Carnoustie Revisted: Does a Second Round Change the Ranking?

Nish 0:11
Every good story is about the journey. And this is the story of our journey trying to play the top 100 courses in the UK and Ireland in just 10 years. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast. Episode 91. Revisiting Carnoustie. So I personally had unfinished business at Carnoustie. The last time we played it, we tackled it in the famed Brutal Winds of Carnasty, and this time I was heading up there with a real determination to do myself some justice. So today this is a story of redemption, primarily, but also a little bit of a crazy realisation about this top 100 list that we’re playing. But before we get into all of that, please can ask you out there to follow or subscribe wherever you’re watching or listening to this podcast. As you probably heard, we’re nominated for the Independent Podcast of the Year Awards Best Sports Podcast, and it’s in no small part thanks to you. So if you can keep doing that, that’ll be wonderful. It spreads our podcast out there to more and more people just like you who we think would be interested in the content. Now back to this great episode. So we’re

The Day the Wind Didn’t Turn Up
Nish 1:26
going to start where we started the previous Carnoustie review, and that is with weather. Now links Golf is one of those things that the weather just plays such a massive part in how you go into that round in the first place. So I remember last time we’d played Dumbarnie the day before. Now we were rocking up, and then we were rocking up to Carnoustie, and we’d seen what the weather forecast was doing. So 30-40 mile an hour winds were coming in and heavy rain. We woke up in the morning, the rain had come overnight, but there was a nice little window pretty much at the time that we were on the golf course. This window where it wasn’t going to rain. However, the wind was definitely there. So we headed into it with a bit of trepidation, and I must say the rain did hold off pretty much for the whole time that we were on course, but the wind was there. 100% it was there, and it plays on your mind. So this time round, I am shocked and relieved to report that when we looked at the forecast, it was due to have almost zero wind and it was full sun. Now we played it, or I played it this time at exactly the same time of year, spookily, as last year. So the difference was just unreal. But to get that golf course with zero wind, and I mean zero wind, the flags were just straight down on the flagpole. So you would had no concept sometimes of where the actual flag was. You couldn’t pick it out from the backdrop. Usually, you know, you can see it and you can figure it out. So it was a stark contrast, uh, I think is the only word that I can use for that. Now, what that meant was that my redemption arc and my determination to do myself some justice kind of took on a whole new level

A Hotel With a Door Onto the First Tee
Nish 3:23
now. Now, I’ll tell you who I was playing with. I was playing with Paul, my host, and he’s from golfing around Scotland, and he’s an he’s an absolutely wonderful host. I love playing with him, playing golf with him, and I love just chatting all the things, top 100 with him. We we keep in touch quite regularly. Uh, and I was also playing with Andrew and Tony. Andrew and Tony are famous on this podcast now. And if you’re listening, guys, thanks for being there. Uh, they hadn’t played Carnoustie before, so I was giving them a little bit of ribbing saying you’re not really getting the authentic experience coming and playing it with zero wind, and I mean, you know, at the end of it, we were sort of stood there just going, God, take t-shirts off and all sorts of things here. So um, this weekend was a little bit different. Uh, I actually stayed in the hotel uh and we got the full kind of Carnoustie tourist experience, I would say. So we checked in and the hotel was brilliant, really, really good with you. Obviously, it’s geared up for the golfers who are at Carnoustie, but it’s been refurbished a couple of years ago, so it’s beautiful inside. Uh, we turned up, you know, they’ve got little things like they will check your bags into your room for you while you’re playing, uh, if you if it’s not ready by the time you turn up. So we took advantage of that. We you you can wheel your your clubs and things like that through because there’s uh through the bar where they do breakfast as well. But through the bar, there is a terrace on the outside, but there’s an automatic door that goes out and it just basically leads you onto the first tee. So again, we took advantage of that. Let’s you know, let’s not walk around. Um, so we we we kind of did all of that, and uh it’s just a it’s just a wonderful hotel. The service was absolutely fantastic, and it really is quite reasonably priced as well. So we thought right next to the course, it’s gonna be gonna be pricey, really wasn’t. So it kind of there’s a nice integrated experience there. So if you’re going up there for a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list type trip, I highly recommend staying at that hotel because you’re right in the thick of it and you can see all the weather coming in and all that kind of thing. Uh, so look, in the video version of this, I’m gonna throw up a few uh videos and things like that of of the hotel and and our weekend in general. Uh, so it’s a reason to go over to YouTube and and and watch that.

