Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to golf courses. One player’s links paradise is another’s heathland heaven.

But even allowing for the most passionate discussion, there are plenty of layouts out there we all agree are superb. Rankings lists would be sunk without them!

So what is it that makes a golf course great? In this week’s The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll go on a deep dive.

What courses speak to us? Where are we desperate to go this year, and where are we keen to return? To help us in that quest, we’ve enlisted two special guests.

Dan Murphy is a veteran of nearly 700 golf courses and has been the chairman of NCG’s Top 100s panel for nearly a decade. He is responsible for all our rankings lists.

And you may know David Jones better as UK Golf Guy – a phenomenally successful blogger whose insight on rankings lists and the price of playing the best golf courses in GB&I is required reading.

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball