Brian Ward - The Double Century Brian completes both the GB&I and England Top 100s at Hankley Common Howzat? is a quintessential cricket-related appeal whereby every batsman who has experienced the cry hopes beyond hope that the umpire will not uphold the bowler’s plea and will instead return a verdict of “not out”. After all, every batsman wants to remain at the crease in order to go on and score a double-century. However, many cricketers (even top professionals) don't manage to score 200 runs in one innings over their entire careers. No golfer wants to card a century, let alone a double-century for their round. A three-figure number on the scorecard represents a bad day at the golfing office, but Brian Ward was overjoyed to achieve a remarkable double-century at Hankley Common Golf Club last month. Just about everyone collects something and Brian, a long-time member of Astbury Golf Club in Cheshire, is no exception. A few decades ago, the keen football supporter set an objective to visit each of the 92 football league grounds in England. Brian completed the quest over an eight-year period, aged 26. More recently he turned his attention to playing golf courses and earlier this year he played his one-thousandth course – Halmstad (Norra) – while on a trip to Sweden. It became obvious to me a few years ago that Brian would become the first member of the Top 100 team to complete the Britain & Ireland Top 100. And so it came to pass at Hankley last month, when Andy Newmarch and I joined Brian and his golfing buddy Andy to celebrate his achievement. But not only did Hankley mark Brian’s GB&I milestone, it also commemorated his completion of the England hundred. The first highly rated course Brian played from our current 2016 England Top 100 list was Wallasey back in 1998 and this classic old links was followed by Delamere Forest, Broadstone and Sandiway in 1999. Eighteen years later, he was able to put the last tick in the box. Ironically, the aforementioned quartet has so far eluded me. A few golfers have played the Britain & Ireland Top 100, but I’m unaware of any who have completed the English hundred. If you’ve played all the best tracks in England, or know somebody who has, please let me know. We already have more than our fair share of ton-up golfers here at Top 100 Golf Courses, but nobody to my knowledge has completed two major Top 100 ranking lists in one day. So what’s Brian going to do next? Some readers may remember the story we published a few months ago, Rudo completes the World Top 100 “Ever” list, which involved conquering more than 300 courses that had been historically listed by multiple sources down the years. Brian now intends to emulate Rudo’s achievement for British and Irish courses and tackle the Top 100 GB&I “Ever” list. We’re still defining the full catalogue of courses, but I’m betting that Brian will be the first person to complete the task. Additionally, Brian intends to continue to travel further afield and aims to play as many of the world's best courses as he possibly can. Brian is the Secretary of the Golf Society of Great Britain and also one of our key panellists, especially when it comes to shaping our biennial English Top 100 rankings, so I asked him to list a few of his favourites. It would be inappropriate to publish Brian’s entire personal list in isolation, but he has been brave enough to share, in no particular order, ten of his favoured English courses: Sunningdale (Old), Swinley Forest, St George’s Hill (Red & Blue), Broadstone, Royal Birkdale, Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin), Royal St George’s, West Sussex, Royal West Norfolk and The Alwoodley. Weather is inevitably bound to play its part in any quest of this type, but remarkably Brian only had to return to replay one course due to bad weather. It was so windy when he first visited Hunstanton that golf trolleys were being blown around like tumbleweed. After only two holes he was forced to retreat to the sanctuary of the clubhouse. A couple of years later he returned to Norfolk and completed Hunstanton in much kinder conditions. If you are trying to emulate either of Brian’s double-century adventures, please click the “Respond to this article” link at the top or at the bottom of this page to share your story. Keith Baxter Editor-in-chief Top 100 Golf Courses

Calling all Northern Golfers The Race to Alwoodley 24th November 2010 Amateur golfers in the North of England will have a brand new matchplay competition to compete in next season. The Northern Matchplay Golf Championship is a season-long tournament initially split into six counties; Cheshire, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland and Yorkshire. There is an Individual and Betterball Pairs competition both played off handicap. The opening round is played over 36 holes on a ‘home & away’ basis so players are assured of at least one round away from their home course. A draw is then made for home advantage in subsequent rounds. To minimise travelling distances golfers will initially compete locally where they will be aiming to reach their ‘county’ final. The winners at each regional final venue will progress to the two-day expenses paid Grand Final at The Alwoodley Golf Club in September 2011 to determine the overall champions of the North. Regional final venues include; West Lancs, Wallasey, Silloth-on-Solway, Seaton Carew, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Pannal, all of which have hosted Open Championship qualifying events. Tournament Director, Edward Battye, said, “To have some of the finest courses in the North of England as regional final venues is a real coup and will certainly give entrants an extra incentive to reach theirs.” Scratch-golfer Battye added, “Whoever wins on the day at each regional final can then expect one of the best golfing experiences they are ever likely to have at Alwoodley.” To enter you must be a male golfer, aged 16 or over on 31st March 2011, with an active CONGU handicap held at a golf club affiliated to one of the above County Golf Unions. The entry-fee represents good value at just £15 per person or £25 per pair. Those interested in entering should log on to www.northernmatchplay.com for more details.

