Alex Frolish has been a pilot for approaching 20 years and now travels to all corners of the globe in his role as a commercial airline pilot. His passion for flight is only equalled by his passion for golf and golf travel. Having picked up a golf club over 35 years ago when aged just 3 years old, Alex has played over 550 courses across every continent on planet earth furnished with a fairway. Over the next few months you’ll be able to follow Alex’s golfing travels as he brings you anecdotes of his life both in the air and on the course.
From 40000 feet above the Earth, you get to see our planet from the most privileged of positions. Whether it be the vastness of the oceans or the sheer scale of the rainforests, there are sights that can only truly be appreciated from seven miles above the ground. You also become pretty attuned to the weather in the places you fly over, and it turns out that, in the main, the Northern Hemisphere is a bleak old place in early February.
With that in mind, my northern hemisphere heavy February flying roster provided plenty of potential for cancellations and disruption. However, after a bad run of exactly that over the last few months, it turns out that if you keep making golf plans, eventually some of them will come together.
It started with a flight to San Francisco and a trip to a course that had been on my radar for a while. Yocha Dehe means ‘home by the spring water’ in the Patwin language spoken by the Wintun tribe from this area of California, and this golf course attached to a resort and hotel is rapidly gaining critical acclaim as one of the best newer public courses on the west coast of the USA. For most normal people, that round would have been enough for one day. But it was something that the starter had said to me that had peaked my interest. ‘You going back to San Francisco today? You want to check out Rancho Solano on the way home if you have the time, some of the best greens in the area’. The answer really was that I didn’t have the time, it was already 8pm on my UK body clock and I had a two hour drive back to my hotel, but as I found myself staring down the 1st hole at Rancho Solano some 30 minutes later having filled a last minute slot on the tee sheet, I knew I had done the right thing. When there is golf to be played and light left in the day, play it I will.
My next layover was a couple of days later on a flight to Nashville. We landed on Super Bowl Sunday and only had 24hrs off and to be honest, it felt only right to focus on other sports for this trip. I took the decision to leave the clubs at home and instead, I got my sporting fix from the vantage point of a bar stool in Kid Rock’s bar on Broadway.
St Enodoc, photo credit: Stuart Morley
I said that the February weather had been kind to me, but there was an exception. Back in the U.K, there is one course I had failed to play having had games arranged there more than any other. Twice I had sat in the clubhouse at St Enodoc watching the weather curtail my plans, and as I sat in the car park once again, watching the lashing rain envelope my windscreen, I thought I may never get to play this wonderful golf course. However, the rain eased (for a few minutes) and we ventured into the mist and finally, I got to see why so many people love this characterful golf course. The rain came with a vengeance as we encircled the church on the back nine, but no finer compliment can be paid to the course than that I would have happily ventured straight back out to play again if I hadn’t had a 4 hour drive ahead of me.
A quick trip to a place where the weather is rarely in question, Dubai, allowed me to go inside the ropes for the very first time at the home of the DP World Tour, the Earth course at Jumeirah Estates. My summary is that Greg Norman clearly likes the beach; the scale of his bunkering on this golf course can not be fully seen from the TV, but it is extensive. Very much like my San Francisco trip, the opportunity for more golf came suddenly and once presented, seemed inevitable. Both courses at Jumeirah Estates are Greg Norman designs and when one of the staff mentioned a tee time had become free that same afternoon to play the Fire course, I felt it only right to go and spend another 4 hours in the sand.
Rustic Canyon, photo credit: Patrick Koenig
My final trip of the month was possibly my most surreal adventure for some time. As we crested the mountains encircling the Los Angeles bowl in our descent into LAX, the snow covered more than just the peaks. The weather had been so foul that snow had sprinkled the streets of downtown LA (a rare occurrence indeed) over the preceding few days, and I expected we might not even venture out of the hotel, never mind onto the golf course. But a friend was in town, plans were made and we set off with hope to Rustic Canyon, a golf course that had been mooted as one of the best value green fees in America. Gil Hanse and Geoff Shackelford have created a wondrous masterpiece out in this valley north of LA, but it would have been even more pleasant to see it without rain water running down the inside of my underwear. Move forward 24 hours, and surreally, we found ourselves standing on the putting green at Los Angeles Country Club, a site where just 72 hours before, snow had covered the ground and now conversely, was bathed in warm spring sunshine. The North course has been renovated in recent times by Gil Hanse, and although Rustic Canyon and LACC North sit at opposing ends of the golfing spectrum in many ways, they are bound by the way they elicit pure enjoyment from those that experience them. We were the last set of visitors to play before the course was closed to non-members prior to the US Open later in the year. I can confirm we are all in for treat in a few months time.
