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Top 100 Clubhouse - Golf Podcast
'Top 100 Clubhouse' is the ultimate destination for golf course enthusiasts!
Join us as we delve deep into the minds of fascinating individuals from every corner of the golfing world. From players to course designers, caddies to golf historians, we'll leave no stone unturned in our quest to share unique insights and experiences with the Top 100 Community.
Together we'll explore stunning courses and breathtaking landscapes, enjoying the unforgettable stories that bring the game of golf to life.
Visit our website at www.top100golfcourses.com
Top 100 Clubhouse - Golf Podcast
Episode 100: Top 100 Golf Courses Rankings Update
In this episode of the Top 100 Clubhouse, James and Jasper sit down to discuss updates and changes to the rankings, including a release of the New Zealand and Australia rankings in the coming weeks, thanks to an increased pool of contributors who have a lot of depth of play in the Oceania region.
The pair also discuss what's coming up for Top 100 Golf Courses for 2026, and talk about how the new ranking system is a natural evolution, designed to help travelling golfers best navigate countries they're visiting. Later, they touch on the controversial decision to start grouping courses based on county lines, and how that will impact how courses are compared against each other.
Top 100 Golf Courses Website 🛜:
https://www.top100golfcourses.com/
Top 100 Golf Courses Official Merch 🧢:
https://shop.top100golfcourses.com/
Lockhart Travel Club ✈️:
https://www.lockharttravelclub.com/me...
Chapters
0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Hadley Wood Appreciation
02:44 - Rankings Update
07:02 - Separating the Course from the Experience
12:38 - The Benefits of Well Traveled Panelists
17:41 - We Aren't Down on Parkland Golf!
22:37 - County Lines Rankings
28:53 - Spanish Panel Shout Out
32:57 - Irish Courses & Hidden Gems
37:13 - Plans for Top 100 Golf Courses USA
38:24 - Closing Thoughts
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I mean the game is an amateur
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game I mean the professional
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side of it you know there are idols and heroes and
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fun to watch them play but I mean if it weren't for amateur
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golf there would be no golf
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you have to remember when you play a golf course
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and you're out there for four hours or whatever
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you're only hitting
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the you're only hitting a ball for what 15
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minutes of that so there's a lot of time to look around
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hello and welcome to another episode of the Top 100
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Clubhouse podcast
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I'm your host James Henderson and I'm with our editor
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top of the Top 100 golf course.com website
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Jasper Miners how you doing Jasper yeah doing well
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yeah it's great uh
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yeah didn't expect you uh to run into James near London
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today but uh it's nice it was a bit of a change
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and uh yeah nice to get out of the house
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it was a complete utter accident if anything
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it was a a rogue
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road trip and I think everyone needs to do that more
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it may not be the day for golf today North London
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but at least we managed to get a few things done
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absolutely yeah it's a
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when I walked when I first came up to Hadley
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Wood I looked out and I seen James
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uh James and he's like budgie
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budgie smugglers out there oh yeah and his wellies
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hitting a a bucket of balls
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but yeah no it's not a good day for golf
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it's draining
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well though with the new bunker work they've done
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and the drainage work like
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all it's done is rain all day and I've been wandering
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around that golf course and I got soaked
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but the bunkers are still dry yeah yeah it's a
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it makes it makes a change um yeah North London
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Hadley Wood
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is one I've been banging on about for a bit obviously
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Clyde Johnson has done quite a bit of work and Brett
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Hawksdene uh so two young shapers that uh
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have come through the the Renaissance um
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kind of farm system if you will
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and worked their way through the ranks and are now
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architects in their own rights
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and yeah they've done some amazing work here obviously
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Brett's work stateside at Pasatiempo
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a couple of other Mackenzie courses
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there Clyde consults at numerous Mackenzie courses and
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this is one that's flown under the radar
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for quite a while but I think from next year um
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a lot more people are gonna start to hear about Hollywood in London
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yeah hundred percent it's a
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it's a very impressive site it's quite cool
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I did enjoy walking around it um and then we've been
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very kindly looked after by them they've uh
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they've let us film in their clubhouse and for our well
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a couple of pods our next two pods so
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uh firstly we're gonna cover over all the rankings
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that have happened
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and things that are going on in the rankings
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around Christmas time
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and then we're gonna do a podcast around
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Christmas time that's gonna be our year in review
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are you ready for that
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yeah yeah looking forward to it so yeah been
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been looking forward to this for for a while
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and we got lots I mean it's been a busy year
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and I think we're just getting going it feels like
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top 1 hundred's in a really good place
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we feel like we've got lots of momentum
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and yeah we're excited about the year ahead
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okay so what's happening in the rankings
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what's happening around the rankings right now
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so this week we are putting out the New Zealand ranking
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uh next week uh we're a bit quieter
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with regards to the content we're pushing out for
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Australia or for the on the socials
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and then a week after that we get into Australia so
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this is kind of been one of those ones that I've really been looking
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forward to because we had a smaller panel
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in Australia and New Zealand uh for previous rankings
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I was asked if I would look after rankings uh
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January 2025
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so kind of one year into it and we've effectively
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brought in a load of guys uh
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in New Zealand and in Australia that had
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quite a lot of depth of play in the Oceania region
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and we've given them effectively a carp carp launch
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tell us here's our guidance
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you tell us the courses that match up best to that
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and I think what we'll find is
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there's been some movement at the top
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but quite a lot of movement in the bottom
