The Panel
Welcome to NCG Top 100s Our NCG Top 100s chairman, Dan Murphy, is responsible for assembling our panels and indeed the lists themselves.
We use a different set of panellists for each NCG Top 100s list. The one constant is Dan.
Although we refresh our panel for each and every ranking, many of our panellists have contributed to several of our lists over a long period. What do we look for in a panellist? Well, we insist that all our panellists are widely golfed and enthusiastic. Panellists must also commit to visiting a minimum of eight courses from the shortlist in the year of an update. We want our rankings to be contemporaneous. So our panellists must be active – and willing and able to get out there and see the courses in the year of a ranking update. We like to use panellists who are strong in particular countries and we are always on the lookout for additional panellists who will strengthen our group. Rest assured that all of our panellists have plenty of experience in the field.
So why does our panel change from one list to the next? Well, there are several good (and practical) reasons:
• We assemble bespoke panels who are specialists in a particular region or country
• We regularly refresh our panels to avoid 'groupthink' or becoming stale
• We periodically meet new panellists who can make our lists better
• We insist on our panellists committing to going out and playing a proportion of the courses on our shortlist every time we begin a project to update a list. Not all previous panellists are able to commit Now, let's meet the panel.
Meet the NCG Top 100s Panellists
You can check out all of our panellists here, to learn about their golfing passions and experiences.
Dan Murphy
Handicap: 1
Dan is the chairman of the NCG Top 100s Panels and has played every course on these lists multiple times.
Charles Abraham
Handicap: 2
Solicitor
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Strategic, challenging, natural, varied
Lists Contributed To:
Sean Arble
Handicap: 14
Sean describes himself as “an American ex-pat who enjoys playing the back alley courses of GB&I”.
Mike Atkinson
Handicap: 15
Co-founder of Oltomo, publishr of Golfland Scotland
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Setting, variety, fairness, condition
Lists Contributed To:
Oliver Baker
Handicap: 4
MD of a promotional merchandise company
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Naturalness, flow, memorability, playability
Lists Contributed To:
Jim Banting
Handicap: 0
Jim describes himself as “a nomadic golfer who believes few courses can rest on their laurels”.
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Elegant, sophisticated, utterly unforgettable
Ed Battye
Handicap: 3
Ed says he enjoys “visiting new courses and returning to the best ones which almost exclusively involve firm turf, natural movement in the land and lots of strategic options”.
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Options, firm turf, cadence
Phil Bedford
Handicap: 1
Phil's interests include golf and beer... The perfect combination!
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Somewhere near the sea
Stu Bennett
Handicap: 0.3
NHS Finance
Steve Carroll
Handicap: 11
NCG's Club Golf Editor
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Fun, firm, variety, challenge
Danie Ferry
Handicap: 6
Sports Marketing Specialist
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Maintained, aesthetic, variety, character
Lists Contributed To:
David Fox
Handicap: 0
Founder
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Heather, wildlife, swales, hollows
Lists Contributed To:
Neil Gray
Handicap: 7
Marketing Consultant
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Setting, turf, design, greens
Chris Griffiths
Handicap: 9
Marketing Manager
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Challenge, Variety, Excellence, Beauty
Chris Healy
Handicap: 0
Owner of Precision Pressure Washing
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Challenging, Scenic, Condition, Memorable
Lists Contributed To:
Dove Jones
Handicap: 12
Dove describes herself as: “An American that adores golf in GB&I and until I figure out being an ex-pat I’ll keep being over here every chance I get”.
Lewis Marr
Handicap: 0
Managing Director, Education Enterprise
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Challenge, variety, aesthetics, agronomy
Lists Contributed To:
Jim Marshall
Handicap: 11
Inventory Manager
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Setting, condition, challenging, memorable
Lists Contributed To:
Hugh Masson
Handicap: 9
Postman
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Conditioning, variety, natural, accessible
Lists Contributed To:
Chris Myatt
Handicap: 9.8
Tournament Controller, The PGA
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Strategy, routing, personality, condition
Pat O'Connor
Handicap: 7.1
Retired Company Director (Owner)
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Conditioning; Variety; Playability; Design
Craig Redston
Handicap: 8
Engineer
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Architecture, strategy, undulation, agronomy
David Trimmer
Handicap: 12
Interior Designer
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Conditioning, cohesion, interesting, beauty
Lists Contributed To:
Michael Verity
Handicap: 0
Online Sports Betting
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Choices, Challenge, Variety, Adventure
Lists Contributed To:
Paul Watson
Handicap: 7
Judge
Home Club
A GB&I Course I Love
A great course in four words?
Fairness, challenging, scenic, memorability
Lists Contributed To:
Greg Webber
Handicap: 6
Pharmacist
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Interesting, fair, memorable, accessible
Andi White
Handicap: 18
Retired
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Condition, Fairways, Variety, Greens
Neil White
Handicap: 10.5
Retired Journalist
Home Club
A great course in four words?
Layout, uniqueness, conditioning, land