That was it for my February adventures, a month that for the first time in a long time, was complete in terms of plans fulfilled. Looking forward to March, my travels are planned to take me to Japan, Mexico and to Oregon. In the U.K, I have some more early season links golf in the offing. Wherever you are and what ever you have planned, I wish you the straightest of drives, well negotiated four- footers and happy rounds.
Top 100 Golf Courses of Britain & Ireland 2018 Having produced updated ranking lists for England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales over the last couple of months, we’ve now gone through the process of merging those national charts then siphoning off the top one hundred courses to create an all-embracing Top 100 table for the geographical location which is commonly known as the British Isles. Several UK-based members of the Top 100 Team have each played more than 75% of the new GB&I standings but spare a thought for our Midlands and North of England correspondent Brian Ward, who thought he’d recently completed the hundred, only to now discover there’s a Scottish new entry in this edition that he’s not yet played! For those interested in statistics, the chart contains 45 English courses, 30 Scottish courses, 18 from the Republic of Ireland, 4 from Wales and 3 from Northern Ireland. Overall, 39 courses move up, 34 go down, there are 23 non movers and 4 new entries. The four courses dropping out (Lough Erne, Druids Glen, Moortown and Sherwood Forest) join 34 others which have appeared in at least one of the seven previous editions before falling out of favour. At the top of the chart, the Championship course at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland retains the number 1 position, holding off four very strong Scottish contenders in positions 2 to 5. It’s been at the top of our chart since 2006 and, quite frankly, something really extraordinary will have to happen to see the course dislodged from the top spot. A reviewer described it like this earlier in the year: “the course once again never ceases to amaze me… RCD is a wonderful golf course not to be missed by those who truly love golf and the magical places and topography upon which it is played.” There’s not much movement within the Top 20. The “re-born” Ailsa at Trump Turnberry (# 5) swaps places with the Dunluce at Royal Portrush (# 6) – both of these Open venues have just undergone extensive renovations by Martin Ebert – and the New course at Sunningdale (#14) and West course at North Berwick (#15) each advance one position at the expense of the Championship course at Portmarnock (#16). Royal Lytham & St Annes (#18) and the Balgownie at Royal Aberdeen (#19) also switch positions. Two English courses make it into the Top 30 for the first time. The James Braid-designed Church course at St Enodoc in Cornwall climbs a creditable nine places to number 28 and the Sir Guy Campbell and Major C K Hutchison co-designed layout at West Sussex in Pulborough leaps up eleven spots to number 30. Don’t be at all surprised if these two 18-hole tracks also make a first appearance in our World Top 100 when it’s published next month. Opened in 2002 and recently remodelled by Martin Hawtree, the Trump International Golf Links at Doonbeg soars an incredible thirty five places to number 41 in our revised Top 100, which is actually the same position it held in the 2006 edition of our GB& I chart. Our correspondent Fergal O’Leary visited the course a couple of months ago and he had nothing but praise for what he found: “I wholeheartedly encourage everybody to visit Trump Doonbeg… the playing conditions, the fun and the beauty are all a sight to behold. Doonbeg is once again ready for the world to arrive.” A decade ago, the West course at Wentworth occupied a position just outside the Top 20 in these rankings but it took a mighty tumble when we last reappraised the chart two years ago, falling out of the Top 50. After publishing an article back in March entitled The rise and fall of the troubled Burma Road, we think a climb of eight positions in the new chart to number 46 indicates the latest round of renovation work (involving the costly installation of a sub-air system on new bent grass greens) has gone some way toward rekindling affections for this much maligned Harry Colt track. Also making an impressive leap in the listings (up fourteen to 50), the course at The Island in Donabate, near Dublin, has benefitted from a raft of course improvements in the last few years. Under the direction of course superintendent David Edmonston, the club has returned native links grasses to the playing surfaces, improved its rough management and removed unsightly areas of seabuckthorn to open out vistas over the Malahide estuary. Architect Martin Ebert has also advised on the redesign of a number of fairway bunkers, using a technique called “marram