ports
Deal, England
1892 - James Braid
7.03

39. Prestwick
Prestwick, Scotland
1851 - Old Tom Morris
6.94

40. County Louth (Baltray)
Baltray, Ireland
1892 - Tom Simpson
6.83


GB&I Modern Courses: 1960 and later

1. Kingsbarns
St. Andrews, Scotland
1999 - Kyle Phillips
7.92

2. Castle Stuart
Inverness, Scotland
2009 - Gil Hanse, Mark Parsinen
7.82

3. Loch Lomond
Dunbartonshire, Scotland
1994 - Jay Morrish, Tom Weiskopf
7.68

4. Waterville
Waterville, Ireland
1973 - Eddie Hackett
7.54

5. Renaissance Club at Archerfield
Dirleton, Scotland
2008 - Tom Doak
7.41

6. The European Club
Brittas Bay, Ireland
1992 - Pat Ruddy
7.38

7. Old Head of Kinsale
Kinsale, Ireland
1997 - Eddie Hackett, Joe Carr, Ron Kirby, Paddy Merrigan, Liam Higgins
6.97

8. Carne
Belmullet, Ireland
1995 - Eddie Hackett
6.89

9. Enniscrone
Enniscrone, Ireland
1973 - Eddie Hackett
6.78

10. Lough Erne
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
2009 - Nick Faldo
6.74

11. Carton House (Montgomerie)
Maynooth, Ireland
2003 - Colin Montgomerie, Design European Golf
6.63

12. Tralee
Ardfert, Ireland
1984 - Arnold Palmer
6.55

13. Doonbeg
Doonbeg, Ireland
2001 - Greg Norman
6.53

14. Ballyliffin (Glashedy)
Ballyliffin, Ireland
1995 - Pat Ruddy, Tom Craddock
6.51

15. Hillside
Southport, England
1967 - Fred Hawtree
6.51

16. Woburn (Marquess)
Woburn, England
1997 - Clive Clark, Peter Alliss, Alex Hay, Alex McMurray
6.50

17. Woburn (Dukes)
Woburn, England
1976 - Charles Lawrie
6.50

18. Bearwood Lakes
Wokingham, England
1996 - Martin Hawtree
6.50

19. Rosapenna (Sandy Hills)
Rosapenna, Ireland
2003 - Pat Ruddy
6.38

20. The Grove
Chandler’s Cross, England
2003 - Kyle Phillips
6.38

21. Carnegie Links at Skibo
Dornoch, Scotland
1994 - Donald Steel
6.37

22. The Carrick
Loch Lomond, Scotland
2007 - Doug Carrick
6.33

23. St. Andrews (Castle)
St. Andrews, Scotland
2008 - David McLay Kidd
6.32

24. Celtic Manor (Twenty Ten)
Newport, Wales
2009 - Robert Trent Jones II, Ross McMurray
6.32

25. Fairmont St. Andrews (Torrance)
St. Andrews, Scotland
2001 - Sam Torrance
6.24

26. Druids Glen
Newtownmountkennedy, Ireland
1995 - Pat Ruddy, Tom Craddock
6.18

27. The Duke’s St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Scotland
1995 - Peter Thomson, Tim Liddy
6.09

28. The K Club (Smurfit)
Straffan, Ireland
1990 - Arnold Palmer, Ed Seay
6.07

29. Turnberry (Kintyre)
Turnberry, Scotland
2001 - Donald Steel
6.06

30. Dundonald Links
Irvine, Scotland
2003 - Kyle Phillips
6.00

31. The Wisley (Garden & Mill)
Ripley, England
1991 - Robert Trent Jones Jr.
6.00

32. Fota Island
Carrigtwohill, Ireland
1993 - Christy O’Connor Jr., Jeff Howes, Peter McEvoy
5.90

33. Crail (Craighead)
Crail, Scotland
1998 - Gil Hanse
5.88

34. The K Club (Palmer)
Straffan, Ireland
1991 - Arnold Palmer
5.86

35. Donegal
Donegal, Ireland
1973 - Pat Ruddy, Eddie Hackett
5.85

36. Chart Hills
Biddenden, England
1993 - Steve Smyers, Nick Faldo
5.83

37. Fairmont St. Andrews (Kittocks)
St. Andrews, Scotland
2001 - Bruce Devlin, Gary Stephenson
5.83

38. Forest of Arden
Meriden, England
1970 - Donald Steel
5.83

39. Machrihanish Dunes
Machrihanish, Scotland
2009 - David McLay Kidd
5.70

40. Ballybunion (Cashen)
Ballybunion, Ireland
1982 - Robert Trent Jones Sr.
5.57
 

[Jud_T]

Hard to believe there's 38 courses better than Prestwick.  Is that an uptick for Renaissance?

