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Area guide: Marrakesh, Morocco
Marrakesh is Morocco’s fourth-largest city and one of its most historic; it has for centuries been renowned for its heaving souk, its elegant palaces and its intricate berber carpets. One of the city’s...
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Portugal to get another Nicklaus design
Number of Jack Nicklaus courses in Portugal to double Monte Rei’s second course will “have many similar features to the first, great trees, wonderful topography, beautiful vistas, and has the potential...
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City break: Turin, Italy
Golf in Turin: Six courses to play Royal Park (Trent Jones): This prestigious club is just 15 minutes from Turin-Caselle airport and provides two courses on this long weekend. Known locally as ‘I...
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For your bucket list: Ayla, Jordan
It is a blend of ancient and modern attractions. It mixes the most basic lifestyle with luxury living. It stirs the soul as deeply as it indulges 21st Century whims. And it is as rich an experience as...
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Why it’s time to put New Zealand on your bucket list
Golf in New Zealand moves to next level The course in the pictures above and below this sentence is Tara Iti, and we are guessing it makes you absolutely desperate to play it. Us too. The bad news is...
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An expert’s guide to following your football team on a golf trip
This month my golf trip agenda took me to Germany to watch my beloved Liverpool Football Club. But first… The Pyramids and real-life dodgems in Cairo “Come with me to Cairo and play in the Pro–Am at...
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Area guide: Munich, Germany
Think about Munich and a lot of instantly appealing aspects will spring to mind… the legendary beerhalls (and specifically world-famous Oktoberfest), Bayern Munich, a vibrant yet historic city centre....
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‘What’s my career missing? I want to design a links from scratch’
Tim Lobb was inspired by Australian icon Peter Thomson – and ended up working with him. One of the busiest modern architects tells Chris Bertram about how he got into course design… What are your first...
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The 10 best courses in New York (trust us – you want to play these)
The best golf courses in New York? Where do we start? As well as a myriad other attractions, the Empire State also happens to have more world-class tracks than any other city on the planet. In fact,...
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Former Open venue to get a facelift
Architect Martin Ebert has a masterplan for 1932 Open venue Prince’s. But we’ll get to that later, as first we’ll head to Portugal… Ombria to open in 2021 Ombria, five miles north of Loule in central...
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The inside story of Dumbarnie, Scotland’s new world-class links
While all the chat has been about Coul Links – and understandably so, given the combination of a promising seaside site, legendary developer Mike Keiser and feted architects Coore-Crenshaw – Scotland...
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‘Plagiarism is part and parcel of golf course architecture’
The son of the head greenkeeper at Gleneagles, David McLay Kidd was steeped in the game from an early age. But it took an intrepid and bold attitude to get him his big break in design, as he tells me...
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Course focus: La Reserva Club, Spain
The back story of La Reserva La Reserva Club is located in the premium residential community of Sotogrande in the Andalusian province of Cadiz around the Guadiaro river estuary. Thirty minutes west of...
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Ever been skiing and played golf in the same day?
My month began in a random Eastern European country, continued in South West England, took in an architect’s conference in Paris, and concluded with another trip to the Middle East. An eclectic mix...
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Area guide: Porto, Portugal
Portugal could barely be more on the radar of British golfers, with the Algarve our No.1 destination for a trip abroad and the three areas around Lisbon making rapid progress in the market of late too....
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Course spotlight: Tbilisi Hills, Georgia
The life of a golf course architect is nothing if not varied. Sometimes they are given a heaven-sent site that they have conjured up in their minds since they were a teenager dreaming about a career...
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‘I’d like to build a course with the character of St Andrews’
What are your first memories of the game? That was a long time ago and I am not sure my memory is good enough to remember! I think it may have been watching the Masters but it might not have been. I...
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Classic Course: NewGiza, Egypt
You have to think there is some bunching up of groups around the 4th hole of NewGiza in Cairo, but it is an occasion that for once no-one is too bothered about the pace of play. It’s hard to imagine...
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Top 10 courses in Northern Ireland – where does the Open host fit in?
Is Open venue Royal Portrush leading the best golf courses in Northern Ireland? And does a parkland threaten the top 5, or is the upper end of the ranking seaside-only stuff? All these questions are...
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Resort spotlight: Al Zorah, Ajman
Let’s get straight to the point: this is the best golf resort in the Middle East and North Africa. There is a good chance that suggestion may surprise you because, as was the case for me until...
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‘I went to Dornoch and suddenly realised what golf was all about’
Tom Mackenzie is one half of the feted Mackenzie & Ebert firm that advises the R&A on most of its Open courses. We met him to hear about his life in golf… What are your first memories of the...
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Course focus: Berkhamsted, England
There are courses which you struggle to remember shortly after you’ve played them, and then there’s Berkhamsted Golf Club. This classic English woodland course has a rare claim to fame and is a course...
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Seven reasons to book a golf break in Belek
You probably know someone who’s been. You will have read about it in magazines. You might have seen the European Tour tournaments there. And you’ll have seen the pros tweeting about how good it is when...
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From Oman to East Lothian via Denmark: Just a standard month for our travel man
This month was all about the search for great courses and destinations that usually fly under the radar and saw from me playing golf in East Lothian to the Middle East. Add in plans being made for some...
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The top 10 courses in Liverpool
While the Ryder Cup has long since left the classic courses of Britain as its host, the Walker Cup has not once looked beyond them. In 2019, Royal Liverpool is the stage and is a club and a course with...