slabbing”. In the lower half of the new Top 100, the following five courses make substantial positive moves. Renaissance Club, where the Senior Scottish Open was held this year on the European Senior Tour, rises twelve places to number 55. This Tom Doak design entered the GB&I chart in 2014 at number 84 then advanced to number 67 in 2016 so it’s following a clear path of upward progression. The club doesn’t exactly seek out casual golfers but it does offer a “One Time Experience” which many consider worth the hefty green fee in order to sample the playing privileges for a day at this private members’ club. Many were concerned when The Machrie closed for extensive remodelling a while back. Essentially, those who had previously played this old Willie Campbell layout on the Isle of Islay were probably thinking this late 19th century layout would lose much of its old-fashioned charm with a modern makeover. Well, we visited just three months ago and were mightily relieved to discover that architect DJ Russell has not just replaced what was there before, he’s vastly improved the links layout with a sympathetic new routing, completely revitalising the old course. Once the new hotel is finished next year, Machrie (up seventeen to number 56) should become a really formidable 21st century links golf destination. Broadstone in Dorset progresses thirteen positions to number 73. First set out by Tom Dunn in 1898, the course has been modified at various times by the likes of Willie Park Jnr, Herbert Fowler and Harry Colt so there’s never been any doubt about its architectural integrity. Ed Battye, a regular Top 100 reviewer and founder of the Golf Empire website, had this to say about the course six months ago: “Broadstone is a wonderful golf course on a truly amazing property in an area of the country that is quickly establishing itself as a region for top class golf. Traversing some superb golfing terrain it is an idyllic place to play golf with a spaciousness that few other courses can boast.” The Queen's course at Gleneagles rockets a sensational 24 places up to number 74. We invited four Scottish members from the ranking panel of a leading golf magazine to assist with our biennial chart revision north of the border this year and it was largely their collective opinion that made us realise we’ve been undervaluing this lovely old track for some time now. As a recent reviewer said: “it’s possible, and most likely probably, that the Queen’s at Gleneagles is the best golf course under 6,000 yards. Not just in Scotland, but anywhere” – and we’re not going to argue against that assertion. The Strand course at Portstewart makes an impressive 17-place upward move to number 76. Numerous course improvements were implemented ahead of the 2017 Irish Open, won by Jon Rahm. New tees have been added and one of the most dramatic is on the 8th hole (“Portnahapple”), which is set on the highest point of the course, from where you can see the adjacent Riverside course and the flowing waters of the River Bann. The club has also installed its own “Big Nellie” bunker on the short par five 14th (“The Hill”), where the tee has been offset to create a sweeping dogleg and an extra 30 yards of length. The back nine cannot compete with the drama of the stellar front nine, but these changes have markedly improved this impressive links course. There are four new entries in our Britain and Ireland Top 100. The first of these is Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links (new at number 90), located less than half an hour’s drive to the north of Dublin City centre on the ancestral family estate of the Jameson whiskey family. A mid-1990s co-design from Bernhard Langer and Stan Eby, the course and attached hotel were acquired by new owners in 2014 and a significant level of investment has been made to upgrade the visitor experience both on and off the course here. Links Superintendent Fintan Brennan has overseen the revetting of bunkers, the introduction of turf paths, the implementation of a rough management programme and the return of putting surfaces to fescue dominated grasses. Two places behind, at number 92, the Old course at Moray in Lossiemouth makes its debut in the GB&I hundred. The Moray Firth area is fast becoming something of a golfing hotspot, what with the championship courses at Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart and The Nairn all within easy reach of Inverness airport. The 36-hole golf club at Moray lies just a little further away from this triumvirate, between the RAF Lossiemouth base and the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse, so it’s often overlooked by visiting golfers, which is a big mistake. Truth be told, the unpretentious Old and New courses at Moray offer as good a day’s play out on the links as you might find anywhere in Scotland. New at number 99, the course at West Lancashire