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How to judge the quality of a Golf course your are playing on?
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00:00Hello everyone and welcome to Walpolston Golf Club and this video in association with Peter Millart
00:05in which we're going to take a look at how you judge the quality of golf course that you are
00:10playing. So I'm going to be joined by Rob Smith and Jeremy Elwood who run our top 100 courses panel
00:15and the editor of Golf Monthly Mike Harris as well to look at the Golf Monthly list of top 100
00:20courses and in particular how we rank those golf courses. Now there are five different criteria
00:27that we use to help us judge where each of the golf courses sits. We're going to talk through each
00:31of
00:31those with some key discussion points along the way that were worth bearing in mind whenever you're
00:36out playing a golf course for the first time. Right let's get started.
00:48Okay so it's important to say right at the beginning of this part that the way in which Golf Monthly
00:52rank
00:52its top 100 courses is slightly different to the way some other people do it in that we have five
00:57different categories and we're going to look at those in order starting with the one that's weighted
01:02the most the most so the most important so 35 percent of the score of a golf course will be
01:08on
01:08Rob the quality of the test and design. Now obviously the top 100 courses have all got great
01:14tests and design what makes those so good in terms of the way in which they're laid out? Well what
01:19you're
01:19looking at for for this category and as you say it's the most important of the categories is that
01:23you want a golf course that has got every kind of variety of hole on it and and will therefore
01:28keep
01:29you interested all the way around but also test you all the way around so you want to come off
01:33the
01:33course having probably used every club in your bag you want bunkers in different places you want
01:38strategic thoughts you want some risk and reward holes you want holes that turn to the right holes that
01:43turn to the left this is very much about how you would look at a hole if it was drawn
01:48for you on a
01:48piece of paper that's what you're evaluating that hole on where the hazards are where the landing
01:53areas are what how do you approach into the green and so on so you want something that's fair that
01:59all
01:59golfers can play but it's still testing so that you've really got to think about what you're doing
02:04so that's what we mean by the design and test it's really what the golfer has to do to get
02:10from the tee
02:11into the hole yeah and i guess it's a really good point that Rob that balance that you you want
02:16from a
02:16golf course in terms of testing you being challenging but also being rewarding as well if you play well
02:22now mike and jess give us some examples of golf courses on the list that performed well in terms
02:27of the quality of the test and design well i would pick out somewhere like royal rhythm maybe where you
02:34know it's maybe not the most visually attractive surroundings enclosed by houses but each individual
02:40hole will make you think all the way from tee to green because of its bunkering because of its
02:46topography because of its shape and you know at the far end near the turn there's changes in
02:51elevation where you play up towards a couple of greens up there so it's got everything even though
02:57externally you know it's not got ocean views and glorious sights to behold but it is still
03:05very very well designed and a tough closing stretch what handicap you are mike i think you know where we
03:10are
03:11today wafflesden is fantastic for its variety of shots there's some nice elevation changes you play
03:18up some holes you play down to some other holes uh again you know as rob said you've got that
03:23variety
03:24of dog leg left dog leg right you've got some shorter you know par fives you can get at and
03:29then
03:29you've got a couple of really long par fours that are really going to test you the par threes are
03:33not all
03:34the same length of the lovely par three across the water which you feel like that's a really great chance
03:39have a birdie some of the other par threes here you know longer more testing but i think it's that
03:43it's that variety across the 80s i'm gonna i'm gonna play devil's advocate here i'm not asking you
03:49to name any courses that are on the top 100 because there probably aren't aren't any but what are the
03:52things that golf courses do that bug you in terms of the quality of the testers i'm going to start
03:57one
03:58because i'm one that you always say to me mike which is growing up long rough beneath the trees so
04:02you hit
04:03it in the trees and then you can't actually get it out because you're in the thick rough is there
04:05anything else that you can think of that that is a bit frustrating when you find that at a golf
04:10course
04:10i think if you've got a relentlessly long carries right i think is something which is fine for tall
04:19players and for you know for low you know single figure golfers but for the ordinary golfer too many
04:26forced carries i i think is you know i i wouldn't you know i'd probably mark a course down for
04:33that right
04:34okay i think for me it would be uh that demand as i mentioned earlier for variety i don't want
