In this video, Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland senior panellists Rob Smith and Jezz Ellwood discuss the best holes in the UK and Ireland. They are joined by Golf Monthly editor Michael Harris and the three of them each pick their favour par 3s, 4s and 5s from the Top 100 list. These are some of the most beautifully challenging holes in the world and the team discuss what makes them so special.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to this video in which we're going to
00:03take a look at some of the best golf holes in the UK and Ireland in association with Peter Miller.
00:09Now the way in which we've worked this video is that I've recruited the help of Rob Smith and
00:13Jez Elwood who run our Top 100 Courses panel and Golf Monthly editor Mike Harris and I've asked
00:19them all for a nomination for their favourite Par 3, Par 4 and Par 5. We're going to discuss
00:25exactly what makes these golf holes so special both in terms of the quality of the test and the
00:30design and also what makes them really exciting to play once you get there. Right we're here at
00:36Warpleston Golf Club, let's get started. Right so we are going to start with Par 3s and Rob you're up
00:48first. What are you nominating as your best or one of your best Par 3s? Well it's tricky to pick one
00:54out of so many obviously but the one that's always been in my mind. Very often people say what's your
01:00favourite golfing day out? I say Sunningdale because of the two courses. It's the fifth on the new course
01:05at Sunningdale. It is just sublimely beautiful. It's about 180 off the very back tees, 160-ish off
01:12the regular tees, big cross bunkers hidden down below in front of the green. Then there's two more that you
01:19really can't see that much on the right of the green and behind it you see that sixth Par 5 heading
01:24up into the distance as well. It's just you could be standing there and be back a hundred years it
01:29would just have looked exactly the same. It's just beautiful and mentioning a hundred years it is
01:33centenary this year for the new course so it seems an appropriate one to put in. Yeah and I think with
01:38all of the Par 3s in particular they should all be great photo opportunities really shouldn't they?
01:43So Mike what would you put up as a great Par 3? Well see that's really interesting when you say
01:48a great photo opportunity because it's a hole that whenever I go and play sometimes it's not
01:54raining I'll take a photograph of it and it's the 11th at Royal Liverpool. I'm very lucky to be a member
01:58there. I started playing golf there in my 20s when I was at university and very lucky to be a member
02:05there and it's called Alps. All the holes at Hoylake have have names and it's just beautiful. You've got
02:12the de-estuary out to your out to your left and it's a beautiful hole it's got a big dune behind it
02:19about 180 yards I think something like that from the you know from the sort of green tees which are
02:26our medal tees at Hoylake and it's a really good test. There's normally always a crosswind
02:31very rarely when you've been playing it down or into it's normally off the left so to control the ball
02:37with that length of shot it's always a good normally for me like a hybrid or you know a sort
02:43of five wood. It's a great hole they've done some more contouring work behind the green it's great
02:51runoff there's a big bunker which you think shouldn't be in play at all it's sort of short
02:54and right but it a lot of balls yeah go in there and then it's a really difficult shot to get out of
03:00there but you've got this amazing view I love to you know sort of stand take a picture just sort of
03:05you know look up you know look at the beauty of the hole but it's a really really great hole
03:09but I always think a good test of any hole when you look back is a good view as well and yeah
03:1511th at Hoylake. Interesting thought and actually any par 3 with a crosswind is is tricky getting the
03:20clubbing right is very difficult. Jess what have you got for? Well yeah as Rob says as a cast of
03:26thousands I actually went for the 15th at St Ennardock which is a downhill par 3 mid-length
03:32and why I've particularly picked that out is because at that point in the round without being
03:37too unkind I think you've just played some of the less exciting holes at St Ennardock. Yeah because
03:43there are some it's important to say there are some unbelievably exciting holes. There are some
03:47fantastic holes and then it just goes into this little section which is a bit quieter shall we say
03:51and then you reach this tee and it's downhill and you see the estuary beyond you and it just
03:58reinvigorates the round for the final push for home and 16 is a fantastic par 5 along the
04:03the camel estuary and then the last two holes are pretty strong as well but it just
04:07comes at the right time to give you that final push for home. There's something quite appealing about
04:11downhill. Yeah I think what is it you feel that you see the ball in flight but the whole way I don't
04:16know what it is. You see everything don't you which you know on an uphill pass 3 you can't always see
04:22that much of the green. The element of elevation brings you great visuals doesn't it? Yeah. Okay
04:26Jez well fantastic par 3 on a brilliant golf course. Rob your par 4 that you've gone for is the opening hole.