Hogan, Van de Velde and the Claret Jug
Nish 5:43
Um but the course itself, so we’d obviously arrived and we’d we were sat in the rookery, which is the sort of new clubhouse where the the gift shop exists and they don’t have a range, they’ve got sim time, so you can go on half an hour before your tea slot, you can go on to the Sims and have a little bit of a warm-up. The practice green is great. I recommend doing that because the greens at Carnoustie are like carpets, immaculate, but you need to get the pace of them, so it’s worth doing that. But it’s a lovely little sedate start off. I mean, that building for the where the clubhouse is is massive. You can go in the locker rooms, go in the lockers, you can ask at reception, they’ll give you a key, it doesn’t cost anything. Um, and the locker room is is is beautiful inside, and inside the clubhouse, which I think I covered in the previous review. However, let’s revisit that. They’ve got lots of stuff about the open championship history, they’ve got a replica of the Claret Jug there, they’ve got stuff about Ben Hogan. Ben Hogan very famously only played in one open and he won it, and that was at Carnoustie. So it’s quite a big deal, what he did. Uh, they’ve got some information there about our Belgian friend, Mr. Van de Velde, who had a bit of a meltdown on 18 very famously, uh, and it’s just a nice place to be as a top 100 experience, a bucket list experience. They’re starting to, I feel like it’s elevated from even when we went last year, but they’re really starting to join all those dots together. So arrive nice and early, you know, where the rookery is, which is that clubhouse, it’s a restaurant on the first floor. Uh, you can have a tea or coffee or breakfast, and you can overlook the first tea, so you can get a bit of an idea of where people are playing and things like that. And they’ve now we got the sort of starter experience, so you get your course guide, uh your shot saver, it’s called, uh, you get your scorecard, uh, you get a pencil, and you get your um your tease as well to play off. So that was all very gladly accepted. And we didn’t get that last time because the it was very quiet, it was a member only time. Um, so the course itself was packed that day, and there were big groups of Americans going out, and you can tell usually when it’s big groups of Americans going out because they’ve all got caddies, so it’s big groups of eight, always going out, always going out, always going out. So that was great, but they were all really excited, they’re all excited because they were getting to play it in very tame conditions.

