When I was commissioned to write this feature for our UK and Ireland Top 100 golf courses in association with Peter Millar, I asked editor Neil Tappin how many holes to include.
“Seven sounds about right to me,” came the reply. It sounded about right to me too until I sat down to try and whittle it down to just that number!
My colleague, Rob Smith, wrote the equivalent feature two years ago and, after an early brainstorming session, I looked back on his article to find he’d written about four of the five holes I’d jotted down so far – the 1st at Doonbeg, 14th at Trump International Scotland, 13th at Hollinwell and 11th at Turnberry.
Subliminal vague recollection or testament to them, indeed, being four of our most spectacular holes?
I’ll leave you to decide but in the interests of variety I’m revisiting just one of those holes this time round, the par-5 1st at Doonbeg, which remains a kind of epiphany or eureka moment in my golfing journey.
I’d played a number of links courses before first visiting Doonbeg in 2003 but had never experienced anything quite like Greg Norman’s County Clare creation.
‘Amphitheatre green’ may now be a slightly overused term at some of our modern links, but it’s the only apt one for the 1st green complex at Doonbeg, where you imagine every blade of wispy grass on the steep banks standing to applaud as your carefully crafted approach lands just beyond the hole and zips back a couple of feet... in my dreams at least!
Let’s stay with par 5s and jump on a hole from another Rob included last time (the par-3 5th at Sunningdale New) and go for the magnificent 6th there.
It plays from an elevated tee and keeps sweeping round and round to the right via a slight kink at about 300 yards as its two-tiered, well-protected green gradually comes into view. It is simply majestic.
Par 3s often hog the limelight in any spectacular hole contest, but I’m sticking with par 5s for one more. If you’re looking for strategy choice, few par 5s do it better than the 7th on the Marquess’ at Woburn, with its split fairways separated by a cluster of trees.
Do you go for the slightly safer left-hand route or the shorter right-hand one knowing your Sunday best might give you a shot at the green in two over a wide gully?
Get it wrong going this way, though, and your lay-up options will be limited, leaving you a long third shot. Of course, you could say the club golfer’s best option might be to aim for the central trees, see which fairway you hit and take it from there.
As for par 4s, there’s something about the 422-yard 2nd at Burnham and Berrow in Somerset that has always resonated with me. Perhaps not as dramatically striking as my other selections, its beautifully framed, rumpled fairway encapsulates everything I’m looking for as I gaze down a links hole.
There's always a slight tinge of disappointment that such a cracking hole has been and gone so early in the round whenever I visit.
St Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna could offer up several candidates here but for pure unadulterated thrills, the dogleg- right par-4 14th takes some beating.
Named Sheephaven Bay after the stirring view that greets you on its elevated tee, it plays to a maximum of 399 yards, turning right quite sharply after a big bunker on the apex. Commit to the power fade and steer your ball round it is probably the best bet, before the hole narrows down towards a green set very close to the shallow cliff edge.
As you climb to the next tee, you won’t be able to resist turning back for a photo or two.
For par 3s, my longer pick is the cracking 7th at Hankley Common, which can play up to 206 yards across a relatively shallow, heather-filled dip to a green with lots of fascinating movement, protected by front bunkers both left and right.
It sits slightly higher than much of the course and you feel miles from anywhere, with the hole a tantalisingly glorious prospect from the tee.
My par-3 tiddler is the second of two new short holes at Prince’s, the 5th on the Shore nine. It plays from 103 to 158 yards over large expanses of sand to a tricky, undulating green with run-offs and bunkers all around.
Like its sibling short par-3 newcomer on the Himalayas nine, it plays straight towards the sea, the kind of hole Prince’s used to lack. It is everything that a beautiful par 3 should be.
Jeremy Ellwood's top 7 most spectacular holes in our top 100 list:
- Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg: Par 5 1st
- Sunningdale New: Par 5 6th
- Woburn Marquess': Par 5 7th
- Burnham and Berrow: Par 4 2nd
- Rosapenna St Patrick's Links: Par 4 14th
- Hankley Common: Par 3 7th
- Prince's Shore: Par 3 5th
