What are the best 18 holes you’ve ever played? If you could put together a composite round, of your most memorable moments, how would it look and which of your favourite courses would feature?
Serious questions and I jogged back through drawers full of scorecards and yardage books to find the holes that have resonated most from the rounds I’ve played and the places I’ve visited.
You’re going to notice some omissions – I’ve unbelievably yet to tee it up on any of the St Andrews courses – but perhaps you’ll find some inspiration in here that could send you on your way to a distant corner of the UK when lockdown is finally eased.
If you want to play along with your own 18, here are the rules:
- You must have played the hole
- It has to correspond with the number on your virtual card – so your 1st has to be an opening hole and so on
- You can only use a course once
- I took the white tees but play off whatever yardage suits best – just keep it uniform throughout
All clear? Right, this is my list…
1st: Prestwick, Par 4, 345 yards
Somehow we’d managed to get a dawn start on a Saturday at the birthplace of the Open – our incredulity at that met only by the disbelief of an employee who, when asked what we tees we should play off, barked ‘the members’.
He was even more dumbstruck when I pulled the driver out of the bag and, if I ever return, I will play this fabulous opener completely differently.
The railway line that hugs tight to the right all the way down makes even the steadiest of hands shake and it is an eclectic, and brilliant, start to what’s going to be an unconventional list.
- Related: My favourite Open venues
2nd: Montrose, Par 4, 391 yards
Play this while you can because climate change is driving a dagger right through the heart of the hole. The slightly raised tee, looking out across the sea and out of bounds, provides a memorable view and the drive is tighter than you think.
Overcook it, which I’ve done more than once, and some heavy gorse, or a couple of nasty bunkers in the firing line, will make par very difficult.
Advertisement
3rd: Royal Porthcawl, Par 4, 388 yards
You’ve got a view of the sea from every hole at Royal Porthcawl and it’s particularly close here. You might start to notice a theme as, again, we’ve got the beach running alongside the hole and out of bounds all the way along.
What I really like about this is the green, which is set so close to the fence that any misjudgement means disaster. That and the fact I hit a tricky chip over a bunker and pinged the flag for a par…
Has that whetted the appetite? Find out which holes follow on Steve’s list on the next page…
4th: Swinley Forest, Par 3, 171 yards
[object Object][object Object][object Object][object Object]
This 171 yards of wonder at Swinley Forest is the hole I hope I can play every day in the next world.
I just don’t know how you better it. The Redan green, the steep drop off the front, the cavernous bunkers waiting for your misstep – it’s my idea of the perfect par 3.
5th: Castletown, Par 4, 423 yards
It’s one thing finding the fairway, with all that danger running down the right hand side, but the second shot is even harder.
Out of bounds is a constant threat but the foliage hugging the left means you’ve really got to commit even if you do find the short stuff. I did not, and pulled it way into the gorse.
On a course that is full of rugged outcrops and cliff edges, Road – as it is known – deserves to stand with all of them.
6th: Panmure, Par 4, 390 yards
Panmure was the first links course I ever played. I have to confess about wondering what the fuss was about – with about three lost balls already behind me – until I reached the tee at the 6th and suddenly everything made sense.
No wonder Ben Hogan, after whom it is now named, liked it so much. If only he’d been less keen to put that bunker just off the right of the green I’d probably like it even more.
But all you see from the tee is dunes grasses and the briefest outline of fairways, before the hole winds its way up towards the putting surface. Fabulous.
- Related: NCG’s golf guide to Scotland
Ready to complete the front nine? Turn the page…
7th: Formby, Par 4, 377 yards
One of the best par 4s I’ve had the pleasure to tackle. The tee shot looks unbelievably tight but it’s mostly an illusion – there’s more room out there than you think and even if you run up the bank on either side, the ball more often than not finds its way back towards the fairway.
The approach is probably harder than the drive. It’s a hike from the bottom of the fairway to the green and the putting surface slopes severely from back to front.
If you find yourself on the wrong level then nothing you can produce with the flat-stick is going to help you.
8th: Royal Troon, Par 3, 123 yards
The Postage Stamp utterly befuddled me. How can something so short cause that much trouble? Well, if you thin one off the back and then plant it into the Coffin bunker from the thick cabbage, you’re not going to be putting a low number on your scorecard.
A few weeks later I watched Bubba Watson take double with a familiar route of calamity at the Open and felt better about my struggles. It’s just such a heroic shot. Find the green or find disaster. Isn’t that why we play the game?
9th: Royal Birkdale, Par 4, 410 yards
A blind tee shot, a slightly elevated putting surface, and two evil bunkers lurking to gather up anything that’s short or misplaced. Add in the image of the image art deco clubhouse and it’s an impressive way to finish our front 9.
Advertisement
- Related: What’s your favourite Open venue?
Out: Par 34, 3,010 yards
That’s the front 9 complete. How will our club golfer kick off the turn? Turn the page…
10th: Moortown, Par 3, 172 yards
Dr Alister MacKenzie was so confident about the merits of Gibraltar, as it became known, he constructed it as a test hole to sing the praises of his upcoming course.
The ‘build it and they will come’ approach certainly worked as no one who saw this short hole, moulded out of a rocky slope, wasn’t amazed.