Few regions in the world can match the breadth and calibre of golf on offer in North West England. Stretching from the Solway Coast of Cumbria in the north to the Wirral Peninsula in the south, and eastward across the Pennine foothills of Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, the North West packs an extraordinary concentration of world-class golf into a surprisingly compact area. This latest ranking update covers 61 courses across five counties — Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester — and for the first time, Merseyside and Greater Manchester are recognised as standalone ranking territories. View the full North West of England golf course rankings. England's Golf Coast, the finest and most continuous stretch of links land in the country, anchors the region's global reputation. Running from Hoylake on the Wirral northward through Formby, Southport and Lytham St Annes, this corridor of seaside golf is home to three Royal Open Championship venues and a constellation of non-Royal courses that would be headliners in almost any other county. The North West's World Top 100 courses and its cluster of GB&I-ranked layouts all sit along this coast, reflecting the extraordinary concentration of quality that defines the region. A note on historical comparisons: previous ranking cycles organised courses under traditional England Golf county boundaries, which differed from standard geographic counties. In particular, courses on the Wirral and in the Southport area were previously grouped within Cheshire and Lancashire, respectively, rather than Merseyside. The current rankings use geographic boundaries throughout, meaning direct comparisons with historical county positions should be treated with some caution. The regional picture is consistent; the county-by-county detail is where the methodology has evolved. Best North West Golf Courses by County Merseyside Merseyside earns its place at the top of the North West hierarchy with authority. The Southport coastline alone — home to Royal Birkdale, Hillside, West Lancashire, Southport & Ainsdale and Formby — constitutes one of the most concentrated stretches of links golf anywhere on the planet. Royal Liverpool, Wallasey and Formby Ladies extend the county's reach across the Wirral and south towards Liverpool. This iteration of the rankings is the first to give Merseyside its own dedicated table, separating it from the Lancashire and Cheshire counties it was previously folded into under golf union boundaries, and the county justifies that recognition. Royal Birkdale heads the Merseyside list and stands as the region's highest-ranked course. The 2026 Open Championship is scheduled to return to Birkdale, further reinforcing its status as England's foremost links venue. Royal Liverpool, Formby and Hillside complete a top four of exceptional calibre, while Wallasey and West Lancashire extend the county's strength deep into the rankings View the full Merseyside golf course rankings. Lancashire Lancashire's ranking is anchored firmly on the coast. Royal Lytham & St Annes sits at the top of the county table and the top of the entire North West regional ranking, while St Annes Old Links and Fairhaven extend that Lytham belt further. Inland, Pleasington and Clitheroe represent the Lancashire moorland and parkland tradition, while Fleetwood and Ormskirk round out a coastal and near-coastal cluster of considerable depth. View the full Lancashire golf course rankings. Cheshire Cheshire's ranking is led by a pair of outstanding inland designs. Delamere Forest, the Herbert Fowler-designed heathland layout celebrating over a century of golf, holds firm at county number one. Harry Colt's work at Prestbury sits close behind, while Sandiway completes a formidable top three. Wilmslow holds fourth, and Vale Royal Abbey moves up to fifth ahead of The Mere. View the full Cheshire golf course rankings. Cumbria Cumbria's rankings are headed, as they have been since the county tables were first published, by Silloth on Solway — an unmistakable links that sits comfortably inside the GB&I Top 100. Silloth's remoteness on the Solway Coast is part of its mystique, and golfers who make the pilgrimage consistently rate it among the most rewarding experiences in British golf. Seascale holds second, another links course of genuine character on the west Cumbrian coast. The most significant movements in the current Cumbria rankings belong to Appleby, which rises to third, and Windermere Golf Club, which climbs to fourth. Cockermouth makes the biggest upward move in the county, rising to seventh, while Furness also advances to eighth. View the full Cumbria golf course rankings. Greater Manchester The decision to give Greater Manchester its own dedicated ranking for the first time. Manchester Golf Club tops the new table. Founded in 1882 and relocated to its current Hopwood site in 1912, the course was designed by Harry Colt across a sprawling 300-acre moorland property north of the city. Stockport sits second, with