We’re proud to host our first guest episode from our Eclectic 18 series, with three-timer on the pod Richie Ramsay. Some great stories going back through the day making up his favourite 18 holes!
Richie is a huge architecture buff, but even so he resisted the urge to pick solely on the basis of the holes, with many of them carrying special significance. His scorecard;
#1 Merion (east)
#2 Portstewart (strand)
#3 Castle Stuart
#4 Wentworth (west)
#5 Trump Dubai
#6 Carnoustie
#7 Crans-Sur-Sierre
#8 Royal Aberdeen
#9 Royal County Down
#10 Sunningdale (old)
#11 Royal Troon
#12 Augusta National
#13 Leopard Creek
#14 Loch Lomond
#15 Muirfield
#16 Royal Portrush
#17 The Old Course
#18 The Island
Par – 71 / Yardage – 6,622
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Watch [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this. No way. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Cookie Jar Golf Podcast. I am Sam Williams and today we are joined uh by a special guest for an eclectic 18 special. Uh we have three-time appearant on the pod Richie Ramsey. Richie, welcome. Thank you. Uh virginity is well and truly lost. Three times. Well uh you are in a special club of a small number of guests who have been three time appearances on the podcast, but you are the only person to appeared in three Canada years. So congratulations. Okay. That’s a special club all of your own. Um, so we’re here to uh talk about the Eclectic 18 and everything with you shortly, but um before we get going, just how’s things with you? Quick check in ahead of the start of the season. It’s all good. Just yeah, a way to start um the season Abu Dhabi. So kind of um excited for that. It’s been up and down sort of month off, but really enjoyable. Um and just just want to get going. just want to get in and test out what I’ve been working on the last few weeks with the swing and things like that. And um kind of really enjoy Yas Links as opposed to Abu Dhabi Golf Club is always great, but Yas is more up my street. It suits my game better and I enjoy the golf course more. So, I’ve got the course record as well. So, it kind of You dropped something there. Dropped something, Richie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You might I might want to pick that up. Yeah. Well, uh I hate to break it to you, but you have uh made a rod for your own back there. We are unlikely to release the uh this podcast until after the tournament. Oh, so uh yeah, I I hate to say you put a bit of pressure on yourself now this weekend. That that’s a cast or someone else is going to like smash it by two or three. Well, anyway, we wish you all the very best with it and it is not the reason you’re on the podcast. Uh obviously we have uh interacted quite a bit over the last sort of couple of years um about various things and you know one thing that’s really obvious is that you have a not only a massive passion for the game itself but also uh for golf course architecture. So when we were talking about this concept of an Eclectic 18 before Christmas, I thought well who better to road test the concept uh of a guest eclectic 18 episode than with yourself. So over Christmas we set you to task to go and develop your 18 holes. Um how was it? What was it like? Yeah, it it sounds easy. You’re like, “Ah, this that’s no problem. I’ll reel this off.” Um, and then your mind just starts going and you disappear down the rabbit hole and then you’re you’re gone. Like you’re just like, “Oh, I put that. No, I can’t do that. Like that doesn’t flow.” Um, so it was it was good fun and and it kind of um made me appreciate a lot of the places and it made me understand there were some certain holes particularly holes like for some reason 14 um 17 were really difficult holes to pick. There was a lot of golf course I could think straight away 14th hole that would be great. 17th hole that’d be great. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the period of the round where you’re kind of making decisions and it can make or break you, but um yeah, you understand how the flow of golf courses and things go. So, um it was good fun to do. And we should also say for those that haven’t checked out the initial Eclectic 18 podcast, there are a few rules. Um rule number one, which is very key and I think makes it harder than anything, you can only pick one golf course once. So, you can only have one hole from one golf course. And that makes it really tricky. Yeah, I was breaking that rule. Yeah, straight away. And we had to send you back to go and redo it. Um, second rule, the the whole number must correspond to the scorecard. So, um, if you pick the first of the old, it must be the first hole on your scorecard. It can’t be the 17th or 18th, for instance. Um, you must have played all the golf courses uh that are in that 18. Uh, and we try and take the yardage from a fairly consistent tea box so you get a get an idea of what those 18 holes look like. So um you know without further ado what was the process like? What what did you go through? Um you know how did you how did you go about building it all I guess from from the beginning? So I just I just jott it down the best holes like in my head