Meet the Meath man attempting to play the top 100 golf courses in the world
GET IN THE HOLE: Meath native Gavin Lynch takes a shot at Pebble Beach.
Ireland conquered, now it’s the world for Meath man Gavin Lynch as he attempts to play the top 100 golf courses the planet has to offer.
Upon completing his odyssey at home, Lynch has embarked on an even grander task of a round on each of the tracks considered by experts to be the finest created.
Based on the courses ranked the greatest by golf.com and top100golfcourses.com, with no little support from his wife Ann-Marie, his ambition has brought him from the US to China, Japan and New Zealand in recent years.
“I started playing courses in England and Scotland and then had to get a bit more adventurous but Covid struck,” says Lynch. “Since then I’ve made a right rattle at it. I think one year I played 44 courses outside Ireland.”
In 2023, Lynch visited Australia where he played Royal Melbourne West, Kingston Heath and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania. Last year, it was the likes of Sheshan International in Shanghai, Hirono in Kobe and Tara Iti above Auckland.
He’s taken several trips to the US and will head there again at the end of the month to add to his collection. If travel broadens the mind, Lynch’s journeys have expanded his love for the game especially its history.
“If you're going to go to the bother of flights, hotels and green fees which can be quite expensive, you’re going to do your homework on the courses.
“Some places you don’t have to. I've played St Andrew’s Old Course three times. The first time you play it, it's the greatest golf experience of your life.
"We all remember Jack Nicklaus standing on the Swilcan Bridge, Seve winning there, Tiger’s tears coming down the 18th a couple of years ago as Rory was coming up the first alongside him. The 11th, the 17th. Before you set foot in the place, you already know it.
“A lot of people wouldn’t know about Royal Dornoch in Scotland but Donald Ross’s inspiration for the hundreds of golf courses in America he designed came from his home course of Dornoch like Pinehurst No2.
"North Berwick would be considered a nice golf course but its design has had such a big bearing on how golf courses have been created that it’s worth reading up on.”
Not that Lynch hasn’t had moments of self-doubt. There have been plenty.
“Sometimes I'd be sitting on a long, hard flight and saying to myself, ‘”What are you doing, you gobshite? This is a stupid idea.’ You’d feel guilty about being away from your family. But then you drive into a course like Shinnecock Hills and there’s that wow factor.
"After every six holes, I always go back over what I’ve played to make a mental note. That’s helped in describing the 140 courses I’ve played on the website.”
Emotional and surreal moments, there have been a few. Like scoring an albatross in New Zealand. Getting to play Pebble Beach on a whim in 2023 was another.
Lynch had just finished a round in nearby Spyglass Hill when he asked his playing partner Travis if they could find a bar to watch the end of the Canadian Open where Tommy Fleetwood was in contention.
The closest place was Pebble Beach’s clubhouse where, after Nick Taylor sank a 70-foot putt to beat Fleetwood, Lynch asked in the pro shop if a round was possible.
“I had been there the previous year, it took five and a half hours and was foggy the Monterey Peninsula having its own microclimate, so it wasn’t the perfect experience, shall we say.
“I told them about my website and they said, ‘It’s 4.30pm, you’re not going to finish.’ But I was eventually allowed out and the next thing I was on the front nine on my own in glorious evening sunshine.
"I actually holed a pitching wedge for an eagle on the second but nobody saw it. I hit three tee shots into the famous par 3 7th. On the 10th, I joined up with two assistant pros and we finished the last hole in darkness.”
Lynch’s globetrotting has given him an insight into other countries’s different golf sensibilities too.
“In Ireland, we're all very much in a hurry but the thing about Japan everybody is so calm, so nice, so friendly. Their custom of stopping for food after nine holes if you want, I thought that was silly initially but you do it a second time and it’s so pleasant.”
It's also provided him a deeper appreciation of what we have here in Ireland.
“Royal County Down, I personally think has the best front nine in the world. Royal Portrush is amazing. Lahinch, the par 4s are incredible. Ireland has about a quarter of the links courses in the world.
"There’s the debate about The Old Head in Kinsale being a links but it’s an incredible place. We’re very fortunate.
“It costs about €30 open singles to play a round in Portumna. It’s a brilliant course just like Carlow, Mullingar, Arklow. Jesus, if somebody said to me there's a four-person team event next week in Portumna, I couldn't wait to play it.”
For the week that’s in it, Augusta is one of the 15 or so courses Lynch has yet to play. Oakmont and Muirfield Village too.
“They are the Holy Grail, so to speak. With a lot of courses in America, you can only play with a member and there’s no negotiation. I have a section on the website ‘can you help’. Have clubs, will travel.”
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