[Shane Wright]

Howard, thank you for posting.  In my opinion, the top 5 in the Classic division is spot on.  3,4,and 5 could probably be interchanged in any order. I would probably have Portrush #5, RD #4 and Muirfield #3.  Also, I think Lahinch deserves a higher than #14 ranking.  The recent discussion on Lahinch vs. Ballybunion made some great points.  Lahinch is truly world class and as much as I love North Berwick, I would have to have Lahinch above it.

[Anthony Gray]

  RCD is very difficult for the high handicapper.

  Anthony

[Mark Pearce]

I cannot remember ever being stopped in my tracks by a course rating.  But Elie at 34 on the classics list did just that.  I love Elie but had never, ever expected to see it in a top 100 list, let alone at such heights.  Better than Deal, Alwoodley and Prestwick?  That's a huge call.

On to more usual candidates:  Ganton should be above Woodhall Spa, there are several courses in the classic list that I'd play Silloth over, though it's no surprise to see Silloth under-achieve in one of these rankings.

[Gary Slatter]

it's only a list, but that top 40 classic is a wonderful list, 40 courses that we all should get to play!

[JMEvensky]

  RCD is very difficult for the high handicapper.

  Anthony

It ain't exactly a walk in the park for good players.

[Sean_A]

The course which really stands out like a sore thumb is Nefyn.  This isn't even a top 100 (or close) yet I reckon touristas stuck it high because its pretty.  

My five to be kicked out:  Nefyn, Wallasey, Machrihanish, RND & Lytham

My five to go in: St Enodoc, Woking, N Berwick, The Island & Little Aston

Ciao

[Mark Pearce]

Sean,

North Berwick is at 14.  I was surprised at RND being included.  You wouldn't put Pennard in?

[Sean_A]

Sean,

North Berwick is at 14.  I was surprised at RND being included.  You wouldn't put Pennard in?

Mark

Sorry, I missed NB.

No, I wouldn't put Pennard in the top 40, but it would make my top 100 for sure, but so would Wallasey, Machrihanish & Lytham.   

Ciao

[Chris DeNigris]

Agree that Lahinch should easily be Top 10.

Machrihanish Dunes should be at least 25 spots higher.

[David_Tepper]

How about a large tip of the hat to and a round of applause for Mark Parsinen, who has developed/co-designed the #1 and #2 modern courses!

[Mark Chaplin]

Nefyn is definitely not top 100 it has two or three (dangerous) holes and a good pub!

Westwood Ho! is stacked with history but again not top 100.

Mark - the English Amateur at Silloth this year may put it a little more in the spotlight.

[Ben Stephens]

I cannot remember ever being stopped in my tracks by a course rating.  But Elie at 34 on the classics list did just that.  I love Elie but had never, ever expected to see it in a top 100 list, let alone at such heights.  Better than Deal, Alwoodley and Prestwick?  That's a huge call.

On to more usual candidates:  Ganton should be above Woodhall Spa, there are several courses in the classic list that I'd play Silloth over, though it's no surprise to see Silloth under-achieve in one of these rankings.

Canary,

Elie was the biggest surprise I have come across of any golf course I have played. I look forward to playing it again I have fond memories of hitting a 5 iron out of a 'crater' fairway bunker on the 9th onto the green

I agree with you that Ganton is better than Woodhall, even though Woodhall has more better holes and weaker ones - Ganton is sublime from 1 to 18 with a few weaknesses.

Cheers
Ben

GCA

I would put Portmarnock above Porthcawl (even though I am an Welsh exile living in England) I thought it was a better course and had more great holes.

