Broadstone Golf Club, Broadstone, Dorset, England Click any of the large images to return to the main Broadstone course page Broadstone Golf Club - photo by Rod Wiltshire Broadstone Golf Club - 5th hole Broadstone Golf Club - 7th hole Broadstone Golf Club - 8th hole Broadstone Golf Club - 14th hole Broadstone Golf Club - 18th hole

Top 10 Golf Courses in Dorset 2015 Dorset Best in County rankings updated Dorset lies in the south west of England on the coastline with the English Channel and more than half of this rural county is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty. A large proportion of its southern boundary forms the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site that extends almost one hundred miles, where international field studies have looked at the wide variety of geological features occurring along its length. There’s some great golf to be found along this coast – as well as further inland – with some of the golf clubs established as far back as the 1890s, when the likes of Came Down, Isle of Purbeck and Sherborne were all founded. We’ve recently revised our rankings for this region and present now our newly updated Top 10 for Dorset. Broadstone holds onto the number 1 slot in the county, which is not entirely unexpected as it currently occupies a position in our Top 100 chart for Great Britain & Ireland. This lovely old heathland track has attracted a flurry of recent complimentary reviews, exemplified by: “the layout never fails to deliver a great round of golf in wonderful surroundings with superb views over the surrounding countryside”. At number 2 in the Dorset listings, the position it has occupied since we first established our county rankings in 2012, is Remedy Oak, a John Jacobs design that opened for play almost ten years ago. A designated regional qualifying course for the Open from 2013 to 2017, this top woodland track also features in our GB&I rankings. Such is its undoubted quality (especially since the club’s recent investment in USGA greens), we think it’s a modern classic in the making. Rising one place to number 3, we have the course at Parkstone, where James Braid modified the original Willie Park Jnr. layout back in the early 1930s. Not much has changed at this terrific track since then and the course is all the better for it too, with fairways routed across heathland and around lakes and pine trees, in a wonderfully natural setting. At number 7, climbing two spots in the chart, the course at Dudsbury Golf Club, Hotel & Spa is a tree-lined parkland layout where water comes into play at no fewer than fourteen of the holes. Designed by Donald Steel and opened in 1991, it offers a really tough test of golf when played from the 6,900-yard championship tees. The only new entry in the latest edition of the Dorset rankings arrives at number 10 and it’s Knighton Heath, which is situated a few miles north of Bournemouth, with fairways set our around a compact 90-acre parcel of land. Extending to a modest 6,065 yards from the back tees, this tree-lined track is tight in places so playing to handicap is never a foregone conclusion when teeing it up here. Sincere thanks to all the clubs and professional golfers who assisted with our re-ranking process for this region. To view details of all the courses in our Dorset Top 10 rankings click the link. If you’ve played extensively across the southwest region of England and would like to contribute to our next re-ranking exercise then please email Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter at keith@top100golfcourses.com. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

A good halfway house can turn a great round of golf into a memorable one. It might be a cold beer on a Scottish links, a burger with a spectacular view or a hot drink to warm you up before the back nine. Whatever is on offer, the best halfway houses give golfers a chance to forget about the scorecard for a few minutes and enjoy the experience. We recently asked the Top100 Golf Courses community to share their favourite halfway houses, uncovering plenty of memorable stops around the world. We've picked five of their recommendations, alongside five more renowned halfway houses that are well worth knowing about. What is a Halfway House? A halfway house is a food and drink stop positioned around the turn of a golf course, usually between the ninth and 10th holes. Some are little more than a hut serving snacks and drinks, while others have become destinations in their own right, offering everything from full meals and cocktails to fires, views and plenty of local character. Five Halfway Houses Chosen by the Top100 Community Sunningdale Golf Club (England) There is a reason the halfway hut at Sunningdale has become one of the most famous refreshment stops in golf. The small Swiss-chalet-style building has been in place since 1903, sitting where the ninth holes of both the Old and New Courses meet their respective 10th holes. But the building itself isn't the main attraction. That would be the sausage sandwich. Sunningdale's legendary hut serves a simple sausage on buttered bread, with other food and refreshments available alongside it. The hut has become such an established part of the experience that the club's own tradition says everybody stops, but does so speedily. It's not fancy, and that's rather the point. After nine holes of heather-lined fairways, a hot sausage sandwich and a cup of tea can feel like exactly what golf ordered. Nairn Golf Club - The Bothy at Nairn (Scotland) The Bothy at Nairn has a history that goes well beyond golf. Built in 1877, the stone building and neighbouring icehouse formed part of the Easter Delnies Fishing Station, one of five salmon fisheries operating along the coast between Nairn and the mouth of the Findhorn. In a good season, the fishery could catch up to 5,000 salmon, with ice collected from local rivers and a specially made pond and stored in the icehouse to keep the catch fresh. The buildings have since been given a new lease of life, with the Bothy converted into a halfway house where golfers can stop for snacks and refreshments at the turn. On a cold day beside the Moray Firth, there's also a fireplace to warm up beside. The historic stone building, Highland setting and views across the course provide plenty of