Colt, Strawberries and Cream

[NAF]

I've never been, but a little birdie told me these might be the best quartet of par 3s in jolly old England. Believe Wille Park is the original archie.

[T_MacWood]

Noel
If I'm not mistaken I believe Colt deserves significant credit for Wimbeldon. It looks great, thanks for posting.

[NAF]

Oddly, they say nothing of Colt in their club history.. He must be the redesign!

In 1907, The Royal Wimbledon Club began to construct their own course designed by Willie Park, on 240 acres of Warren Farm adjoining the Common. Sharing, not only with two other clubs, but also with occasional nursemaids with perambulators and picnic parties who found the close-cut greens convenient to set out their tea things was not the ideal situation for a 'Royal' club and its members. The new course was soon receiving enthusiastic approbation. 'A wonderful place is this new Wimbledon course' wrote Bernard Darwin in 1910, 'for as soon as we are on it all signs of men, houses and omnibuses, and other symptoms of a busy suburb, disappear as if by magic, and a prospect of glorious solitary woods stretches away into the distance in every direction' he suggested. Visitors today will find the same vistas and peace as Darwin described so eloquently. With the new course in place it would have been easy to abandon the Common course completely but this was not done. The club continued to share responsibility for the up-keep of the Common with the other two clubs until 1915 when it was considered that the London Scottish and the new Wimbledon Town Club were sufficiently viable to take on the responsibility of maintaining the Common course without Royal Wimbledon's help. This second parting of the ways was however achieved without the acrimony and bitterness that characterised the initial separation and with all parties thankful for the end of the congestion that had resulted from three clubs sharing a single course. For the Royal Wimbledon members, the ability not to wear a red jacket was probably a great relief.  Although their new course was not perfect, it belonged to them and could be modified with time, as indeed it has been, to provide the prospect of many years of golf currently to the year 2286 by courtesy of the current lease. Several deficiencies to the original layout were identified. Not least was the close proximity of the eighteenth green to the Clubhouse which resulted in numerous incidents of balls rattling around on the verandah and roof and even, on at least one occasion, through a window and into the kitchen. A radical redesign was undertaken in 1924 at a cost of some £7000 and this is virtually the layout that exists today except the replacement of the seventeenth to allow for some allotments and the removal of the eighteenth green to a safer position out of the line of fire from miss-hit fairway approach shots.  

[Richard Pennell]

I live near Royal Wimbledon and have played it a few times. I think its underrated and suffers from its proximity to Coombe Hill, whose 1st fairway you can see from RWGC's 7th. In addition to the short holes, there are some great dogleg par 4's and a couple of very tight driveable par 4's which have ruined my card more than once. Its been in great condition every time I've been and the property has plenty of contours which make for some interesting green sites and some tricky recovery shots. It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of anyone else who has been there.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I've not played it, but Peter Allen writes convincingly about it in 'Play the best courses'.  He singles out the 1st and 6th of the par 4s and, of the short holes) the 5th, 13th and 17th, 'each of which has a carry with substantial difficulties for a missed shot and attractive bunkering round the greens.'

[NAF]

Mark-

It definitely flies under the radar..  I do love the Colt pulpit to pulpit affairs for the 1 shotters..  If Paul Turner wasnt trapped in a lab in Oregon, I'm sure he'd comment.

[George Pazin]

I didn't think Paul actually worked....

The interesting thing to me about those photos is that I bet someone who isn't into architecture would look at them and think, those all look the same. And yet, just as surely, I'd also bet they each pose a distinct challenge.

Thanks for posting the photos.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Noel, While I remember, do share your other Low Country courses with us.  (But please be kind with me - I've been singing their praises on here perhaps too much).

[NAF]

Rowlie--pls see below..Paul has many pix with which to put up..

First of all many thanks to some of the people who made this work--Frank Pont in Holland and Stuart Hallett who was a great host at St. Germain.  Both Frank and Stuart are doing great work in their respective places and are terrific blokes to boot.

General Overview- We saw only Colt, Morrison and Tom Simpson on this trip.  The education I received was tremendous and I learned two big things:

1) Tom Simpson in in the pantheon of designers.  His greens and bunkers are as good as anything Mackenzie has done in my humble opinion.  If anything Paul and I were left wondering after our rounds at Spa and Mortfontaine if Dr. Mac picked off some from old Tom.

2) Harry Colt is at his best no matter what the property.  We saw a wide variety of designs on different properties and all we terrific but my favorite was what he did at St. Germain in Paris with a mundane piece of parkland to work with.

