Six new additions to Golfs top 100 world

[Mark Bourgeois]

Mark, well you should also consider the video says it is "less than an hour's drive from bustling Bangkok." Given the traffic there I think this puts it about 10 blocks from The Peninsula. So no it's not hard to get to, not hard to get to at all. 

[Paul Jones]

Ayodyha Links - I hate it when they name a course with the word Links when it is not.

[David Jones]

I know that Golf.com are due to publish the list today but I can't see it on their site yet, does anyone have a link to a digital version?


Thx

[Mark Pritchett]

Mark-Funny, wonder how many Golf Magazine panelists are based in Bangkok? 

[David Jones]

Aha, I will answer my own question!


http://www.golf.com/article-list/top-100-courses-in-the-world-2015


It also has a 'score predictor' so it will tell you what you may shoot based on strengths and weaknesses of your game.  Apparently I will destroy Swinley Forest while Lost Farm will destroy me.  No mention of which tees I'm playing off mind.


Haven't been through the whole list yet but TOC seems to have gone up to 3 and ANCG down from 3 to 4.  Such controversy....

[Thomas Dai]

Ellerston? Would that be the rather private Packer course in Aussie. If so how accessable/exclusive should a course be before it can be included in such a listing? Just wondering.
Atb

[Bill_McBride]

Royal Hague above Sunny New doesn't offend me. In truth the other way wouldn't either.

Which of course confirms the lunacy of trying the rank the very best courses one against another. 

[Cristian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMJSWxMaT0


Ayodyha Links video. 


Is this the course in the Top 100?  You have got to be joking.


Bart

I rest my case.....

[Brad Tufts]

AL seems to be the only one that doesn't belong...I really can't argue too hard against many of the others...


Neat logo though.


Can't they just get a pat on the head and a "#1 in Thailand" ribbon, or whatever?

[JC Jones]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMJSWxMaT0


Ayodyha Links video. 


Is this the course in the Top 100?  You have got to be joking.


Bart

Move over Tom Doak, Bart can rate a golf course from a YouTube video!

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Looking at the pictures online, it appears they have Prairie Dunes confused with a hole at Sand Hills? I've not played Sand Hills but its definitely not Prairie Dunes

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMJSWxMaT0


Ayodyha Links video. 


Is this the course in the Top 100?  You have got to be joking.


Bart

Hahahaha! that is fantastic. They should rename it "The Villages" -- wait that's already taken.

I can hear the jingle now - Ayodyha Links....Bangkok's friendliest hometown

[Steve Lapper]

Looking at the pictures online, it appears they have Prairie Dunes confused with a hole at Sand Hills? I've not played Sand Hills but its definitely not Prairie Dunes

That would be a picture of the Prairie Club....but don't let that stop you!

[Mark Chaplin]

I'm a massive fan of Sunningdale New as it has 16 really good holes, however do world top 100 courses start and finish with less than very good/great holes?

[Craig Sweet]

Golf Magazine is a waste of $5....Rating course is ridiculous....might as well be rating the US Interstate system.

[David_Elvins]

I'm a massive fan of Sunningdale New as it has 16 really good holes, however do world top 100 courses start and finish with less than very good/great holes?

Is it only the narrowness of the tee shots that is less than very good?

[Ryan Coles]

No. 1 and 18 feel completely out of character with the other 34. They are muddy parkland.

[Alan Ritchie]

Bullcrap! If it was you'd see the likes of Piewood National, Canyata, Alotian Club and other GD perennial favorites. I've played all but Ayodhya (and new version of Cal Club) and those played more than deserve inclusion on design basis alone.

Kauri Cliffs used to fit the bill but now even the hoi polloi know about it. And so its fall from grace. Could be a while before the Hainan infrastructure makes an easy trip to the east coast, so Shanqin should be insulated for a while. Plus there's the signal value of playing a C&C practically no one else can.

Kauri Cliffs is public - it is hard to get to though. 