like what are the most iconic holes that come straight to mind and obviously like 17th old course the first course and suddenly you’re I’ve broken that rule already so I can’t put you’re like right this is going to be a lot harder. Um, you know, I thought about certain courses like I thought about right um I’m trying to think sort of like Turbury. I thought there’s some brilliant holes out there. Yeah. But it falls away a little bit. And then I thought about Murfield. I thought, right, what’s the best holes at Murfield? I thought, well, there isn’t really one hole at Mirfield. I think the it’s every hole is really good, but there’s not like an iconic one I think that stands out. maybe maybe Yeah, maybe 18. But you started to understand there was a lot of some courses were were just strong all the way through whereas other courses had real peaks but then the the troughs were like you know there’s three or four you’re like I never want to play those holes again in my life because they’re just horrible. Um but really the ones that stood out for me were ones where they were fun. Yes, I enjoyed the architecture, but there was I have had moments on it both good and bad. Um, and I think holes that strike up emotion in you are a consequence of how fun they are to play. Especially the ones where you’re like, well, I could make, you know, parfs where I could make three, but I could make an absolute number here and it could decimate my round. Yeah. Um, so yeah, a personal emotion attached to them and just um and and real fun. I want I wanted a scorecard where someone could go around, oh yeah, I could shoot 10 under around there and the next day shoot like 10 over. So a real kind of mixture. Yeah, I think uh I think the variety aspect is key, isn’t it? And you know, knowing that you can make anything from eagle to to to to quad or whatever is is is quite exciting as the golfer. you make a really good shout on Bfield and I think we all commented on that um which was that you can pretty much have any hole from your field um and it’s perfect for for tracking and dropping and and filling any gaps but like you say it’s not one hole that stands out and there’s there’s courses that are complete the complete opposite rather um I’m also interested you know the flow of a golf course spacing of holes you know did you set yourself any sort of parameters or rules or things you wanted to achieve with it you know some courses build in difficulty. Some just have like a banging opening from the from the minute go. You know what what was in your head? Well, I wanted I wanted the par threes to be completely different. So, I didn’t want, you know, like three par threes or a seven iron. Um, and I tried to fit I tried to fit one more in, another one in, but I wasn’t too too sure about it. Um, I wanted short fours for sure. They’re a big They’re like a feature of I think they’re the best. I think it could could probably be my favorite hole type because it’s just short par four. Short fours were brilliant. Um, and I also wanted someone who we would turn around and go like, you’ve got to make your score in one, two, three, and then got some tough shots coming up in the middle and then hold on, there’s another scorable stretch. And then had to be a bite at the end. There had to be a tough stretch where you’re like, well, I’m going to either have to hold on or I’m going to have to go for broke and recapture like if I hadn’t made hadn’t made birdies. because I think that puts pressure on you when you get an easy stress. It’s a bit like playing when you play the old course right it’s down out the left uh and it’s a strong wind you’re like I need to make a score here going out and if if you don’t make a score you know all the way back you’re in out the right and it’s going to be a a pretty big challenge. So, I like that idea where it’s like it’s it’s fun holes holes where there’s a lot of options off a tea where you can be like, “Right, I’m going to smash driver or actually today I’m going to play it a four iron and a wedge or a four iron or a nine iron.” Um, so that every time you play the course, it’s like completely different. It’s it’s about the balance, isn’t it? It’s about about that. And also just having options available, you know. I really like those golf holes where you can have you can hit, you know, any one of seven or eight clubs off the tea and then just throws you straight into then just like a pretty pretty tricked up par three where you’ve then all of a sudden just got to step up and execute one club. Um, really cool exercise though. Really good fun. Are there any holes that you know, one of the things we maybe skipped over when we did this was looking at the holes that had perhaps carried the biggest meaning to us personally and I think every golfer’s got those. I know those were quite key in yours, you know. Tell us about some of those. Yeah. So, uh, Marian, first of all, it’s like that’s your opener. That’s first. Marian, what a bang. Yeah. Marian short par four, but it’s about the It’s all about everything before you hit the first t-shot. It’s about driving in the clubhouse, you know, seeing the logo, which is like probably one of the