Paul and I arrived in Holland and went immediately off the plane to the Kennemer.  The Kennemer is a region of Holland and the course in a few miles from the North Sea in Zandvoort.  We met the club historian Dolf who was quite a character and who possesses the whole lineage of discourse b/t Colt and the club when it was being built.  The Kennemer has 27 holes, 18 by Colt (B&C nines, we started on the B).  The terrain as Doak described reminds the golfer of Shinnecock (especially the back 9) and the folds in the fairways are wonderful.  For us, the course played backwards of what it normally does with a north easterly wind.  Standout holes included the opener where into the wind the 2nd shot can be blind given the fairway rolls.  The 2nd is a great short Colt par 3 with a plateau green and steep falloff left and fall away green on the right.  The 3rd and 4th (a par 5 and short par 4) respectively are good.  The 7th a par 4 of about 370 yards was a good hole but had what appeared to be a Raynor bunker 30 yards short of the green.  And there in was the Kennemer's problem. It would be better without any bunkers given their current scheme.  The club has allowed Colt's bunkers to go grass faced and the look like cat traps all around the course.  This is especially evident on the club's best hole, the par 3 15th where the green is perched on a minor mountain.  At the very bottom of the knoll are two tiny cat trap bunkers that Colt would be embarrassed if he ever saw.  The club needs a restoration desperately and I hope Frank Pont who is consulting them and knows what to do will get the chance to restore them.  One cannot leave the Kennemer without talking also about my favorite hole, the 10th (or the first hole on the C nine).  While only 360 yards it features a blind drive to wildly undulating terrain and a second shot to a doglegging right green which must carry rough terrain in order to snuggle an approach.  

Overall the Kennemer has the potential to be the best course in Holland in my opinon.  It has an issue with firm and fastness as well (or perhaps it was still too early in the season) but once the bunkers are updated who knows how good it can be.

After the Kennemer, we went to Royal Hague or as in is know Koninklijke Haagasche.  This course was laid out over sandy dunes with steroid esque rolling terrain.  Again it is a few miles inland from the sea but the topography here is the star.  To play the Hague, you must have strong legs, great gumption and terrific ball striking ability or you will be eaten alive.  There are terrific undulations to the land and scrub covered dunes to be carried on drives.  With 30 mph winds when we played, I think I would not break 100.  My favorite holes were on the back 9.  The 14th, 15th and 18th.  The 14th is a short par 4 of about 370 yards but is a good deal uphill to a great green complex.  Immediately following that is the 15th where the spine of a dune projects into the left side of the fairway giving a blindish approach to a drive finding that side.  The 18th I like for the setting.  A short par 5 at about 500 yards it is sunken into a valley with an approach to a classical Dutch clubhouse that is postcard worthy.

On our second day we went to play the Utrechtse Golfclub or De Pan.  Our guide was Jens- Holland's leading agronimist.  You see turf grass is big in Holland since they are not allowed to use any chemicals on the courses.  De Pan was done by Colt in 1929 and is heathland style.  In typical Colt fashion it has fine par 3s but for me the standout hole was the 7th which reminded Paul and I instantly of the 10th at St. Georges Hill.  The hole can actually be double blind on the drive and approach!  Two ridges on the left side obscure the drive and the 2nd shot.  It isnt so much to overcome as the hole is only 330 yards to play but it is good fun.  De Pan is a solid course, I wouldnt put it in as esteemed company as Paul would (to me it would be in a West Hill or Worplesdon category) but I can say the club and Frank Pont are doing a great job in trying to restore heather and bunkers.

On our last day we played Noord-Brabantsche or Toxandria and Eindhoven.  Toxandria was mainly done by JSF Morrison although Paul believes Colt was there.  It was the weakest of the courses we saw but still a Doak 5 with some good terrain for golf on the opening holes including a Raynor-esque built up green on the 2nd and two very good plateaued par 3s (the 4th- a wee 9 iron) and the 9th (uphill and a strong 4 iron).  The back 9 was over bland terrain and contained good golf but nothing memorable.

Eindhoven is a different kettle of fish.  Here we played with the grandson of the club's founder, a Mr. Phillips of the Phillips N.V. family.  A very kind gentleman and still great golfer at the age of 70.  Eindhoven is of a grand scale -layed out through a wide expanse of landscape in 1928-1929.  Colt did not do the bunkers however although they are affixed where he designed them to be due to a dispute the contractor had.  For me the course was a wonderful walk in the park with a fantastic routing that shows off the property's rolls and features including a wonderful pond where members swim (gutsy but I guess the Dutch are more adventurous than one thinks).  Eindhoven has some standouts that I loved.  Chief among them the 2nd hole where an island (actually a knoll) with a tree in the middle divides the fairway.  While only 300 yards long it makes you think on the tee.  The approach is semi blind if you go too far left and the green is pinched by two bunkers fronting.  The 3rd is a bunkerless one shotter but long at 220ish yards over rough terrain.  The 11th is also a fine par 3 where if the pin is far left it can be obscured by a bunker cut into a ridge short of the green on the left.  The Luftwaffe and the Germans are responsible for flattening the fairway on the par 5 17th as they used it to land small aircraft and ruin a good gold hole that swings left to right.  My favorite hole was the closer where Colt cut a bunker into a ridge 260 yards from the tee (hole is 400 yards long).  If you land shy of the hazard your approach is actually blind as a knoll on the same line as the bunker but 120 yards ahead obscures the hole.  Fine stuff.