Fresh Eyes, Better Golf
Nish 8:13
Um but and then talking of the conditions, they’d added the Alfred Dunhill just a couple of weeks ago, and our host Paul mentioned that what they usually do is they cut the rough right down. Uh, I mean, I suppose obviously, because they don’t want people looking like it’s just such a brutal place, they’d never come back again. Uh, and the rough was, I think, probably was a little bit more cut down than it was when we played last year. But having said that, it probably would have been similar to the Alfred Dunhill last time. But you know, one of the things I’m finding about a lot of these top 100 courses, people talk about the rough and things like that. Yes, you can get stuck in heather, yes, you can get stuck in gorse, and there are pockets of places where it can be pretty, pretty nasty and pretty brutal. But you know, if you’re in those, you’ve really kind of gone astray from your your tee-shot or your approach shot. So that probably deserves it. I would say the general rough we found most places has been alright. Um, it really hasn’t been anything to be too overly concerned about, really. But you know, it was it was down, and obviously because the sun was out, it was a totally different experience and vista from when we were on the first Tee the last time. So this time around, the first Tee, you got zero wind. You know, you’re not cowering, you’re not jackets not flapping around anywhere, you’ve you you know, you’re not trying to even keep your balance on the Tee or keep the ball on the on the actual Tee. So you can take your pick, pick your line. It’s a relatively generous first Tee shot. You definitely don’t want to be going left, but you can go right. There’s another fair way coming up, and you can you can play from there still. So that helped the first Tee nerves, so to speak. I don’t I don’t really get the nerves as such, but you know, when you’re playing with people you’ve you know you’ve either met on the day or you’re playing with them first time in in quite a while, you know, you want to you want to make a good impression, so you want to get your t-shirt away. Luckily, I did. I played quite well. Uh, but the general course conditioning, because they’d had the Alfred Dunhill, it was absolutely magnificent, you know, and it looked amazing in that light. We were teeing off around about one o’clock, which meant that as we were finishing, we’d be getting that kind of golden hour sunsetty sort of sort of light, and having that on that golf course, you know, when you play it and it’s so windy, it’s a really interesting thing. And we were lucky we didn’t get rain, but when it was so windy, there are so many things going through your mind. You know, my handicap is 15 and 15.8, actually, as it is. But as that handicapper, you’ve got a lot going in your mind about how you’re gonna get that ball to behave in the wind, and you’re always worried, you know, am I gonna put too much spin on it, and it’s gonna go all over the place, and you’re not not so much the getting boosted by the wind or playing into the wind, that’s that’s not really a concern, but sideways, certainly. And I remember at Carnoustie when we played last time, there was a lot of sideways wind, and it really plays on your mind. So I felt last time I didn’t really take in the course as much. This time I was able to see the the holes and the golf holes as they were designed and and as it was supposed to be played. Now the it sets off a little bit of an interesting chat that we had afterwards. That now I’ve played the course in two very differing conditions and lights and things like that. I have to say my golf has improved a lot as well. I was an 18 handicap when I played Carnoustie last time. I’m down to 15.8 now, so it’s been getting better. I have a get better understanding of Link’s golf and how to play in different varieties of shots. I have a better understanding of how the courses are trying to trick you visually into making mistakes and not falling for that. So I think I viewed it from a slightly different light this time round, and that really got me thinking, and chatting to Andrew and Tony and Paul afterwards about experiencing a course the first time as a top 100 course versus experiencing it a second time, and I’m probably going to touch on this a little bit later, and I might just do as I’m going through the episode and today’s story, but you know, it it it was a really different experience for me. I enjoyed it, it helps that the weather conditions were good, it helps that I played better, but I was able to take in a lot more about the course, and I’m gonna run you through what I noticed uh this time. That I think perhaps in the last review I heard it uh back before I came on. Uh, and at that point, you know, we’re more fanboying it, we’re like, oh my god, it was fucking cool to play 17 and it was amazing to play 18, where Van der Velder did whatever he did and got that tee-shot of oh my god, it was unreal and Hogan’s Alley and all this kind of thing. You have all of that when the weather was good, but when you’re actually taking in the golf course a little bit more and understanding it a little bit more, and you know, I’ve played now 29 individual courses, but I’ve probably now played 35-40 rounds getting on at top 100 golf courses. I’m by no means saying I’m an expert in all of this stuff, and uh, please I don’t profess to do that. It’s my job here is to give you the the high-handicappers eye view of it all, and I took in the magnificence of that golf course a little bit more, and I’ll probably get to what how that impacted my overall impression of it um shortly.

