Finally A Course Ranking Focusing On Fun: National Club Golfer Lists GB&I's Top 100

Little known fact: golf course rankings have become dreary affairs focused on experience and in the case of too many, rewarding design difficulty over fun. Imagine in this enlightened age rating movies based on how uncomfortable the seating was, and how long the movie played (three hours is resistant to…fun!).

Mercifully, this ranking is all about storytelling and the only thing that matters: enjoyment factor. The National Club Golfer’s Chris Bertram explains how the panel approached the first magazine course ranking focused on fun:

Defining what is ‘fun’ and what makes one course more ‘fun’ than another is, in my opinion, even harder.

If what each of us thinks makes a course ‘good’ differs greatly, what we think is fun is at least as fluid. In an attempt to define it – not least to illustrate to you the kind of courses our panel has included in the 100 – I asked our contributors and some architects to tell me ‘fun’ meant to them. You’ll see that while there were common themes, there was also a wide spectrum of essential factors mentioned.

That, I think, helps to explain the presence of so many different types and styles of courses in the list, which I firmly believe is a good thing.

As a general rule, courses that are relatively short in length and relatively forgiving in nature prosper – which is entirely predictable. Frankly, we could have populated the list with nothing but that kind of course.

While we can all have the usual ranking quibbles, the list does an amazing job of highlighting fun and places overlooked because they are not of “championship” length or 18 holes.

That said, as much as I think Prestwick and Dornoch are top-5 (world) fun, I love seeing Formby’s Ladies between those two giants, with the short, sweet, charming Kilspindie right after that.

Those planning a UK golf trip and hoping to see some lesser-known gems will want to bookmark this.

Or, for those dealing with buddies looking to check off a name place in lieu of a cheaper, more enjoyable alternative, maybe some of the placement here will help make the case for fun.

The full list is here.

PS - I’m not telling you who is #1, but I do wholeheartedly endorse the top 3.