Paul and I also got to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam where we saw a great sketch the master did of a skull smoking a cigarrette.  Seeing the irony in this, I had to wonder is Van Gogh ever hit the links.  We also went to the Anne Frank museum where I was amazed at the pitch of the stairs in the house.  I've never seen steeper stairs in my life, those who have been there will know.  Then again the solemn feeling one gets when visiting is haunting enough.  A sad sad commentary on the world we once lived in.
     
     

[NAF]

After bidding adieu to Eindhoven, Paul and I drove to Maastricht.  Maastricht is where a treaty was formered in the late 90s that set up the European Union and the common currency.  It has a terrific square where Paul and I saw a carnival going on with some of the sickest fun rides I've seen including a slingshot type ride where you were catapulted like in ancient times up in the air.  That was usurped by a 4G type ride which rotated two compartments in in a 360 degree motion.  We saw a lot of throwup by that ride.

Anyhoo, we crossed into Belgium the next morning.  One knows immediately they are not in Kansas er Holland anymore.  The Belgians in this area speak French and like the French won't help you if you come at them with English.  Sacrebleau!  We made our way to the historic town of SPA and the other signs of being out of Holland were evident--hills and rolling terrain instead of flat land.  We arrived at the Royal Golf Club de Fagnes ready to see our first Tom Simpson course of the trip.  Then we met the caddymaster who told us, no no no, you cannot play, I have a competition on.  I said I had made a tee time, but he stood standpat and ignored me.  Then he looked at the first tee and said you must go out right now.  Did I bother to mention, Paul and I got there two hours early as well and we were being told this?

So we went out right away.  The property is a forest, a bit overgrown but the routing on the front is over a steep side hill.  One plays down it at the first (short par 5) to a green surrounded on the left by a wonderful lacy bunker that is well preserved.  It almost seemed to leap out of The Architectual Side of Golf!  Unfortunately, Simpson would be upset with what he'd see here as the maintenance has left rough before the green which is meant to accomodate the run-up shot.  Please cut the grass!  The 2nd hole is a one shotter,also downhill to a green surrounded by Simpson bunkering schemes.  Wonderful to look at, in fact I marveled at it.

At the 3rd we play on the side slope and it moves massively from left to right.  It is another short par 5 where if you hit a hard cut at two bunkers that are cut into the hill 350 yards from the tee you have nothing but a short iron home.  The green here was pure Simpson, mean slope at the front that moved any ball right and fallaway at the back.

The 5th hole plays again off the hill but from a flatter part and requres a strong draw off the tee and a solid mid iron approach.  The hole only has one bunker but again Simpson winks his eye at you with a tremendous green complex that fallsaway and throws balls in all different directions with spines and hollows.  

The 6th would be the standout par 3 at Spa.  Only a little wedge the green is the star here.  One must carry a pond but that is not the problem, it is the huge two tier nature of the green.  The upper tier is quite small and almost impossible to get a ball close to a pin position here.  Misfire and go long and there are two bunkers to find your ball and trying to save par there is almost impossible.  The lower to upper tier putt is no easy 2 putt as well.  Paul has an old picture of this hole, there were once more bunkers on the left side that are now gone in the trees.

The rest of the front contains more of the sporty nature that is Spa, terrific greens, artistic bunkers--Simpson was indeed great at naturalness.

The back 9 at Spa is too tight at the start.  They've let tree growth encroach too much on the 10-12th.  The 11th being a standout long par 3 with three terrific bunkers on the right--including one cut into a row of trees.  The 12th is the hardest hole on the course requiring you to hit a hard draw (obscured by trees) and a second shot must clear cross bunkers.  Paul and I loved the finish with 2 great short par 4s.  The 16th is about 360 yards from the tees we played but three cross bunkers limit you to a drive of about 240 yards.  Until you play the hole and see the shape of the green you don't realize that the angle it is offset at requires you fire down the right side instead of bombing it anyway.  The 17th is drivable at only 275 yards and downhill but if you miss 5 big bunkers will find your ball and again the green slopes away from you.  There is nothing but a big meadow behind the green as well and it play a visual acuity trick if you have even a lob wedge 2nd as I did.

Overall Spa is probably a Doak 7, but I loved it and fell in love with Tom Simpson.. It is devilish, crafty and fun!  It is just built on not great soil for golf and is overrun with trees and had some maintenance issues.  Still, for bunkers and greens and strategy, you can't go wrong.

Paul and I then drove to Brugges.  A quaint and lovely town by the North Sea.  We went out for Belgian beer that night and I can attest that their ale can leave you with some nasty hangovers.  But boy did it taste great.