Carpet Greens and the Detail I Missed
Nish 14:04
However, the few things that I’ve noticed, and I made some bullet points here, and I’m just gonna try and ramble through them and and make sure I cover them all, but the fairway condition was unreal, it really was. Bearing in mind, we’ve had like the craziest, hottest, driest summer like since the dawn of time. Uh, they were brilliant, they’re not springy links type fairways, they really still feel really solid underfoot, they still feel you’re gonna get a good clip and a good contact off them, but my god, they were pristine, you know, they they were repaired, they were just played so true. And the fairways at Carnoustie are very rippled, so a lot of the times you are not playing from flat lies, you are a little bit uphill, a little bit downhill, a little bit sideways, all that kind of thing. But that’s just the brilliance of that golf course. I absolutely love the condition of the fairway. Uh the the greens were unbelievable. Now we’ve played on some unbelievable greens this year alone, so notably Wentworth. Well, my god the greens they were magnificent. The subair system, you know, they rolled so true, and they were really soft, so you could fire it in. We played Lip hook. Liphook had amongst the best greens we played in the whole challenge, and they were wet that day because it was a very rainy day. However, again, they just rolled really easily, they were deceptive but carpet-like, and they still kept their pace in even despite all the sogginess. You know, we played Form by earlier in the year, and the greens at Form by, like the rest of the course, were just classy, smooth as you like, well conditioned. So we’re getting used to this kind of thing, but you again you turn up to a place like this mid-October, and they were just unbelievable. And even the ones that had had a little bit of repair works, a couple of them had been aerated and punched, um, and obviously then the sand filled in, even they rolled perfectly true. So our hope our guests were very much uh in awe of the the way the greens were, but you know, there’s nothing they aren’t tricky greens if you can get the pace of them. And I said at the start, go and have a go on the practice green to get some idea on pace, do some lag putting to get an idea of the pace, don’t bother with the short stuff because they’re not really greens that are designed like with massive brakes in them or anything like that. The brakes are subtle, but it’s about the pace. If you can get the pace right, you will drop it near the hole most of the time. So take some time to do that. The greens are brilliant. Now, one thing I did notice this time that I didn’t at all last time, and I gutted I didn’t, and I didn’t give it enough credit for that. And it’s something that I’ve picked up since my chat with John McLaughlin over at Wallasey. I’ll give him a name check. The guy, man, was an absolute legend anyway, but he really got me into looking at the transitions from green to tee and then tee out onto fairway. And I never noticed this the first time at Carnoustie, but they’re so good at Carnoustie, those transitions. Sometimes there’s no real discernible difference between the fringe and then going on to the next Tee. So the Tee boxes are immaculate and they’re that well looked after, you could actually just put off them onto the green that you’ve just been on, they’re that good. And I think they have that all the way around, and then whenever you’ve got transitioner, generally speaking, Carnoustie, the way it’s set up, you are not travelling much distance. That’s an old style of golf design. It was designed so that you played quick, you finished on your green, and it was a few paces and you’re on to the next Tee-box, and they’re very true to that over there. There’s very few where you’ve got to kind of do a bit of a trek and walk around, and it is generally just really easy on the eye. Everything just blends into another, and where they’ve got the rough, it’s like discernible, identifiable, rough. So it gives you a bit like Formby, it gives you that sense of really good manicuredness, but it just doesn’t feel it’s forced, it feels really effortless. That manicuredness at Kanoosti. And I think that’s what I didn’t pick up on last time, and and I think that I felt like I maybe I’ve done it a disservice by not picking up on that last time. So the transitions are absolutely wonderful. Now, if you’re getting into this top 100 journey, that’s probably something you’re going to start picking up on. Uh, is those transitions between green and tea. So look out for that, please. It’s it’s just wonderful.

