THE concept of our Classic Course feature was born in 2002 when I nervously contacted Ganton to ask if we could do an extended feature ahead of the following year’s Walker Cup. 

The visit and the article went so well it became a monthly feature. That was 99 months ago, because Muirfield has just become our 100th Classic Course.

To celebrate reaching this milestone, we thought it would be a poignant moment to reflect on the good, the very good and the truly great (in this feature, there is no bad or ugly).

These courses have even been left out of Top 100 features on occasion – I've no idea why. Perhaps West Lancs suffered with its ugly, old and unmissed clubhouse, or being overshadowed by neighbours Formby, Hillside and Birkdale. But this is a fine links in its own right.

Sherwood is such a classy course – heathland, secluded, lined by pine trees – that I find it hard to imagine anyone not enjoying it. Hankley is a class above most of the Surrey heathlands, and that is saying something. 

At the far end, you feel like you are miles away from civilisation. And at over 6,700 yards, it is very much capable of hosting top-class amateur events.

Norfolk somehow doesn’t seem to be any less pretty in December than it is in June and Hunstanton is a links that copes with winter particularly well. 

Even when courses around the country are closed, the fairways are still firm and the greens remain true, so at such times head for East Anglia.

Don your bobble hat and jacket and make your score on the way out to the turn at the far end. More often than not the closing stretch is into the wind so turn for home on the 11th tee, enjoy the view of the beach and the town perched on the distant cliffs, and think of the warmth and welcome awaiting you back in the charming clubhouse.

Maybe I’d change my mind if I was there in a bleak period of winter, but every time I make it to Dornoch, in the Highlands, I find it an uplifting experience. 

It is the purest form of the purest form of the game – quintessential links. The sea is visible from practically every hole, the fairways are fast, the greens often raised and the town lives, breathes and sleeps golf.

With every round, the course (above) reveals a few more secrets, and that makes you want to play again. Trust me – you’ll have to return and suddenly a place that was previously a speck on the map some 200 miles north of Edinburgh will look much more accessible.

I’ve been lucky enough to play here several times and it has never yet disappointed. I always worry in case it isn’t quite as good as I remembered but so far that has yet to happen. 

When you first play County Down, you can be overwhelmed by the intimidatingly blind tee shots – with just little white stones to guide you. But eventually you come to realise the fairways are generous and the challenge lies in trying to master the firm and faster-than-fast greens that are often upturned saucers. 

Spectacular, demanding, strategic and intoxicating – County Down has got the lot. Categorically the best course in the British Isles.

Nairn’s (below) were the purest surfaces I have ever putted on – even on a long putt you knew after a couple of feet where the ball would finish. 

Sherwood Forest’s were probably the quickest, though The Belfry’s are also slick, even in winter.

Difficult this, as there some pretty sensational spots on our list to date. But at Bamburgh you can see a castle (no surprises there), the sea is on three sides, there are miles and miles of beaches, with Holy Island beyond.

Just the smell of those old wooden lockers is enough to make me want to don my best FootJoys and head for the 1st tee. That and the fact Moortown is a fabulous course.

Notts really does take some real beating. The course is in a huge bowl, and the clubhouse in the middle of it. 

So one minute you are on the M1, a couple of minutes later on an unremarkable country road, then you turn off and, suddenly, a golfing paradise opens up before you – firm fairways, well-kept greens, proper bunkers and a handsome white clubhouse.

The Himalaya bunker that divides the fairway from the green on the 6th – terrifying to hit even a short iron over.

The halfway house here is legendary and the sausage sandwich didn’t disappoint. 

On the par-3 12th, find one of the bunkers and you can’t see the flag a couple of yards away. 

A great course, but four hours of sideways and vertical rain made a return trip essential. 

Boat has such a special location, high in the Cairngorms, picture-postcard-perfect. The silence is only broken by birdsong and steam engines chugging along the nearby railway.