Silloth on Solway Golf Club Key Information
Resplendent along a wonderfully remote coastline, this classy and peaceful links offers hands-down the best value of any course in the Top 100. It is packed with challenging but interesting holes, especially on the front nine which are closer to the Solway Firth. If the wind is from the south, you may be able to salvage a score on the closing eight.
Reasons To Play Silloth On Solway
– A wonderful, remote links that rewards any effort made to get here
– Outstanding value for a course of this quality and stature
– See if you can avoid the magnificent seven bunkers on the short 9th
Rankings
UK & Ireland Top 100 Golf Courses 2025/26 - 51
Silloth on Solway Golf Club is set in a beautiful county and heads the list of the best golf courses in Cumbria. This superb links would be far better-known if it were not quite so remote. As is the case at some other Top 100 Golf Courses UK & Ireland, such as Royal Dornoch and Woodhall Spa, the club’s relative inaccessibility serves both as a blessing and a curse. For those who do make the effort as I did a couple of Summers ago, it is extremely rare for a golfer to leave with anything but positive memories of what is certainly one of the best links courses in the UK.
There are plenty of keen golfers who haven’t really heard of Silloth on Solway or who know little about it, and this is their loss as it’s a fabulous course that is more than worth any effort made to get here. It is also a course about which you will rarely if ever hear a bad word. Its rumpled fairways run serenely back and forth over a dreamy, idyllic, pastoral setting. Apart from the par-3 9th, it is not particularly heavily bunkered. However, all those that do exist are perfectly placed and can cause a great deal of trouble!
You will also need to avoid the abundant gorse and heather. I didn't! These, and whatever wind is present (there is never none), will test every department of your game.
Golf has been played here on the wild west coast of Cumbria since 1892 with Davy Grant responsible for designing this very strong links. It was one of the first to feature blind holes and sandy waste areas, and some changes were made later by Willie Park Junior.
The views alone are magnificent, over to the Galloway Hills to the north and across the Solway Firth, over the sea to the Isle of Man, and even inland to the lakeland fells to the south-east.
Highlights include the par-3 9th - Silloth’s own Postage Stamp - which plays from a raised tee down to a heavily-bunkered green. While it may not look too tricky, the green will shrink before your eyes, especially if the wind means a longer club is required.
The par-5 13th also asks a number of questions. There is a tight second shot through a gully, and then a pitch to a raised green that is cleverly shaped to reject all but the most precise approach.
Silloth on Solway regularly heads the list of the best value courses in the Top 100, and is actually one of the best value courses anywhere, especially for golf of such quality. It may be remote, but whatever effort you make getting here will be more than offset by a brilliant day out on the links. I also really enjoyed the informal atmosphere, so much so that I played a second round after lunch.
What The Top 100 Panel Said
As a horticulturalist, I would generally snub the use of artificial turf as with the revetted bunker faces here. But I must admit they were very tastefully done. Where moss had grown over, I almost didn’t notice the difference until closer inspection. Best value quality golf to be found in the UK & Ireland.
If The Open Championship courses are the Premier League, this is a solid Championship division links. You would be happy to play here every day. The first hole tells you all about Silloth; lightly bunkered, well framed with a blind shot and a deceptive green.
Friendly members with the best polished shoes I’ve ever seen add a Silloth sparkle to the round on these timeless links. It never fail to charm or challenge from the scratch to the bogey golfer.
Silloth on Solway Location
Silloth on Solway Scorecard
Best Courses Near To Silloth on Solway
Best Places To Stay Near Silloth on Solway
The Golf Hotel, Silloth - Book now via Booking.com
A short walk from the club, this award-winning hotel offers en suite rooms with digital TV and modern décor. The restaurant offers a cooked breakfast, evening meals and packed lunches on request. The bar and lounge serve local beers and malt whiskies as well as afternoon tea and light meals.
Wheyrigg Hall Hotel, Wheyrigg - Book now via Booking.com
A few minutes drive away, this award-winning, family-run hotel is an old converted farmhouse with a garden, a bar and a restaurant. A full English breakfast is served in the large dining room and guests can enjoy frequently changing lunch, tea and dinner menus.
Silloth on Solway Gallery
Historical Top 100 Rankings UK&I
- 2025/26 - 51
- 2023/24 - 51
- 2021/22 - 51
- 2019/20 - 47
- 2017/18 - 46
- 2015/16 - 51
- 2013/14 - 53
- 2011/12 - 55
- 2009/10 - 49
Frequently Asked Questions
Where else should I play around Silloth on Solway?
There are no other Top 100 courses nearby, but Southerness is in the Next 100 and Seascale joined it there last time round. There are also plenty of less famous beauties in Cumbria such as Cockermouth, Appleby, Carlisle and Penrith.
Why is Silloth on Solway such great value?
It would appear to be a simple question of supply and demand. This is a wonderful course but a long way from most others. Were it in, say Kent, or closer to more chimney pots, it would command a far higher green fee.
How tough is Silloth on Solway?
This will partly depend on the wind and how far up the rough is, but if you can avoid the bunkering, you can score well. Go into them, however, and some can take a real toll!