04:40to
04:4018 holes that are the same regimented through the trees uh the four par threes are pretty much the
04:47same length and you've got the same shot coming i want that variety and that therefore to have to
04:51think about different things on each hole yeah jez i would go for already long path for testing long
04:57par fours 450 yards and then they throw a really tricky green and a very narrow entrance at you as
05:03well and you're thinking i've done the hard part here i've got the green now i don't want to you
05:08know
05:08take three or four more shots to get down i think you know if you've got a long par four
05:12don't make
05:14the green amongst the most tricky on the golf course yeah i would agree with that i think there's always
05:18a really good principle um of hard par easy bogey again i think it's something which you know yes
05:27there should be a test and you should feel like you know you've some achievement if you've made yeah
05:31but making a bogey is like that gives you you know that option to have a bailout a way out
05:37yeah you
05:38know to not you know cross 18 holes not keep on before some carries whether it's over bunkers or over
05:44yeah i believe that is what bobby jones wanted all the holes at all gusts yeah he used that very
05:49phrase effectively yeah hard par easy bogey yeah and i think we can all agree that's a fairly good
05:54golf course and so so 35 of a of a course's mark goes on quality of testing design 30 goes
06:02on the
06:03conditioning and the presentation of the golf course rob well that's obviously vital because there's no
06:08point in having a lovely golf course in front of you but you can't play it because the surfaces aren't
06:12correct what you want is true greens are of a consistent pace all the way through all 18.
06:18you don't all have to be really fast absolutely not but it's the consistency is the only important
06:23thing really obviously you don't want them to be snail's pace but you want them to be
06:26the same pace all the way through so that you don't suddenly get caught out because that's so different
06:31from what you've just played uh and it's the same with the way all the way you want the bunkers
06:34to be
06:34well presented you want any hazards if you can use that word anymore such as water hazards and so on
06:39to be nicely lined and to look good so the whole presentation first cut a rough if there is one
06:44second cut a rough and so on you want it to look and feel and then most importantly play consistently
06:50all the way through yeah and actually it's quite an interesting point here because i feel as if there
06:54are some golf courses that can look and feel rugged but they are also well maintained i think sometimes
06:59when you talk about condition people get caught up in that sort of augusta mindset of like having it
07:04absolutely pristine but actually it can be rugged but it could also be in fantastic condition as well
07:10oh 100 i think if you talked about royal west norfolk brancaster or someone like royal north devon
07:16they are meant to be natural golf courses some of the links in ireland and scotland they're not meant
07:23to be pristine it wouldn't be appropriate i think appropriate conditioning is so on an inland course
07:29particularly on a parkland course i think you do expect courses to be you know of course the
07:34immaculate i know a dare manor perhaps is the ultimate um inland you know conditioning wise ultimate
07:42in logic it's incredible you sort of the t's you could almost be greens that you know at some golf
07:47courses
07:48the approaches are incredible yeah that comes to the gods too absolutely they obviously have um you know
07:55sort of a lot of maintenance teams you know big green grouping teams i think almost um you know
08:00they'd have as many for 18 holes as 36 hole uh of course we have but that's appropriate for that
08:06type
08:07of golf course it wouldn't be appropriate for a link to be absolutely pressing i think it needs that
08:12but as you say that element and feeling natural yeah totally natural to its environment yeah jesse give us
08:18another course that you'd like to give a shout out to in terms of conditioning conditioning well i i uh
08:23rob rob's
08:23home club it's probably better than i speak about tan ridge is not very far from it's probably the
08:28closest top 100 course to my home tan ridge in surrey uh and i played it a few times and
08:33thought it's
08:33kind of on the cusp top 100 uh i played it last summer with these two gentlemen and it was
08:40just
08:41absolutely immaculate and the best condition i've ever seen it and when you're on the cusp just that
08:46little extra percentage in that category can't be enough to go over the edge yeah because there's so
08:51many great golf courses so many great golf course this is important to say there is a lot of fantastic
08:54golf courses in you they're not in the top 100 that are well obviously considering and we do consider
09:00them very good you know our next 100 you wouldn't be disappointed if you played any of them and probably
09:05the next 300 beyond that but somehow we've got to differentiate between between them which is one of
09:10the challenges that you chaps face um now the next one is a for me is really important because i
09:17want
09:17i always want to play a golf course that is fun and has an element of excitement about it and
09:23i