Reddish Vale, the Alister MacKenzie-designed layout in the Tame Valley, completing the top three. View the full Greater Manchester golf course rankings. What the Rankings Tell Us Merseyside and Greater Manchester Come of Age The most structurally significant development in this ranking cycle is the formal separation of Merseyside and Greater Manchester into their own county tables. Previously absorbed into the Lancashire and Cheshire catchments under golf union boundaries, both territories now stand on geographic footings. Merseyside alone places eight courses in the England Top 100 and two in the World rankings. The Golden Age Architects Dominate What is striking about the North West rankings, taken as a whole, is how thoroughly the Golden Age architects shaped the courses that sit at the top. Harry Colt left his mark at Prestbury, Manchester Golf Club, Sandiway and Wallasey. Alister MacKenzie designed or contributed to Reddish Vale, Bolton Old Links and Warrington. Herbert Fowler created Delamere Forest. James Braid contributed to Mere, Wilmslow, Childwall, Southport & Ainsdale and Cockermouth. The concentration of inter-war design genius represented across these five counties is exceptional, and it goes a long way to explaining why the North West remains one of the most rewarding golfing destinations in England. Silloth Remains the North's Most Underrated Course Silloth on Solway continues to occupy a unique position — emphatically recognised by panellists and reviewers as a world-class links, yet still consistently overlooked by the travelling golfing public simply because of its geography. Ranked comfortably inside the GB&I Top 100, it sits well ahead of many links courses that attract far greater footfall. The Solway Coast location is admittedly not on the way to anywhere, but golfers who commit to the journey almost invariably describe it as one of the great undiscovered experiences in British golf. A Decade of Rankings: North West England 2015–2023 2015: County-by-County Foundations The earliest rankings in this series were published on a county-by-county basis in 2015, using golf union boundaries rather than geographic counties. In Cheshire, Royal Liverpool led the table by some distance, with Delamere Forest at number two and Wallasey at three. In Cumbria, Silloth topped the list as it always had, with Carlisle moving up to second and Penrith climbing to third. 2017: The First North West Regional Table The 2017 update produced the first combined North West regional Top 20, merging the three traditional counties — Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire — with Greater Manchester and Merseyside courses absorbed into those county catchments. Royal Birkdale topped the regional table ahead of Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. Delamere Forest was the highest-ranked non-links course, sitting inside the top ten above Wallasey, with Silloth representing Cumbria in fifth. 2019: Stability at the Top, Movement Below The 2019 revision showed remarkable consistency at the summit of each county table. In Lancashire, the top seven were listed in identical order for the third consecutive revision. The biggest news in Cumbria was Appleby climbing two places. 2023: Expansion and New Entries The 2023 update brought the most significant expansion since the regional rankings began, with 12 new courses added across Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire. In Cheshire, Warrington, Astbury, Bromborough, Eaton and Bramhall all entered the rankings for the first time. Cumbria welcomed Furness and Cockermouth. Lancashire added Childwall, Grange Park, Bury, North Manchester and Chorley. Planning Your North West England Golf Trip The North West lends itself to golf itineraries of almost any length, largely because its best courses cluster into logical hubs. The Southport coast is the obvious starting point for any serious North West golf trip, with Royal Birkdale, Hillside, West Lancashire and Southport & Ainsdale all within a few minutes of one another. Formby and Royal Liverpool on the Wirral extend this southern stretch significantly, and a four or five-day trip covering this corridor alone would satisfy most golfers seeking world-class links experiences. Further north, the Lytham area offers Royal Lytham & St Annes, St Annes Old Links and Fairhaven in close proximity. For Cheshire, Delamere Forest and Sandiway are neighbouring courses that pair beautifully, with Prestbury a short drive to the east near Macclesfield. Cumbria demands a more dedicated trip. Silloth on Solway is worth the journey in its own right, and combining it with Seascale on the west Cumbrian coast and Appleby inland makes for one of the most atmospheric golfing weekends available anywhere in England. For those drawn to the Lake District, Windermere and Brampton offer scenic golf in spectacular countryside settings. Greater Manchester's best courses work well as a standalone urban golf break, or as a natural addition to a wider North West itinerary.