Gerard Fancourt

An absolutely terrific golfing experience. It is very hard to judge how to rate Shiskine. I have rated it 4, because, taking the text literally, you really should seek it it out if in the area. In fact I'd go so far as to say that if you are a golfer and you visit Arran, you would be daft not to play Shiskine.My golfing partner had played the course before, which saved me a lot of shots. Normally I am not a fan of blind shots, but somehow the scenery and his advice made them seem a logical feature of the course. Having said that, I thought that the two fully sighted par 3s, the 4th and the 5th were two of the best holes. The 4th would be up there in any selection of scenic golf holes. The par 5 9th is a really good hole and as someone else has said, a relief from the out and out quirkiness. I also really liked the par 3 11th, a long blind tee shot to a lovely green.The course was in good condition, the greens were very true, the welcome in the pro-shop was friendly, and the food in the clubhouse was decent. (It must be one of the very few golf clubhouses with no licence for alcohol!)As an overall golfing experience this could be a 6 ball. Certainly if I get invited to play Shiskine again, I will drop everything to play.......

Back for the first time in 5 years and Morgado has matured nicely. The course was in terrific condition, with really good, challenging, but fair, greens. In the main it is a relaxing place to play with forgiving fairways and a well designed, straightforward layout. The par 3s are all excellent.The back 9 heads away from the clubhouse, is hillier and is definitely more interesting, although all 18 holes are good.They are offering really good deals for Morgado and its on-site sibling Alamos, which is also a proper test. Well worth a couple of days.The clubhouse food is outstanding and the service is top-class.

Getting on a course is all a bit strange at the moment, but I played Bristol and Clifton this week. The course was in fantastic condition, greens were outstanding, and the fairways, given a good rest in Spring presumably, were outstanding. It will never be a really beautiful course, but it is a very good test. I have rather reviewed my position on the 15th - let's call it quirky rather than silly, but I still think that the 16th is a poor golf hole. However, I have played all of the courses ranked above Bristol and Clifton in Gloucestershire, except Cleeve Hill, and I can't see that any of them should definitely be ranked higher.

A return visit, this time with a regular group of golf tourists. We all thoroughly enjoyed the North course, which was in terrific condition. I disagree with the previous review which described the front 9 as bland. The 1st is a really good stiff start. reachable in two, but with a risky second to a green which is much flatter than most. The 2nd is a bit regulation holiday course, but the 3rd, which looks like a straightforward par 3 from the tee, has a really nasty tricky green, which requires a very pure strike to hold. 4 and 5 are good sweeping driving holes, 6 is a terrific uphill par 3, with a blind green, 7 a good uphill par 4, and 8, which is the SI1 is a really difficult but interesting dogleg par 5. 9 and 10 are a bit of relief, shortish par 4s, then 11 is a classic risk and reward short par 4. You can take on the green, if you fancy your chances over a dogleg right guarded by pretty tall trees. 12 is the very short par 3, which is hit the green or you are dead. 13 is a great downhill drive, followed by a very tough shot into a domed green, 14 a very uphill shortish par 5, 15 is almost a shorter rerun of 13, with another very difficult domed green. 16 is a brute of a par 3, again a very difficult green. 17 is a weakish down and up par 4 with OB very close to the left hand side. 18 is decent par 5 into a very heavily guarded green.After all the detail, how about an overall impression? Well, this is a good test of golf in very pretty surroundings. There are no houses on the entire North course, which is mostly bounded by a salt marsh. In the main, it is a very fair course, although the domed greens between 13 to 16 are borderline unfair. As an overall design it is a good open driving course, with a requirement for much more accuracy to tight and well protected greens. In February it was in very good condition, but it is a golf resort, and you just have to accept rounds which take 4.5 to 5 hours.The clubhouse has a decent menu, the pro shop is well run and the hotel is excellent.One last point - the South Course at El Rompido is a very good course, yet it doesn't get a mention in the Top100. Tighter, but with terrific greens, it a stern test, and in my view, it is a much better course than many others in Spain and Portugal featured on this website, including Islantilla, just down the road. In my view it is well worth a visit on its own merits.