09:23think that probably manifests itself in the visual appeal which we give 15 of the waiting to um rob
09:31tell us a bit about the that side of things well it covers two aspects really um one is as
09:36you're
09:36standing on the tee or on the fairway what do you see in front of you what's the test in
09:39front of you
09:40how good does that look how how much does it get your juices going how much does it excite you
09:44but also
09:45you're really talking about the backdrop so behind the hole what's going on over there and outside
09:49the course and then obviously you've got so many links courses there's views over the sea if you're
09:53lucky to have those really count for a fair bit too so we've got 15 for visual appeal uh and
09:58i think
09:58that's really important so it's what takes the original architect's design off the page and brings
10:03it into life the visual appeal is really important yeah yeah it's interesting i see rob's got three
10:08courses down there that he sort of picked out because i'm going to sort of steal rob's homework there
10:13i talked about old head over in ireland you'll see many many many famous photographs of old head
10:19it is a spectacular it's it's incredible um you know it's almost you know these high clips so you've
10:26got you know dramatic drops you've got amazing the you know the lighthouse it's almost like one of those
10:30fantasy girls yeah absolutely but in real yeah and then you've got hollandwell um not which
10:37interesting because it's so different to old head it's like a totally different thing isn't it but
10:41and i think that sort of you know that's about inner beauty that each of the holes look lovely
10:46um really really fantastic peaceful place to play golf and then the other one you put there is glen
10:51eagle naturally interestingly for this ranking we have brought in the centenary it's been sat outside
10:58of the top 100 i think we just feel like the presentation of the golf courses all three of the
11:03glen eagles have been moved to another level and then of course you've got the beauty of the you know
11:08persia hills um you know sort of the backdrop for all three of the courses so we've moved
11:14um the um the centenary course in alongside the kings and the queens i think there's a three i think
11:20to to carry the glen eagles on thing i'm a bit further the first time i played there uh it
11:25didn't
11:26stop raining the whole day i played 36 holes and i loved every minute of it because the setting just
11:30blew me away so you know i couldn't hold the club by the end but it was such a beautiful
11:35place to play it
11:35it's it's spectacular now so you go from uh 15 for visual appeal to 10 for the facilities which is
11:43again a really important part of the mix because you you want to play a golf course great golf course
11:49but you also there's other stuff that goes on around that that elevates the experience even further
11:53well it's a big day out for all of us to play a top 100 course is a real treat
11:57uh for many people
11:58it's a treat they can't do that often so it's absolutely the whole day out that we're looking at
12:03here so you want to be in a clubhouse that's comfortable is welcoming is friendly um you want
12:09if you're kind of person who warms up beforehand you want a practice ground where you get your
12:15swing going a halfway hut that's nice is good and sometimes it's at the clubhouse sometimes and we've
12:21got some real crackers we mentioned something out on the course as well um you want the whole thing
12:27you want the whole package for your for your day out i think i without a doubt so give us
12:31just
12:31something that you think well let me let me say dundonald is another course that's come in this
12:36time and it's always been a strong golf course it's hosted the scottish open and it's on that glorious
12:41stretch of coast in ayrshire but it never had a clubhouse um now now it's got a fantastic clubhouse
12:48as well as the accommodation which is a separate thing but but just getting that proper clubhouse rather
12:53than all right it's a nice nice cabin nice temporary clubhouse yeah but now it's got the proper facility to
13:00match the experience you're getting out on the golf course and when you're right on the cusp again
13:04it's just enough to take you from outside to inside yeah and i think it's really important i mean as
13:10rob
13:10said to play a top 100 golf course is a significant investment on the green fees because the green fees
13:16are really high so we are ordinary golfers we're not professionals you know that's the whole thing about
13:22the golf company if it's sort of for golfers by golfers and that if you don't play brilliantly
13:28and if that perhaps the quality of testing design is you know sort of beats you up yeah yeah you
13:33still
13:33want to see a beautiful golf course it's well presented and from when you arrive when you leave
13:38the facility that is for us part of our rankings i know for some uh other rankings they're literally um
13:46first tee to 18 green and that was just really looked at the golf course we don't take into account
13:52accommodation but it's pretty much everything else that as a regular vision golfer you will experience
13:58so the locker room so the shower's good um you know it's a quality of food really good as well
14:03yeah you know and again appropriately priced um we've got a good selection of beer behind
