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If you could play one course for the rest of your life, which would it be?

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One of golf’s simplest questions but most difficult to answer

Swinley Forest NCG Top 100s England highlights

Steve: Rolling heathland and pines stir my soul. Roll that up into a mix with Harry Colt and you’ve got something close to perfection. I get misty eyed talking about Swinley Forest. Whether it’s those sumptuous short holes, the quiet stillness that always seems to envelope the property like a mist, or the quaint piece of a bygone England that is the clubhouse, it just sings to me. Spread my ashes there, I’m begging you.

Dan: I’d want the course to be playable in the wildest weather so I could enjoy it all the year round. A great example is The Machrie. I played there in February in 50 mile-an-hour gusts and it wasn’t exactly warm. Yet the way the course is set up with generous fairways and greens that are protected by contours rather than excessive bunkering meant it was still playable and hugely enjoyable. Another major consideration is a course that you can get round in three hours. So somewhere that isn’t a huge walk and where pace of play is suitably brisk please.

Alex: I recently played the UK’s most southerly golf course, Mullion, for the first time after years of it being on my bucket list. The combination of it being completely bonkers, the perfect mix of fun and challenging, and littered with glorious views out across the Atlantic Ocean make it irresistable. (There is a hint of recency bias here and I could really be describing any one of Royal North Devon, Perranporth, St Enodoc, Bude, Saunton, or West Cornwall.)

Hannah: My home course, Huddersfield. I love the layout and think the overall design just suits my eye. The elevation changes and the frequent gusting wind make it a different challenge everyday.

So, you’ve got to choose just one golf course to play for the rest of your life. Which do you choose? Let us know in the comments below or you can tweet us.

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About the author

Steve Carroll
Steve Carroll

A journalist for more than 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’d like to tell you he floats around 10. The reality is more like 13.

Steve plays at Sandburn Hall, in York, and is a country member at Close House in Newcastle. He has served on various club committees during his time in the game, and is the current Rules Secretary at Sandburn.

Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NCTJ exams at Darlington College of Technology. He began his career working on weekly papers in Newcastle, before joining the York Press in 2001. After five years as a news reporter, he joined the sports desk – specialising in horse racing and snooker – and was Digital Sports Editor when he joined National Club Golfer in 2016.

What’s in Steve’s bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; Caley 01T irons 4-PW; TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedges, Odyssey 2Ball Microhinge putter.

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