I was surprised by Bath GC. I had expected a mature, well maintained, even manicured, parkland course. What I played was a very ordinary layout with distinctly agricultural fairways and very lumpy greens.The par 3s are all good, the 3rd is a good par 4 despite the blind drive, the long par 4 5th is a challenge, and I liked the par 5 15th. The 17th is a quirky short par 4, and the finishing par 4 18th is one of those holes which will be a lot easier the second time that you play it. None of them were in good enough condition, though.The saving grace here is the position on a hillside high above Bath. There are tremendous views over the outskirts of the city from the 3rd and 4th.A box ticked, I doubt if we will return.

We played the green/blue combination twice on successive days. This is definitely resort golf, in fact it is very hard to believe that a European Tour event was held here.The greens are excellent, true, and in terrific condition. Fairways and tees are a bit rough. The green course, which was our front nine is pretty bland and unmemorable, although the par 3 2nd is an excellent mid-distance uphill hole, very difficult to club. On the blue course there are a couple of really good holes, the par 3 2nd, a longish carry across water to a shallow tiered green, and the very good uphill par 4 9th.In the main the fairways are narrow, and this could not be called a driving course. No more than OK, but the hotel is nice enough and the area is easily accessible from Faro airport. However, we will not return. El Rompido, just down the road, has two much better courses and is a smarter hotel.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable course. It is not a 'championship' course and is all the better for it. It is just long enough to be challenging, wide enough to be forgiving, and the greens are excellent but not straightforward. It should probably be classified as a holiday golf course, but it is a very superior member of that category. It was in good to very condition, one or two scruffy tees being the only real blemish.All of the par 3s are good, the 2nd has water in front of the left half of the green allowing you bail out right or risk going for the pin, the longer 7th is a real challenge with water down the right of a narrow green, the 12th is a superb downhill hole with a good trick of design which makes club selection very difficult. I disagree with reviewers who don't like the 9th and 13th, I like the change in elevation and the semi-blind tee shots. There is no unfair danger waiting over the hill. In my opinion, the only weakish hole is the short par 4,17th and that is weak rather than poor.In fact fairness is a characteristic of this course, one which I would say should make it a pleasure for golfers of all standards.The reception, starter and restaurant were all very friendly, and the course was comparatively uncrowded for a weekend on the Costa del Sol. We were around in just over 4 hours, which is a lot quicker than many of our other experiences in the area.

This is a much better course than I had expected, and pretty decent value. It is resort golf, a bit soulless, but perhaps due to the grim weather, we were virtually alone on the course. Considering the recent terrible storms in South Wales, the course was in really good condition.I think that the order of play has been changed since some of the earlier reviews.In general, the course is set up to be pretty forgiving from the tee. You can be quite wayward without any punishment worse than some gentle rough.In my view the star hole is the 13th, a dog leg par 4 which requires a pretty daunting mid-iron second, from a downhill lie, across a water hazard lined with dense scrubby bushes, to a very elevated green.The 5 par 3s are quite tough, two at about 175 yards and three at about 210 yards. In a way they sum up the course - a decent design, a good test, but lacking in character.

A thoroughly enjoyable course, in mostly very good condition. Classic Southern English parkland golf, on very picturesque rolling terrain. On a nice afternoon, it was perfect place for a sufficiently testing, but not too difficult round of golf.Good greens, true, challenging but not ridiculously tricky. Fairways generally very good, although it looked as if they might get quite wet in winter. One or two tees a little scruffy. They must get a lot of use, as the whites and yellows share the same smallish tee boxes. All four par 3s are excellent golf holes and cover a good range of lengths from the outstanding 146 yard 2nd, to the almost equally good 218 yard 12th.All three par 5s are under 500 yards, and are gettable in two shots, without much penalty for missing the green. We thought that the steeply downhill 18th would be a drive and a mid-iron at most in dry conditions, and might have been a par 4 on many courses. You could argue that they are slightly weak, but we enjoyed having a go.The long uphill par 4 10th was much harder to reach in 2 shots.The clubhouse was welcoming and unstuffy, and the whole package makes for a very pleasant place to play golf. We will definitely come back.I'd almost make this a 5, and it would make a good contrast to nearby Burnham and Berrow, pure links vs pure parkland, although B&B is obviously in a different class.

Bristol and Clifton is an odd course. It is without question a good test of golf. In fact, it is a tough course, although fairer than its more picturesque, but almost equally tough neighbour, Long Ashton.However it lacks any sort of architectural coherence, so there is little flow from hole to hole. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th and 9th are very good holes, as are the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 18th. I like the 14th, but I can understand why people would dislike the almost blind shot into the green. The 15th is plain silly, a tricked up short par 4 with a wall running down what should be the fairway, and the 16th is a tough but unfair uphill par 4 with a sloping fairway which punishes a straight drive. Having said all of that, B&C is still probably the best course in the Bristol area.

