Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 Courses 2018 vs. Irish Golfer Top 100

Royal Portrush... No. 2 in both lists.

Finally Golf Digest Ireland (GDI) have released their Top 100 golf courses for 2018. We've been waiting a while! Especially as the Irish Golfer magazine Top 100 came out in November. Two Irish magazines going head to head is very refreshing indeed.

There are surprisingly few changes in GDI's 2018 results - compared to 2017 - so I have included these when setting the two rankings side by side below.

I  have highlighted the courses where there are interesting variations (in green) and

Big Whales and Little Fish - Ireland's Golf Rankings

The 6th green at Rathcore Golf Club.

Following the publication of Golf Digest Ireland's Top 100 Irish golf courses last week, there has been a considerable and negative reaction.

That is hardly surprising as the process this year was seriously undermined.

Panelists did not visit all the courses and, as someone who has been

Ireland's Golf Rankings - The 20 Clubs That Missed Out Part II

Views over the 5th green at North West

Here is the second batch of ten courses that didn't make the Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 Irish golf courses... nine of which have green fees between €20 and €35. If that's not value I don't know what is.

Ireland's Golf Rankings - The 20 Clubs That Missed Out

View of the 11th green at Corballis

Golf Digest Ireland came out with their Top 100 rankings for 2015, in December last year. The list included three new entries (New Forest, Dunfanaghy and Macreddin) which is always good to see, but what about those clubs on the margins who might justifiably have appeared in the bottom quarter of the draw. Some will probably feel aggrieved not to have made it… yet again. 

The following 20 courses (listed alphabetically) have excellent conditioning, or are beautifully located or are packed with thrills… or are all three.

National Club Golfer Top 100 GB&I Links Courses

Views over Narin & Portnoo... a course that didn't
make the Top 100

National Club Golfer magazine (a UK publication) has put together a list of the top 100 links courses in the GB&I. Such rankings are always worth a look and especially in the wake of Golf Digest Ireland’s Top 100. Now, one of the most interesting things from an Irish perspective is how a GB magazine has the necessary resources to assess Republic of Ireland courses. 

In the introduction the magazine does spell out how it operated and how it put together its panel of experts... and some serious experts they are - but no Irish golfer/contributor is on the panel. So it raises eyebrows (mine anyway) when Irish courses get so neatly clumped together (38, 39 and 40, and 76, 77 and 78). Given that a third of the world's links are on our shores, shouldn't that be reflected on the panel?

FREE Irish Golf - Thanks to Golf Digest

I thought the 'FREE' might grab your attention. It's not misleading either... assuming Golf Digest Ireland (GDI) picks you as one of their 80 golf course raters.

And the only thing you need to qualify is a golf swing and a GUI handicap. You don't need to be a single figure handicapper - they're looking for golfers of all abilities...

Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 Courses

The Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 annual rankings are out... let the arguments, debates and fisticuffs begin. You can look at rankings in one of two ways: ignore them as playful nonsense; or take them with a pinch of salt and go play the courses that catch your eye. They're there as a guide. As always, I have my quibbles - some big, some small - but when you have so many people involved in the ranking process it's impossible to get a consensus that everybody is happy with.

Needs no introduction - the view of the 9th hole (post blind drive) at Royal County Down

For example, if you took 100 people and asked them to rank 100 courses, 50 of them could come back and say Royal County Down (RCD) is number 1; the other 50 might put RCD at number 100. The median puts RCD at number 50... and not one person out of that 100 is happy.

I shall not make any comments this year... other than to say Esker Hills is the highest New Entry at 82, and, as always, a few of my favourites are not on the list (Coollattin, The Curragh, Macreddin, Rathcore - all listed under 'Worthy Mentions' at the end of Golf Digest's list - and Portarlington and Scrabo).

Rathcore's impressive par three 16th

The rankings are based on seven criteria:

Shot making/variety 20 pointsDesign variety 10 points

Memorability 10 points

Wow factor 10 points

Condition 10 points

Playability 10 points

Degree of difficulty/fairness 10 points

So here it is and please feel free to leave your comments below:

1. Royal County Down (=)

2. Portmarnock (=)

3. Royal Portrush (=)

4. Waterville (=)

5. Lahinch (Up 1)

6. Ballybunion (Old) (down 1)

7. The European Club (up 1)

8. Tralee (Down 1)

9. County Louth (Baltray) (=)

10. Adare (=)

11. County Sligo (Rosses Point) (=)

12. Ballyliffin, Glashedy (Up 1)

13. Enniscrone (Up 1)

14. The Island (Down 2)

15. Portstewart, Strand (Up 2)

16. Mount Juliet (Down 1)

17. Killeen Castle (up 1)

18. Donegal (down 2)

19. The K-Club, Palmer (up 1)

20. Belmullet, Carne (Up 1)

Mount Juliet's superb 4th hole - a lethal par four (Down 1)

