Does Beau Desert Have Perfect Rough?

[Mark_F]

I apologise for not posting any pictures on what is undoubtedly a visual query, but the Chancellor has decided to tax Mother Nature in order to pay for a bunch of Lesbian Sperm Donation Co-ordinators for Local Councils, so alas.

This is a course that I would guess many here have played, and, amongst its many attributes, I think its treatment of rough is nigh on perfect.

On more than a few of the courses I've played this trip, the rough has been particularly venal, and if I wasn't such a mild-mannered individual, more than a few superintendents and greens chairmen would have been presenting themselves at the local A&E department for surgical removal of a Mizuno MP 30 5-iron from their nether regions.

At Beau Desert, the fairways aren't particularly wide, but there is a buffer zone of ten-15 yards on most holes comprising of wispy-ish grass that allows a ball to be easily found, yet complicates somewhat the following shot.  

There are, of course, more than a few places where one can lose a ball or four, but you generally have to hit a pretty wild shot to find it.  

Whittington Heath was another course that had this aspect of architecture perfectly presented.  It adds so much to one's enjoyment of the round, it frazzles me to find a course that goes in the opposite (i.e. more familiar) path.

How many courses get this aspect spot on?

[Scott_Burroughs]

Here's Beau Desert from high up, to get an idea of the color
of the rough at one pint in time:


A feature on BD was done in Links Mag. a few years ago, but
is not available online.

[Tom_Doak]

Mark:

I think the rough must suit them just fine, judging by the relatively small number of bunkers which they need to complete the test.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

They've also thinned out a lot of the on-course trees, but whether that is post Scott's aerial I cannot say.  I'll be posting some photos in the not too distant future, none very recent, however.

[Marc Haring]

As ever spot on and so tactfully and delicately put if I may say. Presumably you have viewed my rough question thread. If you do happen to play the course I outlined, please leave your Mizuno MP 30 5 iron at home. (Don’t know if that is especially good club selection anyway, surely the lob wedge would be the only club for that particular stroke?)

[Mark_F]

Mark Rowlinson:

Yes, the aerial looks nothing quite like the course I played the other day.

Marc Haring:

A simple Clash of the Titans.  I thought of the thread as soon as I played the coruse, then finally managed to log on to find, alas, grat minds think alike, then ruthlessly hijacked your post anyway.  Sorry.  That's what losing half a dozen balls the previous round does to you.

As to the Mizuno vs Lob Wedge debate - the 5-iron has the good fortune of being long enough to be removed via the throat, thus compounding the pain.  Lob wedges merely require removal the same way they went in.  I saw it on www.udayspainroom.iq before it was shut down last May.

[James Edwards]

Mark,

Why can I only count 17 holes?

James

[Jim Sweeney]

JJSE: My guess is that you are missing the tenth hole- a par three with the tee just behind nine green and the green just to the right of the eleventh tee.

Jim

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Jim's spot on.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I've stuck a few photos on British Courses 14 - all sorts of ridiculous sizes!

[Mark_F]

James,

My guess would be the British education system, but then I guess ours must be as bad, since I didn't notice I'd only played 17.

If Beau Desert only had 16 holes, it would still be worth playing.  It's a knockout location, one of the best conditioned courses in the UK, and a great mix of outright star quality holes like 2, 5,7,9,10,12 and 13, and some like 6 that are more subtle, but nevertheless quite tricky, which is a bonus, because once you've been had, you can quickly nip back up the fairway and hit another second shot to try and make amends, since the course doesn't appear to be that busy.

Not that I would advocate that sort of behaviour, of course.

[James Edwards]

Mark, Jim.

Yes, I hold my hands up - I work in golf course architecture and the other British Architect didnt notice it either  

and Mark your most probably right...

[Paul_Turner]

Beau Desert and Whittington Heath.  That's a fine day's golf on courses that few visit.  Quite different courses, Beau Desert more undulating.  Both need to start their chainsaws and get the heather back.  

PS

I prefer the old name of Whittington Barracks.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Paul,

Beau Desert has done a lot of tree removal since my photos and the aerial were taken.  Very open internally but the trees which screen the course from local mining and industry still do their job.  I last played Whittington in the mid 90s (I think) and I wasn't particularly concerned by the trees except very occasionally.

[Paul_Turner]

Mark

Played Whittington last year.  Trees didn't encroach too much, but I would expose that pit on the 5th (inside of dog leg) and remove the new plantings along the ridge of the 6th.  I think they'll have trouble reestablishing the heather without removing a lot of the deciduous trees.

At Beau Desert I thought that holes 6 and 7 would benefit from cutting back the trees.  It seemed dark and gloomy, although it was winter when I visited.

[Mark_F]

Paul Turner:

Yes, indeed, a fine couple of days golf it was.  More's the pity I overexerted myself the first two weeks there and couldn't find the energy to fit in others like Mill Hill, Prestbury and other gems Mr Rowlinson had highlighted in his most excellent Times Guide (Although, Mark, and it could just be me, I thought the directions were a little inadequate on some occasions).

I didn't particularly think Beau Desert had an excessive number of trees, although there are undoubtedly a few in certain spots that could go, such as one on the left side of the fairway a hundred yards or so from the second green, as it obscures your second shot.

It's a mystery why this isn't a more poluar course.  it's absolutely beautiful, and fine golf too.

Whittington Heath would be much improved by your suggestion for the fifth. I thought it was a really nice course.  Nothing really knock you dead, aside from perhaps the par three fourth, just really good, especially the front nine.  Quite tricky greens that were much faster than their relative lack of firmness and slope would have indicated.