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but that's just a reflection of having
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really switched on architecturally LED guys
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that are well played helping us out with our rankings
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so it's probably gonna be well
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without a doubt it is our best
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New Zealand or Aussie rankings and
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the combination of that is the Oceania
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rankings that will come out so
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not everybody's gonna agree with it even within
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within the the panel uh controversially we've
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Saint Andrew's Beach I still ranks
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higher than some of the other ones that you would
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expect
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perhaps if you were traditionalist in in the sand
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belt in Melbourne uh so
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yeah row Melbourne East Victoria Peninsula Kingswood
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uh those have their their fans
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but Saint Andrews Beach still ranks very highly um
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so look that that's the best thing about
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these rankings is that it stimulates debate
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well that's what the whole website's
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really about right it's about having a list
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to go and check out
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and then arguing with someone whether it's correct
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and you know what some of those and some of those decisions
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that are being made um
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you know you you get accusations
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of like all this is just clickbait
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or you guys are just trying to like be different or
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genuinely um we've never made a decision
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on a ranking to just
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make people like incense people to to stir the pot uh
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genuinely we feel that when we make these decisions
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when we put courses where they think they should be
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that is according to what we feel is important in golf
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that's a reflection of it um and Saint
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Andrew's Beach is probably one of the bolder claims
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that the world panel has made
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um you've played it I've played it we've
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we've had a lot of people locally that have played it
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and it it is just different than the type of golf
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that you would find in Melbourne
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so it's it's a bit of a Marmite course not everybody
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understands it or gets it or feels that it fits
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um it doesn't help that it's essentially a council
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pay to play I I think there's a bit of that there um
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where you know anyone can rock up I mean I think
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we've spoken about this before
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I've played it a couple of times
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and the last time I was there I immensely
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enjoyed it but the round was long
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I it was near enough six hours
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and it's because there was like
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I don't know two groups that had joined together
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that basically had a load of beers and
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by the end of the round I don't know they were playing with flip flops
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muscle shirts and swimming trunks and that's fine
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that's a reflection of the type of golf
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that's on offer there but the golf
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course if you just divide all of that off
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but that's a special skill right that's the skill
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that a lot of these people have that a lot that maybe
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a person did have a bad round because it took
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six hours
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and the people in front of them were playing music
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and they were loud and annoying
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and yeah of course you're not gonna enjoy
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that day but you need to be able to separate
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that from the quality of the golf course
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and I think there is a bit of that I mean
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you you do get a lot of big courses in America
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where if it's
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really difficult to get on it's almost like once you find yourself
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there you're like well
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it's probably not as good as I think it
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should be or what
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I was expecting but because you've spent
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either so much effort to network and find a way in
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or you've paid to play in some way or another
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that it's almost like it has to be good
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and you convince yourself
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that it has to be good because you put so much effort to get
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to find that first tee
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where when you can just rock up pay a green fee and walk on
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um maybe the bar is a little bit higher because
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it's the only thing that you really have to go on is the quality and caliber of the golf
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so
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what I'm really looking forward
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or what I've really appreciated
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about New Zealand though is that courses like arrowtown
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that are a bit more rough ready rugged
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uh quirky bold interesting
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those have risen through the ranks and that wasn't any
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because of any moderation from my part
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or the world panel that was we had the right guys
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on the ground who get golf in New Zealand
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who looked at the guidance we gave them
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looked at the golf courses
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they played and they put Arrowtown on top now
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a lot of the comments we've had back
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is that like it's not well presented
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and the conditioning can suffer and it's like
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that's fine
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but what I love about it is if I go to Arrowtown and play
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I'm playing a golf course
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that I can't play anywhere else
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where if I go to some of the other ones um
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I can probably play those courses on most
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in most major golfing markets in Europe
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in North America
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or in Oceania or in New Zealand or Australia
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and that's all well and good
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but I think as a traveling golfer you want to be able to go and say I've played a really cool unique
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course that I could only find here
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well I did find it very funny on the Instagram when uh
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two people complained about the Arrowhead