21. Ballyliffin, Old Links (Up 1)

22. The Old Head of Kinsale (Up 2)

23. Portmarnock Links (Up 8)

24. Royal Dublin (Down 5)

25. Portsalon (Up 2)

26. Doonbeg (Down 3)

27. Carlow (Up 2)

28. Rosapenna, Sandy Hills (Down 3) (Dropped 7 places in last 2 years)

29. Lough Erne (Up 3)

30. Carton House, Montgomerie (Down 2)

31. Cork (Down 1)

32. Dooks (Up 1)

33. Killarney, Killeen (Down 7) (Dropped 10 places in last 2 years)

34. Rosapenna, Old Tom Morris (=)

35. Castlerock (=)

36. Headfort, New (=)

37. Fota Island, Deerpark (Up 3)

38. Narin And Portnoo (Up 5) (Up 13 places in last 2 years)

39. Druids Glen (Down 2)

40. Concra Wood (Down 2)

The 3rd hole at Portsalon (Up 2)

41. Slieve Russell (Up 4)

42. The K-Club, Smurfit Course (Down 1)

43. Seapoint (Down 1)

44. Connemara (Up 4) (Up 12 places in last 2 years)

45. Luttrellstown Castle (Down 6)

46. Carton House, O’Meara (Up 3)

47. Tramore (=)

48. Heritage (Down 4)

49. Dun Laoghaire (Up 6)  

50. Palmerstown House Estate (Down 4)

51. Belvoir Park (=)

52. Malone (=)

53. Powerscourt, West Course (Down 3) (Dropped 15 places in last 2 years)

54. Portumna (Down 1)

55. Portrush, Valley (Up 3)

56. Glasson (Up 6)

57. Bunclody (Up 2)

58. Hermitage (Down 1)

59. Castletroy (Up 4) (Up 26 places in last 2 years)

60. Farnham Estate (Down 6) (Dropped 12 places in last 2 years)

The 9th Hole at Dun Laoghaire (Up 6)

61. Arklow (Up 4)

62. Mount Wolseley (Up 2) (Up 14 places in last 2 years)

63. Royal Belfast (Up 8)

64. Westport (Down 8) (Dropped 19 places in last 2 years)

65. Dromoland Castle (Up 4)

66. Clandeboye Dufferin (=)

67. Druids Heath (Up 3)

68. Powerscourt, East Course (Up 7)

69. Rathsallagh (Down 2)

70. Tullamore (Down 9) (Dropped 17 places in last 2 years)

71. Dundalk (Down 11) (Dropped 21 places in last 2 years)

72. Castlemartyr (Up 4)

73. Shannon (=)

74. Strandhill (Up 4) (Up 9 places in last 2 years)

75. Ardglass (Down 4)

76. Rosslare (Up 5) (Up 22 places in last 2 years)

77. Laytown and Bettystown (=)

78. Grange (Down 4)

79. Ballybunion, Cashen (Up 2) (Up 14 places in last 2 years)

80. Ballinrobe (Up 10)

Ballybunion Cashen's drop-dead gorgeous par three 16th (up 2)

81. Dingle, Ceann Sibeal (Up 17)

82. Esker Hills (New Entry)

83. Castle (Down 4)

84. St. Annes (Down 2)

85. Mullingar (Down 5)

86. Galgorm Castle (Up 2)

87. Galway Bay (Up 9)

88. Galway (Down 1)

89. Balbriggan (Up 3)

90. Courtown (Down 1)

91. Tulfarris (Up 3)

92. Knightsbrook (Down 7) (Dropped 13 places in last 2 years)

93. Bantry Bay (Down 7) (Dropped 23 places in last 2 years)

94. Kirkistown Castle (Down 1)

95. Killarney, (Mahony’s Point) (New Entry)

96. St. Margaret’s (New Entry)

97. Kilkenny (Down 14) (Dropped 31 places in last 2 years)

98. Skellig Bay (Down 14)

99. Athlone (New Entry)

100. Woodenbridge (=)

The sweet par three 8th at Woodenbridge

Out of the Top 100 this year are: New Forest, Moyvalley, Castleknock and Killarney Lackabane (due to closure).

As I said above, any thought you have on the Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 2013, let's be having them.

