Hello from Waterville,

Hope everybody is well at Golf Montly.

Regards,

Noel Cronin
Manager

Have you been to play my home club Knighton Heath GC , its a Heathland course , we are very often in better condiion then the 3 that is in the area i think its why we are over look , ferndown , parkstone and broadstone , I O Perbeck is just views , the course itself is in poor condition and has been for years , views at knighton heath are very good and the greens are always one of the best in the area , thanks

I recently planned a trip to England to visit some friends with my mother. The main item on my to-do list was to play a true links style golf course.

I live and play in central North Carolina, where the weather is warm enough to play almost year around. After a couple of days in London, the majority of our trip was to be spent in the Ipswich area, so I used Google Maps to scout out the courses in the area that were located on the coast. I located Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club by looking at the area satellite map and then doing a Google search for your website.

Our friends live in the area, but are not golfers. They called Robert at the club and explained that they had friends coming from the States and that I wanted to play golf. I chose not to bring my own clubs on the trip due to airline baggage issues... only my shoes, so they asked Robert to get a set of rental clubs together and make me a tee time. I have played several courses with rental clubs and they are generally not very good. I really didn't care, as I was after the experience of the course and did not care what I shot.

I arrived at the club for lunch before my round and was welcomed by the staff and treated like I was a member.

Robert gave me some really interesting history of the club and suggested that I play the back tees on selected holes to get the full experience.

I was pleasantly surprised by the "royal" treatment I received. I was equipped with a set of Titleist AP1 irons, a Titleist 910D Driver, a Titleist 3-wood, an electric walk behind cart, complete with golf balls, and directed to the 1st tee.

I joined up with a very pleasant English couple that were members, and they welcomed me, along with some ribbing about the previous days Ryder Cup results.

The weather was cool and windy, about 25-30 mph, but that did not undermine my total enjoyment of the course. The greens were fast, the conditions of the course were great and the views and shot lines were incredible. The rolling terrain and several stone towers were things I had never seen on a golf course. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend that anyone in the area looking for a great day of golf give Robert and his staff a call.

You will not regret it!

Thanks again for a truly memorable links golf experience! I can’t wait to go back in the future.

Sincerely,


Travis Hinton
Woodgraphics
3900-106 Tarheel Drive
Raleigh, NC 27609
800-368-5964
Fax 919-239-8229
919-868-8115 cell
travis@wood-graphics.com

Sir,

Is it just me or does the 2012 top 100 look very similar to the 2011 top 100? Whilst I will readily admit that no course I have played on will rival The Old Course, I am somewhat saddened to see that, according to you, decent golf courses stop at Lincolnshire and restart in Scotland.
Two that I have played (Fulford and Slaley) make it into the 'Next 100', although I would say there are better courses around York than Fulford and better courses near Newcastle than Slaley. Have any of the judging panel played at Longhirst, Matfen Hall, Strensall or Close House?
Perhaps you might consider a change of format for next year, where each local golf union rates its courses and you can then play them an decide for yourselves? I doubt that Close House will suddenly leapfrog all others to the number one spot, but I am sure there will be a radical overhaul of your top 100.