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the conditioning
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so you tagged them both in it and said you guys to have a game
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hahaha
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you try not to be too facetious
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when you're getting involved in socials
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but you do like it when and you can try and marry up
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two individuals that you you obviously
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see that they they love golf in a particular vein
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and what's
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important to them is things like conditioning
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so it's like yeah it'll be very good for you guys to meet and have a game
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so hopefully
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hopefully they they enjoy one another's company
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they sure they have a lot in common
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when it comes to golf courses
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that was so funny that's just a really good way of
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um engaging on Instagram absolutely brilliant um
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it is exciting because there
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you've put a huge amount of work in the last year into the rankings
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and uh there has been
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years in the past where a lot of the rankings
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have been decided by smaller groups
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and now we've done
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a huge amount of days like you organise
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all those days across England to try and develop
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the regional rankings within England
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and it's starting to pay off and it's exciting it is um
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obviously we we had the regional events
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so what we wanna do is basically divide
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England into nine different regions
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and we set up the various events
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because we felt that there was gonna be more individuals
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that we didn't know
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personally through our social networks that would
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effectively
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be an asset to top 100 and and the rankings
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um so we've had loads of people apply
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those were shortlisted we brought them to the events
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from those events
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uh we kind of distilled down the individuals that were
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invited and we were left with between probably
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three to five people from each event
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that had depth of play in that particular region
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that had seen kind of the the heady heights of world
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golf uh played world top hundred stuff
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all the way down to like local clubs
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in their own area that you wouldn't see on top 100
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and their input's been particularly valuable
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so historically what's happened is
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that we always did a top down approach
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so the world panel would set the world hundred
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then they would work into the regions
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and those individuals on the region panel
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would decide the next lot
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and then it would go down to country
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so in this case you would have the world
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then you would have um
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GBI then you would have England
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and then you'd get down into the counties
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and what we found though was that
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if the panels above them
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using that kind of cascade approach
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if the panels above them had a particular slant
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or a view on things and there was only a few people that were contributing
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towards it there was courses that were pushing
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from the bottom up that never got the light of day
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so what we
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decided to do this time was to go from a county level
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so what we did was we asked everybody to
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uh give us their county rankings and
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in the past we've had roughly around 10 people
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maybe a little bit more in some cases
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that would contribute to these various uh rankings
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and they've done a very good job
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uh the foundation that's been laid
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has been brilliant and it's been decades in the making
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um but what we've done now is we've
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invited not just the the local individuals that have
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local play um but we have lots of individuals
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that perhaps were born and bred in GBI
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that have moved to America or
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they play a lot of great golf in America
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and they make yearly visits
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to England Scotland and Ireland to play golf
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and you've got individuals who have played
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the top 50 courses in England the top 50
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courses in Scotland and the top 30 courses in Ireland
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but because they didn't
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live here or because they didn't have
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like 80% of say the the top hundred in England
302
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we never consider them for a panel uh
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to to contribute towards it
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and that's one of the big changes that we've made
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so this time at last count
306
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we've had 78 different individuals
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contribute towards GBI so that's
308
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the the overall GBI ranking
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uh Ireland England Scotland
310
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um and Wales is a bit difficult uh
311
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because there's not a lot of people that have played in Wales
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so that panel is effectively stayed the same uh
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although Die's done a really good job but he's built
314
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quite a good panel already so he was
315
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he kind of got this already he got it before it even
316
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started to move to this direction absolutely so
317
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die's done a really good job obviously
318
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he's had a lot of help from Brian
319
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and then we've got a handful of other guys that have contributed
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towards that that have really
321
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stepped up and tried to get around and play so we're very confident
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with Wales I think that's a top 50 now so we're
323
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we're happy with where we've got it in Wales and there hasn't
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really been a lot of changes in the top 10 um
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but for the rest of the country as a whole we've got
326
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like almost seven times more people
327
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that are contributing towards
328
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giving us a really balanced
