Between them, the senior panel for Golf Monthly’s UK&I Top 100 course rankings in association with Peter Millar – Rob Smith, Jeremy Ellwood and editor Neil Tappin – have a vast experience of golf courses both inside and outside the rankings process.
Some of these are shared by all three; others are particular bugbears for one of the trio…
1. Really difficult holes with really difficult green complexes
Jeremy raises the issue of whether or not it’s right or wise for an already tough golf hole to then throw an unnecessarily challenging green or green complex at you once you’ve successfully made the testing journey from tee to green (or thereabouts).
If a hole is particularly difficult through tightness or simply length, shouldn’t your ‘reward’ for mastering that difficulty be an easier two-putt or up-and-down up at the green?
2. Very long uphill par 5s
While there are undoubtedly some cracking par 5s all around the world, Rob is simply not a fan of long uphill par 5s that seem to go on forever, especially for average golfers, as such holes demand three of their very best strikes to get anywhere near.
Rob is not a big fan of par 5s that just go up and up and up
(Image credit: Getty Images)
He sees little to commend such holes, with the discussion acknowledging that sometimes they are simply getting the course from A to B within the land available, and on to the next area where the terrain allows for more interesting holes.
3. Holes with forced lay-ups
Neil – the longest hitter of the trio by quite some way – feels quite aggrieved about holes with forced lay-ups that take the long hitter’s advantage away.
Neil doesn’t like holes where cross trouble forces you to lay up. as here
(Image credit: Rob Smith)
Holes with cross-heather or rough at the point where a long drive would end up frustrate him and he feels that if that area was simply narrow rather than ‘no-go’, the longer hitter prepared to take on the risk should be able to reap the reward if they can find the target.
4. Pointless bunkers
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