The Bunkers That Play With Your Mind
Nish 18:53
And then the bunkers. Now, Carnoustie, has a nickname, and the club have really lent into this, by the way. Uh the Carnoustie links have lent into this, is the Carnasty reputation. They’ve even now in the uh in the Pro Shop, they’ve even got like hoodies and t-shirts with Carnasty, and it’s been registered trademarked uh on there, which I found hilarious. Um, funnily enough, all the Americans are buying up all that sort of stuff, so you know I survived Carnasty and all this kind of stuff. Uh, although you can’t really claim that when the weather’s so benign. But anyway, we’ll get back to that another time, maybe. But the bunkers. Now, I remember Paul, my host, told me, really, I really vividly remember this, that it’s not the bad drives that punish you at Carnoustie. I’m even I’m saying it now, uh, at Carnoustie, because you will usually end up in some rough rough you can play out of and find your ball, and it’s fine. And there’s no bunkers out there in the rough. The bunkers that will catch you out are the ones where you hit a good drive and the ball just rolls, and the bunkers just gather the ball up. Now, I had a very good driving day actually, so I managed to stay out of most of the fairway bunkers. Um, however, I probably wouldn’t say it’s that magnetic. They’re not all kind of uh, you know, the fairway doesn’t necessarily naturally roll into them, but we caught it on really dry conditions, so the ball was rolling quite a lot, and there are lots there are a few hidden bunkers at Carnoustie. So your course planner that you get from your starter, make sure you have a look at that. There are lots of times when you think I can see two, and there’s a third one just hiding behind, so it’s worth looking at that when you’re doing it, but those bunkers, my goodness, are they well placed? Now I actually got to the point where I was like, these are so well placed, and I don’t mean that in a punishing way, I don’t mean they’re placed in places where you’re like, I’ve got to, you know, they’re right in my landing zones or anything like that. You’ve got them where they’re placed at like 160, 170 in front of your eye line, okay, just creeping in from the left, for instance, that’s on hole number two. Now, really, if you’ve got your driver in hand, that’s not coming into play for you. There’s another then bunker coming in from the right, but it doesn’t encroach all the way into the middle of the fairway, it’s just on the edge, it’s a pop bunker, and that’s at like 220 yards. Now, that is in driving range, and that is to there catch an errant drive, but actually your line would then be over the bunker that’s on the left-hand side, but it’s just the fact that it’s there just puts it in your mind, and that’s the thing about Carnoustie, I feel it’s a mental test, and these top 100 courses, I think, as well, they’re a mental test, they’re there to test out your not only your golfing technique, but how do you approach and how do you plan golf? And this time round, because the weather was benign, I understood Carnoustie as a plotting your way round challenge. Now it’s a a 15.8 handicap. I’m not good enough to go. I’m gonna place the ball there. I am at a level where I can sort of think, right, well, that’s roughly where I want my drive to go. I’m playing into area. Rather than specific spots, and I need to I can put things like 160 to 180 yard bunker from a drive. I can put that out of my mind because I should be clearing that, and that is I think the brilliance of that golf course, they’ve put a challenge in there for everyone. Now, somebody who is a an erratic driver might then be considering the rough at the same time as well. So there is that strategic bunkering there is brilliant. There is also a lot of with the bunkering. I noticed that there were more bunkers last time. I don’t think I necessarily found more last time, but I noticed there were more. This time round, maybe golf has got a little bit better, but maybe because I got a bit better at reading the golf course, I found that there were ways in to from your approach that avoided the danger. It’s just about whether you look for them or not. So you can stand there and you can look and you can look at your stroke saver and you can think there are seven bunkers guarding that green. My goodness, this is a tough shot. I need to fly it. What you need to start looking at is actually there might be five on one side on the right hand side, and there’s a load of rough on that right hand side, so you’re not really taking that on. There’s two on the left, one is quite short left, and one is right at the back left, or one is sort of closer to it. So actually, you do have a miss back left, and that’s where the transitions to the next Tee is. So it was just reading that course a little bit more, and I think that was the thing that I took away is the beauty of that golf course. I thought it gave you a chance. So my host Paul said to me, You will understand Carnoustie a little bit better the more you play it, and you’ll understand how good that place is. And I think I’m getting there, I think I’m understanding that, and I will touch on that a little bit later.