dates back to 1873, when the club was founded. A number of prominent architects have made revisions to the layout over the last 144 years, including Ken Cotton and Fred Hawtree in the early 1960s, but it’s the club’s recent appointment of Course Manager Stuart Hogg that has elevated the layout to its new found position among the elite of Britain and Ireland. Stuart’s a firm advocate of the firm and fast game and his staff have carried out lots of little projects around the course to emphasise its link credentials, from reintroducing natural swales around greensites to refurbishing many of the revetted bunkers. The final new entry arrives at number 100 and it’s Liphook, which is currently the number 1 course in Hampshire and the number 45 in England. Strictly speaking, it’s actually a re-entry into these rankings as it featured in our inaugural chart back in 2004 at #96 before making another brief appearance at #94 in 2010. First opened for play as an 18-hole layout in 1923, the course was designed by Arthur Croome, a partner in the architectural firm of Fowler, Abercromby, Simpson and Croome. It’s a charming heathland layout that’s much appreciated by golfing connoisseurs who don’t mind travelling the extra mile to savour the delights of such a delightful, understated course. We welcome feedback when we produce new rankings so please feel free to share your opinion of our new Top 100 for Britain & Ireland. Is there a top track that we’ve overlooked or is there a layout included that really has no business being there? Maybe a certain course is resting on its laurels or there’s one that should be higher in the standings? Whatever your view, click the “Respond to this article” link at the bottom of the page to let us know what you’re thinking. Rank/ To view the complete detailed list of the 2018 Britain & Ireland Top 100 click the link. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Rudo completes the World Top 100 “Ever” list The car park at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club was nearly empty. It was 07.30 am on a sunny late spring Monday morning. I pulled up alongside a car where the occupant was intently studying his smartphone. I knocked on the driver’s window. “Rudo?” “Keith?” After years of email exchanges and multiple phone calls I finally met the man who was attempting the impossible. Paul Rudovsky was in Somerset, England, on the final leg of a most audacious undertaking – to play the “World Top 100 Ever” list. Now, let me fill in a few details. World ranking lists have been around for some time – long before the Top 100 website was conceived and long before the Internet was born. Golf Magazine produced the first World ranking list (a Top 50) in 1979, but according to the late Tom MacWood the inaugural list was allegedly produced forty years earlier in 1939. Around ten years ago, MacWood created the “Tom MacWood Spoof” list, as Paul calls it – it was most definitely another list that had to be conquered. I’m very pleased Rudo decided to tackle MacWood's list because Burnham and Berrow remains unranked by any other World Top 100 publication – and so the planets had aligned for our Somerset meeting. Many of you will be familiar with Paul’s blog – Rudo’s Golf Travels – where he chronicles his golfing exploits: “This looked to be a tough trip. From May 17-27, a span of 11 days, my itinerary called for 16.5 rounds on 16.5 courses (one of which was a nine holer and proved to be the best of the lot), plus 6 flights within and between Great Britain and Ireland, France and Sweden (actually Copenhagen, Denmark), and some 1000-1200 miles of driving.” Needless to say, our time spent together at Burnham & Berrow was short – Paul had to run to catch a flight to Dublin straight after our Somerset round. “Me thinks B&B is a superb course, but I have a sense that St. Enodoc is the best of the courses in Southwest England.” It’s hard to argue with a man who has played the lot. During the short drive back home to Devon, I reflected on Paul’s impending achievement. Chasing lists is not everyone’s cup of tea, “six straight nights in six different hotels” is hard work and Paul is not a spring chicken. Most lists are bound to include courses that do not float the boat. “No more wandering around the countryside to play courses, just because they are on a list.” But the reality is, if they are on the list, they simply have to be ticked off and confined to the “rear view mirror”. “Prior to leaving for England on May 16, I had planned and booked trips to Barbados and Canada to cover three of them, and a few days after my return I was able to book a trip to Nova Scotia and a round at Brae Burn (in the Boston area). By mid June I had booked Skokie in Chicago for June 28…so everything looked to be in place.” Paul finished playing the World Top 100 Ever list in Nova Scotia. [Cabot] “Cliffs is a very very