FIVE NEW TO ME GOLF COURSES

Everybody wants to play the “Bag Tag Barry” courses - these are the courses everyone knows about, the courses on everybody’s lists, the ones that are, as it happens, increasingly hard to book time on. But golf is massive - and there are so many courses out there. In my research (some term this obsession, you call it what you need to), I’ve uncovered at least five courses that are great examples of courses you could add to an itinerary that most golfers would not recognize at first - but they might come home evangelizing about. Here are those five courses.

My list of golf courses that I can’t wait to play is so long it’s honestly embarassing. But here are five that I think probably aren’t on your list. I’d say that they aren’t on ANY list but that is EXACTLY wrong. In fact, their presence on lists is how I discovered them.

You see, much like Rob from High Fidelity, I love lists. Like, LOVE lists. (Also, I know that Rob is actually not cool. He’s decidedly uncool and lost, and that’s sort of the point of the book/movie - I GET IT. I’ve looked in the mirror by now, I’m okay with all of it. Let’s get back to the point of this article.) And lists with golf are endless. And often unhelpful - but there are some that are really quite good, especially when planning - but, you need to be careful.

Because some - and I won’t name names - but some lists are so odd and erratic that it certainly feels like some money or favors changed hands to get that course at that slot, etc. So, a little bit of knowledge helps.

The good ones? Certainly, I trust Top100GolfCourses very much, and there are numerous different regional lists within there. So whether it’s their overall lists, or their top lists within a certain country, I often refer to those when I’m planning a trip.

Then there are some really more niche ones that can help discover some hidden gems - I recently looked through two - Golf World’s Top 100 Most Fun Golf Courses in Great Britain and Ireland and Golf World’s Top 100 Courses in Great Britain & Ireland Under £40. These are the kinds of courses that round out itineraries so well - especially if they can help fill in drive time between areas in an itinerary.

This helped me discover quite a bit of new courses - not all of which I was eager to rush out and play, of course. But plenty which did in fact look amazing. Here are five courses that appeared on all three lists.

Shiskine Golf & Tennis Club

Shiskine Golf Club is carved into a stone island but plays like a magical links and heathland course you’d find anywhere in England or Scotland.

Shiskine is the course of all of these that I’d heard of, thanks mostly to No Laying Up and some videos that Tron Carter has done with his friend Jim Hartsell. (If you haven’t seen these, please go watch the series - it’s beautiful and powerful stuff. The below is just on Shiskine but there’s a video on the surrounding courses nearby as well. This is a course that is just so insanely cool and almost assuredly one you will think about over and over after you play it.

I simply have to get there at some point.

APPLEBY GOLF CLUB

Whether you want to call it a moorland course or an “inland links,” it’s clear that the course plays firm and fast. Whether you can truly play for under £40 depends on exactly when you play, but it’s quite affordable, certainly. Top100GolfCourses cites a review calling it the “Sunningdale of the North” which … that’s fairly high praise! It does look like a sweeping course with a lot of gorgeous purple heather, challenging pot bunkers and brilliant views. Though it’s apparently quite accessible from the roads, it’s also not really all that close to much else in terms of golf destinations so this ideally fits into travel plans between two other spots. Note that this course does not seem to have anything to do with former PGA Pro Stuart Appleby who wore a visor like no other.

CLEEVE HILL GOLF CLUB

I told you that you were unlikely to know many of these courses - try and tell me you’ve been planning a trip to Cleeve Hill. Well, you might not have been … but maybe, just maybe, you should. Old Tom Morris designed this. Then, James Braid and Harry Colt suggested changes to it that others implemented, and then Alistair MacKenzie redesigned four greens. Recently, Mike DeVries was brought on to do some restoration work. That, my friends is a series of hitters. The course is located in The Cotswolds, a place I’ve only really heard about in the BBC shows my wife watches, but is apparently northwest of London nearing the border of Wales. (We’ll get to Wales in a moment.)

Though the course is high up in the hills (providing amazing views), since it is built on limestone, it drains exceptionally well, similar to a links course. And it’s truly gorgeous. The location and playability makes this one that seems like one to add to any list.

The course is so high up that sometimes you are literally playing in the clouds.

KINGTON GOLF CLUB

Located in Herefordshire, this is only about 90 minutes away from Cleeve Hill. Folks, we are already working out a plan here. And, we are even closer to the border of Wales. Kington is a parkland course, and claims to be the highest course in England - take that, Cleeve Hill! Much like Cleeve Hill, the location makes it drain well - like an inland links, though it also says the turf is like a moorland, so take that for what it’s worth - and similarly to Cleeve Hill the land is considered common land so you will find sheep and other animals wandering freely. We like that. Vibes all around.

Please use enough club to not disturb the locals.

WELSHPOOL GOLF CLUB

Located in the center of Wales, Welshpool Golf Club is (I have to think) not one that you’ve had on your short list. But listen to how Top100GolfCourses describes it.

If you like old-fashioned golf with pulpit greens, ditches, greenside swales, the occasional blind shot and gorse lining almost every fairway then Welshpool Golf Club is for you!

That might not work for everybody, but folks - I’m in! It looks seriously fun - it’s a shorter course (only about 5,700 yards) and some of the photos are absolutely eye-popping. For an absurdly low £40 on weekends, their website seems remarkably eager to have visitors come play their course and it looks just super charming. I’m in.

A view of Welshpool Golf Club from above.

These are just a few of the “new to me” courses I’ve discovered in recent weeks - there are so many that it’s hard to even begin to know when I could ever make it out to them. But these are the types of courses that are REALLY fun to add to an itinerary when you are going from Point A to Point B. I try to find these to add to others trips to fill in some travel time with the hope of breaking up a long drive (not, sadly, from your golf club) and these gems can often be one of the more fun discoveries of the trip. Hopefully, we can add a course or two like this to a trip for you!