Meet the panel – NCG Top 100s: Wales
By Matt Coles
Get to know the people behind the NCG Top 100s: Wales list here…
For a job as big as compiling the NCG Top 100s lists, there has to be a large panel of experts in place, and these are the people behind our updated Wales list.
Over the course of a year, 16 panellists spent time playing a wide range of courses around Wales.
Some of those you will see on the NCG Top 100s: Wales list, other you won’t.
Each of these panellists took time out of their own schedules to do just that, and we thank them for their hard work in helping NCG to collate and compile this list.
You can learn more about the panellists here…
The NCG Top 100s: Wales Panel
Name: Dan Murphy
Chairman
Occupation: Editor of NCG Top 100s
Handicap: 4 Home Club: Alwoodley
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Royal County Down – it’s in a class of its own!
A great course in four words? Design, turf, consistency, options
Name: Sean Arble
Handicap: 14 Home Clubs: Burnham & Berrow, Tantallon
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
A certain admiration will emerge for those who give Kington due attention
A great course in four words? Routing, soil, turf, greens
Name: Mike Atkinson
Occupation: Consumer brand investor, writer, speaker
Co-founder of Oltomo, publisher of Golfland Scotland
Handicap: 15 Home Club: Gullane
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Boat of Garten. James Braid at his finest. Scottish Highlands. Cairngorms. Beautiful.
A great course in four words? Setting, variety, fairness, condition
Name: Jim Banting
Occupation: Golf journalist and author
Handicap: 0 Home Club: West Sussex
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Saunton East – tough but fair
A great course in four words? Elegant, sophisticated, utterly unforgettable
Name: Ed Battye
Occupation: Runs golfempire.co.uk
Handicap: 3 Home Club: Woodsome Hall
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Royal North Devon
A great course in four words? Options, firm turf, cadence
Name: Steve Carroll
Occupation: NCG’s Club Golf Editor
Handicap: 11 Home Club: York
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Swinley Forest. The combination of pine and heathland is just gorgeous
A great course in four words? Fun, firm, variety, challenge
Name: Alex Frolish
Occupation: Commercial pilot and business owner
Handicap: 2.9 Home Clubs: Cleeve Hill, Saunton
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Royal Dornoch for its natural beauty and its simple yet majestic routing
A great course in four words? Strategy, variety, natural contours
Name: Neil Gray
Occupation: Marketing cosultant
Handicap: 7 Home Club: Centurion Club
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Burnham & Berrow – a challenging links with some great holes in top condition
A great course in four words? Setting, turf, design, greens
Name: Lewis Marr
Occupation: Managing Director, Education Enterprise
Handicap: 0.0 Home Club: Seaton Carew
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Cruden Bay: A unique magical setting
A great course in four words? Challenge, variety, aesthetics, agronomy
Name: Craig Morrison
Occupation: Author
Handicap: 8 Home Club: Mendip
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
County Sligo. Yeats. Colt. Ruddy: that’s great company
A great course in four words? Meaning, unity, rhythm, balance
Name: Chris Myatt
Occupation: Tournament Controller, The PGA
Handicap: 9.8 Home Club: Knole Park
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Rye – perfect design across perfect land
A great course in four words? Strategy, routing, personality, condition
Name: Tom Price
Occupation: Lawn care industry (ex greenkeeper)
Handicap: 3.5 Home Clubs: Druids Heath, Beau Desert
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Seaton Carew was my highlight of the year
A great course in four words? Space, diversity, strategy, quirk
Name: Mike Robertson
Occupation: Account Manager, 18Players
Handicap: 3 Home Club: Crosland Heath
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Royal Cinque Ports – firm, fast and fun to play
Name: Peter Rudd
Occupation: Telecom company owner
Handicap: 6 Home Club: Woodbridge
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Kingsbarns. Some truly amazing holes
A great course in four words? Setting, design, fairness, turf
Name: David Walker
Occupation: Business Operations Manager
Handicap: 1 Home Clubs: Paisley, Royal St David’s
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Muirfield – a perfect design
A great course in four words? Design, setting, challenge, fun
Name: Greg Webber
Occupation: Pharmacist
Handicap: 6 Home Club: Muswell Hill
A GB&I course outside Wales I love:
Royal Birkdale – a beautifully defined course
A great course in four words? Interesting, fair, memorable, accessible
Have you checked out the NCG Top 100s: Wales list yet and do you agree with our panel? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