329
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kind of like broad church approach to rankings and so
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instead of going from like the top down and cascading
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where a lot of the big decisions
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have been made by the time you got down to
333
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let's say county level um
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in England or
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um let's say Berkshire or
336
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Surrey or whatever it might have been
337
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like the top five or six bases
338
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in all of those county rankings had had been decided
339
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and so you're dealing with a lot of the lower tier
340
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stuff
341
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where when we opened it up and we said look we're gonna turn this on its head
342
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and you can tell us
343
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what you think is good from the bottom up
344
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well who knows
345
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there if you live in the North East of England
346
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you're gonna know what's going on in those golf courses
347
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and what's appropriate
348
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and how much work they're putting into
349
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maintaining mowing lines or green sizes or whatever
350
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whereas a guy who's
351
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played last time he played it was 10 years ago
352
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can't do that definition
353
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well and that's the thing so I think
354
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when it comes to really high level stuff
355
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like World Hundred there's not a lot of movement like
356
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kind of the top 100 courses and maybe the next 50
357
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contenders
358
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unless you get some really cracking new builds like
359
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Tri or you know some some of these big
360
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they've got top notch architects
361
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unlimited budgets and great sites
362
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you can almost put them in and say okay well they
363
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we're thinking that that'll probably be a contender
364
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where
365
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or you get some other grades that have gone through
366
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significant amounts of restoration so Casa de
367
00:15:28,733 --> 00:15:31,433
Campo is another one that we've got on our radar uh
368
00:15:31,433 --> 00:15:34,033
Yale is another one that we're just waiting for so
369
00:15:34,033 --> 00:15:36,133
again previous top 100 courses
370
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that should be back better than ever um
371
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where will they enter again who knows
372
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will they enter again who knows um
373
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but then you contrast
374
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that with say like the corset say the lido
375
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um where like or Saint Patrick's
376
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where it just kind of enters
377
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in and it finds its space and universally it's
378
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it's almost accepted that it's one of the the greats
379
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:01,500
as soon as it opens
380
00:16:02,066 --> 00:16:05,200
so but yeah getting back to to the UK
381
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,633
I think what we've got now is a situation where
382
00:16:08,233 --> 00:16:10,533
we've got so much more data coming in
383
00:16:10,633 --> 00:16:13,600
it's allowed us to go back to kind of the base level
384
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and once you start getting those local um counties
385
00:16:18,733 --> 00:16:19,533
sorted
386
00:16:19,866 --> 00:16:23,100
then you go up to regions then you go up to country
387
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then you get fed back into GBI
388
00:16:26,066 --> 00:16:29,133
and then you kind of align that with the world
389
00:16:29,533 --> 00:16:31,033
that's really been
390
00:16:31,033 --> 00:16:33,633
good and it's challenged the status quo and we've
391
00:16:33,633 --> 00:16:36,466
had the benefit of having a lot more data to see these patterns
392
00:16:36,466 --> 00:16:38,733
emerge so I'm really excited
393
00:16:38,733 --> 00:16:41,133
we're working on it now we've kind of got a couple of final
394
00:16:41,133 --> 00:16:44,433
drafts for um England
395
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Scotland Northern Ireland and Ireland
396
00:16:46,033 --> 00:16:48,233
we've got a final draft for GBI
397
00:16:48,433 --> 00:16:52,433
obviously that will go through a bit of moderation um
398
00:16:53,066 --> 00:16:55,233
just to make sure that there's no anomalies
399
00:16:55,266 --> 00:16:56,400
and that it kind of follows
400
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,800
through the the wishes of of the panel but yeah
401
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,333
looking forward to seeing that land
402
00:17:01,333 --> 00:17:04,600
because I think it's gonna be probably the the best yet
403
00:17:04,666 --> 00:17:05,400
this episode
404
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,500
is brought to you by the Lockhart Travel Club
405
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,233
we believe golf is more than a game it's a journey
406
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:12,133
a journey
407
00:17:12,133 --> 00:17:15,266
we've made across 34 of the world's top 100 courses
408
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last year and now it's your turn
409
00:17:18,833 --> 00:17:21,500
we create bespoke travel experiences
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for passionate golfers who expect nothing but the best
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412
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at Locker Travel club.com
413
00:17:29,433 --> 00:17:33,033
one thing that uh will be raised I definitely
414
00:17:33,033 --> 00:17:37,733
before anyone says it is uh we are down on Parkland
415
00:17:38,466 --> 00:17:40,433
and do you wanna give a we
416
00:17:41,333 --> 00:17:45,000
reason for that yeah it's an interesting one
417
00:17:45,066 --> 00:17:47,133
it's not that we don't like Parkland golf I mean
418
00:17:47,133 --> 00:17:49,933
we're both sat here at Parkland Golf Course
419
00:17:50,033 --> 00:17:51,100
Parkland Golf Course
420
00:17:51,100 --> 00:17:53,633
and you look around the UK and you've got
421
00:17:53,633 --> 00:17:56,000
excellent Parkland golf um
422
00:17:56,300 --> 00:17:58,333
even in just this part of London you've got
423
00:17:58,333 --> 00:17:59,833
Stoke Park not a million miles
424
00:17:59,833 --> 00:18:02,066
away you've got the Grove you've got Hadley Wood
425
00:18:02,066 --> 00:18:06,133
just down the road um you've got Ashridge
426
00:18:06,500 --> 00:18:09,200
you've got up near Birmingham um
427
00:18:11,433 --> 00:18:14,400
you you've got a lot of good there's a lot of good
428
00:18:14,533 --> 00:18:19,366
golf courses and I think the thing to keep in mind
429
00:18:20,100 --> 00:18:22,633
is that sometimes things are
430
00:18:23,433 --> 00:18:27,400
exciting or an anomaly for English golf
431
00:18:27,633 --> 00:18:30,066
so for example like Parklands
432
00:18:30,066 --> 00:18:31,833
when they're done well there's something different
433
00:18:31,900 --> 00:18:34,200
from links and heathlands they dominate
434
00:18:34,633 --> 00:18:40,566
and so sometimes I think from an English perspective is
435
00:18:40,700 --> 00:18:43,333
because it's new or exciting or different
436
00:18:43,333 --> 00:18:45,166
it gets a bit of a push up
437
00:18:45,433 --> 00:18:49,166
where if you go to America and you play Parkland golf
438
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,966
the bar is so high for Parkland golf
439
00:18:53,466 --> 00:18:55,733
so when you get someone from an
440
00:18:55,733 --> 00:18:58,700
that has an international perspective of Parkland golf
441
00:18:58,933 --> 00:19:02,300
and they come in and look at Parkland golf in the UK
442
00:19:02,433 --> 00:19:05,233
and they compare it to what they've got locally in
443
00:19:05,233 --> 00:19:06,033
America
444
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,966
you would look at Parkland golf in the UK and say
445
00:19:09,066 --> 00:19:10,066
it's a really good Parkland
446
00:19:10,066 --> 00:19:13,533
that should be like 75 in England and
447
00:19:13,533 --> 00:19:14,866
I think what we find is
448
00:19:14,866 --> 00:19:20,200
especially with the international um rankings they
449
00:19:21,433 --> 00:19:22,466
they look at the parklands
450
00:19:22,466 --> 00:19:24,733
that we have here and they say if this was in my own
451
00:19:24,733 --> 00:19:26,933
state it wouldn't even register in the top 50
452
00:19:26,933 --> 00:19:28,200
or the top hundred yeah
453
00:19:28,866 --> 00:19:31,266
but that's actually quite good because what's happening
454
00:19:31,266 --> 00:19:32,466
is that we're getting a
455
00:19:32,466 --> 00:19:34,833
a perspective that allows people to
456
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:37,766
kind of see from a high level
457
00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:39,866
all these different types of golf
458
00:19:39,866 --> 00:19:42,466
and we we get a better perspective so if I'm an
