However, what this article will attempt to do is provide the true hidden gem golf courses of Great Britain - in fact an entire treasure chest full of them!
Often we see the phrase used to describe a golf course which in fact already has a really fine pedigree and, whilst maybe not a top bracket course, is very well known to the serious golfer. As an example; Brora is NOT a hidden gem. It is regularly featured in top 100 lists, has been lauded by Tom Watson, Peter Thomson & others and has had much magazine coverage over the years. Overshadowed by Dornoch? Yes. Hidden Gem? Certainly not.
Silloth or Goswick isn't one either, neither is Elie or Southerness, nor Pennard or Tenby. We totally agree that these courses should certainly be given more credit than they receive and they can be seen in our most underrated, highly rated golf courses... but they are not hidden gems.
What we are looking for here are golf courses that you may have never heard of but still offer excellent golf and whilst they are not the type of courses we would recommend travelling a very long distance to specifically play they would make a fantastic addition to a longer golf trip and offer good, fun golf over interesting terrain. It must be emphasised that the below courses still offer very high quality golf though.
Golf Empire founder, Ed Battye, has played extensively throughout Great Britain and below he gives his real hidden gem golf courses. These don't appear in any of the usual rankings and in many cases are well and truly off the beaten path... maybe even to locals. Indeed any course that features in any of these lists was excluded from consideration.