Golf World: Top 100 Courses (You Can Play)

The August edition of Golf World magazine had a special section devoted to the World's Top 100 golf courses. There was an interesting caveat at the end: namely that these were courses that will take a green fee... which means courses like Augusta National were not on the list.

Golf Digest Ireland will be bringing out their Top 100 Irish Courses in mid-November, so it's always interesting to provide a little groundwork, a little perspective, before that list (always up for debate) arrives on the newsagents' shelves.

[Photo: view back to The Lodge from Doonbeg's 9th green]

There were 9 Irish courses included on the Golf World list - ranked in reverse order:
71 County Louth
64 Doonbeg
56 Lahinch
40 Ballybunion (Old)
36 The European
33 Portmarnock (Old)
18 Waterville
7 Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
and at number 1...

[Photo: The par three 4th at Royal County Down]

1 Royal County Down

Great to see RCD still being lauded internationally, at least by our neighbours across the Irish Sea.

The list also included 22 courses from the USA, 16 from England, and 13 from Scotland.

Great Scott, it's Never (Big) Easy


On another subject, the magazine did three big interviews with professional golfers - the first of which was with Darren Clarke. Bear in mind that this magazine was published in the run-up to the Open Championship, so what a coincidence that the other two articles were: first, with Ernie Els - talking about how he believed he could win another Major and what he was doing differently that would allow him to achieve that goal - and, second, with Adam Scott saying he was ready to win his first.

Turns out that one of them was almost right!

[Photo: Waterville's 1st Hole - 'The Last Easy']

Golf Digest Ireland Hunting For Raters Again

Last year was the first year that GDI decided to get the amateur golfer involved in their annual Top 100 courses rankings... they are doing the same again this year... which means you could find yourself heading off to play up to 15 Irish golf courses for free.

From what I heard - my application was unsuccessful - some raters played many more than the courses allotted to them and went off and played the big courses all over the island.

Raters will receive a day's 'training' on how to review a course and then they have the summer to play lots of free golf.

Buy the magazine (april issue just out), throw (email) your name in the hat, and who knows which beauties you might end up playing.

Good luck.

RTE Radio 1 Saturday Sport Interview: 26/11/11

[Photo: Adare's par five 18th. The course is ranked 10th in Ireland]

I was invited onto the Saturday Sport show to discuss the merits & shortcomings of the recent Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 course rankings. Des Cahill, Greg Allen, myself and Linton Walsh, the magazine's editor, were gathered around the desk. It was fascinating to hear, direct from the horse's mouth, how the ranking process worked.

There are problems implicit in any ranking process: ask one person and it is too subjective; ask 50 people and the result is diluted. As an example, if you asked 20 people to rank Mount Juliet, and ten said it was No. 1, and ten said it was No. 100, what do you do? If you divide the result, and put it at 50 then no one is happy. Rankings are merely a list, not a bible! They are something to be used as a reference point and to spark debate... nothing more.Linton described how the process has evolved over the years: there were only 5 people on the panel in the first year (hence a 20% weighting per person), versus 11 this year (a 9% weighting per person), which includes 'one' vote from a panel of 25 'ordinary' golfers. There have also been changes to how points are awarded.

But the difficulty with changing the process is that the rankings are going to change too. It's a balancing act and the magazine needs to establish a happy medium that delivers a consistent approach, year after year... of course, the danger there is that you end up with exactly the same ranking year after year, and who wants that!

[Photo: Rathcore's par three gem, the 16th]

Greg certainly was taking issue with aspects of the ranking, namely the huge shift in the position of Old Head of Kinsale over the last three years (down 5 to No. 29 in 2009, down another 18 to No. 47 in 2010, yet up 23 to No. 24 in 2011). There are also 20 courses that have moved by 10 places or more, which is a significant shift no matter how you look at it.
When these two had finished, it was my turn. Des asked me about Hooked, which I wasn't really expecting.

It was a great plug - the audience is 100,000 strong - and I ended up reminiscing about freezing nights in a camper van and playing beautiful Portumna surrounded by deer. I got to say a good bit about Scrabo - a course that has never been near the top 100, but is one of my favourite experiences of all time - and also Rathcore - a course that was No. 65 a few years back and is now, oddly, nowhere to be seen.

The truth is, I don't agree with the GDI rankings, but that is MY opinion. Greg and I would argue all day long over Portmarnock's position at No. 2, and I didn't much fancy the way he was reaching for his 7 iron when I suggested it wouldn't even make my top ten... but that's what rankings are about: opinions.