459
00:19:42,466 --> 00:19:44,333
American and I'm coming over here
460
00:19:44,333 --> 00:19:47,100
and I go to the UK's best Parkland golf course
461
00:19:47,866 --> 00:19:50,600
it's probably doesn't compare it to
462
00:19:51,033 --> 00:19:54,233
yeah most of the high end Parkland in America
463
00:19:54,433 --> 00:19:55,633
we're here it's
464
00:19:55,633 --> 00:19:57,466
it's one of the best examples of its kind
465
00:19:57,466 --> 00:19:59,233
so it's obviously in the ranking
466
00:19:59,666 --> 00:20:03,533
where actually most traveling golfers would look at
467
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:05,433
England and say I want to play
468
00:20:05,433 --> 00:20:06,700
links and I want to play heathland
469
00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:08,833
because that's what you guys do and that's what you guys do the best
470
00:20:08,833 --> 00:20:11,833
yeah so I think there is a little bit of a lean
471
00:20:11,833 --> 00:20:13,700
towards that I don't know if we've made a conscious
472
00:20:13,700 --> 00:20:16,500
effort to like weed out parklands
473
00:20:16,733 --> 00:20:19,466
but there definitely is uh that appetite
474
00:20:19,466 --> 00:20:20,500
and I think when we have the data
475
00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:22,800
feeding in from a lot of the international visitors
476
00:20:23,266 --> 00:20:26,333
um when they look at our Parkland golf courses
477
00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:28,633
they don't tend to do as well in the rankings
478
00:20:28,833 --> 00:20:30,266
simply because
479
00:20:30,266 --> 00:20:32,500
they're comparing it to a really high standard
480
00:20:32,700 --> 00:20:34,400
well they have much bigger budgets
481
00:20:35,066 --> 00:20:37,533
hugely more but um money to be able to
482
00:20:37,533 --> 00:20:39,866
and parklands very expensive to maintain
483
00:20:39,866 --> 00:20:42,300
to a high standard and I think that's what it is
484
00:20:42,300 --> 00:20:44,600
so the things that we say make golf great
485
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,233
so short grass firm turf um
486
00:20:49,266 --> 00:20:51,500
landforms so topography
487
00:20:51,866 --> 00:20:54,566
um and turf conditions agronomy things like that
488
00:20:55,466 --> 00:20:59,300
those things usually either have to be maintained um
489
00:21:00,033 --> 00:21:01,533
massive investment in it
490
00:21:01,533 --> 00:21:04,133
and you need to be on a pretty cracking piece of land
491
00:21:04,133 --> 00:21:05,166
well this so
492
00:21:05,233 --> 00:21:08,000
the cost of sand capping is millions
493
00:21:08,066 --> 00:21:10,400
yeah the cost of tree removal is
494
00:21:10,466 --> 00:21:12,400
infinite because you can't get it
495
00:21:12,666 --> 00:21:14,633
so you know like it's a
496
00:21:14,700 --> 00:21:17,333
there's lots of different things that actually are
497
00:21:17,700 --> 00:21:20,600
within EU uh EU or UK red
498
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,066
regulation that actually hinder
499
00:21:22,066 --> 00:21:23,600
the Parkland golf community
500
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,700
as well it's not actually the quality of the
501
00:21:25,700 --> 00:21:26,566
golf course
502
00:21:26,733 --> 00:21:31,200
there's tree removals a big one absolutely so I mean it
503
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,266
it it's one of those things where it's not that we don't like Parkland golf
504
00:21:34,266 --> 00:21:38,066
um we we do we think it's great um you and I
505
00:21:38,066 --> 00:21:39,200
we're heading over to the States
506
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:40,500
this year we're gonna play uh
507
00:21:40,866 --> 00:21:44,033
hopefully quite a lot of golf in in in America
508
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,000
uh some trips planned and Parkland will feature
509
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:48,266
heavily in that yeah and we're
510
00:21:48,266 --> 00:21:49,766
excited about it yeah big time um
511
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:50,966
it's not it's nothing to do
512
00:21:51,033 --> 00:21:53,233
it's nothing to do with that it's just more of the fact that
513
00:21:53,233 --> 00:21:56,033
we have to rate things on an international standard
514
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,700
not on a local standard exactly
515
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,200
and with that perspective that
516
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:01,933
that just changes things and I think what we're seeing
517
00:22:01,933 --> 00:22:04,033
now is that because we've opened up
518
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,400
uh contributions to the panel from an
519
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,200
international perspective the things that England
520
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:09,966
does really well Heathlands and links
521
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,666
are kind of rising to the top so that'll be well
522
00:22:12,666 --> 00:22:16,000
let's be honest I'm as a Scotsman
523
00:22:16,066 --> 00:22:18,966
I'm not flying to Florence and eating fish and chips
524
00:22:20,300 --> 00:22:24,233
right exactly yeah so it might they might have some
525
00:22:24,233 --> 00:22:26,433
excellent fish and chips there I don't know
526
00:22:26,433 --> 00:22:27,733
never looked for it hahaha
527
00:22:28,933 --> 00:22:30,433
and that maybe proves the point
528
00:22:30,433 --> 00:22:31,833
the other thing that's really exciting
529
00:22:31,833 --> 00:22:33,600
about what's going on is
530
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,633
so historically top 100 and this has been a bit
531
00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:43,133
controversial uh internally as well is the desire to
532
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,900
realign the rankings and what we mean by that is
533
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,066
that the the rankings will be done geographically now
534
00:22:50,066 --> 00:22:51,633
based on county lines
535
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,100
so if you're from Canada it's the provinces
536
00:22:55,100 --> 00:22:58,000
if you're from the States it's the states um
537
00:22:58,000 --> 00:22:58,866
but we effectively
538
00:22:58,866 --> 00:23:00,766
wanted to do that for the website in the UK
539
00:23:00,866 --> 00:23:02,966
previously it's always been done by
540
00:23:04,900 --> 00:23:09,800
golf unions so these were you know effectively
541
00:23:10,666 --> 00:23:15,100
plain jurisdictions that had historic roots
542
00:23:15,100 --> 00:23:18,900
of previously established geographical boundaries
543
00:23:19,633 --> 00:23:22,300
so here in London is a good example um
544
00:23:22,633 --> 00:23:24,600
one of the big unions is Middlesex
545
00:23:24,866 --> 00:23:27,233
it it doesn't actually exist as a place anymore
546
00:23:27,233 --> 00:23:29,200
but we had a Middlesex ranking
547
00:23:29,533 --> 00:23:31,266
and a lot of county golfers
548
00:23:31,266 --> 00:23:33,900
would know Middlesex and knew what that was but if you were a travelling
549
00:23:33,900 --> 00:23:37,666
golfer from abroad or America
550
00:23:37,666 --> 00:23:39,533
and you wanted to know what was a good golf course
551
00:23:39,533 --> 00:23:41,066
in London you wouldn't
552
00:23:41,066 --> 00:23:42,800
know that you needed to look at the Middlesex
553
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,300
ranking to find out I don't think I could point
554
00:23:45,300 --> 00:23:46,400
Middlesex on a map
555
00:23:46,433 --> 00:23:49,033
so and and that and that's the point so
556
00:23:49,233 --> 00:23:52,933
you know if if as a British person or a Scotsman
557
00:23:53,033 --> 00:23:55,900
was was near London looking for golf um
558
00:23:56,233 --> 00:23:58,800
you know if Middlesex wasn't in your general
559
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,366
awareness or consciousness
560
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,233
then it would be very difficult to find the golf course
561
00:24:02,233 --> 00:24:04,566
you wanted to play so we've taken a stance where
562
00:24:04,733 --> 00:24:07,033
we we know the golf course is predominantly
563
00:24:07,033 --> 00:24:09,733
used by individuals who are planning golf trips
564
00:24:10,100 --> 00:24:12,566
whether that's internationally or within country
565
00:24:13,133 --> 00:24:17,066
so we felt that it was best to align the rankings
566
00:24:17,066 --> 00:24:18,833
with geographic boundaries
567
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,100
so we will have a a London ranking
568
00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:25,200
we will have the major counties represented and the um
569
00:24:25,333 --> 00:24:27,933
the regions as well but interestingly
570
00:24:27,933 --> 00:24:30,066
one of the things that come up is not just London
571
00:24:30,066 --> 00:24:31,566
that's one of the major changes
572
00:24:31,666 --> 00:24:34,700
but the North West you mentioned it previously
573
00:24:35,033 --> 00:24:37,900
um but counties like Merseyside
574
00:24:38,233 --> 00:24:41,300
Merseyside might just be the best
575
00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:43,633
golfing county in the country
576
00:24:43,633 --> 00:24:45,933
I've been saying it for years so everybody
577
00:24:45,933 --> 00:24:48,000
talks about like Surrey Barkshire down in London
578
00:24:48,133 --> 00:24:50,166
um and it's true
579
00:24:50,333 --> 00:24:53,733
um there's great golf there and it's really top heavy
580
00:24:54,066 --> 00:24:55,466
um barkshire
581
00:24:55,466 --> 00:24:57,900
probably has the best Surrey probably has the deepest
582
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,566
but like when you look at the North West and Merseyside
583
00:25:02,866 --> 00:25:03,433
basically
584
00:25:03,433 --> 00:25:06,000
from Hoylake up to Birkdale and all those courses
585
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,166
on that coast it's incredible
586
00:25:07,233 --> 00:25:08,933
there's like 10 or 12 golf courses
587
00:25:08,933 --> 00:25:12,000
there that you would happily go and play oh um
588
00:25:12,133 --> 00:25:14,400
unbelievable all in one county yeah
589
00:25:14,433 --> 00:25:16,600
and it's the first time that we've been able to
590
00:25:16,900 --> 00:25:22,400
effectively do a a ranking for Merseyside proper so
591
00:25:22,833 --> 00:25:24,666
I think that's quite good where you
592
00:25:24,666 --> 00:25:26,866
you start to get some of these things emerge
593
00:25:26,866 --> 00:25:27,733
where previously
594
00:25:27,733 --> 00:25:29,266
