Top 200 Golf Courses in England 2011
Top 200 Golf Courses in England 2011
Unlike its UK counterparts – Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales – the English Tourist Board does not champion the promotion and development of golf tourism in England. Consequently, the majority of UK revenue generated by golf tourism goes elsewhere. We are unsure as to why England is the least popular UK golf destination because it has depth in the quality of its golf courses that can only be matched by the USA.
We presented the first ever rankings for England’s Top 100 golf courses back in 2006 and we even went to press and published the first (and so far only) book dedicated to England’s Top 100 golf courses. Since then, we extended our English rankings to 150 golf courses and now, for the first time and new for 2011, we’ve extended our rankings to 200 courses. These 200 courses represent the top ten percent of England’s golf courses and we expect this ranking list to become a coveted honour for many golf clubs.
Our selection process included reviewing more than 500 English courses and it was an arduous job selecting the first and second hundred. 19 courses not previously featured on the Top 100 website have made their debut and 29 Top 100 Gems have achieved a much-deserved ranking position. But only one previously unranked course has made our first one hundred.
Coombe Hill is one of only a few courses designed by J.F. “Aber” Abercromby and it is the highest new entry in our English rankings debuting at position 100. Fittingly the Coombe Hill Golf Club celebrates its centenary in 2011 and the course is an undulating, heavily wooded, heathland layout that is quintessentially English. According to Andy: “Just occasionally a course exceeds expectations in abundance – Coombe Hill has done just that during my first visit recently.”
There are many ups and downs in our latest England rankings but the highest climber is a relatively unknown West Country course. East Devon rockets 70 places in our rankings, settling comfortably in the mid section of our first hundred. Situated on a high heathland plateau atop the cliffs of Budleigh Salterton, the Herbert Fowler and Harry Colt-designed East Devon is totally enchanting and should be bracketed alongside Broadstone as one of England’s finest seaside heathland courses.
Click here to review our new England Top 200 in detail.
The First Hundred
Click here to see the Second Hundred