04:33It is. And I think that actually opening holes is another good discussion point of the top 100 but
04:38let's talk specifically about the first hole of the course that you've chosen here. Well I've chosen
04:44the opening hole at Royal Porth Call which is one of my favourite courses. We have it as the
04:48and most people do. The best course in Wales. It's on a brilliant piece of Lynxland that rises up from
04:54the coast and so as you come out into the first you see those holes stretching up into the hills
04:58beyond you and it really whets the appetite. The first is not particularly demanding unless the wind
05:04is blowing in or out and it very often is. So it is quite demanding. I remember playing there
05:09with a group of a dozen or so of us and it was absolutely howling in off the beach. All of us of
05:15course tend to hit with a bit of a cut. Well the one guy with us was delighted because he was a left-hander so it meant
05:21he could hit his first straight shot of the tour. We all had to aim out over the beach to keep it back
05:26on the hole but it's a great hole so two or three bunkers down the left one on the right and then
05:30you've got a deep bunker short of the green but it eases you and it's not too difficult but it's really
05:34appealing really attractive and a great start to an absolutely great round. What makes a great opening?
05:39I mean Rob you've just described it very well there but what do you think makes a good opening?
05:43Something that's not too hard. Yeah definitely. You've got to get people away haven't you I think.
05:47Yeah from a from a golfer's perspective certainly from a design perspective you know it could be
05:52very different but a brutally difficult first hole and I can think of a couple in our top 100
05:57where you're almost guaranteed to make bogey at best is probably not ideal. I think it's something
06:02again it's that pace of play it's like you do not want people spending 15-20 minutes playing the first
06:07hole because it's so hard. Yeah and also when you're playing a medal and you're watching the group in front of
06:11having an absolute nightmare in the hole that you're about to play it could get you off to a
06:14slightly iffy start. I think we're talking about par threes you know an opening par three is not
06:19always great because it's usually a fairly lengthy one yeah and you're hitting quite a small headed
06:23club for your first swing of the day and I'd rather be hitting a big headed drive to be honest.
06:29Absolutely yes. Right so Jess I'm going to go back to you again for this one what's your
06:33give us a nomination for one of you one of your best holes as a par four.
06:38I've picked a long par four the ninth Formby on the northwest coast there and it's 450-460 yards
06:45so it's no pushover you do have an elevated tee to give you a bit of a potential advantage in terms
06:50of distance so you're playing straight towards the sea although you don't really realize it because
06:54there's a big stand of pines behind the green and it's just it's a test because you know you've got
07:00to get a good drive away for average golfers to get home in two but then when you get there the green
07:06is quite big not ridiculously sloping so if you do do the hard part and get there in two you have got
07:12half a chance of walking off with a par and feeling very pleased with yourself as you head to the 10th tee.
07:17Is the ninth at Fulbury a hole that they've made some changes to over the years?
07:20Well I think the ninth has changed recently they've moved the fairway a little bit further left
07:25I think to allow longer hitters to attack the hole if they want to I think there was some cross rough
07:30before which meant longer hitters were perhaps having to lay up even on a long hole like that
07:36but around that part of the course at Formby there have been a lot of changes over the years
07:40because of coastal erosion so I think the holes before the ninth were new holes some years ago to
07:46replace holes that did actually get much closer to the sea.
07:49Yeah and of course Formby I mean just brilliant golf course that proper mix of two different styles
07:55you've got to play it to experience it for yourself it's good it's quite hard to describe
07:59but well worth going to if you can. Mike give us another par four.