you've got courses that are being compared
595
00:25:29,266 --> 00:25:32,500
against each other that have never been ranked before
596
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:34,133
so when you rank this course
597
00:25:34,133 --> 00:25:35,333
against that course and you
598
00:25:35,333 --> 00:25:37,166
were previously in different rankings
599
00:25:37,533 --> 00:25:40,133
um now there's that question of well
600
00:25:40,266 --> 00:25:42,000
is this course better than this course
601
00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:46,200
and that's given us
602
00:25:47,700 --> 00:25:50,200
a a lot of interesting data but then the
603
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,366
results of that have been really interesting as well
604
00:25:52,500 --> 00:25:56,166
so I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out um
605
00:25:56,700 --> 00:26:00,500
it's it's a bit of a change it marks a a difference
606
00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:03,166
um people probably see things a little bit differently
607
00:26:03,900 --> 00:26:07,266
but it's good it's it allows us to look at
608
00:26:07,266 --> 00:26:09,566
the golf courses that we've been ranking historically
609
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,800
in a new light with fresh eyes
610
00:26:11,866 --> 00:26:14,233
with a lot more people contributing
611
00:26:14,333 --> 00:26:17,166
and the results I I wouldn't say we're
612
00:26:17,533 --> 00:26:19,700
revolutionary they were probably
613
00:26:19,700 --> 00:26:22,300
evolutionary yeah but in a good way
614
00:26:22,333 --> 00:26:23,833
it's a very exciting time
615
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:26,233
yeah it's very exciting time and
616
00:26:26,666 --> 00:26:30,233
just from being part of that process and I know you've
617
00:26:30,233 --> 00:26:31,000
done
618
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,933
almost all the work so apart from the people that have handed in their
619
00:26:34,933 --> 00:26:35,733
thoughts
620
00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:38,100
and watching it develop and grow
621
00:26:38,100 --> 00:26:40,933
over the last year has been very cool to
622
00:26:40,933 --> 00:26:42,966
see that development and
623
00:26:43,266 --> 00:26:44,666
you turn to me occasionally and
624
00:26:44,666 --> 00:26:46,200
say oh what do you think about this and say
625
00:26:46,233 --> 00:26:48,433
well that's pretty fucking cool ha ha ha ha ha
626
00:26:48,666 --> 00:26:50,700
yeah that's I like that that's cool well
627
00:26:50,700 --> 00:26:53,400
and it's it's those kind of the things that um
628
00:26:53,466 --> 00:26:55,166
you get excited about right
629
00:26:55,466 --> 00:26:57,633
and and I'll be honest with you like uh
630
00:26:57,633 --> 00:27:02,766
as far as contributing my thoughts towards the panel um
631
00:27:03,466 --> 00:27:04,700
once we've got all the data
632
00:27:04,700 --> 00:27:07,666
in and we sit down and look at it of course
633
00:27:07,666 --> 00:27:09,300
there's a couple of things where
634
00:27:09,300 --> 00:27:10,533
by and large like a panel
635
00:27:10,533 --> 00:27:11,733
will say I think this course
636
00:27:11,733 --> 00:27:13,033
is better than that course
637
00:27:13,233 --> 00:27:17,700
and I look at it and I say personally I don't agree um
638
00:27:17,733 --> 00:27:21,366
but these it's not my panel it's not my ranking
639
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,500
you know I I can do my own ranking but no one's
640
00:27:23,500 --> 00:27:25,433
interested in that um
641
00:27:25,633 --> 00:27:27,633
yeah it's just a bunch of random things
642
00:27:27,633 --> 00:27:30,300
random golf courses no one's ever heard of it's working
643
00:27:31,466 --> 00:27:31,600
with
644
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,033
lots of livestock and like why your fences are around
645
00:27:34,700 --> 00:27:38,000
so the average green speed is 3 3
646
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:40,566
yeah exactly
647
00:27:40,933 --> 00:27:43,566
and and and no one would really want to play
648
00:27:43,633 --> 00:27:45,633
the type of golf that I I really
649
00:27:45,633 --> 00:27:48,900
enjoy or how I enjoy it I mean it it's a it's an
650
00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:51,066
interesting one I I was looking at the English
651
00:27:51,066 --> 00:27:53,600
ranking this morning as we were putting it together uh
652
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:54,400
and I would say that's
653
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,233
that's the thing to keep in mind so
654
00:27:56,233 --> 00:27:58,366
although I'm responsible for
655
00:27:58,433 --> 00:28:01,233
the rankings quote unquote um
656
00:28:01,233 --> 00:28:03,433
it doesn't mean I have to be involved in them
657
00:28:03,433 --> 00:28:06,300
or that I need to necessarily contribute towards them
658
00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:07,833
you're a collector not a
659
00:28:07,933 --> 00:28:11,466
you manage the system that is you've created a system
660
00:28:11,466 --> 00:28:14,100
that means that you can get the best out of what
661
00:28:14,100 --> 00:28:15,666
these people's opinions are
662
00:28:15,666 --> 00:28:17,733
and that's right if we feed the right information
663
00:28:17,733 --> 00:28:19,833
in one end once it goes through we should get
664
00:28:19,833 --> 00:28:20,633
the right information
665
00:28:20,633 --> 00:28:24,133
out the other end and and that's where I think it's
666
00:28:24,133 --> 00:28:27,433
it's been good we've got a lot more people involved um
667
00:28:27,866 --> 00:28:30,866
and in sometimes when we look at
668
00:28:30,866 --> 00:28:33,433
like historic data compared to what we've got now
669
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,166
we've had a lot of things right um
670
00:28:36,300 --> 00:28:38,433
but it's been nice to have a fresh perspective
671
00:28:38,433 --> 00:28:42,300
and I'm very happy with where it's at and of course it'll move on every year
672
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:43,900
things change and evolve
673
00:28:44,900 --> 00:28:47,233
the way people see things the way they experience them
674
00:28:47,233 --> 00:28:49,633
when they get to see more in golf and they realize what's
675
00:28:49,633 --> 00:28:50,700
important in golf
676
00:28:51,866 --> 00:28:53,033
often times
677
00:28:53,233 --> 00:28:55,900
you know that changes people's perspectives but
678
00:28:55,900 --> 00:28:58,500
yeah I'm excited about the release for
679
00:28:59,066 --> 00:29:03,133
GB and I we've also got Spain and Portugal it
680
00:29:03,133 --> 00:29:04,666
we've got an amazing
681
00:29:04,666 --> 00:29:08,700
panel shout out to those guys Spain is probably our
682
00:29:09,433 --> 00:29:11,000
it's obviously a reflection of the culture
683
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:12,633
but like that WhatsApp group
684
00:29:12,666 --> 00:29:16,200
is just like every morning I wake up and there's just tons of messages in Spain
685
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:17,000
hahaha
686
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,400
and they they just love it and they're
687
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,733
they're all for it so they've done a tremendous
688
00:29:21,733 --> 00:29:23,500
amount of work they've got through
689
00:29:23,533 --> 00:29:26,400
I know it's a big market for us is like um
690
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,433
Brits traveling for winter golf to Spain and Portugal
691
00:29:29,700 --> 00:29:30,766
so
692
00:29:31,433 --> 00:29:32,733
that's one that's quite exciting
693
00:29:32,733 --> 00:29:34,933
and there has been quite a bit of change there
694
00:29:35,266 --> 00:29:36,066
but getting
695
00:29:36,066 --> 00:29:38,733
again getting the right guys and letting them just get on with it
696
00:29:38,933 --> 00:29:40,966
that's the interesting thing right so
697
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,333
I've been to some of the Spanish courses
698
00:29:44,666 --> 00:29:46,800
across the years I've grown up in Britain
699
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:48,500
you'd go to Spain it's like a
700
00:29:48,500 --> 00:29:51,200
normal thing people do and uh
701
00:29:52,433 --> 00:29:54,600
it's like Americans going to Florida
702
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,200
so and there's a bit of a kinship to the two
703
00:30:00,133 --> 00:30:03,200
there's some great golf and there's some absolute
704
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,933
normal average stuff yeah and
705
00:30:07,833 --> 00:30:09,733
some of the stuff that I have played historically
706
00:30:09,733 --> 00:30:11,933
that would have been on Spanish rankings
707
00:30:12,700 --> 00:30:14,933
not high up let's be honest but
708
00:30:15,100 --> 00:30:16,700
would have been on there might have been
709
00:30:16,700 --> 00:30:19,233
attached to a smart hotel might have been
710
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:21,133
I don't know
711
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,566
something to do with it that made the environment of it
712
00:30:24,833 --> 00:30:25,900
feel like the golf course
713
00:30:25,900 --> 00:30:27,433
is better so it's really exciting
714
00:30:27,433 --> 00:30:29,500
to see that Spanish ranking go out
715
00:30:29,933 --> 00:30:32,333
with an actual bunch of people who care
716
00:30:32,333 --> 00:30:34,200
so deeply about great golf
717
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:35,633
yeah and and that's the thing I think
718
00:30:35,633 --> 00:30:39,633
the majority of our Spanish panel uh they are Spaniards
719
00:30:40,133 --> 00:30:41,800
uh or Portuguese
720
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,800
but they are members at Scottish clubs
721
00:30:44,933 --> 00:30:47,133
or they spend like a few months out of the year
722
00:30:47,666 --> 00:30:48,666
travelling and playing
723
00:30:48,666 --> 00:30:50,700
great golf either in America or other
724
00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:52,233
places in the world but they're
725
00:30:52,700 --> 00:30:54,733
have a depth of play everywhere and
726
00:30:54,733 --> 00:30:57,833
and those are the same types of guys that have been able to contribute towards
727
00:30:57,833 --> 00:31:00,100
like the English so
728
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,933
having their perspective has been really good because
729
00:31:03,333 --> 00:31:05,466
if you were raised in that environment and you're playing
730
00:31:05,466 --> 00:31:08,533
those golf courses to to have a really
731
00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:11,033
