Brancepeth Castle-Hidden Gem

[Paul_Turner]

Jonny Davison sent me these pics.  It's way up on my must see list of Colt's courses.   The ravines are the main feature of the course.  But also notice the plough furrows (Rich Goodale's "runrigs")



The Epic 9th.  First picture I've seen, that shows the scale of this huge par 3.  Colt's toughest?  Even harder than 5th at PV?  It was voted into a world toughest 18.


Followed by the 10th!  Another white knuckle par 3.


Cool 1st green complex with the plough lines.


Grassy pit.

[Jonathan Davison]

Paul Turner
I took these photos while playing a team match,my photos were limited because I was 4 down after 9 and level par, never mind I am going back shortly and hopefully take photos of the wonderful par 3 2nd and the 8th a great short par 4. As for Brancepeth I believe its one of Colt's most underated golf courses.

[Paul_Turner]

Cool aerials of the course, showing the ancient land marks.

[Andy Levett]

Great pix. Here's a few more that I snapped during an open yesterday.
The 135-yards second, green dug out of the hillside of the  ravine by hand:


Tee-shot at the 330-yards 8th, flag just visible to the left of the bunker:


Green complex at the 8th (yes, that's rain, yes the pic of the 2nd was taken the same round):


View from the tee at the 9th:


...and right forward showing the green more clearly:


Looking back down the 9th, a similar pic to Jonny's. Like most of the greens tricky and fun to putt - my effort from the back fringe near the path moved 3feet left.


15 is another fine Colt par 3 - 150 yards knob to knob. No pics of 11-17 due to a cock-up but if anyone who would like a zip file of all the ones I did get  just email me.





 

[Andy Levett]

Paul
5th at PV is just a long slog with a top-shot hazard in front  

Seriously, the 9th at Brancepeth is great because only a very fine shot will find that narrow green angled across the player. Miss the green and a four is a good result. There's no bail out area for an easy four/chance of a chip-putt three.  
Unless you hit a poor tee shot it is, as RTJ almost said, a hard bogey, an easy double bogey.
You would think the percentage shot is taking plenty of club and thumping it into the bank at the back but that doesn't seem to work - your ball will either stick in the grass (leaving a horrible chip that may well run off the green down the bank on the other side) or it will come back onto the green and roll off  the dead man's drop on the other side anyway.
On Sunday after my playing partners had come to grief in various ways I hit what I thought was a perfect 7-wood (even saying "That's the one" - the shame) but  it was hit by some wind up where the icicles form and missed on the right.
A nice SW over the top rolls into the back fringe, fine putt breaking 3 feet finishes two feet away, rammed in for a four. Hard bogey indeed.

[Andy Levett]

Brancepeth pics are like buses - you wait years and then three sets come along at once. These great shots were taken by Mark Rowlinson in the mid 80s.

The second, looking across the green from left to right:


The eighth, like a rolling swell on the ocean:


The ninth, from the back right of the angled green, boiling oil from the battlements if you look like making a par:

[Paul_Turner]

Good job Mark and Andy.  

When was the castle built?

Cool light for that pic of the 8th.  What a green!

[Andy Levett]

There's been a castle on the site  since the middle ages but someone told me most of what's there now is Victorian. Various owners have come and gone, either losers in dynastic squabbles or more recently due to the cost of running the place. It's still privately owned.

[Bill_McBride]

Where is this gem located?  Looks like it needs to be on the schedule for 2005!

[Jonathan Davison]

Just played Brancepeth today and noticed on every hole Colt designed a small flat area on every fairway. Not unusual but every fairway has run-rigs or furrows, and at ideal drive location you can find a great lie if you look hard enough. Is this a unique feature for Mr Colt?.