14:08very well for us three uh you know all four of us you know a really nice pint of beer
14:13at the end of
14:14the round or good you know a good glass of wine is you know that's that's what it you know
14:18is encapsulated
14:19in that facilities you know 10 percent of them all i think i just mentioned you know the facilities
14:23don't have to be grand you have to match the you know i've just been to porth cool and the
14:28clubhouse
14:28there is not grand in any way but if you sit in that wood paneled room looking out to see
14:33with a
14:33with a little tipple of something after around however badly or well you've played all is kind
14:39of well with the world absolutely that's a place i love going to yeah okay so 10 of the waiting
14:45goes
14:46to the facilities but 10 also goes to something that we're calling experience which is a bit more
14:52subjective isn't it it's hard to kind of put an exact mark against it but it's a really important
14:56part of the mix when it comes to judging these golf courses it's very important but it recognizes the
15:01fact that we're all different and we all like different things and get pleased by different
15:05things but ultimately we kind of end up marking these in the same way it's it's the most subjective
15:10of the five criteria because it's about how did you feel how great was the occasion how warm was the
15:17welcome so it's about the touchy-feely stuff that you really can't write down and define very clearly
15:23but it's still important to the overall experience of your day out at a lovely top 100 course yeah because
15:27i guess a lot of people watching this may have been to a fantastic golf course where perhaps the
15:32the welcome hasn't been perhaps as good as they were were looking for because you really want to
15:36be treated like and feel like you're a member for the day when you go to these golf courses don't
15:40you
15:40yeah i think it's interesting north berwick actually have it as a there is a sign just you coming in
15:45pay a visit briefly you are a member for the day and again i'm cribbing off rob's notes again here
15:53it's the welcome from both staff and from members as well i think that can be you guys will uh
16:00neil and
16:00jez you'll remember the time that we went and played at a course that shall remain nameless where
16:05we were running late we were on the way back from the turnbury open and we stopped in uh we've
16:10been
16:10held up by traffic we had to get out the car onto the tee to make our tea time and
16:15changed quickly
16:16change shoes in the car park so we could get out quickly and a member came over so you can't
16:21change
16:21shoes in the car park and it's sort of you know you could have said do you need to know
16:25you know
16:25do you need to know where the locker room is yeah it'll it makes a difference if you know you
16:30really
16:31you know people are investing their hard-earned money and going to the top 100 golf course really
16:36want to make it feel like it's a special day and so jez tell us something somewhere that you feel
16:41as if comes out really well when it comes to the experience well i think a lot of them do
16:46because they
16:46as mike says they're charging it they're charging a lot of money and it is the ones that maybe in
16:53the last 10 to 15 years a lot of them have really come on in that regard and a lot
16:58of you know the
16:59top clubs that are traditional members because maybe 15 years ago did think you know it's a privilege
17:04for you to come here so you'll do it how we want to do it and there's definitely been a
17:08real change in
17:09focus that these people are paying two three hundred pounds yeah kids they need to be treated like
17:14customers like like yeah and i think interesting because i think it's the the number of club managers
17:21secretaries is probably you would have called them uh have experience in hospitality sector they go and
17:27do a lot of research in hospitality sector to see how great hotels great restaurants what do they do
17:34to again make their um customers feel really welcome like a really special experience so again
17:41you want to come back regardless of how well you play you go do you know i had such a
17:45great day
17:45there what did you show i don't know probably millions but i want to go back yes and i think
17:49that's something for me is always the mark of really great experience doesn't matter how you play
17:53i want to go back such a great day yeah and if you can add that to that sense of
17:57occasion that
17:58you get from turning up to play somewhere that has that sort of spectacular look and feel to it
18:02and you're onto a real winner so there you have it that's our look at how we rank golf courses
18:07at golf
18:08monthly now it's important to say here that we haven't actually changed the criteria for jez like
18:14i think we had a minor recalibration maybe 10 years ago where we waited something slightly
18:19differently in essence yeah very little has changed since day one yeah so it shows you that that
18:24hopefully the consistency that we brought to the rankings provides a bit of confidence that hopefully
18:28what you're getting with our top 100 are just fantastic golf courses that are going to
18:33in different ways tick every single box that you've got but that's it for now from warpleston
18:38thanks very much for watching we'll see you next time
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