In terms of golf courses played, it was a good year for lots of us in the Your Golf Travel offices, as a fair few crackers were ticked off our respective bucketlists.
From the South West coast of Ireland to the sunny climes of Spain, we had our fair share of golf holidays throughout the year and here are each of our personal highlights…as well as where we want to play in 2015…
Oliver
Old Head was without doubt my golfing highlight of the last year. It is a course I’ve wanted to play for many years and quite simply it surpassed my expectations.
Old Head is one of the most dramatic golf courses in the world and should be on every golfers bucketlist.
I’ve been quite fortunate to play some other cliff top courses – Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand for example – which are put in the same bracket as Old Head but felt that it was a different proposition as the course felt more exposed and rugged in places.
Old Head reminded Oliver of his round at Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand, another amazing clifftop golf course.
For me, often a mark of a good course is that you enjoyed it even though you didn’t play your best and that was certainly the case at Old Head! Taking the par-3 3rd hole as an example, it is, in my opinion, one of the best holes I’ve ever played…and I didn’t even get off the tee! My first attempt caught the left half of the green and then bounced down into the sea and, while my second attempt was straight down the flag, it too took a bounce, this time going over the green and, yes you guessed it, down into the sea! After 2 lost balls I decided to walk the rest of the hole, conscious that I still had plenty of golf to play…and a diminishing supply of golf balls!
I took some video of the course while I was playing – watch the par-4 4th here and me getting a scrambled par…
Old Head – Signature Hole Video
In 2015, I’d love to play the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles. I don’t usually watch a lot of golf on TV but was gripped by the action at the Ryder Cup. Gleneagles looked spectacular and having been there without being able to play golf (damn you snow!); I’d love to finally scratch that particular itch!
Euan
2014 wasn’t a great year in bucket list terms but I did play some interesting courses – Worplesdon and Centurion on home soil plus some very friendly ones in the Middle East. The stand out was probably PGA Catalunya’s Stadium Course which was a proper tournament quality challenge.
PGA Catalunya is one of the highest ranking golf courses in all of Europe and definitely a bucketlist course. It’s a tough test so come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough!
In 2015 I want to play Lofoten Links, which will open in the summer. It’s way above the Arctic Circle in Norway and will be a totally unique experience where you can see the Northern Lights, play midnight golf and maybe even get a glimpse of killer whales and sea eagles! National Geographic listed the Lofoten Islands as the most beautiful in the world and the journey there would be just as much of a highlight.
Rory
I was lucky enough to have lots of golfing highlights in 2014. I went back to Turnberry in Scotland (my 1st trip there was in 2013) to film some course vlogs with Mark Crossfield, Coach Lockey and Ladies European Tour player Sophie Walker, which was a really fun experience.
Watch Team Youtube take on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry.
Team Youtube (with Europro Tour player Kevin Harper subbed in for Sophie) also had a crack at the Brabazon Course at The Belfry, where we enjoyed a fun match on a Ryder Cup classic.
Check out our Ryder Cup inspired match on the Brabazon at The Belfry, including an eventful Christy O’Connor 2-iron challenge on the last!
Like Euan, I also got to play at PGA Catalunya in Spain. I played here the day after the European Tour Qualifying School had finished, which meant the course was in proper tournament condition and a really fun experience.
The standout memory for me though, was my trip to the South West coast of Ireland.
Being from Ireland originally, I had always wanted to play some of the great golf courses over there and my Dad had always talked of us playing together at Ballybunion in particular. With that in mind I went over there with the old man and played Ballybunion, Lahinch, Doonbeg and Tralee and while the whole trip was every bit as special as I imagined it would be, Tralee really stood out from the pack.
Tralee is the most spectacular golf course I have ever played and I will definitely be back for more in the future.
The course sits in a truly awe-inspiring location in Kerry, known by some as the ‘Lake District’ of Ireland and while the front nine is an exciting test of links golf in its own right, the back nine is simply staggering.
Click here to read more about my trip to this amazing stretch of coastline.
In 2015, my plan is to continue ticking off links courses in the UK and Ireland and would really love to play the St Andrews Old Course.
Playing the Old Course in the same year as the Open Championship comes to town would be great.
In 2014 I was lucky enough to get a game at Royal Liverpool a few weeks before the Open came to town and to do the same at St Andrews would be a dream come true.
Sam
My golfing highlight of 2014 was playing the famed Wentworth West course after kindly being invited by the team at VPAR.
The overall experience at Wentworth was first class as you would expect from a club steeped in such history. The West Course is also one of the most challenging I have ever played, which my scorecard certainly attested too!
Wentworth is one of the most exclusive clubs in England and the West Course holds a special place in the game as the host of the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship.
There are plenty of fantastic holes throughout the course with the highlight for me being the finishing combo of the 17th and 18th. Having caught some of the action at the BMW PGA Championship, it was really fun to imagine the likes of Rory McIlroy and co coming down the stretch while playing these holes.
Having only relocated to this part of the world in mid 2014, my goal in 2015 is to play as many of the classic courses on offer in the UK and Ireland. Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Old Head, Muirfield and Turnberry are all on the list and if I could tick a couple of these of this year, I’d be more than happy with my lot!
Another course that has caught my attention is Thracian Cliffs in Bulgaria which would also be great to play.
Bulgaria might not be traditionally associated with golf but Thracian Cliffs has emerged as a must play course for golfers all around the world.
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Which bucketlist golf courses do you want to tick off your lists this year? Let us know in the comments section!
This is why I want to play with you MARK, The courses you play are dream courses, You have you game because you have balls to play these courses. PLEASE PLEASE Let me join you