good understanding of what makes golf great
732
00:31:11,066 --> 00:31:13,833
like you really have to work for it the process isn't
733
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:14,933
done yet though
734
00:31:14,933 --> 00:31:18,000
there's a huge amount of areas around the globe that
735
00:31:18,500 --> 00:31:21,100
you still are looking for rankers and Raiders
736
00:31:21,100 --> 00:31:24,600
and we'll be doing a lot more events around that
737
00:31:25,133 --> 00:31:29,000
um have you got any specific places that you're
738
00:31:29,233 --> 00:31:32,233
yes we're working on a a couple of things um
739
00:31:32,666 --> 00:31:35,300
we've had some uh events that we were
740
00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:37,400
talking to various clubs in Scotland this year
741
00:31:37,433 --> 00:31:39,300
so hopefully we'll have uh
742
00:31:39,533 --> 00:31:41,666
three maybe four events in Scotland
743
00:31:41,666 --> 00:31:44,200
which would be quite good to to look forward to
744
00:31:44,433 --> 00:31:46,933
um and we've got some exciting partners as well
745
00:31:47,033 --> 00:31:50,300
so I know we've been talking with Neil from Fife um
746
00:31:50,566 --> 00:31:51,933
so yeah looking
747
00:31:51,933 --> 00:31:54,233
forward to doing more with them hopefully that all comes to
748
00:31:54,233 --> 00:31:55,533
fruition I'm sure it will
749
00:31:56,266 --> 00:31:58,133
but we're talking with some hotels
750
00:31:58,133 --> 00:32:00,133
and some golf clubs to make sure that those are like
751
00:32:00,133 --> 00:32:03,700
premium premium events great golf courses
752
00:32:04,333 --> 00:32:06,000
but also they'll be opportunities
753
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,400
for people to get involved if they want to get
754
00:32:09,266 --> 00:32:10,066
kind of
755
00:32:10,700 --> 00:32:14,000
in with the the ranking slash panelist process
756
00:32:14,533 --> 00:32:19,533
uh we'd also like to do some stuff in Dublin um and if
757
00:32:19,533 --> 00:32:21,900
if we can get at least one or 2 in
758
00:32:21,900 --> 00:32:24,133
in 1 in Northern Ireland one in Dublin
759
00:32:24,233 --> 00:32:26,333
and if we can do it maybe a couple more
760
00:32:26,333 --> 00:32:29,300
uh maybe done in Galway and then down to the southwest
761
00:32:29,533 --> 00:32:32,000
so it'd be nice to to see if we could deepen in
762
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,300
Ireland as well because we we definitely need some some
763
00:32:35,466 --> 00:32:38,133
more depth there we've got some very good
764
00:32:38,266 --> 00:32:41,366
individuals that help us out in Ireland
765
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,033
and they have for quite a few years um
766
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:46,266
they they're great but
767
00:32:46,266 --> 00:32:48,200
we just need more voices to be heard
768
00:32:48,266 --> 00:32:50,300
uh that have seen some of the depth stuff
769
00:32:50,300 --> 00:32:51,566
in and around Ireland
770
00:32:52,066 --> 00:32:54,466
uh cause there's some cracking golf out there that
771
00:32:54,466 --> 00:32:57,833
again it's just hard to see at all um
772
00:32:57,933 --> 00:33:01,533
I spent a little bit of time in Ireland I think I spent 10 weeks there this year
773
00:33:01,533 --> 00:33:03,000
traveling and playing golf
774
00:33:03,333 --> 00:33:06,966
and I mean there was a lot of draws I'll be honest
775
00:33:07,133 --> 00:33:09,400
uh some of the the little kind of like
776
00:33:09,833 --> 00:33:11,500
nine hole links courses
777
00:33:12,333 --> 00:33:15,000
the best bit was I was a quick story I was in
778
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,133
Mallory which is on in Mayo
779
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,066
or on the at least on the west side I don't know exactly
780
00:33:20,066 --> 00:33:22,700
which which area it's in I think it's Mayo
781
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,400
and I went to a couple other courses one was Duhoma
782
00:33:26,500 --> 00:33:29,133
Duhoma d double o H o m a
783
00:33:29,533 --> 00:33:31,033
and it was like five miles
784
00:33:31,033 --> 00:33:33,233
away from the next golf course that I went to
785
00:33:33,300 --> 00:33:36,700
and they said oh where have you been this morning and I told them and they had never even heard of that golf
786
00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:37,733
course that I was at
787
00:33:41,500 --> 00:33:44,800
but it just shows you that um like there's these
788
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,266
really small golf courses
789
00:33:46,266 --> 00:33:48,333
that have a handful of local members
790
00:33:48,333 --> 00:33:50,000
that are tended to by sheep
791
00:33:50,266 --> 00:33:52,166
that are in some pretty cool locations
792
00:33:52,700 --> 00:33:53,500
um
793
00:33:53,500 --> 00:33:56,433
and most of the time you show up you put your five or ten
794
00:33:56,533 --> 00:33:57,333
uh
795
00:33:57,333 --> 00:34:02,533
euro in in an envelope in an honesty box you play and
796
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,600
that'll be your one and only time to go because it's not worth going
797
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,333
back but every once in a while
798
00:34:08,333 --> 00:34:11,733
you get like a cracking golf course um
799
00:34:12,100 --> 00:34:15,566
that defies expectations and actually delivers
800
00:34:15,733 --> 00:34:18,866
and Mallory was a good example of that I've been back a few times
801
00:34:18,866 --> 00:34:22,033
that's not the first time I've been so I knew that it was worth going to see
802
00:34:22,333 --> 00:34:25,333
and every time I go and play it it's a great little 9 hole golf course
803
00:34:25,333 --> 00:34:27,266
um so
804
00:34:27,266 --> 00:34:29,933
we're always on the lookout for those types of things
805
00:34:30,066 --> 00:34:33,666
and I've played a lot of golf courses just kind of like
806
00:34:33,666 --> 00:34:34,466
scrolling through
807
00:34:34,466 --> 00:34:37,233
Google Maps to try and find something that looks like it on links
808
00:34:37,233 --> 00:34:40,533
land and have driven played
809
00:34:40,633 --> 00:34:43,733
and will never go back but you're always in this pursuit
810
00:34:43,733 --> 00:34:46,500
for like kind of that last hidden gem
811
00:34:46,500 --> 00:34:47,633
I mean the west of Scotland is
812
00:34:47,633 --> 00:34:51,366
another good example and all of the islands yeah um
813
00:34:51,700 --> 00:34:56,000
on the off the west coast it's it also is seeing
814
00:34:56,500 --> 00:34:59,533
uniqueness cause a lot of these places weren't built
815
00:34:59,533 --> 00:35:01,833
or designed by anyone of note
816
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,566
no probably the local farmer or postie or whatever
817
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,733
and it's a natural site
818
00:35:07,733 --> 00:35:10,966
that they've just mowed a green out mowed the Fairway
819
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,133
and probably never seen a digger exactly
820
00:35:14,333 --> 00:35:18,133
uh so you get do get unique features that you can then
821
00:35:18,133 --> 00:35:19,700
turn around and be like actually I
822
00:35:19,700 --> 00:35:22,466
saw this bump on this hole that was very cool and
823
00:35:22,466 --> 00:35:24,633
and that's I think that's what you're looking for is it
824
00:35:24,633 --> 00:35:28,800
the maybe these guys we're in an area now where
825
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,566
a time where perhaps we know too much um
826
00:35:31,733 --> 00:35:34,333
you know if you go online you can find drone
827
00:35:34,333 --> 00:35:35,200
footage and flyovers
828
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,400
of almost every great golf course that there is
829
00:35:37,533 --> 00:35:41,700
and that's brilliant um but it's a lot of these little
830
00:35:41,933 --> 00:35:43,733
and to use an overused expression like hidden
831
00:35:43,733 --> 00:35:46,500
gems that you really want to try and seek out and see
832
00:35:46,666 --> 00:35:48,400
and when you think about the amount of golf courses
833
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,800
like we've got say top 100 England
834
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,433
we got our county level stuff but when you add
835
00:35:53,466 --> 00:35:55,500
it all up it's a few hundred golf courses
836
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:57,200
um but there's thousands
837
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,733
out there just in just in England and it like
838
00:36:00,900 --> 00:36:02,333
is there one or two courses
839
00:36:02,333 --> 00:36:05,233
out there that everyone's sleeping on that
840
00:36:05,300 --> 00:36:06,933
we just haven't found yet
841
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,033
and and I I do think they're there
842
00:36:09,533 --> 00:36:11,900
um and it's trying to shine a light on that so
843
00:36:11,900 --> 00:36:14,500
yeah if anyone wants to get involved um
844
00:36:14,700 --> 00:36:17,600
if you have a good understanding of architecture
845
00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:20,100
if you have a working knowledge of agronomy
846
00:36:21,033 --> 00:36:25,266
um if you've seen kind of like the the best of golf
847
00:36:25,266 --> 00:36:28,233
and that's say world top 100 from the British Isles
848
00:36:28,233 --> 00:36:29,233
or maybe stateside
849
00:36:29,233 --> 00:36:32,533
if you've been privileged enough to be over there um
850
00:36:32,900 --> 00:36:34,066
and and you
851
00:36:34,066 --> 00:36:36,766
you have a working knowledge of those things
852
00:36:37,033 --> 00:36:39,133
then you're qualified to be a panelist
853
00:36:39,133 --> 00:36:43,100
your your view is important to us so that's
854
00:36:44,500 --> 00:36:46,900
that's what's exciting about 2026
855
00:36:46,900 --> 00:36:48,333
uh we'll deepen our panels
856
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,600
we'll continue to to build this structure out
857
00:36:51,900 --> 00:36:54,833
um and then we'll start to get into America as well
858
00:36:55,933 --> 00:36:58,733
we did really well with Canada this year we've got a great
859
00:36:58,733 --> 00:37:00,800
uh panel in Canada that's done very
860
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,533
very good we got a top 100 with 50 contenders
861
00:37:04,033 --> 00:37:05,433
that was very well received
862
00:37:06,533 --> 00:37:09,633
uh controversially but we we think well received
863
00:37:10,233 --> 00:37:13,333
um America Top 100 is fine um
864
00:37:13,333 --> 00:37:15,100
we think we have a really good handle on the really
865
00:37:15,100 --> 00:37:16,833