coolest logos out there. Yeah, without doubt. you know, without doubt one of the coolest coolest logos in the game, right? Um, but yeah, Murray is just, you know, you talk about the iconic pictures, you know, Ben Hogan hitting that one iron. So, you stand the first T18’s right there. You can see the shot that he’s hit. Then you’ve got not far from there down the hill, you go to 13 where Jones won the Grand Slam. Um, and all these things you are seeing as you walk through the locker room, through the pro shop, uh, all the history that it has. Um, and probably particularly for me with Jones in the Grand Slam, like he won the US amateur. Um, I was fortunate to win that as well. And then you walk out and it’s literally people just sitting there having lunch and you’re teeing off and you can hear, you know, the cutlery and that it’s that cool. I’ve got all this history and I feel engaged and sort of my day has been brilliant before I’ve even hit a shot. That’s that’s what it’s that’s what it’s all about. Yeah, you’ve probably just, you know, spent three months of your salary in the pro shop, but you know, I’ll deal with I’ll deal with that later on. Three months at the absolute minimum there, Richie. Um that’s a yeah it’s a really cool way of putting your opening hole. Um I mean interestingly another another course with crazy good proximity between first tea and clubhouse would be Royal Abedine which um I mean maybe that’s a 10 out of 10 segue for me but um yeah Royal Abedine as a as a golf course is obviously a place that’s really special to you um you know obviously really important to you. Um just just tell us a little bit about Royal Abedine. Yeah, so uh fortunate that I I joined Royine when I was about 15. Um you know to be honest I played it like I played the junior open a year before and I I I’d been a member at a place called Hazelhead which was a municipal course designed fortunately designed by Alistister McKenzie. Um, but then I played Mir I played Roy and I was just like, “Oh, wow.” Like every time you tee up, you’re like, “I’m going to have to hit shots here. I’m going to get crucified out there.” Um, and and it was the challenge. It was the pure challenge of like, I can’t just bring my sort of B and C game. I need to step up. There will be a time where we have to again talk about hit shots under pressure. That’s what I love. And um I love just the natural flow of the course and the hills and the hummus and the duneland and the sort of you see the long stretch of beach going out. Um and to this day it’s not my it’s not up there in my top 10 courses now, but it was when I was a junior. I think when I the original course there that I played was in my mind It was one of the best courses I have ever played and um unfortunately it’s changed now. Um maybe sometime in the future that might the changes there might be rectified, but it’s still a place that’s very close to me and a lot of members and the fact they helped me out when I turned pro. So there’s a lot of things that go into that. Um, and I’ve had some great times there both on and off the course with the with the guys. I mean, I I you know, when I play them, it’s great fun, but once we step off the golf course, like I I’m the one that gets gets it tight because, you know, they’re they’re the guys who can handle the drink and I can’t. Yeah, we had our um we had our first visit to Royal Abedine back in the summer. So, big shout out to Jordan on Jordan from Entourage Golf. Uh, what a fabulous day we had there. And what a what a great place it is. Um, real short question. What’s it like walking into a clubhouse where you’ve got a painting of yourself hanging? Uh, I’d say I’d say do you get weirded out by it because or do you just sort of like brush over it? I mean, if it was me, I feel like I’d be standing around with everyone making a big deal of it, but you’re probably a lot more modest. I don’t know. It’s a funny one. It’s nice. It’s nice to have something up there because in in years to come um it’s going to be a cool thing. But yeah, I was a bit like I was like I just sort of look at it and walk by it. I feel I feel a little bit embarrassed but at the same time proud because when I look to the side of it I see that trophy and I just think it kind of it means the world to me. So it’s a the painting is brilliant. I love it. Um, but the the title and everything means means kind of more to me. Um, yeah, for sure. For sure. Just just interesting. I I’ve never really asked anyone that. What’s it like when you’re walking past a painting of yourself? I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that uh unless Cookie Jar does extremely well, far better than I think we we would ever give it envisage that uh it’s probably something I only I will continue to only dream about uh before a portrait of of myself appears at Blackwell Golf Club. So the eighth Royal Abedine, something we share uh features in my list as well. Just talk to us about that hole. um eight because it’s really the first hole that comes back into and plays into the wind and you kind of get in a little bit of a comfort zone. You’re sort of cruising along there, right? The wind’s sort of