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Is Adare the best Ryder Cup host for half a century?
When the host for the 2026 Ryder Cup was revealed, predictable cynicism was expressed over the reason it was heading to that particular venue. ‘It’s all about money and nothing to do with the quality...
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Resort spotlight: Korineum, Cyprus
Imagine if a destination existed that offered the value of Belek’s resorts, offered the quality of Belek’s resorts, and offered even better weather than Belek’s resorts. It would, by any standards, be...
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Hands up who considers having a caddie as hell on earth?
Coffee snobs, drone flyovers of golf courses, taxis that arrive early then call you repeatedly to tell you they’re there and Formula One are four strong contenders to join the one certainty in my Room...
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Resort focus: The Roxburghe, Scotland
The Roxburghe: Backstory This resort was until recently owned by the Duke of Roxburghe, who lives a few miles away in Floors Castle – the largest inhabited castle in Scotland. A keen golfer, the Duke...
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Resort spotlight: La Cala, Spain
“If you’re a golfer over the age of 50, there’s a good chance you’ll have been to La Cala. If you’re 35-50, you’ll have probably heard of it. If you’re under 30, it’s probably never been on your...
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Why a new era beckons for the original ‘super resort’
What is the common link between Sergio Garcia, Seve Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sean Connery, Prince Rainier of Monaco and Kenny Dalglish? It’s an eclectic and star-studded bunch by any...
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Golf in the Algarve: Penina Hotel and Golf Resort
There is more choice for golf on the Algarve than you can shake a 7-iron at but, for my money, the original still remains the best. Yes, Penina has had its up and downs and a few years ago it was...
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Golf in the Algarve: Dona Filipa
Setting the alarm for 5am is normally a painful business, but not on the morning of a highly anticipated trip to the Algarve. Better still, with most UK airports serving Faro multiple times a day, and...
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Is there a better place in the world to play golf?
Fife is a small but iconic region with staggering strength in depth. The top 10 is incredibly strong, while 11-20 aren’t too shabby either. Let’s start three in our rundown of the best golf courses...
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Resort focus: St Mellion, Cornwall
With a course by Jack Nicklaus and a terrific No.2 allied to a modern hotel, it is easy to see why St Mellion is regarded as one of the top 20 resorts in Britain and Ireland. The St Mellion back story...
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‘Length is not the answer’: Meet the brains behind the Machrie and Archerfield
What are your first memories of the game? I started playing golf at the very young age of five with my father and grandfather at Rose Hill (Lickey Hills) in Birmingham, which is celebrating its...
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Just look at the revamped Prince’s!
Heard the one about the two new courses, the new resort and the stellar renovation? It’s not going to bring the house down at the Edinburgh Fringe, but it does provide some tasty courses news. And the...
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Top 20 courses in South Wales
Golf courses in South Wales have two main power bases – one based around Cardiff and one centred around the even more well-endowed Swansea. It was this part of the country that further raised the its...
View ArticleContinental European Top 100: The categories, marks and factors
No-one will ever agree with any Top 100 list, and this article is not trying to persuade you that X deserved to be higher and Y didn’t warrant being in the lost at all. It just, hopefully, answers some...
View ArticleNCG’s Top 100 Golf Courses in Continental Europe
No one will be surprised at the number of countries represented in our Top 100s rundown of the best golf courses in Continental Europe. Everyone is now aware countries with previously little or no...
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20 for ’20: The overseas courses you need to play this year
In the first part of 20 for ’20 must play golf courses, I kept things a bit closer to home with eight classic tracks. Now we’re going to head into Continental Europe and then a bit further for 12 more....
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20 for ’20: The affordable overseas courses you need to play this year
When I put together the 20 courses you must play this year, one avid fan of my work described it as an “elitist list”. To be fair he was correct. They weren’t the most obvious collection of courses to...
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Mike Clayton on architecture: ‘The views soon fade if the golf isn’t...
Listening to Mike Clayton on architecture is a rare treat. The Australian tour pro turned course designer is the most thoughtful of commentators and here he discusses a range of topics, from looking...
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Is this the ultimate winter getaway?
We might just have found the ultimate luxury winter getaway. Saadiyat Beach is one of the Middle East’s most breathtaking courses (as you can see for yourself) and while there are lots of hotels close...
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Classic course: Al Mouj Golf, Oman
In Britain and Ireland, the game flourished by the sea not just because the land was ideal for the creation and maintenance of a golf course but also because it was not deemed valuable by anyone else....
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Resort focus: Address Montgomerie, Dubai
There are naturally plenty of cultural and practical differences between the Middle East and Europe. Some predictable, some less so. Into the latter category, along with things like disinterest in...
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The brave renaissance of Woodhall Spa
“It would have been very easy to do nothing. It was a course we felt was widely respected, that the members liked, that visitors enjoyed and that did well in course rankings. If we had not made any...
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Resort focus: Aroeira, Portugal
We always emphasise there are three different Lisbon golf breaks; to the north around Obidos, to the west around Cascais and to the south around Setubal. Orizonte Golf dominate this last area, with two...
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The best affordable golf courses in GB&I
When I put together the list of courses in Great Britain and Ireland you must play, one avid fan of my work described it as an “elitist list”. To be fair, he was correct. They weren’t the most obvious...
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The golf courses in GB&I you need to play this year
If you’re anything like us you’ll often have conversations with your golf buddies that almost always start with: “Do you know where we should go and play this summer?” So to help you out we’ve...
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