Recently, my fellow rankings collaborator Jeremy Ellwood revealed his selection of ten excellent courses in the Next 100 that most significantly float his own particular golfing boat. Now it’s my turn, and I will start by saying that while he and I tend to agree on most things regarding the various attributes of different courses, without consulting we each came up with an entirely different list with no overlaps. This, I think, shows perfectly just how much we all have our own inclinations and tastes. My personal preferences, as you will probably deduce from my choices, are very much about visuals and variety. I tend to go for courses where the holes themselves look lovely as does their setting in the wider, external context, and where each is different from the others, a new and unknown adventure.
Knole Park
The short eighth at Knole Park is just one of eighteen very different holes
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
Like Jeremy, I shall start close to home, and Knole Park is one of four English clubs in my selection. I first played its unique, expansive, endlessly varied Abercromby design way before I joined a club. On the outskirts of Sevenoaks in Kent, it runs through a beautiful, pastoral, gently undulating deer park. Celebrating its centenary last year, it grabbed me from day one with its intoxicating mix of four par 5s and six varied short holes. Two of the prettiest of these are the 5th, which is played over a valley and up to a perfectly-sited green, and the lovely, downhill 8th, flanked by ponds and bracken. Fully deserving of its place in the Golf Monthly Next 100, I will happily keep going back for as long as they will have me!
Cowdray
Looking back over the par-5 fifth at Cowdray which is played from high on the hill, down over a dip, to a well-protected green
(Image credit: James Hogg)
My second pick, also driving distance from home, is the greatly improved Cowdray in West Sussex. Set in the scenic South Downs, it was substantially upgraded by Tom Simpson more than a century ago, and then again just a couple of winters ago when William Swan completed a comprehensive and visually appealing bunker upgrade. The hillside site offers up panoramic views, and there are plenty of interesting design features such as the rollercoaster double green shared by the 8th and 16th. The opening is particularly testing featuring three tough par 4s punctuated by a lovely downhill short hole, and its promotion into the Next 100 this time round is fully warranted.
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