down off the left or down off the right. Yeah. Um and it’s great. And then you you may not had it, but when I was a junior, you used to kind of obviously you’re smaller, but you used to walk through this valley or this corridor of like gor um and then you step up the sort of you go up the old wooden steps, the te’s elevated up and you can’t see anything because of the gor so high and it sort of engulfs the the walk from from seven to eight. And this is a point that is probably quite prevalent a lot of my holes where you you kind of you don’t see the hole and and you walk up and then suddenly you’re just like don’t know what to expect especially when you play the first time and then there’s just unbelievable vista. It’s a great reveal, isn’t it? Yeah, great reveal. Params are 108. So you can see all the way up nine um the hole you’re going to play and then you sort of turn around that you see this stunning par three that’s that’s just absolutely surrounded by bunkers everywhere um and hills and hummocks and marm grass like a long thin green and you can hit anything from a sandwich to a five iron into it. Um, and it’s it it’s the beauty straight away stuns you, I think. Um, but then quickly you’re kind of like, well, I’m going to have to hit a golf shot here. There’s there’s there’s no getting away from this. Um, and the idea that I know that like if you spin one up, it’s like that’s plugged in this bunker and I could be going from bunker side to bunker side. Yeah, it’s because it’s such a narrow green, isn’t it? It’s great if you hit the short stuff, but um if you’re shortsided or for that matter any side of the the green, you could just spend the next 20 minutes going backwards and forwards. Yeah. It gives you that one where go on like you’ve got you’ve got a n in your hand. What’s wrong with going for the flag? And then you know the devil on the other side Yeah. saying like, “Yeah, you can can do that.” Or the angel on one side saying, “You can do that.” But the devil’s saying, “Right, Jesus, you go for this. You’re you’re plugged in a bunker.” like you could be taking seven and things will be going really well for you. So, um it’s one of those holes that uh it’s just a stunning hole and it gets your attention and again particularly with the sort of they’ve extended the green up to the back. There’s one where it’s it’s really tiny at the back. It’s like 15 foot by 15 foot and if you fly over that back it’s gone. I mean you can you can lose a ball anything. Um, so it’s just a fun hole to play and you can make two, walk off there, great, come back next time, make six and just think, what the what happened there? You know, it’s five minutes of hell for you. Um, but yeah, just that kind of walking through that that narrowness and then up into that open space with this sort of par three. It sits there. And also the fact you can see up nine is pretty cool. Yeah. Um, another great golf hole. Yeah, eight and nine are the two that I wouldn’t put them in and I was subject to uh rules and fraction. I had to change that. So, um someone’s someone’s got to keep the rules here. Someone’s got to keep us playing by the rules. So, um I mean, are there any other holes within here, Richie, that are kind of really um you know, I suppose important moments for you within your career or places that strike a real sort of fond memory? [Music] Um yeah, I mean I for me all the places are places that have been that I’ve played and really really enjoyed. Um first and foremost like I’ve had fun playing the course. Um 17 18 are two places which are [Music] uh brilliant golf holes. I mean the old I started with 17 is that I’ve had there’s a picture of me and I asked from one of the journalists I hit the amount of times I’ve hit putts on 17 and they were in the hole and they always breaks just that little bit more than you think and misses and there’s one where I was chasing the Dunhill and I’ve been to Dunhill since I was seven pack bunches sitting over the back of the the back of the wall watching guys come down 17. Um, and I remember chasing the lead there and I thought if I could finish birdie birdie I could maybe post a number and I remember hitting a putt there and I was there was a step and the putter was almost going up and it dived and lipped out and I just felt my knees and there’s a picture of me on the 17th green with just with my putter up and me on my knees thinking like I you know it was it was like it’s there. It’s there. And it just someone snatched out of my my grasp. I made part of the the the last and I think I just I just missed out. Um that’s just the 17th of the old course all over, isn’t it? It’s uh Yeah. It’s just constant despair, isn’t it? You sort of feel like you’ve got it, you’ve got the hard work done and it it just keeps taking the whole hole just takes. Yeah. And it throws up so much drama. And I I understand depending on which way where the pin is, you know, you can play it 10 different ways. Um, and just cuz it’s I’m sort of it’s like a personal battle me against I will get my own back on it. I will feel like I’m going to make a birdie and and and sort of have a run at the Dunhill hopefully sometime soon. But it’s