An Epic Finish and Three Brilliant Par 3s
Nish 24:12
The other thing I then noticed as well, going through my bullet points here, is the flow was excellent. I don’t know what it is, but every single hole just flows really well into the other. It makes sense that next should be a par five, next should be a par three, next should be a par four, and and how it is, you know, you just hit a couple of brutal drives, now you have a bit of a respite with with a bit of target practice with a par three, it’s it’s just flows really, really well, and you kind of get lost in the the majesty and the magic of that golf course, and it really builds like that. This is by no means saying that that front nine is the easier or tamer or anything like that. There’s some really tricky holes in that front nine, and particularly because you’re really exposed to the wind, but it it starts off excellent and it just builds to absolute excellence at the end, and that is all down to the flow and pacing of that golf course. So I did have a little look at who the designers were. So I don’t know who the first guy was who did it, but then James Braid came in. Um, well, no, sorry, it wasn’t the first the front nine was laid out, then old Tom Morris came and laid out the back nine to make it the full 18. James Braid revised it and then it improved it to get it to championship standard. Uh, but then there was a chap, I can’t remember what his name is. I want to say it’s John Donald or someone like that, but he remodelled the last three holes that 16, 17, 18 to give you that epic finish. My god, it’s an epic finish that that course has got. It’s difficult. There is a 240-yard par three, usually into the wind, which is not pleasant. We got lucky, wasn’t into the wind. There is then Ireland, which has got the Barry Burn that just flows through it, and you have to keep sort of either laying up or really go for it, and then obviously you’ve got the Barry Burn that uh goes through 18. That’s where Mr. Vandervelde had his mishap. Um, and it’s then you shoot in towards that hotel, and it’s just iconic, it really is. So the other thing, then I I’ve I’ve got over here is that for such a brutal course, for something so exposed to the elements, there’s quite a lot of variety on there as well. You’ve got bits that are very exposed, you don’t really see the sea at any point, it’s not that far out or close to the coast, but they’re very sort of flat, the wind kicks up, the wind catches it, you know, you’re you’re in trouble. But you’ve also got some tree-lined fairways as well, as you hit the kind of middle patch and up towards the the back nine. You’ve got a railway line running across a couple of holes. Um, so it’s a really good variety of golf there. So I think that keeps you engaged. You could be having a bad round, but you’re gonna see something visually that you’re gonna like, and it’s gonna just capture your imagination. And I think again, I think that’s the majesty of that golf course. Um, the par threes. There’s only three par threes at Carnoustie, and it and you don’t feel like it, but you don’t hit one till hole number eight, and they’re absolutely magnificent. They’re not well, sixteen’s long. That you know, that is a bit of a brute of a uh of a par three, and usually you’re into the wind, and there’s like a big pot bunker on the left ready to catch you out. You don’t really know how you’re gonna stop the ball on the green, so strap yourselves in for 16, that is a tough hole. However, eight and fourteen, I think, are the other two par threes. They’ve got they’re just beautiful to look at, they are incredibly well manicured, they’ve got really big green, they’re long green, so you know, go long rather than short and take on the bunkers. They’ve got really well-shaped bunkers around them. They’re just they’re just amazing. Like this, they’re amongst some of the best par threes that we’ve played as a collection on our on our travels, so something to look out for. Now, it was really busy when we were there, it was busy behind us, busy in front of us, and bearing in mind it was that busy, you know, you could see people out there, but it didn’t feel it, so you find your little tranquil moments to yourself, and that’s really nice. It’s kind of comforting when it’s on a tough course like that. Um, so I thought that was again credit to the design, and actually, we played it again um on a benign day, there was zero wind, and it was sunny. But do you know what? There were times because there was no wind, and even when it being so busy, it was a really peaceful spot. And you know, you’ve got trains and there’s houses and things like that all around, but it was a really peaceful spot, and you can understand why there are then three courses there in and around that estate. You’ve got the Budden, the Burnside, and obviously the Championship, Panmure is next door. A great place to play your golf. So those are my key takeaways from Kanusti and revisiting it.

