How Machrihanish cracked our newest Top 100 Courses in the World list

(*100*)

GOLF launched its newest rating of the Top 100 Courses in the World (2023-24), and whereas Pine Valley once more took the prime spot, there have been eight newcomers that discovered their manner into the rating. Here, we’ll introduce you to them.

Newcomer highlight: Machrihanish / Rank: 97th

Location: Campbeltown, Scotland
Play: Semi-Private
Architect: Old Tom Morris, 1879; J.H. Taylor, 1914; Guy Campbell, Forties

Why it made our list, based on a rater:

Machrihanish is a worthy re-entry into the Top 100, thanks in half to a spectacular entrance 9 that snakes by way of the most majestic dunes on the west coast of Scotland. But it’s the greens which are actually value the journey. Putting surfaces that tilt and tumble make the problem wildly entertaining. The drive to the course might sound off-putting, however in an age when the world appears smaller all the time, Machrihanish is certainly one of golf’s final true adventures. — Tim Gallant

You can view Machrihanish’s Top 100 Course web page right here.

More about Machrihanish

On the Mull of Kintyre, the course makes the most of its romantic setting, beginning with the opening tee shot set on a diagonal throughout the seaside. One panelist considers the third as a great hyperlinks gap, writing: “The tee ball is blind over a heaving dune, which creates a sense of adventure as you aim your ball into the unknown. Then, as you crest the hill, a view of the Irish Sea emerges in the distance, with the beautifully situated green in the foreground, sunken in its own natural amphitheater.” The rumpled fairways by no means let up and serve up the awkward stances that complicate taking part in in the wind. But the actual star is the set of greens. The surfaces from 12 by way of 16 are all good and spotlight that the greatest hyperlinks holes aren’t essentially confined to these closest to the sea. It’s all the time a delight to discover a course that poses so many questions, all whereas measuring beneath 6,500 yards. — Ran Morrissett

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

Josh Berhow is the managing editor at GOLF.com. The Minnesota native graduated with a journalism diploma from Minnesota State University in Mankato. You can attain him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.