Yesterday was our annual visit to B&B. A lovely day with a one-club wind.The course was in very good nick, particularly the greens which have to be some of the truest in the country. The first 5 holes are one of the best starts to any links golf course. Part of the appeal is that they look more difficult than they really are, unless it is really blowing, so you can actually get off to a confidence building start.The criticism of the section from 7 onwards is largely unjustified, other than on 'character' grounds. 7 is a bit of a featureless slog, but 8 is a very good par 5, just not very 'linksy', and 9 is a terrific par 3. 10 is back into the dunes, and is a very blind tee shot, which I don't like, but it is a good hole. 11 is decent enough, but flat. From then on the course gets back into true character. The two par 3s on the back 9 are unforgiving brutes and the 18th is a great finishing hole.The clubhouse is very unstuffy for a course of this type, and the catering is excellent.

A long and interesting course. Contrary to other reviewers, I though that the very short par 3 was a welcome relief! Greens are very true, but difficult to read. Fairways were excellent, especially considering the number of golfers they get onto this course (of which more later). The course gets off to a punishing start with a very stiff par 4 opener, with a particularly tight approach to a shallow green - anything left is dead in the marshland. I liked all of the par 3s, and the par 5s are open enough to allow a good thrash a fairway wood. The weak hole, in my opinion is the 17th, with a downhill layup at about 230-240 yards. My only problem with El Rompido was too many people, playing too slowly. It is most definitely a golf resort, not a hotel with a golf course, so almost everyone in the very large hotel and apartment complex is there to play golf. They get a huge number of people through, but rounds are inevitably protracted, over 5 hours in our case.The South course is less crowded and is a very good test.

We played this as a warm up at the start of a golf tour. Despite pretty grim weather, we enjoyed it far more than expected. It is not long but it is a good test. A proper layout, almost no 'up and down' neighbouring holes, plenty of variation and slopes. You have to think your way round, and a couple of holes are seriously tight. A very good set of par 3s.Tees were a bit scruffy, but the fairways were in decent condition, and the greens were very good.We were made very welcome in the pro shop and clubhouse, and although the latter is pretty basic, the food was good.It is by no means the best course in the Marbella area, but we would definitely go back, and I would be perfectly happy to play Cabopino regularly.

I like Morgado. I have played there 3 times, the last time in February 2017, in foul weather.The first few holes are a bit flat and bland, though tightish, then the course opens up into a lovely undulating challenge, with some water thrown in for good measure. The greens were in excellent condition, as were most of the fairways. It is not that tough, so I was a bit surprised to see it used for the Portuguese Open this year. I would have thought that it was pretty straightforward for Tour pros.However this a proper test for amateurs, and, probably as a result of the 2008 property crash, the course is not overlooked by housing, so it is a nice contrast to many of the other Algarve courses. Alamos, the other course on the resort is also a proper test, and there are good deals to be had for booking a round at each, even on different days.

I play here most years. My 2017 visit was in January. The course is now thoroughly bedded in after its redesign, and is a real pleasure.It is beautiful, a proper challenge, but reasonably forgiving. A bad shot costs you a shot or two, not a reload. Very good greens, fairways in excellent condition, tees not quite so good. The Atlantic holes are some of the most spectacular you will see anywhere.The course was uncrowded, the clubhouse is good, the staff very helpful and the whole thing was very good value.

This is a classic Robert Trent Jones Snr layout, (in its original form). Not too testing, although quite tight at times. A series of really good par 3s and some great views.  Enough for the good player, and enjoyable for the higher handicapper. That is the good news.However, a revisit over Easter 2016, revealed an absurd re-ordering of the holes, which takes away some of RTJs flow, and a course which is overplayed and under maintained. The greens were mostly good, but tees and bunkers were in need of some serious attention, and there were far too many people on the course.On a quiet day, it would still be a lovely place to play golf.