More than a century on, it still thrills. Whether that’s the quartet of bunkers ready to take the poorly struck shot or the feel you get when you hit the right part of the green and watch it slide, slowly and deliciously, across the contours to the hole, it’s just epic.
11th: Hillside, Par 5, 509 yards
Many get distracted by the 10th, which is a wonderful short hole, but it’s here where things start to get really interesting.
Firstly, there’s the view: You’re on high, Royal Birkdale and Hillside’s impressive clubhouse is to your right, and you feel like you can see the whole of the countryside around you – not just an impressive par 5.
It always seems to play into the wind, which makes the tee shot a brute. If you aren’t in the fairway, you’ll be struggling to get to the green in three.
Related: The top 10 courses in Liverpool
12th: Kingsbarns, Par 5, 566 yards
The longest hole on our course and it plays every bit of it into the wind. There’s a reason why it’s called ‘Orrdeal’.
I’m clearly a sucker for an elevated tee, a sea view, and a green that’s carved into an outrcrop. This has all three and that’s why it edges the 15th and gets into my list.
Advertisement
The threat of a watery grave is the challenge and, for those who overcompensate, a couple of bunkers down the right provide a similar route to suffering. I could look at that green, perched right on the edge of the coast, all day.
Related: The top 100 courses in Scotland
One of the best holes on the card is coming up next. Find out where it is by turning the page…
13th: North Berwick, Par 4, 388 yards
North Berwick is the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course and, if I could, I’d pick a dozen holes to go in this list. But I can only have one and if I could sum up this playful links in 388 yards, Pit would be the one I’d choose.
The ancient stone wall isn’t just a barrier to the green, it plays with your vision off the tee as well. You really want to get as close to it as possible for an easier second shot but that’s too straightforward.
So what you really do is go as far right as you dare and then try and hop the two-foot barrier with your approach. Me? Somehow my wedge bounced just in front and over and a birdie putt only narrowly stayed out. I was laughing all the way to the clubhouse.
Related: The most fun you’ll ever have on a golf course
14th: Trump International, Par 4, 372 yards
That tee shot. It’s my screensaver. An amphitheatre of a hole, you feel utterly enclosed. The drive is a knee-knocker but get it into the fairway and, like you’ve found the key, it seems to open up in front of you. One of the better two-shot holes I’ve experienced.
Advertisement
15th: Bethpage Black, Par 4, 430 yards
I’d left my hire club wedge on the 14th and had to run back to collect it – I feared the caddiemaster would have actually shot me if I hadn’t returned a full set – so perhaps I played with the adrenalin pumping but this was a lot of fun.
The best part of 450 yards gradually uphill takes it out of the legs but I did like a green that was partially obscured by the elevation and a shot made trickier by the bunkers surrounding front and sides.
Related: Is Bethpage Black really as tough as they say?
How does this round finish? Check out the home holes by turning on to the final page…
16th: Ganton, Par 4, 446 yards
The tee shot is treacherous and the massive cross-bunker, which shouldn’t really come into play with any kind of solid contact, is plainly unsettling.
The pines and gorse on both sides frame the hole beautifully and the undulations on the fairway mean you can end up with just as tricky a second shot.
17th: TPC Sawgrass, Par 3, 137 yards
Marmite for some – it’s been described as a “caricature of golf” – but I absolutely loved it. You have to hit more club than you think here. The first time I took on the challenge I nutted a 7-iron in late evening only to see it hit the sleepers and cannon into the water.
How many of my balls have found the liquid? Too many but the par I got here, driven in from the fringe after I was way too aggressive with the first putt, ranks as one of the best of my life. If you can play it, do so – just to say you have.
Related: ‘We’ve fished out 65,000 balls at 17 in the past year’
18th: Carnoustie, Par 4, 444 yards
Quite simply the hardest hole I’ve ever seen. I was so worried about the burn I snap hooked my first effort straight out of bounds. No wonder it frightened the life out of Van de Velde and Padraig Harrington.
You almost have to measure progress here in stages. Get over the burn off the tee, but not right as anything over there is wet, and then take on the liquid in front of the green once more if you’ve got a decent lie.
Of course, you can take my approach which was: 1st OOB, 3rd just over, 4th lay up, 5th chip on, 6th 2 feet short, 7th hole out.
Score is irrelevant, though. I felt the weight of history walking down towards the clubhouse. A quite fabulous experience.
In: Par 36, 3,464 yards; Out: Par 34, 3,010 yards; Total: Par 70, 6,474 yards
There you have it. So what are the best 18 holes you have ever played? Leave your list, and pictures, in the comments or tweet me.
- Related: Check out our list of Great Britain & Ireland’s top 100 courses
- Related: Where does your favourite course rank in England’s top 100?
- Related: Read our definitive list of Scotland’s top 100 courses
- Related: Do you like fun? Here’s our list of GB&I’s most enjoyable course to play
Thanks for stopping by.
We wondered if you might like to contribute to supporting our journalism?
As the world enters uncharted waters, we’d like to be able to keep our content open for all to entertain and inform in the months ahead.
We’d like to think we are the voice of the ordinary golfer the world over. Whether your interest is in the game from tour level to grassroots, the latest equipment, or independent course rankings, we’ve got you covered.
If you want to read more about how you can help us and to donate, please CLICK HERE.