Hogan’s Alley, a 90 and Beating My Handicap
Nish 29:22
How I played, um, I’ll put all this stuff up on the video version. I played really well, I didn’t lose a golf ball, which is unbelievable for me. I’m always happy with that. I drove it long and straight down the centre at Hogan’s Alley, which is incredibly satisfying. You know, you see this plaque. If anybody doesn’t know the story of Hogan’s Alley, so Ben Hogan, like I said, he only played one open championship and he won it. And he it was at Carnoustie. He did some practice at Panmure a couple of days before, and he turned up and he played this hole, which is now the sixth hole, which is called Hogan’s Alley, and it’s called Hogan’s Alley because it’s where you’re teeing off all the way along the left-hand side, so it’s the left-hand edge of the tee, all the way down the hole, there’s white stakes, it’s it’s OB. And then you’ve got the the fairway, and then you’ve got these two or three massive bunkers on the right hand side of the fairway. They’re not even quite all the way over to the roof, the right-hand side of the fairway. So it’s a really tight drive to get it down there, and each day of the four days of the championship, he just bisected it straight down, uh, straight down the middle. So the hold has been renamed Hogan’s Alley as a result. So it’s really satisfying. You have to get your driver out there, it’s well worth it. Again, lucky with no wind, but you know, I’ll keep saying that. I can’t believe how lucky we were that we didn’t get any wind. But so satisfying to crack that drive down there. It was brilliant. Um, the island, you know, did the layup, landed in the perfect spot, did the next shot, you know, got it over the Barry Burn, you know, played that really well, and you know, 18, good drive, got caught in the bunkers at the end of the 18. I was out first time, but I was in and around and and and whatever. So I’ll take the positive that I got out of the bunkers first time, the the the two greenside bunkers. Um, but I played really well, and my handicap went up from uh 15.8 when I put it in put it into My England Golf, it went up to 22 for the championship course that day. Um, and it’s as past 72, so I shot a 90, including the mishap at the end. So that is four under my handicap for the day. So I played really well. I basically I filled my boots because the weather was was so good, and that felt quite satisfying. And I appreciate that contain and how you and affects how you view a golf course, but I think because I’ve done it on both, there’s a 19-stroke difference between the two. I feel like I’ve got a good grip of that golf course now.

The Crazy Realisation: Do We Have to Play Them All Again?
Nish 32:04
So we’re gonna get to like before my final closing thoughts, I’m gonna get to post-round. Now, the hotel bar was absolutely magnificent. We finished just after sunset, so it was getting cold, so we weren’t gonna sit on the terrace, but you can sit on that terrace and watch people going out, coming back in, and it’s a lovely spot. But you can go in after you finished your golf, particularly if you’re staying in the hotel, just go straight in. There’s a double door that goes, you know, goes in. Lots of people having a post-round drink in there. We obviously just wheeled our clubs round and dropped them off for the the hotel to put them back up into our room. Um, and the bar was just a lovely place for Andrew, Tony, Paul, and myself to have a good chin wag. And I must say now to those three guys, it was a pleasure chatting Top 100 with you. We were talking about Paul has played all but seven golf courses in Scotland now, so we were getting all the little insider things from him. The guys, Andrew and Tony, had played Muirfield and Gleneagles King’s Course before, and I’ve played King’s Course, I loved it. So chatting with them was was was just brilliant, and the company was was wonderful all the way around. So thank you to you guys. Now, the me the main thing that then came out of that um for me was playing a top 100 golf course for a second time. Now, this is my second of the revisiting series that we’ve done. I’ve played Swinley Forest again, I’ve played Hillside again since, and I’m gonna cover that again in another revisiting episode. And you know, playing it the second time has a lot of advantages. Um, the first time I think you’re in very much fanboy tourist mode, you are taking pictures everywhere, you’ve heard about the highlights, and we do the preview so we we know what to expect, but even then, in your mind you build it up, and then you get to feel, oh, there’s a magnificent Tee-box. Playing a course the second time, I think you start to understand it a little bit more, and you start to understand the nuances of it, and you