I am a very regular visitor to St.Kitts and Nevis, and have been playing this course since the mid-1990s.The revamp was much needed, and since then, it has, in my opinion, become the best course on the two islands. It is also by far the best value for money.Four Seasons on Nevis may have slightly better views, but if you want to play golf, this is a better challenge, with 16 really good holes, some of which are truly spectacular, and couple of lacklustre, but OK, holes on the Caribbean side.The prices are pretty reasonable for a Caribbean course of this quality, and the course is generally in decent condition. Greens are tough to read, but give a true roll, the fairways are usually pretty good. The tees have been a bit rough on a couple of occasions, but nothing bad enough to cause problems.Thoroughly recommended.

This is a lovely place to play golf. The setting is beautiful, the staff are great. The course is very playable, not too long and fairly forgiving. The greens were in terrific condition, the tees good, and the fairways OK.Highlights are the par 3s, which are all very good, especially the 17th, which requires very careful clubbing into a narrow green.We played on Easter Sunday, so the course was busy, but we got round in under 4 hours.Whilst we loved the course, and it is the sort of course of which you would be glad to be a member, I don't quite see it as deserving of its ranking. Quinta do Peru, not far away, is in my view, a sterner test, and the new Palmares is in a completely different class, yet Penha Longa gets a higher rating? I don't see it , but maybe someone else does?

We played Palmares twice in late February. Alvor, Lagos on the first occasion and Lagos Praia on the second.I would recommend the latter combination, if you are only able to play once. This is a very serious course, in beautiful condition. When the wind is up, it is downright difficult. The par threes are particularly good - a decent mix of distances. The greens are in very good condition, and are quick and tough to read. Sand in the bunkers was a good depth and good quality. Teeing areas are well kept, and the whole pace feels cared for.The staff are excellent and welcoming, the views are tremendous, the prices are fair. I would rate this as a must play on the Algarve. Most of our group walked, it is a bit of a slog but the staff collect you from the 18th or 27th and take you back up to the clubhouse

A very good course indeed. Many excellent holes in an interesting and challenging layout. The greens were in good condition, the fairways OK. The situation is attractive. It looks as if Font de Llop was meant to be the centrepiece of a very large development, but I suspect that the money ran out, so there is no housing around the course.The front 9 and the last three holes are varied and quite tough. If you were being picky, the first few holes on the back 9 are a bit up and down, but we liked the course a lot. We were welcomed warmly in the pro shop, but the bar restaurant was really ordinary. It should be played if you are anywhere near.

Revisited Aroeira I, after a 6 year absence.It is still a lovely course meandering through the trees, and a decent test. However, there were signs of a lack of care and attention,particularly on the tees which were often very rough.A lovely place to play golf on a winter day, and the criticisms of the clubhouse, are, in our view, unfounded. We had an excellent lunch.

A beautiful day in mid-November. The course was in terrific condition, we saw almost no-one all the way round.I played the course about 6 years ago, and was slightly disappointed in the condition of the greens.All such concerns are gone, the greens were true and fairly quick. The fairways were in terrific condition, and the course has matured well. A good set of par 3s, and one of the best par 5s you will ever see.I think it is a good test, and it is certainly a good varied layout in beautiful setting.The clubhouse is now very smart, and the food and service were excellent.l

A nice warm up for the first day of our tour. The facilities are a bit strange, it looks like the money ran out, so you have to drive about 3km from the clubhouse to the first tee.However, once there, the course is a good, fairly forgiving layout, with a good set of par 3s.

We loved this course. It is a great place to golf, with some of the finest views you will see from any golf course.It is absolutely not a links course, more like a seaside heathland course, with plenty of gorse-like plants, and challenging carries over scrubby ravines.The greens were in very good condition, and the fairways OK. The stretch of holes along the sea have great views towards Gibraltar and North Africa, and are unique.I would agree that there could be better guidance on the layout of some of the holes, especially the seaside stretch, as there are times when the course gets a little tricksy.All of the par 3s are interesting with a good variation in length and difficulty.The new clubhouse is the nicest we have been in on the Costa del Sol, and the food and service were good.I am sure, in fact I know, that there are technically much better courses to play in the area, but if you don't enjoy the experience on the Alcaidesa Links course, I think that you might have something missing in your soul.We will be back soon.

