The Panel
Rest assured that all of our panellists have plenty of experience in the field.
So why does our panel change from 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
• We are always seeking to improve the balance of views and experiences on our panels
Meet our GB&I panel
Meet the panel below, and find out a little bit about their golfing passions.
Dan Murphy
Handicap: 3
Dan is the chairman of the NCG Top 100 GB&I Panel and has played every course on this list multiple times. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: For me, Ferndown is my favourite in Dorset so that would be in. From left field, The Annesley, the second course at Royal County Down, is very close.
Sean Arble
Handicap: 12
Sean describes himself as “an American ex-pat who enjoys playing the back alley courses of GB&I”. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: Kington, Castlerock, Goswick and Littlestone would all be in my personal list.
Jim Banting
Handicap: 2
Jim describes himself as “a nomadic golfer who believes few courses can rest on their laurels”. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: It was very nearly Hindhead. Known for its sweeping valleys and swift greens, every time I have played it I leave with an immediate thirst to go back. So many memorable holes.
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”. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: Askernish offers beautifully raw golf distilled to its origins; a mix of simplistic brilliance and crazy genius.
Nick Dungay
Handicap: 11
Nick says he has played over 400 courses around the world and developed a strong interest in golf architecture. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: New Zealand is short, strategic and harder than the scorecard would suggest. Woburn (Dukes) is a design which sympathetically uses the natural contours of the site to create holes of lasting interest.
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”. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: St Andrews’ (Jubilee) is a better design than many on the list.
Peter Rudd
Handicap: 7
Peter describes himself as “a dedicated golfer with a special passion for links courses and agronomics”. Unluckiest courses not to make the Top 100: Overall, Blairgowrie (Rosemount) is an excellent inland course. Look out for the JCB Club in future lists – it contains some seriously good holes and will only get better as it matures.