[Photo: Scrabo's brilliant opening par 4 hole]

It was a 20 minute discussion, and if you’re interested in listening to it, get yourself onto http://www.rte.ie/player/# and click on ‘Radio’ in the top menu bar. That should bring up a new page, where you click the RTE Radio 1 circle, and then type in Saturday Sport in the ‘Search’ bar, which brings up all the recent shows. Still with me? Click play for the 26/11/11 entry and then go all the way forward to the 02:55:30 time mark. Hard work, I know, but who said life was easy.

If for nothing else it is interesting to hear Linton describe the process… and you should have seen the size of the folder he had with him, containing all the course assessments. The man came prepared.

Tralee - murder of the cliche

[Photo: Tralee's stunning 13th, a par three that perches on a dune]

First things first: congratulations to Tralee Golf Club in its rise from 10th to 7th in the Golf Digest Ireland 2011 Top 100 Courses Rankings. It's a spectacular course with some remarkable views. And with some benign weather around at the moment, the green fee's a snip at €50.

Anthony Byrne is the General Manager, and I'm going to have a gentle dig at something he said which appeared in the Irish Times the other day... he knows how much I like the course (a photo of Tralee's 16th was the front cover of Hooked - 1st edition) and he was kind enough to comp me and a friend when I was on my travels, so, if he ever reads this, he knows it's all in good fun:

[Photo: the approach to Tralee's 10th hole, a dogleg left par four]

Tralee's 10th hole is going to be remodelled and the Practice Academy is to be updated. In describing the changes, Anthony decided to take a worn-out golfing cliche, bring it back to life briefly and then murder it again.

“We know that we have a priceless jewel here in Barrow and you must never, ever, allow a priceless jewel to lose any of its lustre,” he said.

I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly, but sometimes a cliche this bad deserves to stay dead and buried.

I look forward to seeing the new 10th... if I'm ever allowed on the course again!

Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 Irish Golf Courses 2012

Golf Digest Ireland Top 100 Irish Golf Courses 2012

The new rankings are out... Golf Digest Ireland has got it in the neck over recent years, with a ranking system that caused more upset than approval and generated endless rumours of advertising-leads-to-improved-rankings skullduggery. As with all rankings, unless there's a completely transparent and traceable system (think Supermarket meat packing), someone is going to cry 'foul'. Hardly surprising when everyone has such diverse opinions on what makes a course great.

[Photo: Waterville's 'Mass' Hole (par three 12th). The most significant move in the top ten, rising from 6 to 8]

In general, the top 10 are regarded as being correct, although some people would shift things around a bit - Portmarnock, at No. 2, has never been a favourite of mine, and moving The European from 4 to 8 seems a mighty big leap, which, like its owner, only improves with age.

The arguments typically focus on what comes between 11 and 100, and what has been left out.

Golf World magazine did a 'Ireland's Top 100' a couple of months back, and I was invited to make a contribution. I had a lot of fun looking at the magazine's existing list and moving things about. Naturally, not all my suggestions made it through - hardly surprising when you consider that Padraig, Paul McGinely and Pat Ruddy were also contributing - but it made me appreciate how difficult it is to create a list that I was happy with.

[Photo: Adare drops two to tenth but remains the highest ranked parkland. This is the par three 16th]

New Approach

Perhaps GDI got tired of all the grief and decided to shake things up. This year sees an 'X Factor' contribution from Ireland's golfing public. A number were selected earlier this year and taken to the K Club to be prepped by Ally McKintosh (course designer), on how to rate/view a golf course. A couple of these raters have been in touch and told me about their experiences - all good I might add, as they got to play some of our best courses - but there is no indication how significant their contribution was to the overall result. 25%? 10%? Less? There is quite a group of unofficial 'official' experts and I imagine their opinions carry the greatest weight.

[Photo: the par four 6th at Bunclody. A non-mover at 59]

There were also two changes to the criteria which the raters used (see below): the 'shot making/variety' criterion was increased from 10 points to 20; and a new category of 'WOW factor' was introduced.

The seven criteria are:

Degree of difficulty/fairness 10 points

Shot making/variety 20 points

Design variety 10 points

Wow factor 10 points

Memorability 10 points

Condition 10 points

Playability 10 points

No doubt these changes have helped the rankings look more real, but there will always be naysayers who will spot anomalies that make the blood boil. I count myself among them... Killarney Lackabane at 68 still mystifies me, even if it has dropped 4 places, and there's no place for Macreddin, Rathcore or Portarlington. Druid's Glen drops 10 places, while Ballybunion Cashen is rising at a snail's pace at 91... but these are some of my personal gripes and I bow to the democratic process of the broader community!!

