# Episode 76-Inside the Top 100: Simon Holt on What Makes a Truly Great Golf Course Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/golf-and-politics-6866604/episode-76-inside-the-top-100-simon-holt-on-what-makes-a-truly-great-golf-course Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/golf-and-politics-6866604/episode-76-inside-the-top-100-simon-holt-on-what-makes-a-truly-great-golf-course.md Podcast: [Golf And Politics](https://stenobird.com/podcast/golf-and-politics-6866604) Published: 2025-12-04T00:41:00+00:00 Episode link: https://golfandpolitics.com/ Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/op3.dev/e/cohst.app/pdcst/9X3R9N/traffic.megaphone.fm/HRERO6758146756.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/golf-and-politics-6866604/episodes/episode-76-inside-the-top-100-simon-holt-on-what-makes-a-truly-great-golf-course Duration seconds: 5282 ## Resource In this episode of Golf & Politics, Rob Ellsworth and Matt Parker sit down with Simon Holt โ€” CEO of 8AM Travel, co-host of Destination Golf, and steward of Golf Magazineโ€™s Top 100 rankings. From Pine Valley to Royal County Down, Japan to New Zealand, Simon pulls back the curtain on how rankings are created, what truly makes a world-class course, how recency bias affects ballots, why firm-and-fast is dominating trends, and why great golf is as much about people as it is about architecture. We dig into: โ›ณ๏ธ What defines a great panelist ๐Ÿ† The methodology behind the Top 100 ๐Ÿง  Recency bias and how to avoid it ๐ŸŒ Where the next great golf destinations may emerge ๐Ÿชต Tree removal, firmness, playability ๐ŸŽ’ Solo vs group golf travel โ€” how to make friends through golf ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Why UK/Ireland golf is in the soul ๐Ÿฅƒ Whiskey, tradition, and the ritual of the day ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง And yes โ€” golf, culture, and politics on both sides of the Atlantic Simon also reveals some of his top-five golf experiences, tells us what really sets Pine Valley apart, and explains why North Berwick, Muirfield, Tara Iti, Hirono, and Shanqin Bay linger in memory. Whether you chase Top 100s or just love the game, this episode will inspire your next trip, your next tee shot, or the next conversation in the clubhouse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/golf-and-politics-6866604/episodes/episode-76-inside-the-top-100-simon-holt-on-what-makes-a-truly-great-golf-course/transcription-requests` โ€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/golf-and-politics-6866604/episode-76-inside-the-top-100-simon-holt-on-what-makes-a-truly-great-golf-course.md` โ€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.