I think Kauri Cliffs is the definition of a "rater preferred" course.  It's beautiful, in a fantastic location, fantastic experience.   Absolutely amazing for one round.  Then you realize there is more beauty than substance.  Not saying it isn't a good course, just not sure it's top 100 good.  The views are all world though.

so difficult to get to I missed the turn off and ended up at a glorious beach 20 minutes away!  would agree with that point, maybe not top 100 in terms of architecture but must be up there in terms of the overall golf experience. I would say it's a must to any enthusiast but again 1 round may be enough.  Would put jacks point in the same bracket.

[Tim Leahy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMJSWxMaT0


Ayodyha Links video. 


Is this the course in the Top 100?  You have got to be joking.


Bart

I rest my case.....

Do the raters get the negatives back now from the pictures with the Asian hookers?

[James Brown]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMJSWxMaT0


Ayodyha Links video. 


Is this the course in the Top 100?  You have got to be joking.


Bart

Hahahaha! that is fantastic. They should rename it "The Villages" -- wait that's already taken.

It does look like The Villages.  This is better than Old MacDonald?  Please.

[Tim_Weiman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMJSWxMaT0


Ayodyha Links video. 


Is this the course in the Top 100?  You have got to be joking.


Bart

Hahahaha! that is fantastic. They should rename it "The Villages" -- wait that's already taken.

It does look like The Villages.  This is better than Old MacDonald?  Please.

My reaction as well. Ayodyha might be better than Pine Valley or Cypress Point or Augusta, but that video sure doesn't make me want to jump on a plane.

[Mark Pavy]

Do the raters get the negatives back now from the pictures with the Asian hookers?

What's a negative?

I thought one particular course from Thailand might start making a few of these Top 100 lists, however, it was not the one that did. There's some very good courses in Asia, I would not be surprised to see 20 or 30, from Asia, regularly making these lists in a few years.

[Jim Nugent]

I'd like to know why Old Mac fell out of the top 100. 

There's some very good courses in Asia, I would not be surprised to see 20 or 30, from Asia, regularly making these lists in a few years.

Can you tell us which courses you are thinking of? 

[Tom_Doak]

  Sorry chap, but your point was effectively bullcrap. Exclusivity has absolutely ZERO weight in the vote of any panelists I know. Personal taste, design integrity, and quirk yes, but votes for exclusivity remains the domain of GD and the handful of courses that preclude all others but GD from rater visits.


  The GM Top 100 process is considerably different than GD or GW. I'm not saying it's uniformly better, but the emphasis is on seeing worthy courses throughout the world and it does take time for a mere 100 to get to places like China, Australia, Thailand and the Netherlands. Votes are made only on courses that have been played and GM panelists are asked to state the last time they've visited that course. This alone explains the ascent of Shanquin Bay and Ellerston.

BTW.....Although too late for the 2015 ballot, expect to see Cabot Cliffs debut on this list very, very high....perhaps the highest modern since Sand Hills or Pac Dunes.
 

Steve:


As a fellow GOLF Magazine panelist, I wish I agreed with your defense of the process ... but I can't say that I do.  It just seems to be the "international" version of GOLF DIGEST's love for certain exclusive U.S. courses that hardly anyone BUT a panelist can visit.  I feel strongly that the committee is now stacked with people voting in favor of token additions from different countries including South Korea, China, Portugal, and now Thailand and The Netherlands [though I like Royal Hague very much].  The fact that several of these clubs have paid big money to host a tournament as an excuse to pay quite a few panelists to travel there, just before their remarkable climbs up the list, is too big of a coincidence for my senses to believe.


I have not seen the whole list yet and I don't particularly care whether Old Macdonald has slipped a bit or not ... perhaps that will make room in my quota for a different course to push up the list next time.  But it would be nice to believe that the rankings are still on the level, and it is getting harder to believe every two years.


If I'm not on the panel in two years' time, just refer back to this post! 

[Mark Pavy]

There's some very good courses in Asia, I would not be surprised to see 20 or 30, from Asia, regularly making these lists in a few years.

Can you tell us which courses you are thinking of?

Sure, I was specifically thinking of Red Mountain in Phuket.
The way these lists are compiled makes it very difficult for newish courses built in Asia to even figure in any ratings, quite simply the focus is on courses of, how should I say this, more traditional golfing nations. The other aspect to consider is the sheer volume of new course designs that have been constructed all across Asia over the last 20 years, most of which would be unknown to the majority of presumably USA based course raters.