atmosphere. One of our community members put it rather simply: a dram of whisky and a fire are hard to beat. Hard to argue with that. Turnberry Ailsa (Scotland) Turnberry's halfway house is about as far removed from the traditional golf hut as you can get. The Ailsa's ninth hole now finishes beside the famous Turnberry Lighthouse, which doubles as a halfway house for golfers. The lighthouse itself dates back to 1873, while the golf course's dramatic ninth was redesigned as part of the Ailsa's major renovation. Inside, golfers can stop for food and drink before heading to the 10th, but the real attraction is outside. From the lighthouse, there are views across the Firth of Clyde towards the Isle of Arran and Ailsa Craig. It's a halfway stop that feels more like a destination than a quick pit stop. When your halfway house is a historic lighthouse overlooking one of Scotland's most spectacular stretches of coastline, you've got a pretty good excuse to take your time. Ardglass Golf Club (Northern Ireland) At Ardglass, the halfway-house experience is wonderfully straightforward: have a Guinness and enjoy the view. The course's old cottage halfway house at the back of the 7th green has become one of its most memorable features, with golfers able to stop for a pint before continuing their round. A recent visitor described it as a gorgeous cottage with Guinness, while another praised the combination of a Guinness, sausage roll and views over the Irish Sea. It fits Ardglass perfectly. The County Down links is already one of the most dramatic places to play golf in Northern Ireland, with the Irish Sea never far away. Add a pint of Guinness just before the turn and you've got a halfway house that feels distinctly of its surroundings. Sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Blair Atholl Golf Estate (South Africa) Blair Atholl might have been one of the less obvious names to appear among the community recommendations, but the descriptions made it impossible to leave out. The halfway stop sounds less like a quick break and more like an event. One golfer highlighted the chicken burger, a chef cooking a barbecue beneath the trees and a deck sitting beneath a stream. Another mentioned silver-service high tea. That's quite the halfway-house menu. It's also a good example of why the best stops aren't necessarily the most famous. A halfway house can become memorable because of the food, the setting or simply the feeling that you're being looked after rather than rushed back onto the course. Five More Renowned Halfway Houses St Andrews Links - The Old Course (Scotland) If we're talking about halfway houses, it makes sense to visit the place that has a claim to starting the tradition. In the 19th century, David "Old Da" Anderson sold ginger beer and other refreshments from a cart on the Old Course at St Andrews. It has been described as golf's first refreshment stand. The modern version sits behind the ninth green and keeps the tradition going, albeit with a rather more substantial menu. The pork and haggis sausage roll is a popular choice, while the club's own Tom Morris 1821 Lager provides a suitably Scottish accompaniment. It's difficult to think of a more fitting place for a halfway stop. The Old Course is steeped in golfing history, and even the break between nines has a story of its own. Pine Valley Golf Club (New Jersey, United States) Pine Valley's halfway house is memorable before you've even ordered anything. Rather than a conventional hut, it is built into the base of an old water tower, which golfers encounter around the eighth hole and again near the 12th tee. It's an appropriately unusual feature for one of the world's most unconventional golf courses. The tower doubles as a stop for drinks and snacks, giving golfers a chance to take a breather before continuing around Pine Valley. It even boasts an impressive collection of golf balls from around the world. There aren't many halfway houses that can claim to be built inside a water tower. Quivira Golf Club (Baja California Sur, Mexico) Quivira has taken the halfway-house concept and spread it across the entire round. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course has multiple all-inclusive comfort stations, each offering golfers food and drinks as they make their way around the Cabo San Lucas layout. The most spectacular is The Cliffs, perched almost 300 feet above the Pacific, where golfers can stop for a breakfast burrito and take in the views over the ocean. Then there's The Oasis, the main halfway house near the ninth green. Here, the emphasis is on the food, with freshly prepared Baja cuisine including tacos and tostadas, alongside a full tequila bar. A final stop, Cañada, sits near the 16th tee, while another comfort station beside the oceanfront practice facility offers snacks and cold drinks before golfers even reach the first tee. The food and refreshments are included in the green fee, making Quivira's comfort stations much more than somewhere to grab a quick drink. Tacos, tequila and spectacular Pacific Ocean views make the breaks almost as memorable as the golf. Whistling Rock Country Club (South Korea) At Whistling Rock, there isn't just one halfway house to look forward to. The South Korean club is made up of three nine-hole loops, each with its own themed tea house: Cocoon, Temple and Cloud. The three buildings are each distinctly different. One is a rounded structure between a lake and forest, another is a formal wood-and-glass building, while the Cloud tea house sits high among the trees. The result is a halfway-house experience that feels distinctly different depending on which nine you're playing, with each tea house adding another layer to the Whistling Rock experience. Royal Dornoch Golf Club (Scotland) Royal Dornoch's halfway house is proof that sometimes the best idea is a simple one. The stop sits behind the ninth green of the Championship Course, with views back across the links towards the Dornoch Firth. And then there's the traditional order: hot chocolate with Bailey's Irish Cream, a combination that makes considerably more sense when you're standing on a Scottish links in a North Sea wind. It's a small detail, but one that has become part of the Royal Dornoch experience and exactly the sort of halfway-house tradition golfers remember.