[Robert Thompson]

I liked Nefyn, and had fun there, but the architecture is non-existent. Putting it ahead of Prestwick, where the design is so significant, is really kind of crazy.

[Scott Warren]

Do we know who the raters are? Mostly US based?

Seems to me there's a lot of tourist tail courses on there and the likes of Silloth and St Enodoc may well have been ignored moreso than considered and not included.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I cannot remember ever being stopped in my tracks by a course rating.  But Elie at 34 on the classics list did just that.  I love Elie but had never, ever expected to see it in a top 100 list, let alone at such heights.  Better than Deal, Alwoodley and Prestwick?  That's a huge call.

On to more usual candidates:  Ganton should be above Woodhall Spa, there are several courses in the classic list that I'd play Silloth over, though it's no surprise to see Silloth under-achieve in one of these rankings.

Canary,

Elie was the biggest surprise I have come across of any golf course I have played. I look forward to playing it again I have fond memories of hitting a 5 iron out of a 'crater' fairway bunker on the 9th onto the green

I agree with you that Ganton is better than Woodhall, even though Woodhall has more better holes and weaker ones - Ganton is sublime from 1 to 18 with a few weaknesses.

Cheers
Ben

GCA

I would put Portmarnock above Porthcawl (even though I am an Welsh exile living in England) I thought it was a better course and had more great holes.

Ben I agree with every syable of this post.

[jeffwarne]

Get rid of the ridiculous "Modern" and "Classsic" distinction, change the list to 80 and all the omissions are in.
Notice all the ommissions are classic.
Would anyone notice (other than an advertiser ) if 10 of the moderns disappeared?

[Tony_Muldoon]

I've said similar things before but when you look at the modern list and think of all the great linksland that had become available in that period it's a awful how average and in some cases terrible the courses that have resulted.  It somehow seems to fit with the whole zeitgeist of the time, as long as it was longer and more expensive than the previous one it just had to be progress. Significantly the top 3 weren’t even developed on good land to start with.  Must be 10 “missed opportunities” there.   It pisses me off.

[Niall C]

Irrelevant to the ranking of the courses but the design attribution on quite a number of these courses is fairly suspect at best and incomplete in most (of the classics).

Niall

[Michael Essig]

I will leave the debate to those with knowledge; all I can say is I can't wait until May for my first trip to Ireland - Lahinch, Ballybunnion, Portmarnock and RCD over a five day span. Should be as close to heaven as a golfer can get. Cheers

[Cristian]

Get rid of the ridiculous "Modern" and "Classsic" distinction, change the list to 80 and all the omissions are in.
Notice all the ommissions are classic.
Would anyone notice (other than an advertiser ) if 10 of the moderns disappeared?

I agree that the modern/classic distinction is arbitrary (why 1960?). However I think adding up the lists is not a good idea as maybe only 5 or 6 of the modern courses are better than no. 40 of the classics.

[Michael Essig]

Along those lines, Ballybunnion has not been profiled on this website's Courses By Country. Has anyone with knowledge/ expertise considered filling this void?

[jeffwarne]

Get rid of the ridiculous "Modern" and "Classsic" distinction, change the list to 80 and all the omissions are in.
Notice all the ommissions are classic.
Would anyone notice (other than an advertiser ) if 10 of the moderns disappeared?

I agree that the modern/classic distinction is arbitrary (why 1960?). However I think adding up the lists is not a good idea as maybe only 5 or 6 of the modern courses are better than no. 40 of the classics.

Classics don't buy adspace

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Get rid of the ridiculous "Modern" and "Classsic" distinction, change the list to 80 and all the omissions are in.
Notice all the ommissions are classic.
Would anyone notice (other than an advertiser ) if 10 of the moderns disappeared?

Totally agree. This classic and modern distinction is stupid. Call me a cynic , but I think it's all about marketing.

I'd say the reason they have two lists, is so clubs can market the naturally higher position that results when a list is split in two. If you were a club manager, which would you prefer: "24th in Golfweek Modern list" or "53rd in Golfweeks list"?

I suppose we can soon expect to read about the "Golfweek's Top Links list" and a "Golfweek's Top Parkland list".