it’s it’s like if you pick one tournament, the Dunhill is really up there. Like the Dunnh Hill for me is a major. If I won the Dunhill, it’d be like, “Right, drop club off the sunset. That’s it.” Like I could walk away and if I never hit a golf shot again, I could be a happy man. Um because it’s that important to me. Um and the island was probably the opposite of that. We we had to play England in the European under 21s and uh we had a great team that that year. We had myself, Scott Jameson, George Murray, Lloyd Saltman, Ken Mcpine, Wallace Booth, really, really good team. And we’re staying at Port Marik Golf Links. Um, so being in Ireland, there’s something about it, the people, I don’t know what it is, but we’re we’re all I think we’re all over 18, so it was it was kind of it was better from that. It was a good banter um team environment and we were struggling playing England in the final and we were struggling a bit I say six matches and it came down to myself and Scott um I think I was playing Jamie Mo and I had this um last I had great drive sort of bottlenecks in between Junes and if you don’t if you miss your drive you could have on on the side of the hill and you know it’s it’s quite a long hole so you’ve got to pierce something uh for your second shot like a three iron on the green. Um and if you miss it either side it’s a really tough chip. If you shorts side yourself you’re goose and the green’s about 45 yards long. So I’ve like drilled this long iron. I think it was into the wind and I’ve got about 30 feet and I know like right if I win my game that gives us a mass we’ve got like one point left and we can we can win and one of the guys who was watching was saying it was funny as you were over the ball there was a falcon floating above the green like waiting as if it was a way to pounce on a rabbit or something. I don’t know. That’s what he’s telling me. And I’ve like hit this putt from about 30 ft and I’m like 10 ft out. I was like this is this is going dead center. And I just gave him like massive fist pump because it’s Scotland versus England. Like it’s the closest I’m going to get to the Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. You’re 18 years old. You’re absolutely amped with testosterone. I can imagine. England, Scotland. Um, and then I remember J Mo hit. J Mo played great. He he birdied 17, closed out his match and we ended up winning and we went out that night. There was like a free bar in a clubhouse and uh went out in Malahide and it was just like like great team environment, really good guys, all fantastic players. like every hug each other’s back, you know, it’s like, you know, you would play with any of them because you all knew they were class players. And then just to to hold that part, talk about hitting shots under pressure. Um, and hitting shots under pressure is great when it’s just you, but times that by 10 when you’re playing a team event and and um and and it was just a really cool moment. something that it’s great playing on European tour, but unfortunately we don’t get to do like play team events and um root for each other uh just like that. So that was the that was the sort of final final hole in it and I wanted it to be like a memorable something that was memorable for me. Yeah. Something that’s kind of special. you make an interesting point about team dynamics in golf and it’s just so rare and maybe that’s why it’s so great because we’re not it’s it’s kind of a a fairly sort of scarce thing but yeah you you know when you’re playing in those team environments they often bring on some of the most memorable moments uh you know in golf are there any other holes where you know you know you were doing it was like yeah do you know what I’ve got to have this in here like this one straight on on the scorecard, you know, or any other sort of slam dunks that were on there. The ones that were easy straight off the bat were um for me three at Castle Stewart. Yeah. Start that with three and what a great what a brilliant short uh par four. Yeah, stunning. Um third hole on the on the course, you know, you can lay up every day. I remember playing there, hit three wood, and it it just fitted my eye really well. But, you know, like if you miss it left, you’ve got those eyelids that you can’t putt it. So, it’s I’m going to have to lob this. Um, and it is a hole. It’s like, yeah, make two, but I could make a complete and hash of it. It’s like a It’s got ton of options, angles. The vista is beautiful because you you you kind of Yeah. One day you play it. Yeah. Yeah. The water’s way out and the next day you play it, it’ll be right in up against the shoreline. Um and I know in your pod with with hands, I didn’t realize at the time, but I love that way what he’s done. He’s kind of built the June up so you can’t see the next hole. So, as you the further along you get on the green, the more you feel you’re out in in in sort of nature and there’s nothing there but you and your eyes go out to the water and across to the sort of black aisle. Um, and it was those like small touches that I thought were just absolute genius. Um, and it is it’s it’s a fun it’s a fun hole to play and I can play