The Golf Pilgrim Top 100

What should make you more nervous on the 1st tee at Elie?

A blind tee shot in front of a busy clubhouse terrace, or the fact that a periscope from a decommissioned Royal Navy Submarine is used to see …

Golfer's tip.  Don't set your Sat Nav for Kilmarnock!  Golfers from the inland town moved their club eight miles to Barassie Beach on the Ayrshire coast a century ago, but retained its name.

Neil take…

Sutton Coldfield, just a few miles from the centre of Birmingham has soared up the rankings after a concerted attempt to go back to its roots.

It was designed by Dr Alister Mackenzie, but had graduall…

Do you care who owns the golf course you’re playing? Probably not. 

But you can’t ignore Donald Trump now he’s back in the White House, and you can’t ignore his name on the courses he owns.  So if you…

With its near neighbours in Aberdeen both ranked in the top 100 courses in the world, it would be easy to overlook Murcar Links.  But built on the same stretch of land as Royal Aberdeen, this challen…

Royal Aberdeen Golf Club traces its roots back to 1780, though the club moved to its present course at Balgownie a century after that.

It's staged the Walker Cup and the Scottish Open and is ranked 63…

Cruden Bay styles itself as "unique and unforgettable", and both those qualities put it firmly in the World's Top 100 courses.

An extraordinary layout with imaginitive use of the natural contours, and…

Having hosted the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup and the R&A's Amateur Championship, Nairn Golf Club is used to hosting top amateur golfers from around the world.

So how would Neil and Ian, often describe…

We begin our latest Scottish road trip with a double dose of Nairns….and we're not talking about the famous biscuits.  

First up is Nairn Dunbar which has been striving to emerge from the shadow of it…

For centuries, Harlech Castle has seen off those who came to conquer it.  Royal St David's, overlooked by the 13th Century Castle, has a similar reputation.  

The club described the course as the toug…

The Golf Pilgrim celebrates its first anniversary by making a long overdue visit to Wales.  

Aberdovey lies in the heart of Eryri National Park, or Snowdonia to give it its English name.  We hear how …

While everyone's talking about The Masters, we're talking (again) about the master architect behind August National.  Moortown's neighbours at Alwoodley have first claims on Alister MacKenzie's desig…

If a golf course is named The Sea, you might expect to see the sea from the links. You’ll hear the waves crashing, and the bouncy fairways will certainly indicate you’re on a coastal course, but the …

It's Hardelot than you think….especially off the white tees.

The second of our northern France trilogy, and another bargain compared to the equivalent, and similar in feel courses in southern England.

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Travelling through the Channel Tunnel can be like entering a portal to an earlier era, where golf green fees are still reasonably priced.

Belle Dune is the first of three courses Neil played within ea…

Rail passengers speeding from London to Edinburgh will catch a glimpse of this pure links course as they approach Berwick-upon-Tweed.  Golfers heading to Scotland by road will need to make a short de…

Champagne corks are popping and why not? There are very few courses in the world that are as good as North Berwick, and are as much fun to play.

Other Scottish courses may host The Open and other majo…

When doctor-turned-golf archietct, Alister MacKenzie unveiled the design for his very first course, even fellow members of this Yorkshire club were a little sceptical.  They asked for a second opinio…

This week we are in Italy - the tenth country on our podcast travels.  If you're a tourist who wants to visit Rome, but don't want to miss out on the opportunity of a round of golf, then Olgiata is f…

Beware the injured golfers! Ian is forced to skip playing Burnham & Berrow because of a broken finger as well as foot surgery, while Neil isn't much better - hobbling round Burnham & Berrow with a pa…