I agree with other reviewers, in that I am surprised that this course appears so high in the rankings.We played the Pinos & Alcornoques combination, which is a decent challenge, but does not feel like two nines which should be on the same course. Pinos is tight, tree-lined, a bit squeezed in, and at times close to crazy golf, whereas Alcornoques is more open, both in design and geography.The greens were in really good condition, and were very fast and very true, amongst the best we have seen in Southern Spain. The fairways a bit mottled and rough.The pro shop is helpful and courteous, whereas we found the food and service in the clubhouse to be poor.I don't think that this a bad course, at all, but I think that there are many more enjoyable and better laid out courses within a few miles.

The New course is no doubt a good technical design, in that a decent golf course has been squeezed into a tiny parcel of land. It is also without question, a good test of golf, and was in really good condition, especially the fairways.However, I felt that the course felt manufactured, formulaic and lacking in soul. There are obviously artificial humps and bumps everywhere, the bunkers are often decorative rather than useful, and the same visual tricks are repeated on too many holes.If you enjoy a purely technical test of your game, I can see that this course deserve it high rating. If you want more from your round, I fear that you will, like us, come away rather disappointed or even disgruntled.The clubhouse was in some ways the same. Good food, efficiently presented, but a bit charmless.Of a party of eight, one said he would return.  The rest categorised the experience as 'glad to played there, have enjoyed a lot of other courses a lot more, would not return.'

I played the course for about the tenth time on the 23rd December 2012. It is a tough, tight, course in one of the most beautiful settings you can imagine.However, I do not subscribe to the view, widely held it should be said, that this is a great, or even very good course. There are three holes which verge on crazy golf, the 9th, the much vaunted 16th and the 17th. The 3rd is a very ordinary par 3, and the 4th is a very short par 4 of little merit. We paid US$205 for a round, for which we would expect the course to be immaculate. It wasn't. The greens were rough and some were heavily sanded, and the tees were in bad need of some simple maintenance.

A warm welcome, a fantastic scenic setting, and wonderful lush fairways. Well worth a visit.However, after the front 9, we weren't very impressed. The second is an interesting par 3, but from then on the holes are very much squeezed in, and 6-9 are dead straight up and down, narrow and uninteresting.Then just as you about to write your visit down as no more than a nice place, ordinary course, the back 9 changes your mind. From  the 11th onwards, a series of lovely sweeping par 4s, and 3 good par 3s, present a proper challenge in beautiful surroundings.The greens, mostly small and not very receptive, are quick and challenging.It is not a great course, or perhaps even a very good course, but the excellent and beautiful back 9 make it well worth a visit.

The first time that I have played the course in some years, and Stoke Park was in terrific condition. The tees were an example to many much vaunted courses, and the greens were fast and immaculate. It is a fine place to play golf, majestic club house, very friendly pro-shop, excellent food and not at all snotty or pretentious. Although it is a decent layout, I don't think that it is in the first rank of Colt courses, nor is it that stiff a test. It is not long off the whites, the fairways are generous, and the greens are mostly receptive.  In my opinion doesn't deserve to ranked quite so high, and I am not sure that it deserves to be ranked above Beaconsfield or Denham, two other Colt courses located nearby. Both are certainly cheaper and less busy than Stoke Park.

Played yesterday, in very tough conditions. Howling gale and rain.Under those conditions, the course is very tough indeed, particularly the front nine. The short par three 5th, the 6th and the 8th required nerves of steel  tee shots, setting the ball off way out left towards impossible rough, hoping that you had judged the wind well enough.The idea that the 6th, 7th and 8th are not good or tough holes is nonsense. They look out of character with rest of the course, but they are certainly good enough to be included in a really stern test.Wind conditions meant that the back nine was easier, although  the 17th and 18th are a very severe finish.If I were to nominate a weak hole, it would be the 16th, which offers no real challenge.The greens were absolutely excellent, the clubhouse welcoming, the food very good. In my opinion Burnham and Berrow is severely underrated.

Nice enough course, in fact very nice, but let's not exaggerate. A lovely spot, good greens, but very poor condition fairways and tees.  Too many blind shots, especially too many blind second shots.Very good par 3s, including a cracking finishing hole, across water towards the fine old mansion.A friendly welcome and a good lunch in the clubhouse.We'll play there again, happily, but it is not really a top rank course.

There is no doubt that this is a good test of golf. It's a tough course, but fair and in very good condition. It's also totally soulless and undeservedly pleased with itself. The pro-shop staff were disinterested, and the starter was dreadful. Well worth a visit, if someone else is paying. Don't bother paying the ludicrous green fee, though. You could easily play two better and more enjoyable course for the same amount of money.