A lot of work goes into compiling the NCG Top 100s lists, and below is the methodology of how our England list for 2025 came to be.
The 100 courses that have made the NCG Top 100s: England list encompass all that is great about English golf. From seaside links courses, to championship venues, and moorland delights, there is something for everyone on the list.
But how did we get to this stage? Plenty goes on behind the scenes, with course tours, hundreds of rounds played and plenty of written work as well.
Read on to find out our methodology for the NCG Top 100s: England list…
The Panel
Dan Murphy, the editor of NCG Top 100s, chaired the panel, which comprised several experienced, enthusiastic and knowledgeable golfers.
Panellist Visits
Our panel were out and about visiting the short-listed courses throughout the 2024 season – specifically from late March to the end of October. This has enabled us to produce an up-to-date list.
What do we base our rankings on?
We are only interested in golf courses – the round begins when we arrive on the 1st tee and ends when we walk off the 18th green. We do not take anything off course into account, whether that is the practice facilities, the clubhouse and service or the pro shop.
The following categories and weighting in brackets result in a final mark out of 100 for each course.
- Architecture and Design – How well designed are the individual holes, and the course as a whole? Do the holes offer the golfer choices? Is there a mix of penal, strategic and heroic holes? How does the course flow? Are tees generally close to the previous green? Does the course ‘fit’ into its surroundings? Are long and short holes interspersed evenly? How much better is the best hole than the least best hole? Do all the holes feel like they belong on the same course? Does the course test all facets of the game or is it asking the same questions repeatedly? Is the golfer’s ability to play a variety of shots with each club in the bag duly rewarded? (40 points)
- Conditioning/presentation/greens – How good is the turf to hit off? How good are the greens to putt on? Does each hole play in the same way as the others? (20 points)
- Surroundings – How attractive a place to play is this course? (10 points)
- Challenge & playability – When played off the correct set of tees, to what extent does the course challenge and test the skills of the elite golfer, while also being enjoyable and playable for the shorter hitter and higher handicapper? On the one hand, does it give the golfer the chance to display their skills to the limit? On the other hand, are there forced carries and excessively penal hazards that make it difficult for the recreational golfer to enjoy the course to the maximum regardless of how conservatively they play? (10 points)
- Memorability – Does the course inspire affection and live long in the memory? How reluctant are you to leave and how much do you want to return? (20 points)
Upweighting Panellists’ Rankings
We value more the rankings of panellists who have either played a course recently, played a course several times or both.
This is how we include that in our scoring system:
- x2 – If the course was most recently played in the last 10 years OR the reviewer has played the course 3 times or more
- x3 – If the course was most recently played in the last 3 years OR the reviewer has played the course 5 times or more
- x4 – If the reviewer has played the course 3 times or more and most recently within the last 10 years
- x5 – If the reviewer has played the course 5 times or more and most recently within the last 10 years OR the reviewer has played the course 3 times or more and most recently within the last 3 years
- x6 – If the reviewer has played the course 5 times or more and most recently within the last 3 years
Example: Five panellists have played a course. Reviewers A, B, C and D each played the course once, 15 years ago. Their scores are 48, 46, 50 and 56 respectively. Reviewer E has played the course eight times, most recently this year. Their score is 70.
Score: 48 + 46 + 50 + 56 + (6×70) = 620 / 10 = 62
About the courses on our NCG Top 100s England 2025 shortlist
Our England list is easily the most competitive we do. No wonder, with 1,735 affiliated clubs and anywhere up to 2,000 courses to go at.
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When we prepare to update a ranking, we create a new shortlist. We don’t mind how many are on it, but we want to include any courses that we deem to have a realistic chance of making the top 100. Equally, we want to concentrate our attention on those that do have a chance rather then spending time making visits to courses that don’t. So we try to keep it at tight as we can.
Please note: We also shortlisted some other courses that, for various reasons that we entirely respect, asked not to be considered for this ranking. We list them here only so that readers can see that they were on our shortlist and therefore among the courses we would have liked to visit and rank.
Courses that asked not to be considered for this list: Bearwood Lakes; Beaverbrook; Queenwood; Wentworth (East, Edinburgh and West); Woburn (Duchess, Duke’s, Marquess)
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Now have your say
You’ve now seen the England list… Were there any courses that missed out? Would you make any changes? And do you agree with the methodology to get to our rankings for the NCG Top 100s: England list? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
