Golfer Emulates Father By Completing Golf Monthly Top 100
Back in the Summer of 2009, Golf Monthly published a feature in which Jeremy Ellwood accompanied reader John Howlett as he completed playing all of the Top 100 courses in the UK&I. This took place at Loch Lomond, and the pair were joined by John’s son Michael, and his grandson Connor.
The Howlett family on the beautiful par-3 fifth at Loch Lomond – John, Connor and Michael
(Image credit: Loch Lomond Golf Club)
Sadly, John was in the latter stages of cancer and passed away the following year. One of his enduring legacies, however, is that the course-collecting gene has been inherited by both Michael and Connor. So much so, that Michael has himself just completed playing the entire 2021/22 Golf Monthly Top 100. This he did with Connor on a lovely April’s day at the excellent Dumbarnie Links in Fife, where manager David Scott was waiting to congratulate him as he returned to the clubhouse.
The opening hole at Dumbarnie Links, the final course om Michael’s quest
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The day spent at Loch Lomond was several years before reader opinion led to Golf Monthly excluding from the rankings the very small number of clubs that do not accept regular green fee visitors. There are many golfers such as Michael who are keen to play and tick off as many as possible of the Top 100 and Next 100, and they understandably don’t want to be tempted by courses they cannot visit.
Michael is a 51 year-old self-employed plumber, married to Vicky and with three children of whom Connor, 28, is the only other golfer. Michael has been a member at Ashton-in-Makerfield, situated between Liverpool and Manchester, for more than 40 years. Having achieved single figures, he now plays off what he describes as “a very poor 13!”
The seventh green at Royal Dornoch, the first tick on Michael’s list
(Image credit: Royal Dornoch Golf Club)
It was John who initiated the Howlett quest for playing the top 100 courses, and Michael’s earliest memory related to this was on a 2-week family holiday touring Scotland with his mum and sister… who both disliked golf! The first course he was able to tick off was Royal Dornoch, not a bad start, and he and his father played another handful during the holiday.
A generation on, and the same thing still happens with Michael heading off with Connor for a sneaky game while on family holidays.
The tenth hole on the East Course at Saunton in Devon, scene of Michael’s best score at a Top…
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