it. It’s fun for me, but then you get the average members like, yeah, off the forward T is like he’s he’s able to knock it on the green as well. So, um, yeah, really cool. It’s a it’s just a proper leveler, isn’t it? As a as a golf hole, I think you you talked about on our podcast, but you know, you you don’t mind it being difficult, but you just don’t want ball in pocket. You want it to be kind of a leveler to a point where everyone’s in it. And I think, yeah, Castle Stewart is very much the the gold standard when it comes to that. Um, curious any other holes where you were like, didn’t expect that to be in there. Um, or, you know, real obvious picks. Uh, six, six at Carnushi. Six was a tough hole to get. There was a lot of really cool holes that I could have picked, but that hole just always like, what am I going to do here? Depending on the wind, like there’s bunkers littered everywhere. All you see is white post down the left and you know in your back of your mind you’re like well if I lay up short of that I’ve still got a tough second shot and then I’ve got another third shot with the angle of the green the slopes and the bunkers. Yeah. And the green’s really tricky. Um and you Yeah. You just wouldn’t expect it, would you? You know, but you know it’s not just the it’s not just the t-shot. It’s it’s like everything from green to tea. You’ve got to get it away and then you’ve got to hit several more good shots before you’re going to, you know, give yourself a chance. Yeah. And and and obviously the best angle’s coming from the left. Well, that’s where out of bounds is. Um and then you know the pin position makes a huge difference to the hole. You stick at the back or anywhere on the right on those sort of downs slopes and then you turn around and say, “Well, you’re going to be hitting a a five iron in there for your third.” And of course, the way it’s angled, it’s just a it’s a nightmare for a righthander because if you just if you block it a bit, then you can you could leave yourself short and have a flop shot over the bunker. You just tug it, it’s hitting the downs slope and kicking at the bunker. So, it’s it’s a great hole. Um, challenges you probably the most mentally out of all those holes and you need to be diligent like you lose your concentration and you’re gone. um you play that in the in the dunhill every year and I would say like you ask a 100 guys that would 50% of them would say like what’s the hardest hole like that that would come up quite a lot of the time or the most that makes you think about a shot. Yeah, that’s that’s interesting, isn’t it? The fact that you would expect, you know, Torpro to pick par five’s being a real straightforward hole and actually it’s very much the exceptions of par five um to be a tricky one, I suppose. Anywhere you were really shocked, you’re like, “Oh, do you know what? I did not expect to pick the fifth at Trump Dubai.” Uh yeah. So, so I put Trump Dubai and I would first of all I’m not a Trump supporter and I don’t want to make America great again. Not a Trump Dubai ambassador. No, you just put a little in there just right. So, um uh this is the one that only one that got an emoji from me. So, it came through as Trump Dubai five hwagnner fire emoticon. Yeah. Yeah. So, so it was like mass like huge fan of like Gil Hans and and uh and Jim Wagner and obviously Castle Strip being in there probably one of the reasons but this is like I go there and practice quite a lot from Dubai and the guys are really good and it’s like a it’s like a semi red hole with that every talks about waste areas and I was out there last week and I’m like these are natural proper waste areas like They’re man-made, but they’ll look just like the desert. As as you as you drive out far in Dubai, it just looks exactly like that. Um, and it’s got really cool jagged edges down the left. It’s got a huge feed in off the right, massive slope that you can feed in. So, you know, you can land at 40 yard short and feed it right to left. Um, so again, it’s good for me. It’s good for the average golfer. And it was just that it’s like a modern take on the redan hole for me. Yeah. Not ex it’s not like you know it’s not a template hole but it’s got similar vibes that um and I thought it was like it looked so natural but it’s manmade. You just look around there. This is really cool. Um, and it’s a long, it’s like, you know, I always think, you know, this trajectory. You’re like, what what what shot you want to hear? Well, you could sort of hit a high fade and hold it off in the slope, or you could low stinger right to left and feed it in all the way. Um, so again, it gives tons of different shots. Um, and I just I thought it was a a really cool par three that I I enjoyed. um and something that’s totally different and and you could hit the ball 10 ft off the ground or you can hit the ball 150 ft up in the air and you can still get the same the ball could pitch in the same place. Yeah. Very cool. Any courses you’ve not managed to get in here? I found that there was always a couple where you were like, “How have I not got that one in yet?” you know, anywhere you just couldn’t squeeze it in because you’d have had to