interesting golf course. Designed by Coore and Crenshaw, it is only 6764 (par 72) yards long from the tips…but as it is very exposed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the wind makes it play longer. It consists of 6 par 3’s, 6 par 4’s and 6 par 5’s…a highly unusual mix of holes.” “The round was so much fun. Playing my last of 295 courses with Pat [Paul’s long-suffering wife] was so extraordinary. She has been so so great through all this (not that she didn’t speak her mind a few times). And playing Cliffs with Ben…the creator of this place. As the saying goes: ‘it can’t get any better’.” “After the round concluded Ben presented me with a Cabot Cliffs hole flag signed with a special note. To be framed with some photos commemorating this special day.” Playing the World Top 100 Ever list involved conquering 317 courses (including the MacWood Spoof list) in 37 different countries. An eye-watering number of air miles later, only one person in the entire world can say “I’ve done it” and now “the New Golf Life Begins… Return to Great Ones” Congratulations Rudo – you’re one of a kind. Keith Baxter Editor-in-Chief Top 100 Golf Courses Comments in italics are extracts from Rudo’s Golf Travels blog.
Top 10 Golf Courses in Cornwall 2015 Cornwall Best in County rankings updated With a population estimated at around the half a million mark, Cornwall is one of the least populated counties in England. Along with Brittany, Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the region is recognised as a Celtic Nation, with a unique cultural identity reflecting its historical background. Cornwall comprises the westernmost portion of England’s southwest peninsula and it’s a popular holiday destination, despite its relative remoteness from the rest of the country. Over five million tourists visit Cornwall every year, accounting for around a quarter of the area’s economic income. Sailing, surfing and other water sports engage many of the visitors to the region but there’s also some great golf to be found here, especially along the spectacular seaside. With more than thirty clubs spread across the county, you’re never more than a short drive away from a course, wherever you might find yourself. We maintain a Top 10 for Cornwall and, since we introduced our regional rankings in 2012, the top four positions in our chart have remained the same. That means the St Enodoc (Church) 18-hole layout at St Enodoc Golf Club retains the number 1 spot. The links currently enjoys a 5-ball average review score, which is quite remarkable for a course that has attracted more than forty posts. The Trevose (Championship) links occupies the number 2 slot in our listings and this old Harry Colt track was recently described by Richard Smith, one of our regular American contributors, as “a nice breath of fresh air that gives you some room off the tee and numerous openings in front of the greens to play bump and run shots”. The St Mellion (Nicklaus) 18-hole layout is at number 3 and this Jack Nicklaus course – the Golden Bear’s first European design when it opened in 1988 – is a tough test, no matter which tees are used. The St Mellion International resort underwent a multi-million pound redevelopment in 2008 and this resulted in the unveiling of the Kernow course, a shorter and more forgiving track that complements Jack’s layout perfectly. At number 4, Perranporth is a James Braid creation and it’s reckoned to be the only links layout that the master architect ever designed from scratch. Situated on high ground, with wonderful views across Perran Bay, the course has few bunkers but it requires a number of blind shots to be played off the tee or approaching the green. The holes were re-sequenced in the 1980s but Braid’s work remains largely in place. Two courses make upward moves in our revised Cornwall chart: Rising one spot to number 5, we have West Cornwall, where Top 100 Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter recently played, describing it as “near to the top of my ‘quirky course’ list, which is the essence of seaside golf.” Also climbing two places to number seven, Newquay is a Harry Colt design which dates back to 1908, when the original course was expanded following an acquisition of land from the Treffy Estate. There’s only one new entry in the new listings, with China Fleet making way for Lanhydrock Hotel and Golf Club’s course at number 10. Situated close to the town of Bodmin, the modern parkland facility at Lanhydrock is owned and operated by the Bond family, which created the Nicklaus course at St Mellion. We’re grateful to all the clubs and professional golfers who assisted with our re-ranking process for this county. To view details of all the courses in our Cornwall Top 10 rankings click the link. If you have extensive experience of playing across the south west 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