08:03Yeah I'm afraid I'm gonna talk about another club I'm very lucky to be a member of Royal North Devon
08:08Westwood Ho as it's also known and I'm going to go for the par four sixth hole so you've just played this
08:20brilliant uphill par three fiendishly difficult surrounded by bunkers and you walk up and you are
08:27confronted with really inspirational 360 degree view you've got the wild Atlantic out to your left
08:34to go and look across over to Saunton to the golf courses over there in the hotel and then you've
08:39got Westwood Ho and Northam behind you and it's just a really really incredible hole in terms of the
08:48visuals stand on this tee you've often got a little there's a bench behind the par three and you have
08:55walkers just sort of be sat there and watch you sort of play into the par three and then tee off at the
09:01par four so you've got a little sort of mini audience and quite often they'll be chatting
09:06away it's like golf's just incidental to them and that's sort of a bit the whole Royal North
09:11Devon experience is you know whether it's sort of cows and sheep and horses yeah and there's walkers
09:17but it's a really great par four it's sort of 400 odd yards big drive down you've got out of bounds up
09:23the left hand side and then you play to sort of quite a narrow green some little hidden bunkers in the
09:30fairway because it's just such a natural golf course they're sort of marked out with little gray
09:35stones uh white stones um but yeah really brilliant powerful yeah no wonderful and actually it's that
09:42the knowledge that you're going to play this hole without balance just runs down the left hand side
09:45of the hole plays into your mind a bit as you're playing the holes before it as well so um well worth
09:50again well worth the trip if you get the chance to play Royal North Devon um Rob give us a par five
09:55talk about okay uh i'm going to stay down then in the southwest actually and i'm going to go into
09:59into Cornwall and go to Travose um where Mackenzie and Ebert have made some changes Tom Mackenzie i think
10:05in about 10 years ago maybe a bit less than that um the bunkering has been revamped everywhere and looks
10:12beautiful now and the hole where it stands out the most was to me the my favorite hole anyway
10:17it's the a par five which runs parallel to the beach then turns left towards the beach and as you
10:23get to the corner of the dog leg and go around you get ever closer the the right the rugged bank
10:28bunkering is is is fabulous you then have the the Atlantic and you actually see the white horses
10:34behind there too you have to be careful which flag you're going for too because if the uh the uh
10:39lifeguards are out then there's a big big flag on the left and then the green is just below that it's
10:45now a huge uh undulating green completely different to the way it was before and it's just a glorious par
10:51five because you've got options it's risk reward you can how much of the corny do you take on and
10:55but then the reward regarding regardless of the score is when you get to the green what a brilliant
11:00sight right down by the beach absolutely lovely it's one of the most beautiful holes for sure within
11:05our top 100 courses i would say uh jez give us another par five oh well i've gone for lip hook and
11:10the par five which is now the seventh i think used to be the 13th they've done a lot of work at
11:15lippock recently and rerouted it to make a road crossing point safer and this hole now comes
11:21much earlier in the round it plays down and then up to a green that's just got the most fantastic
11:26visuals as you play up to it heather right and left a couple of big bunkers pine trees right and left
11:32and the drive is fairly generous but if you don't quite get it there's a penalty area across the bottom
11:37of the valley which i'm told actually marks the hampshire west sussex border yeah and if you're in the
11:43heather or you haven't quite got your drive you're gonna have to decide whether or not to try and
11:47take this penalty area on before the final climb up to the green i've played lip hook a number of
11:51times and that's always the hole that sticks in my mind which is such a good hole it's sort of
11:56quintessentially sort of that it's in inland golf in england uk and ireland at its best i think heather
12:05and pines and a little bit of change of elevation as you go down and up is enough to paint a very pretty
12:10picture yeah yes um and also i quite like the fact that it's it is as you say slightly fairly
12:16generous tee shot so it feels like you can have a go at it but you you would have no trouble getting
12:20home in two tappers wouldn't it wouldn't even have to go after it yeah and mike give us another uh our
12:26last par five i'm i'm gonna cheat a bit and i'm gonna say the red course uh at the barks which has
12:33six par three six par fours and six par five so it's great it's a really fun golf course i would find
12:39it hard to pick any one of those par fives because they're all great um first is a really good hole
12:46really inviting drive uh probably the third would be my favorite of the par fives and it just plays
12:53up to a really great green um but say they're all good and i just you know none of the par fives feel
13:01overly long you feel like you've got a chart you know get a decent drive where you feel like okay i've
13:06got a you know decent birdie chance you should be coming in if you're a big hitter like you maybe
13:10knock it on and two but for the rest of us you're probably coming in with a shortish iron for your
13:14third shot um but i just love that as a make i think it's so fun having those you know those par
13:20fives you know six par fives um there so yeah a bit of a fudge there that i couldn't you know couldn't
13:26hold in one but yeah i particularly like the one just before the big the par three across the big dip
13:31i can't remember what number that is and i like it because i've very nearly made an albatross there
13:35last time i played with rob yeah but i don't like to talk about it that much so just leave it there
13:42so there you have it that's our look at some of the best holes in the uk and ireland we took them
13:48from our list of top 100 courses because you know a great one great hole doesn't make a great golf course
13:53but having these top 100 courses and then picking out some of our absolute favorites is probably worth doing
13:59what do you have to say have you played any absolutely wonderful holes that you want to
14:03talk about please do leave some comments below we'd love to hear what you have to say but that's it for
14:07now from warpleston thanks for watching we'll see you next time