move something around or, you know, couldn’t get around a certain hole? Uh, a turn. Really? For sure. Yeah. Like it straight in my head and I was thinking of all and I haven’t played it since the changes. So I I I played in the I played it last time the open was there and I played it before that. So when nine was kind of like a huge camber, you had hit over like a blind shot over a hill. Yeah. Um so turn came straight to mind. [Music] Um there was a lot of courses when I played when I was young that I think I would have put a hole in, but it was just so long ago that I couldn’t remember. So it was like I used to go and play Carbridge, which is like a really cool nine holeer. uh Newton Moore, Canusi, [Music] um Bankra, Ballister, all those courses that are up Dside. So if if you were in Aberdine, you would just go straight west and follow the D up the river. Um so a lot of those courses when I played when I was younger, I I kind of there was always one or two holes in there that I thought are really really cool. Um and the holes that I of the courses that I haven’t played it was literally well I played Sabonic. There’s holes there. Shinikok I was looking for it. Shinikok was other big name course that I couldn’t fit a hole in. Um it was it was a lot. Yeah. it. I wanted to put I wanted to put 11 in there, the par three, but I couldn’t have Yeah, because it’s a cool par three, but I couldn’t have backtoback par threes with Augusta and I had to put 12 was like the other one. It’s like it’s going in. Can’t take that out. I wanted to put 13 in, but again, couldn’t couldn’t break the rules. Um, no, you couldn’t get one in there. Incredible. Nice problem to have though, I will add. Yeah, you know, it’s not a problem. It’s it’s a problem I’ve got but for all together different reasons. I suppose the two that that I realized were similar and and I hadn’t even thought of this were shinikop and mirfield from the fact that right which will stand out and you’re like god there isn’t there isn’t really any poor holes on them but there isn’t two or three that are for me just for me personally are like unbelievably iconic. Um, yeah, 18 you hit up there. You’re thinking that for for Shinikok, but I just thought they were both really really strong. Um, but I played Sabonic, which is obviously Dogen and Nicholas, and it’s got some cool holes on it, but I couldn’t put that in. I mean, Fisher’s Island, Pine Valley, and Cypress are the ones that I would love to play. Um, yeah, you and me both there. I think Richie, I’ve been to M Yeah, I’ve been to Maidstone. I haven’t played it. Um, and then all the all the S courses I thought there would be a a hole in there that I put in, but I haven’t played many of them. I’ve obviously played Sundale both old and new. I didn’t get any new Sunday new holes on which yeah, that’s that’s quite a surprise. But they I had them list. I’m like, I put this in and I was like, no, that such a great little collection of par threes. some of the best best threes really you’ll see on one course in the world. Yeah. is I just couldn’t fit in and it was like it was doing my head in and uh like you say there’s some courses that are are brilliant looking at I was like oh that’s cast iron go there I was like that doesn’t fit there’s another par three or the problem I was I was having was backtoback par fives espec I actually don’t mind the idea of backto back par fives 13 and 14 um but I put the short hole in at Loman the 14th cuz that’s just one of my favorite golf courses in the world and it’s a real Yeah, it’s probably Yeah, it’s probably not the best in the course. Well, I wanted to put Well, that was the problem. So, I wanted I wanted uh I wanted 12 in at Loman. That is a I love 12. Love 12, but I’m like can’t beat Augusta. Can’t trump it. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like Augusta has it’s got the veto over anything. It’s like no no can’t use that like and I wanted obviously um I think of the open courses they were they came to mind like what holes and St. George is I like but you know I couldn’t fit anything I couldn’t really fit anything there. They’ve got a lot of challenging holes um particularly down the stretch. Um yeah, four at Rosson George has been a very popular pick, but like you say there yourself, you know, you you’ve started with three par fours, so it’s like, oh, do I want another one? Is it time for a par three or Yeah. The other thing I noticed you talking about there, the stuff you played as a junior, but it’s it’s recency bias is massive. You know, there’s there’s so many courses that I’ve played as a kid that I know would have made the list, but you just can’t remember them as clearly, can you? So, you know, I know like Brancaster for instance, there would be a load of holes there that I would have loved to have have picked. Um, but just you you know, it’s it’s recency bias. Um, right. I I guess now’s probably the time for the for the big reveal on the scorecard, but um when I’ve done the yardage for this, I’ve tried to put you off the very back peg. There’s a few sort of open venues here that that increase the the yardage of the course, but you’ve got a very traditional pass 