really top tier stuff in America
866
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:20,433
but once we get down into the the States
867
00:37:20,533 --> 00:37:21,800
we need a bit more help
868
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,166
so we do alright in places like
869
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,800
New York California Texas we've got a great
870
00:37:27,933 --> 00:37:29,400
panel that's being built
871
00:37:30,100 --> 00:37:34,033
Utah yeah kind of the major golf markets but
872
00:37:34,266 --> 00:37:37,900
there's places out there that we just need more help um
873
00:37:38,733 --> 00:37:41,633
and like I say we we have a good handle on the USA
874
00:37:41,633 --> 00:37:42,233
Top 100
875
00:37:42,233 --> 00:37:44,500
because most of our guys are members of those clubs
876
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:46,466
and they travel and play most of those clubs
877
00:37:46,466 --> 00:37:48,933
on a yearly basis so we know
878
00:37:50,133 --> 00:37:53,266
yeah what's good and what's what but once we get lower
879
00:37:53,266 --> 00:37:55,400
into the lower tier stuff in state
880
00:37:55,533 --> 00:37:58,133
that's where I need a bit of help so if you're listening to the podcast
881
00:37:58,300 --> 00:37:59,833
you wanna get involved
882
00:38:00,100 --> 00:38:04,033
uh reach out give us a DM we'll be able to find it um
883
00:38:04,066 --> 00:38:05,100
or give us an email
884
00:38:05,100 --> 00:38:08,233
and yeah we can have a chat and we can see if you can help
885
00:38:08,500 --> 00:38:10,933
yeah I know it's super exciting and uh
886
00:38:10,933 --> 00:38:12,500
over the next few years we will definitely
887
00:38:12,500 --> 00:38:15,733
be doing more events around places like the States
888
00:38:16,300 --> 00:38:17,700
um but we're
889
00:38:17,700 --> 00:38:19,900
sorting out where we live first and then we'll ha
890
00:38:19,900 --> 00:38:22,700
ha that's right uh come over and say hi
891
00:38:23,300 --> 00:38:25,066
I think that's pretty much everything
892
00:38:25,066 --> 00:38:27,666
we need to talk about in the online yeah for rankings
893
00:38:27,666 --> 00:38:29,533
yeah I think that's pretty much covered it obviously
894
00:38:29,533 --> 00:38:31,633
there'll be a little bit more um
895
00:38:32,533 --> 00:38:36,100
content when we push these out I will be looking to to
896
00:38:36,100 --> 00:38:37,300
kind of tell the clubs a little bit
897
00:38:37,300 --> 00:38:39,600
beforehand so that they can uh
898
00:38:39,633 --> 00:38:40,933
the ones that have gone up obviously
899
00:38:40,933 --> 00:38:42,433
will be excited about their new positions
900
00:38:42,433 --> 00:38:43,966
the ones that have gone down well
901
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,066
um if you're being mentioned in a top 100
902
00:38:47,066 --> 00:38:48,233
anywhere in the UK
903
00:38:48,833 --> 00:38:50,533
Scotland England or or Ireland
904
00:38:50,533 --> 00:38:53,800
like that's a huge accomplishment so and
905
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,333
and I think the other thing to mention with rankings is
906
00:38:56,866 --> 00:38:59,000
just because you've gone down doesn't necessarily mean
907
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:00,333
you've done anything wrong
908
00:39:00,866 --> 00:39:01,666
um
909
00:39:02,333 --> 00:39:05,433
the the standard of golf is is rising
910
00:39:05,433 --> 00:39:06,633
quite a lot in the UK
911
00:39:06,633 --> 00:39:09,200
there's a lot of money being spent on golf as well and
912
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,866
and that could just be part of it too is that it's not necessarily that you've gotten
913
00:39:12,866 --> 00:39:14,633
worse it's just that maybe your peers
914
00:39:14,633 --> 00:39:16,900
have just edged you out on this
915
00:39:17,133 --> 00:39:21,133
this cycle yeah but give it a year or two and you know
916
00:39:21,133 --> 00:39:24,066
investment do the right work the right way and
917
00:39:24,066 --> 00:39:26,266
there's lots of places like here at Hadley Wood
918
00:39:26,266 --> 00:39:26,900
that are spending
919
00:39:26,900 --> 00:39:28,933
huge amount of money and effort and time
920
00:39:28,933 --> 00:39:30,500
in developing and
921
00:39:31,100 --> 00:39:34,500
uh the whole package of what they offer and
922
00:39:34,933 --> 00:39:37,233
uh they've just done a full bunker renovation
923
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:41,833
uh with Clyde Johnson who we as you know is a great yup
924
00:39:42,100 --> 00:39:46,233
uh a a great architect and it means
925
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:48,533
that a lot of the bunkers
926
00:39:48,533 --> 00:39:50,366
don't have sand to them right now but
927
00:39:50,500 --> 00:39:51,600
come the summer they will
928
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:53,533
and it will start to look amazing
929
00:39:53,900 --> 00:39:56,533
and then our England ranking comes out in January
930
00:39:56,666 --> 00:39:57,733
that and that's the thing
931
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,433
so there's a lot of investments being done um
932
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:03,433
so I mean I was talking to
933
00:40:03,433 --> 00:40:06,366
an owner of a golf club not that long ago where
934
00:40:06,633 --> 00:40:09,900
in the past historically they were in the
935
00:40:10,233 --> 00:40:11,700
uh the England
936
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:17,233
ranking they dropped out and then they've reentered
937
00:40:18,466 --> 00:40:20,100
and when they reentered
938
00:40:20,100 --> 00:40:21,866
after doing a load of work and the course
939
00:40:21,866 --> 00:40:23,900
is probably better now than it ever was previously
940
00:40:23,900 --> 00:40:25,966
when it was previously ranked uh ranked
941
00:40:26,233 --> 00:40:30,300
and they they weren't as high and yeah very astutely
942
00:40:30,300 --> 00:40:32,500
he said well it's not that we haven't done great work
943
00:40:32,500 --> 00:40:32,800
it's just
944
00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:35,733
everybody else has also done good work as well so
945
00:40:35,733 --> 00:40:38,433
that that's the thing to keep in mind is at the end of the day rankings
946
00:40:38,433 --> 00:40:40,100
are subjective um
947
00:40:40,433 --> 00:40:44,433
you know if you're not talking about 48 and 51 yeah
948
00:40:45,066 --> 00:40:47,233
no but the thing is you in England
949
00:40:47,233 --> 00:40:48,833
people I don't think people realize how deep
950
00:40:48,833 --> 00:40:50,166
England goes um
951
00:40:50,300 --> 00:40:53,333
as a Scotsman it's hard for me to say it but
952
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,433
our hundredth ranked golf course
953
00:40:56,633 --> 00:40:59,333
versus England's hundredth ranked golf course
954
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:02,000
it's a no brainer who you go play yep
955
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:03,933
England is incredibly deep um
956
00:41:04,700 --> 00:41:06,700
and there's a lot of good golf around
957
00:41:06,833 --> 00:41:09,333
you know maybe that's one thing to end on to is the
958
00:41:09,633 --> 00:41:11,300
when we are looking at the contenders
959
00:41:11,300 --> 00:41:14,333
list for England there's um I think we've had
960
00:41:14,466 --> 00:41:17,566
something like between 40 and 50 golf courses
961
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,600
and if you were to ask our panel
962
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:26,333
out of the 60 courses from like 91 to 150
963
00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,800
pick 10 that we can put in
964
00:41:30,300 --> 00:41:34,200
those last 10 spots so 91 to 100 um
965
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,600
like the range that you get in those answers is
966
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:39,666
phenomenal yeah because there's
967
00:41:39,666 --> 00:41:42,566
you know out of every one that you pick there's five that won't make it
968
00:41:42,633 --> 00:41:43,933
and
969
00:41:44,733 --> 00:41:48,500
that's just good to keep in mind so even if you don't get into it
970
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:50,033
it doesn't mean that you don't have a fighting
971
00:41:50,033 --> 00:41:51,833
chance and it doesn't mean that
972
00:41:51,833 --> 00:41:53,766
you know you're not gonna make it in next time
973
00:41:53,866 --> 00:41:55,733
so yeah it's exciting
974
00:41:55,733 --> 00:41:58,333
um but I think we've got a really robust process
975
00:41:58,333 --> 00:41:59,433
we've had more contributions
976
00:41:59,433 --> 00:42:01,466
than we've ever had before uh
977
00:42:01,466 --> 00:42:04,500
once you kind of layer in all of that data you start to see some trends
978
00:42:04,500 --> 00:42:08,000
emerge and you can really start to see how
979
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:08,733
people are seeing
980
00:42:08,733 --> 00:42:10,633
golf based on the criteria that we've set
981
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:14,200
so yeah it's exciting but I'm looking forward to it uh
982
00:42:14,833 --> 00:42:15,833
Spring's gonna be interesting
983
00:42:15,833 --> 00:42:16,733
we got a nice little build
984
00:42:16,733 --> 00:42:19,166
with a lot of ranking releases up until the Masters
985
00:42:19,466 --> 00:42:22,600
and then kind of playing season officially kicks off
986
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,700
officially unofficially with the The Masters
987
00:42:25,133 --> 00:42:27,200
and yeah then we'll be into uh
988
00:42:27,333 --> 00:42:30,200
more playing content which can't wait to because
989
00:42:30,500 --> 00:42:33,200
yeah being inside looking at spreadsheets and screens
990
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:34,133
there's yeah it's
991
00:42:34,333 --> 00:42:38,100
find out amount of time that remains fun is getting uh
992
00:42:38,466 --> 00:42:41,633
winter can piss off now hahaha agreed hahaha
993
00:42:42,066 --> 00:42:44,900
OK well thank you very much Jasper um and
994
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,733
uh thank you very much for everyone who's listening
995
00:42:47,266 --> 00:42:49,100
remember play fast lunch slow
996
00:42:49,700 --> 00:42:50,500
top 100 Golf
997
00:42:50,500 --> 00:42:53,700
courses.com has set the standard for golfers worldwide
998
00:42:53,700 --> 00:42:55,966
and now you can wear that standard proudly
999
00:42:56,100 --> 00:42:58,200
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1000
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,000
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1001
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