understand why something like a Carnoustie is ranked so highly. I think it’s ranked like 11 or 13 or something like that in our list, and you understand when you strip away all the brutality of playing at Carnasty, you understand the design of that golf course and what they’re trying to make you do, and where they’re trying to push you off. I mean, there’s there’s a hole, I think it’s hole number three. Yeah, it’s hole number three. You tee off, and the burn goes all the way along the left hand side, and it dog legs to the right, and there’s two bunkers right in the middle of the fairway as well, and then for the bigger hitters, there’s a couple of fair there’s a the burn just in front of the green, and there’s a bunker just in front of that as well. It’s daring you to go for it, it’s daring you to cut a corner, it’s daring you to take on some rough, it’s daring you to land short and then have a longer approach shot, it’s daring you to be accurate because if you left, you’re gonna go into the burn. You know, that’s the personality of the golf course. I’m feeling like that’s what I’m getting to understand about some of these golf courses now, and it’s that top 100 education that you’re getting as you’re playing them. And do you know what? I’m gonna put this out there for some of the golf courses that you know are either on the bubble or just you know they’re nowhere near it. Your own golf course. A lot of your golf courses will at home will take inspiration from some of the big boys and you know, appreciate it for what it is. It might not have the same conditioning, it might not have the same um visual appeal or whatever, but if something’s been modelled on something, or you’ve got a designer of your golf course who has done some of these other courses, you can see some of what they’re doing in your golf course, and it really gives me appreciation of my golf course that’s Reddish Vale designed by Alistair McKenzie’s third ever one. It’s a great golf course because there is that element of challenge, you know, you just go there and just play it as you see it, but then when you understand the nuances of stuff and why things are in particular places, why have they done that runoff over there? You know, why are they trying to force you to why have they put the 150 marker over there because it’s visually trying to send you over there? But actually, that’s a really long approach up to an island green. Like, why have they done that? Um, but the problem that that brought up for me, and this was the kind of the crazy realisation I promised to you at the start of the episode. Are we gonna have to play these courses again to really give ourselves a good, honest appraisal of where they fit in the list? And if we are, we’ve just done ourselves an absolute turkey of a service by forcing ourselves to spend all this money again. But you know, I will guarantee the people amongst us who are listening who played top 100s, when you’ve played him again, you’re probably taking a lot more, and I bet your lists change. And Andy, who was a guest a few weeks ago, said something about that, and it is this state of flux. And I remember I had a real go at the ranking changes, and you know, I can if it was one person doing it, I could understand that. You know, as you go and play more courses and understand things and you play them all and then you play them again. Yeah, where you sit golf courses in that ranking, I can imagine can drastically change. So I don’t know. Are we going to be doing top 100 in 10 times two? I I really don’t know, but it’s the very much the purpose of doing this revisited series because we’re very lucky, Paul. Thank you for inviting us again. Very lucky to get out there and play an epic golf course twice. But I also am thankful of that because it’s really given me some food for thought about how I assess courses in the first instance now. So, yeah, that’s my sort of crazy real little realisation about what’s happening with our challenge. Now, I did actually the second day I did play the Burnside course, which was brilliant, like absolutely magnificent golf course. There are holes in that golf course that other top 100s would gladly take off their hands, and I’m gonna cover that in a separate episode uh looking beyond the top 100. So please stay tuned for that at some point in the very near future. But I will leave you with this. Carnoustie has gone up in my list, it wasn’t in my top 10. Um, where it is, I don’t know. I’m gonna have to fit it in somewhere, but it it really has left an really indelible impression on me now uh as a golf course, and I think it’s it’s a hard act to uh to live up to for some of those open roads of courses. Until next time on the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast.