The Golf Pilgrim Top 100
This is the essential podcast for those planning to play the world's top golf courses. We now have dozens of reviews from Top 100 courses in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, the USA and Australia…and the library is building every week. All the episodes are stand alone - you don't have to listen to them in any particular order.In 2020 Neil White began a challenge to play all of the world's top courses. You can read his reviews at www.thegolfpilgrim.com. Now you can listen to his reviews, as he gives an honest account of the courses, the pr...
Latest Episodes
A recent new entry into England’s Top 100, Appleby is not your average course.
It’s a par 68, with no par 5s, but it does have what designer Mike Clayton calls “the nuttiest of nutty holes in the world”!
With grazing sheep to help the green staff keep on top of grass management, and a bargain price for a Top 100 course, Appleby has found a host of admirers.
https://www.thegolfpilgrim.com/post/appleby
https://applebygolfclub.co.uk/
The city of Belfast is in County Antrim, but Royal Belfast Golf Club is north-east of Northern Ireland's capital, in County Down.
It's celebrating the centenary of its Harry Colt-designed parkland course on the shore of Belfast Lough. But the club is facing a very modern problem; a new housing development adjacent to the course means several holes will have to be reconfigured for health and safety reasons.
The club hopes the changes will make the course even better. And its Victorian clubhouse is one of the grandest you will find anywhere.
This episode is sponsored by cmon.golf/
Shane Lowry helped bring Baltray, County Louth, to wider acclaim when he won the Irish Open here as an amateur. But connoisseurs of Irish courses have always known this was one of the country’s finest links.
It’s also the home course of the 2026 Amateur Champion Stuart Grehan, who tells us how it will help him prepare for playing in The Open, as well as the US Open and the Masters.
County Louth remains a members' club at heart, but they’re getting used to sharing tee times with visitors from around the world.
https://countylouthgolfclub.com/
https://www.thegolfpilgrim.com/post/county-louth-baltray
Commentary: DP World Tour
This episode is sponsored by cmon.golf/
Wallasey has not just one, but two great claims to fame, and is a course that attracts plaudits from those who play it.
Bobby Jones, arguably the greatest amateur golfer in history, played in a qualifier at Wallasey and went on to win the Open Championship at Hoylake and complete the original Grand Slam.
And those of you who prefer playing in stableford competitions rather than a medal round will be forever grateful to Frank Stableford, the Wallasey member who invented the scoring system after a dreadful start to one round there…
Both men are honoured in the clubhouse and on the course.
https://www.thegolfpilgrim.com/post/wallasey-revised
This episode is sponsored by cmon.golf/
A famous old golf course, which is in the running to stage an Open Championship in the coming years, and we have two former Ryder Cup players who tell us why it should.
Paul McGinley and Andrew Coltart are big fans of Portmarnock, and so are we… though do try to avoid the bunkers if you want to score well!
Andrew also shares his memories of playing in the Walker Cup at Portmarnock, where he faced a cocky young amateur named Phil Mickelson.
https://www.thegolfpilgrim.com/post/portmarnock
https://www.portmarnockgolfclub.ie/
This episode is sponsored by cmon.golf/
Music: Alban Gogh
Royal Dublin may be unique among links courses - while many others suffer from coastal erosion, its land grows bit by bit every year. Find out why by listening to this episode…
And to guide us round, we have a caddie who has helped his man win the US Open. Colin Byrne has carried the bag for Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and many others, but can he help The Golf Pilgrim boys plot their way around his home course?
https://www.thegolfpilgrim.com/post/royal-dublin
https://www.theroyaldublingolfclub.com/
This episode is sponsored by cmon.golf/
The Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale in 2026, but there have been significant changes to the course since it last hosted the championship.
This episode tells you all you need to know, whether you're planning to watch the event in person or on TV, or to play the course at some point.
Among those joining us on the podcast are architect Tom Mackenzie, who oversaw the changes, and Ian Baker-Finch, who knows Royal Birkdale well, having lifted the Claret Jug here in 1991.
This episode is sponsored by cmon.golf/
Commentary from R@A
A special episode celebrating what many believe is the greatest golf course in the world!
Royal County Down regularly tops the list of the best courses outside America, and some rate it as high as Cypress Point and Pine Valley.
So why is it so revered? The challenge of the design and the beauty of its surroundings make it a must-play destination.
We played alongside some of those who know the course best, and in this episode, you'll also hear from Soren Kjeldsen, who won the Irish Open at RCD in 2015.
Neil played pretty well too…..
https://www.royalcountydown.org/
https://www.thegolfpilgrim.com/post/royal-county-down
Music: Alban Gogh
It's more than 30 years since St Mellion last hosted a top-level European Tour event, but that shouldn't reflect on the quality of a course which saw the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal triumph.
The top pros now play fewer events in England as the Tour embraces ever more international venues. But the course that Jack Nicklaus built, because Seve had criticised the original St Mellion course as being too easy, presents a challenge for every golfer.
And for a championship course, the green fee is very competitive.
You know what you're getting if you book a round at Old Head - but even the photographs of the spectacular setting don't do justice to the experience of playing golf on fairways perched precariously next to clifftops, with the waves crashing against rocks 300 feet below you.
What you won't know until you get there is how big a factor the wind will be - the weather forecast had suggested it was going to be a benign day for our round. The reality was a little different!
It all makes for an unforgettable round of golf…