Wallasey Golf Club was out of the Top 100. Now it's ranked 99th and accelerating — and after playing it on a stunning April Tuesday, we think it's heading a lot higher than that.

This episode is powered by Fourball Draws - where you can win a fourball on some elite courses for just a fiver - visit fourballs.co.uk and use code TOP100 to buy 2 or more tickets and get one absolutely free!

In this episode we sit down with course manager John McLoughlin, the man who called Wallasey a "sleeping giant" five years ago and spent the time since proving himself right. We talk about the transformation, the Old Tom Morris greens, the Bobby Jones portrait in the clubhouse, and why this might be the best Irish-style links golf you can play without leaving England.

We also cover our top three holes each, a Stableford match play battle (Nish wins 3&2), and the honest question: does Wallasey crack our personal top five from 70 Top 100 courses played?

🇮🇪 Playing in Ireland has never been harder to arrange — which is exactly why we've done it for you. Join us this October for a listener trip covering Portmarnock, The Island, Royal Dublin, County Louth and more. Details and booking below.
https://top100in10.co.uk/the-top-100-in-10-golf-tour-of-ireland/

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In this episode:
- John McLoughlin on transforming Wallasey from sleeping giant to Top 100 contender
- The Old Tom Morris connection — four original greens, nearly 130 years old
- Bobby Jones, signed portraits and why Americans should know about this clubhouse
- Our top holes: 3, 4, 10, 12 and 18
- The conditioning obsession — why Wallasey's transitions are becoming famous
- Stableford match play result and our signature hole challenge update
- Three reasons to visit Wallasey Golf Club

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Sophie Walker is one of the best guests we've ever had on this show. She's the head analyst for Sky Sports Golf, a former LET tour pro with over 150 events and five Open Championships to her name — including the first women's ever played at the Old Course, St Andrews. She's also ace. And she lives a mile down the road from Nish, which helped.

This episode is powered by Fourball Draws - where you can win a fourball on some elite courses for just a fiver - visit fourballs.co.uk and use code TOP100 to buy 2 or more tickets and get one absolutely free!

In this bonus episode, Sophie talks honestly about tour life: what it really costs to compete at the top level, what she'd do differently, and her take on where women's golf should be investing its growing revenues. She gives us her one-line verdicts on the great courses — Royal County Down, Turnberry, Kingsbarns, Birkdale, and more. She reveals the caddy signal system that lets broadcasters know exactly what club a player is hitting. And at the very end, she answers the one more round question in a way that'll stay with you.

🏌️ JOIN US IN IRELAND — October 2026
We're heading to the Northeast Coast Links: Portmarnock, The Island, Jameson Links, Royal Dublin & County Louth (Baltray). 14 spots. Accommodation at Portmarnock Resort, farewell dinner at the Guinness Storehouse.
👉 https://top100in10.co.uk/the-top-100-in-10-golf-tour-of-ireland/

Find Sophie:
Instagram: @SophWalksGolf
X: @sophwalks

Send us a message

Support the show

Learn more about our journey on our website Top100.in10.co.uk

You can even sign up to our podcast mailing list on the website and get a limited edition Top 100 in 10 ball marker when you complete your profile

Or follow our live journey on Instagram @top100in10 or Tiktok

Every golfer has played Stableford. Almost none of us know it was invented on the 2nd fairway at Wallasey Golf Club — by a man who got so fed up tearing up his scorecard, he changed golf forever.

This episode is powered by Fourball Draws - where you can win a fourball on some elite courses for just a fiver - visit fourballs.co.uk and use code TOP100 to buy 2 or more tickets and get one absolutely free!

Get some details about our Irish Trip more details here

This week, Nish and Jim preview Wallasey — ranked #99 in the UK & Ireland, designed by Old Tom Morris, tweaked by James Braid, and the qualifying venue where Bobby Jones won his Grand Slam Open spot. Chris is off doing a "breakaway round" at Loch Lomond. We'll get to that.

In this preview:

• The Eureka moment on the 2nd fairway, 1931

• Why Wallasey re-entered our Top 100 (and how we bent our own rules)

• The Bobby Jones portrait that hangs in two clubhouses — Wallasey and Augusta

• Plateau greens, four original Old Tom Morris greens, and the holes to watch

• Green fees vs. Birkdale, Hillside and S&A — the value question

• The side bet that wrote itself

Things mentioned in this episode:

• Wallasey Golf Club — wallaseygolfclub.com
• Dr. Frank Barney Gorton Stableford — Wallasey member, surgeon, golf hero
• The 2nd fairway, Wallasey — site of the 1931 Eureka moment
• Old Tom Morris — original course designer (1891)
• James Braid — later design contributions
• Bobby Jones — qualified for the Open at Wallasey in his Grand Slam year
• Sir Ernest Royden — ex-captain who commissioned the Bobby Jones portrait
• John A.A. Berrie — the artist; painted both the Wallasey original and the Augusta replica
• Henry Longhurst quote — "I doubt whether any single man did more to increase the pleasure of the humble club golfer."

Send us a message

Support the show

Learn more about our journey on our website Top100.in10.co.uk

You can even sign up to our podcast mailing list on the website and get a limited edition Top 100 in 10 ball marker when you complete your profile

Or follow our live journey on Instagram @top100in10 or Tiktok