What are the best holes you’ve ever played?
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.
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…
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
