Review of the Month - September 2023

The purpose of the Review of The Month feature is twofold. Top100GolfCourses has always aimed to salute and encourage those who are putting admirable effort into reviewing the world’s great golf courses. Moving forward, we are also looking to learn from these experts! We’ll be chatting with the month’s star authors and discussing topics such as golf in their area, what they like to see in a strong course review, and of course dig a little deeper into their own winning review.

September 2023’s Review of The Month comes from Andrew Lilley, who has found peace and admiration with modern, big-name links projects, in part thanks to his round at Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Kyle Phillips has been a tad more active in the UK than most modern American designers. Have you had the opportunity to play any of his courses aside from Kingsbarns? Or perhaps you can compare to other modern links from the likes of Gil Hanse or Tom Doak?

I've only been playing a couple of years and most of my time has been spent at the old classics so Kingsbarns is the only Kyle Phillips design I've played so far. Ideally I'd say come back to me with this question once I've had the chance to play the likes of St Patrick's Links, Castle Stuart and Trump Aberdeen, which occupy similar positions in the rankings to Kingsbarns so I can offer a more meaningful comparison, but I have played Renaissance Club and the Glashedy course at Ballyliffin to be able to provide a comparison of sorts amongst the newer courses.

With all the modern machinery available these days, I think there must be temptation for architects and shapers to move whatever earth they need to make the course they imagine but that also needs to be balanced with the existing landscape so it doesn't look completely artificial. Therefore I'd say the original location is key when constructing a modern course and for me that's the biggest thing that Kingsbarns has over the other two courses I mentioned.

I know the sea isn't an architectural concept but the setting does play a decent part in my opinion of a golf course and whilst Renaissance does have the magnificent tenth on the Firth of Forth and there are glimpses of Pollan Bay at various points during the round at Ballyliffin, there is nothing like the sea views and shoreline holes on offer at Kingsbarns.

Also from a purely architectural point of view, I'd say that whilst Renaissance and the Glashedy do have some wonderful holes and architectural features, everything is just on a higher level at Kingsbarns…the variety of the holes, strategy, green complexes and bunkering, which if you go solely off the rankings is what you'd expect.

Photo credit: Larry Lambrecht

A common complaint I hear regarding well-renowned links courses is that the closing hole doesn't quite live up to the thrill of the fill. Are there any links clubs that absolutely deliver on the final hole, which you'd cite for comparison?

Yes, absolutely there are. St Andrews Old, Royal County Down, Muirfield and Royal Birkdale I can name straight away and there will probably be a few more if I thought about it. The closing holes at the courses I've named are great for different reasons but are all wonderful on an architectural level too. Leaving all the history aside, No. 18 on the Old Course is a fantastic hole in its own right…the chance to bomb driver to get as close as possible but with out of bounds lurking all down the right. RCD’s closer is just a brute of a hole, Muirfield's is very similar and then you have the potential birdie opportunity that the No. 18 at Royal Birkdale presents.

The question did make me think though about why many courses do have that weaker finishing hole. The only reason I can think of is those older courses that predominantly have an out and in routing, the likes of St Andrews, North Berwick and my home club of Silloth on Solway for example, all start where the flat land that's ideal for a clubhouse was located and allowed for easy access in days gone by before heading out into the more interesting land. That's where my frustration with No. 18 at Kingsbarns comes from. I can understand not being able to move masses of earth 100-plus years ago but now a site can be changed completely in a day so the opportunity was surely there to make a great finishing hole.

You mention the common perception held of modern links, that they're built to appeal to big spenders and golf travelers. Any thoughts on how such a project might angle for the "charm" that such a links as Elie or Brora et al provide?

To be honest, I think the modern links courses should celebrate what they are. I've not played Elie yet (it's on the list albeit with many many others) but I have been to Brora and the charm of those type of courses for me comes from their sheer simplicity and the thought that when those courses were laid out, the architects will have pegged out some green sites, dug out a hole and said to golfers “off you go.” Unless an architect comes across a truly spectacular piece of land, then I can't see any modern links ever going down that path nor do I think they should.

Another gripe I have with Kingsbarns is in a similar vein, how the clubhouse is traditional looking, both inside and out. My thought is that it's a modern course so have a modern clubhouse, don't try to have something from 100 years ago which then feels out of place.

Now that you're a celebrated "Review of The Month" winner, let us know what factors you appreciate in a strong golf course review!

Hmmm, that's a tough one as I tend not to read many reviews before I play somewhere, I prefer to go to a course relatively blind so I've got as few preconceptions as possible. I do like reading them after though to see how people's thoughts compare to mine.

My reviews do tend to be fairly lengthy so there's probably many things I could say. I like a bit of history on the course, some overall thoughts and highlights of the key holes and features. Despite the website offering a ranking of 'perfection', I've yet to play the perfect course (although six courses have come close enough to warrant a rating of 6) so I also like to see some critique about what isn't so good but importantly the reasons why the reviewer feels like that. Also I'd say that I want to read about the golf course. Yes, I love some comments on if the lunch is mega or the showers are worthy of a world class spa (I've learnt over time that these are very important to us golfers) but don't make the whole review all about them.

I do enjoy too, reading the personal stories and anecdotes that many people include in a review, as alongside actually hitting that little white ball around a field, discussing courses and golf course architecture, the people you meet through this wonderful game are such a big part of what makes it great.

What's one course that you're excited to write a review for in the upcoming year?

I'd love to be able to say Cypress Point, Pine Valley or Augusta National but back on Planet Earth, completing the Open Rota is top of my bucket list so I would say either Carnoustie, Royal Cinque Ports or Musselburgh Old as they are the three I've got left to play. I wouldn't complain either if I needed to write a review of one of the Sunningdale courses, or ideally both!