Y late father would have been the first person to tell you that I have always been obsessed by lists.

He used to moan like mad about the amount of time I spent poring over league tables and batting averages but that criticism would seem to have fallen on deaf ears because in the last few days I have trawled the Race to Dubai Ranking (European Tour Order of Merit) in sufficient depth to know that the unfortunate Andrew Butterfield made just one cut and a mere €4,950 in 27 starts last year.

However, there is one type of list that leaves me a bit cold and that’s course rankings.

My main problem with lists of this kind is that I can never work out how anyone can even start to compare traditional links like the Old Course, Carnoustie or Prestwick with modern inland courses like Loch Lomond or the Marquess course at Woburn. I love them all in different ways but rating them against each other seems utterly nonsensical to me.

NCG have produced their own list of the top courses in Great Britain and it’s better than most in that it starts from a level playing field – only courses with a green fee of under £80 are included – but that still does not get round the fact that in many cases it’s comparing chalk with cheese. So in the interest of redressing the balance – albeit also at the risk of upsetting the editor – I have decided to come up with my own individual lists.

The talented US course architect Tom Doak produced an excellent book entitled The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses in the mid-1990s in which he gave his own assessment of a variety of courses all over the world. 

At the back, he made a series of specific lists that were both entertaining and informative and it’s Doak’s model I intend to follow here. 

Best Links Courses (in order)

St Andrews (Old); Carnoustie; Royal Birkdale; Waterville; Muirfield

Best Inland Courses

Sunningdale (Old); Loch Lomond; Ganton; 

St George’s Hill; Blairgowrie (Rosemount)

Courses which Seldom Feature High Enough on usual Ratings

Carnegie Club (Skibo Castle); St Andrews (New); Wentworth (East); Lundin; Belfry (Brabazon)

Five More Under-rated Courses

Downfield; Panmure; Dooks; Brora; La Moye

Best Resort Courses

Turnberry (Ailsa); Gleneagles (King’s); Lough Erne; Druid’s Glen; St Andrews (Duke’s) 

Best New Courses (last 25 years)

Castle Stuart; The European Club; Kingsbarns; Lough Erne; Woburn (Marquess)

Best Revamped Courses

Waterville; Ballyliffin (Old); Skibo Castle; Turnberry (Kintyre); Wentworth (West)

Best Blasts from the Past

Prestwick; Brancaster; Rye; Swinley Forest; Royal North Devon

 

Best Front Nines

Royal Dornoch; Royal County Down; Royal Aberdeen; Turnberry (Ailsa); Royal St George’s

Best Back Nines

Carnoustie; Old Course; Ballybunion; Hillside; Royal Troon

Best Par 3s 

11th Old Course; 8th Royal Troon; 2nd Dornoch; 18th Lough Erne; 4th Cruden Bay

Best Par 4s

17th Old Course; 11th Ballybunion (Old); 11th Wentworth (East); 9th Turnberry; 1st Prestwick

Best Par 5s

6th Carnoustie; 14th Old Course; 9th Royal North Devon; 17th Muirfield; 6th Loch Lomond

Best Bunkered Holes

11th Old Course; 2nd Carnoustie; 5th Woodha -ll Spa; 13th Muirfield; 16th Wentworth (West)

Best Views

Turnberry; Castle Stuart; Royal County Down; Kingsbarns; Boat of Garten