[Photo: Rathcore's exceptional par three 16th, but the course doesn't

make the Top 100]

NAMA Courses

For many, the contentious issue of NAMA courses being included (after being excluded in 2010), will cause a certain level of fury and/or concern. These courses, as good as they are (Tulfarris and New Forest are favourites of mine), cause considerable problems for their golfing neighbours. They already receive far too much assistance from the banks and NAMA, and they should not be given a promotional platform here. They may have the right to be recognised as excellent courses, but not at the expense of hard-working and struggling clubs... which describes many of our clubs today.

Here's the list. If you have any opinions on a particular course's position, let me know.

(Info in brackets shows movement from 2011)

1. Royal County Down (=)

2. Portmarnock (=)
3. Royal Portrush (=)
4. Waterville (Up 2)
5. Ballybunion (Old) (=)
6. Lahinch (Up 1)
7. Tralee (Up 3)
8. The European Club (Down 4)
9. County Louth (Baltray) (=)
10. Adare (Down 2)

11. County Sligo (Rosses Point) (=)
12. The Island (=)
13. Ballyliffin, Glashedy (Up 3)
14. Enniscrone (Up 3)
15. Mount Juliet (Down 2)
16. Donegal (Up 3)
17. Portstewart, Strand (Up 3)
18. Killeen Castle (Down 4)
19. Royal Dublin (Down 1)
20. The K-Club, Palmer (Down 5)

21. Belmullet, Carne (Up 4)
22. Ballyliffin, Old Links (Up 10)
23. Doonbeg (Up 13)
24. The Old Head of Kinsale (Up 23)
25. Rosapenna, Sandy Hills (Down 4)
26. Killarney, Killeen (Down 3)
27. Portsalon (Up 8)
28. Carton House, Montgomerie (Up 2)
29. Carlow (Down 5)
30. Cork (Down 1)
31. Portmarnock Links (=)
32. Lough Erne (Down 10)
33. Dooks (Up 4)
34. Rosapenna, Old Tom Morris (Down 1)
35. Castlerock (Down 7)
36. Headfort, New (Up 4)
37. Druids Glen (Down 10)
38. Concra Wood (Up 1)
39. Luttrellstown Castle (Up 10)
40. Fota Island, Deerpark (New entry)
41. The K-Club, Smurfit Course (Down 7)
42. Seapoint (Down 16)
43. Narin And Portnoo (Up 8)
44. Heritage (New entry)
45. Slieve Russell (Down 3)
46. Palmerstown House Estate (Up 8)
47. Tramore (Up 11)
48. Connemara (Up 8)
49. Carton House, O’Meara (Up 3)
50. Powerscourt, West Course (Down 12)
51. Belvoir Park (Down 8)
52. Malone (Down 11)
53. Portumna (Up 8)
54. Farnham Estate (Down 6)
55. Dun Laoghaire (Down 9)
56. Westport (Down 11)
57. Hermitage (=)
58. Portrush, Valley (Down 14)
59. Bunclody (=)
60. Dundalk (Down 10)
61. Tullamore (Down 8)
62. Glasson (Down 2)
63. Castletroy (Up 22)
64. Mount Wolseley (Up 12)
65. Arklow (Down 3)
66. Clandeboye (Up 3)
67. Rathsallagh (=)
68. Killarney, Lackabane (Down 4)
69. Dromoland Castle (Down 4)
70. Druids Heath (Down 15)
71. Ardglass (Down 3)
72. Royal Belfast (Up 1)
73. Shannon (Down 1)
74. Grange (Up 10)
75. Powerscourt, East Course (Down 12)
76. Castlemartyr (Down 2)
77. Laytown and Bettystown (Up 9)
78. Strandhill (Up 5)
79. Castle (Up 1)
80. Mullingar (Down 2)
81. Rosslare (Up 17)
82. St. Annes (Down 11)
83. Kilkenny (Down 17)
84. Skellig Bay (Up 3)
85. Knightsbrook (Down 6)
86. Bantry Bay (Down 16)
87. Galway (Down 6)
88. Galgorm Castle (Down 6)
89. Courtown (Down 14)
90. Ballinrobe (Up 1)
91. Ballybunion, Cashen (Up 2)
92. Balbriggan (Down 15)
93. Kirkistown Castle (New entry)
94. Tulfarris (New entry)
95. New Forest (New entry)
96. Galway Bay (Down 7)
97. Moyvalley (New entry)
98. Dingle, Ceann Sibeal (New entry)
99. Castleknock (New entry)
100. Woodenbridge (New entry)