72 29 to 36 coming in at 6,622 yards. Um, was that what you were sort of aiming for? Uh, not really. I could I’ve just realized why I’ve only got one par five in the back line. What a rookie move that is. This is what we’ve settled on now, Richie. You You can’t go changing it now. I’ve got a lot I’ve got. You know what? I showed my coach tonight and he’s like, “What? What are you putting that in there for?” And I’m thinking to myself, “Oh, I’ve got effed this up and I’ve got fully committed now. Got to stick. We’ll go with it.” So, 29 36. Um, Marian East, we know that’s the opener. Port Stewart hole number two. It’s mega mega mega hole. I could I could have put any one of the front nine at Port Stewart. Probably the most underrated nine in the British Isles for me. Like just mega. I just such a good such a cool cool front n um landscape golf holes fun. Just brilliant. Love that place. Um, and it’s like a you could hit driver off there and try and peg up there and or you could just hit an iron, but it’s just the whole the the June skate pair is amazing. So we go Marian Port Stewart Castle Stewart we’ve talked about short par fourth hole par five Wentworth championship um fifth at Trump Dubai sixth at Cari then we go Cran Cersier seventh hole short par fourth 303 yards little dog leg right um nice little another sort of little short length uh Raw Abedine eight and of course Raw County down ninth an extremely popular pick. Um, Sunningale 10 another another fan Sunningdale old I should say 10th Trun the 11th the railway hole looks absolutely magnificent you know it’s just a menace absolute menace that hole oh it’s a real tough one can’t can’t see the fairway just to see a gor in front of you and it’s angled for the righthander so if you just if you just don’t have the balls and turn it over you’re in the gor and if you just push it right and try and get cute with it it’s in the gorse again. And um and that’s not where you’re you’re not over. Like if you bail left cuz you got the the railway line all the way down the right, you’ve got a pot bunket, you’ve got a pitch over and you can fight it in low and run up the bank, which is really cool. Um, and it’s just obviously it’s the it’s it’s the start of the onslaught. Like if you get if the wind comes in off the sea in at the left that back n arguably the hardest back n in golf. I mean I was just hitting wood rescue wood rescue four iron six iron wood into half them. Wow. So yeah, that’s tough. Yeah. Well, that’s, you know, the nature of what you’re trying to achieve, I guess, is something that builds in difficulty. Uh, then we go 12th at Augusta, the 13th at Leopard Creek, um, Lachlan 14, Mufield 15, 16 Calamity, Port Rush, um, Old Course, the Island, uh, to close on the 18th, Augusta 12th. Is that the the prize pick of the path race? Yeah, it’s it’s just I mean the uh one two three four five the six that they at Port Stewart I wanted to put in there but I had a fight with Carnisti and I needed a five in there so I couldn’t again couldn’t put backto back par threes. Um, but 12th Augusta, oh my goodness. Like probably the best home in golf for me. Like just for pure drama cuz it’s just I mean literally if you’re a member there and you only have, you know, six balls in your bag at that point you’re thinking to yourself, am I going to finish this hole? Because you could be there all day. um the most beautifully terrifying hole you will play because it is stunning and you can get lost in the beauty there. But I mean the wind there is like a nightmare. You need a PhD to work that out what’s going on there. Um and just you’ve seen it. It happens all the time. It’s drama, isn’t it? It just creates drama just because of the design. Um, it’s such a cool I mean, you could play you could play that that whole 18 times, you’d be happy. Um, but yeah, it had to be in there. That was a cast iron one. It can’t nothing can beat nothing can beat that in my mind. I think a brilliant way to to close the podcast. Um, Richie, thank you so much for being our guinea pig uh and uh throwing yourself into the exercise. Sounds like you lost a bit of sleep throughout the process, but uh yeah, know it’s been been really cool chatting that through with you. No, it was it was brilliant. Thanks. Thanks very much for having me on. It’s um another interesting thing for anybody to do and do it with their mates. like it’s just uh it fires up some good conversation and uh for me like some great memories of of of playing courses and whether they be good or bad but like I say that’s that’s the genius of of playing golf that it actually creates emotion um and and that’s where you remember stuff. that’s where you remember great days out with the the boys or maybe winning a a junior medal or winning a European tour event some some cases. So, um yeah, it’s it was a cool exercise. Thanks for having me on. It’s been an absolute pleasure. We’re wishing you all the very best for the for the upcoming season and uh yeah, looking forward to when we teared up together as well at some point. But, uh until then, adios. Cheers, boys. This [Applause] [Music] No [Applause] [Music] way. Don’t you think he doesn’t want to win?
