I love golf and I love playing new courses particularly the good ones. I managed to play the top 100 golf courses in Ireland before Covid happened and then in order to remember the courses, I completed a website – IrelandsTop100Courses.ie. It was great fun driving around Ireland ticking off the list mostly in summer weather. When I finished those, my better half asked me what I was going to do next and my reply was – I don’t know. Maybe a year later, I had a mad idea – how about playing the top 100 in the world. My better half thought it was a good idea and so I began making some plans.

It really has been a blast. To get to play some of these courses has been a brilliant experience and then sometimes when you get to see a course on TV that you have played it brings back memories every time. It also makes watching a tournament all the better when you have played there. Links course are my favourite but I have learned to love sand belts course and heathland courses almost to the same degree.

Many things stand out including:

• The amazing condition of the US courses
• How fast and firm the courses are in Australia
• The beauty of all the courses in New Zealand
• How stunning the heathland courses are in the greater London area
• The elegance of golf in Japan and China
• How rugged and beautiful the courses are in Scotland
• We are so spoilt here in Ireland for great courses
• Great courses in Holland – who would have thought that!
• How many surprisingly brilliant some courses have been when you were not expecting it
• The cliff top courses are such a wow on the senses
• Links courses the world over are just so special

A big thank you to friends old and new that I have met along the way. There is the odd time where I have played on my own or with a caddie and to be honest it is not as good as playing with fellow golfers but thankfully that is a very rare occurrence. I generally try to organise a trip and then see who wants to come along. Firstly, thanks to all the golf clubs and their staff. People that work in golf clubs are almost always so polite and welcoming. I have always paid a green fee except on maybe three occasions which was a lovely gesture.

So many thanks to friends like my cousin Sean, pals Peter, Mick, Gary, Johnny, Rob, Michael, Frank, Declan and Johnny the head pro at Royal Tara who all live in Ireland. Also to Kieran and Lyall in Scotland, Rishi in England and Neil who lives in New York. Thanks to my Irish pal Ben who lives in Boston and Travis who lives in the Monterrey Peninsula. They love coming along to courses all over the US. Thanks to Leonard, Mark and their pal Aengus who lives in Boston for helping to organise one of the trips to the US.

Thanks to Yoshi who was brilliant in organising the Japan trip and Yoshi played all four courses which was great. Thanks to a golf pro named Paul who helped organise my trip to China. Thanks to Irish lads Dan and Eanna who live in Sydney at present and also to Sam the Aussie who we met in New Zealand. Thanks to Mark for helping to arrange our trip in New Zealand. It was also lovely to play St. Andrews and some great Irish courses with fellow members and friends from the Dublin Journalists Golf Society. Thanks to my pal Tom for helping with the website and also to Mantas who did a brilliant job at putting this website together. His company is www.WebStudioGuys.com and I could not recommend them highly enough. A special thank you to my better half as she has encouraged me to chase my dreams. There is of course the added bonus of not having to put up with me for a week here and there!

There are times when I am on a long flight and I start thinking that I’m mad and maybe I should not be doing this but I promise you that opinion has changed every time I get to the first tee of a great golf course. It is a serious rush of adrenaline when you look out from that first tee and you start thinking about the next 4 hours. I love it. I would encourage any golfer to try and play as many good or great courses that are available. For example, Irish golfers should try and get to Scotland and England as the courses there are top class and are almost all bookable which is great. Golf trips will give you memories for a lifetime.

I still have a few to play and one of the reasons for this website is to see if it will help in getting to play those last few. Time will tell. I have to say that almost every course has exceeded my expectations. The quality of the courses and especially how they are presented has been remarkable at times. The great thing is that no two courses are the same and each provide a championship golfing test in different ways. When you are an amateur golfer, you cannot overpower a course like the professionals can so we have to think our way around a bit more which adds to the day’s golf especially if you are only going to get to play a course once or maybe twice.

I think it is really important to read about the history of a course before playing it, otherwise you might think that courses such as North Berwick or Royal Dornoch were just very good golf courses. By reading about the course and the designers you will soon see how influential courses like these have been on world golf.

If you thinking of booking a golf trip and heading to some of the courses mentioned on this site then just one piece of advice – Do it. If you don’t have a great time then you can blame me, but I know you will.

Take care and happy golfing. Gavin