published: Jan 29, 2025

updated: Jan 30, 2025

NCG Top 100s: England – ‘My top three’

Matt Coles

There’s plenty to choose from when it comes to English golf, but which courses do our panellists love?

Our team have played several English courses ahead of compiling the NCG Top 100s: England list – but which courses make the top three for our panellists?

England is home to some incredible golf courses, with the mixture of heathland and moorland layouts inland, along with plenty of incredible links courses on the coastline.

From north to south, east to west, there are plenty of choices. England offers a great option for golf holidays as well.

When it comes to golf in England, you could choose to play at Ryder Cup venues like Ganton, Lindrick and the Brabazon Course at The Belfry.

Then, you have the Open Championship hosts as well. The likes of Royal Liverpool, Royal Birkdale and Royal Cinque Ports. And don’t forget the rest of the ‘Royals’ as well…

But what did our panellists think? They all will have played different courses, so their top threes will be different, or will they…?

Which NCG Top 100s: England courses make our panellists’ top three?

Mike Robertson
1 – Royal St George’s: A blend of fun, quirk and classic links golf.
2 – Royal Liverpool: Such a testing course and the turf is very good.
3 – Rye: There’s nowhere quite like this. What a location, and unique layout.

Georgie Gould
1 – Hindhead: Valleys were stunning, challenging course, well kept
2 – RAC Club: Beautiful scenery, immaculate tee boxes & fairways
3 – Aldeburgh: Incredible format, not too tight, fun amount of heather

Daniel Meredith
1 – Sunningdale (Old)
2 – St George’s Hill
3 – Wentworth (West)

All make incredible use of the natural topography to create challenging golf courses that are immaculately presented.

Neil White
1 – Silloth on Solway: The beauty and the test. Put in my application to join after one round.
2 – Sunningdale (Old): Wonderful variety – I could play there every day.
3 – St Enodoc: A quirky masterpiece.

Ed Battye
1 – Royal St George’s: A unique links with few, if any superiors
2 – Silloth on Solway: Has the ability to transcend your typical ‘championship links’
3 – Royal Birkdale: It’s pedigree as a test for elite golf is unsurpassed

Chris Myatt
1 – Royal St George’s
2 – Swinley Forest
3 – Hillside

All three tick the boxes the most perfect routings, dropped onto the most perfect pieces of land, with each hole requiring a strong strategy.

Swinley Forest golf course review — *Swinley Forest in full bloom – a popular choice by our panellists…*

Steve Carroll
1 – Royal Birkdale
2 – Royal Cinque Ports
3 – Swinley Forest

It doesn’t get much better than these two links courses – but Swinley is my happy place. It shows golf doesn’t have to be 6,500+ yards to be great.

Dan Murphy
1 – Royal St George’s
2 – Sunningdale (Old)
3 – Royal Lytham & St Annes

I do believe Royal St George’s is comfortably the best course in England. What a set of greens. What scale. What adventure. What subtlety.

Philip Bedford
1 – The Berkshire (Red & Blue): 36 holes of pure heathland fun
2 – Perranporth: You never know what you are going to get on any given day
3 – Silloth on Solway: Pure links remotely hidden away

Steve Watton
1 – Royal St George’s
2 – Royal Birkdale
3 – Sunningdale (New)

Very difficult to rate inland courses against links but these are my three standouts. In my opinion, Royal St George’s is the clear no 1.

Joss Powick
1 – Hillside: A perfect heathland / links hybrid. Best back 9 in England
2 – The Berkshire (Red): Flawless condition, strong bunkering and I love the 6-6-6 design
3 – Wallasey: Elevated greens and grass paths are art

Wallasey golf course review — *Wallasey is one of several venues on the North West Coast to have made our panellists’ top threes!*

Andi White
1 – Parkstone: Beautiful views, quirky holes
2 – New Zealand: Superbly maintained, very attractive holes and very challenging
3 – Rye: Great views, interesting blind shots and every hole is memorable

Dan Gould
1 – Wentworth (West): Ticks every box, iconic, and dog friendly
2 – Hindhead: Stunning scenery and landscape
3 – Aldeburgh: Challenging but beautiful

Dove Jones
1 – Trevose: challenging links, 19th hole and warm welcome
2 – Goswick: underrated, hole in one and great welcome
3 – Silloth on Solway: discovered before it was on everyone’s radar – unspoiled

David Walker
1 – Royal St George’s
2 – Sunningdale (Old)
3 – Ganton

The best links, the best heathland, and the course which combines both

Craig Morrison
1 – Swinley Forest: Effortless elegance
2 – Perranporth: Unrestrained mischief
3 – Royal North Devon: Powerful emotions

best par 3 holes in great britain and ireland — *Perranporth – the southwesternmost venue in the NCG Top 100s: England list, but a favourite for some!*

Michael Verity
1 – Royal St George’s: Outstanding links. Great mix of holes on interesting terrain
2 – West Sussex: Melbourne sandbelt-esque. Firm surfaces, unrivalled bunkering. Great holes
3 – Swinley Forest: Enthralling throughout

David Elliott
1 – Swinley Forest
2 – The Belfry (Brabazon)
3 – Wentworth (West)

They’re all challenging, fair, beautiful and enjoyable.

Chris Healey
1 – St George’s Hill: Feels different to other courses in surrounding area largely due to the unique topology
2 – Worplesdon: A golf course I would never tire of playing
3 – Formby: Fantastic challenge of golf

Greg Webber
1 – Royal St George’s
2 – Royal Birkdale
3 – Royal Lytham & St Annes

All three are magnificent examples of the purest form of golf

Neil Gray
1 – Sunningdale (Old)
2 – Royal Birkdale
3 – Centurion Club

A great links, a traditional parkland and my home track.

Centurion golf course review — *One of the newest golfing venues in England, Centurion has already seen many a championship*

Craig Redston
1 – Parkstone: The closest feeling to a religious experience I have had
2 – Sunningdale (Old): Best course in England
3 – Royal St George’s: The GOAT links course

Chris Griffiths
1 – Sunningdale (Old)
2 – Swinley Forest
3 – St George’s Hill

All for the same reason. They are all sublime, each hole tells its own story and represents a unique challenge, and are of the highest quality.

Jim Banting
1 – Royal Birkdale
2 – Royal St George’s
3 – Hankley Common

All have great attention to detail and look to keep getting better.

Neil White
1 – Royal Worlington & Newmarket: Shows what is possible with such a small plot
2 – St George’s Hill: Classic heathland – absolute perfection
3 – Royal West Norfolk: Old school links

Pat O’Connor
1 – Parkstone
2 – Royal Cinque Ports
3 – St George’s Hill

Whilst all offering different challenges, they are all so memorable in the overall quality and ambiance they emanate.

South East England — *St George’s Hill – another popular spot for many including our panellists!*

Listen to the NCG Golf Podcast

NOW READ: The methodology behind the NCG Top 100s: England list
NOW READ: Meet the NCG Top 100s: England Panel

Now have your say

Visit the NCG Top 100s: England page, click on a course you have played and leave a review on our website!

What are your memories of playing golf in England? What would you put in your own top three? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!

About the author

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.

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