Golf de Spa

[Paul_Turner]

This Simpson hidden gem in the hill country of Belgium, near to the German border.  The town Spa is the orginal hot springs town...coining the phrase "Spa".

Although the site isn't perfect-it's on heavy(ish) soil and and has broad undulation(hills) rather than rolls.  The course shows much of Simpson's characteristic artistic flair with wirly curly bunkers and greens at ground level with stong intricate contours embellishing the natural slope.  Simpson likes angles too.

A few pics, starting with my favourite the 17th, a drivable par 4:


You can slot the shot just past the bunkers and chase up to a green that falls away and to the right.  If it's really soft (like it was for us) you can risk going straight at it.

A few more pics showing Simpson's bunkers and the different perspectives from each side.

ALSO.  If the trees were cleared in the background you would have the most beautiful view of a wild flower meadow.


NAF pitching.



Right side


Left


The slot...need to trim that rough though


Approach at 1st


You can just make out the intricacies of old Tommy's greens.


Green at par 3 2nd.  Again some strong contours.  The photos doesn't really show the bunkers well.


3rd Tee.  Play for the camber and tack around the bunkers.






Green runs quickly away with plenty of wrinkles.


Big bank on the 4th green


5th tee



Back up the 5th.

I've seen an old painting of the 6th and it was once surrounded by bunkers.  The cart path has spoiled some of the aesthetics and it looks somewhat ordinary at first glance.  But the green is one of the most severe anywhere.






Filled in traps.


Crook of the dogleg 7th.


Closer


Closer


8th..big par 3.  NAF's best shot of the trip here.


Green



3rd shot at 9th.

[Paul_Turner]

The back 9 starts with a little blip.  The routing is a bit tight and the 10th is shoe horned in.  Trees have been planted for safety and the hole is somewhat ugly.  The 12th is similarly influenced.

But here's the 11th.  Would again be great with the trees cu, opening the views of the hills.


Par 3.


Faded shot will fit nicely.


Cross bunkers at 12th.


Landing area on the superb 13th.

The 14th is a nice par 3 but not particularly photogenic.

The 15th like several holes needs a bit of a trim.  And I think the stream needs to be reestablished.


Approach


Again a green that goes away and to the right, with the land.

The first of two great short 4s in the last 3, the 16th.


Tee.  The flag position suggests where you should hit.


Approach from right.


And from the left.


A close look at the traps.


Landing area of 18th.  Green goes away and to the left.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Paul,

Those first two holes I seem to remember from Simpson's drawings in TASoG.

Great stuff, although its amazing how these bunkers seem to be more evolved in the wrong direction in comparison to the other images you and Tuco have posted before.

The course looks like its about bounces too!

[Paul_Turner]

Tommy

The pics don't really capture the course very well.  Noel and I did find the bunkers attractive.  To get the course at its best I think the club needs to trim and perhaps put some more drainage in.  The best time to play here would be late summer when the greens are slick....very tricky then and you'd have several holes where you have to land short.

[Tom_Doak]

Paul:

What is the yardage from the tips?

 :)

(I'm just curious if they have lengthened it at all over the years, or if it's still pretty much as it was designed.)

Really sorry I missed out on that trip.  Hopefully the work I was doing will be well received.

[wsmorrison]

Paul,

Hard to say from the photos, but did you get the impression that the greens had shrunk much?  I noticed the left side of that really cool looking 17th and the 15th and thought as much.  Thanks for all these photos!

[Paul_Turner]

Tom

About 6650 yds from backs.  And there's no room to extend.

I think it hasn't been touched.  And it reminds me a little of Simpson's Blackwell course near to Birmingham (although that one is slowly being spoiled (aesthetically)).  

It would have been cool if you could have joined us.  But perhaps one day you'll build across the pond and on the continent and get to see it.  It's an idyllic part of the world, some wonderful ancient towns.  

We should haev checked out Simpson's Sart Tilman too, but no time.

Wayne

The greens are BIG (like Morfontaine).  But yes, they could still have shrunk in some places...they look a bit circular.  I didn't look that carefully

[wsmorrison]

Thanks, Paul.  The course looks great.  Yes, those circular greens (if they aren't a Simpson staple) give away the shrinkage (maybe the water is cold ).

I'll look in Simpson's book and see what his green shapes/dimensions look like.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Tom, You also orgot to ask for slope rating, course rating & contact information on top of that. I'm sure a report will be coming soon!

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Paul I may have to move to NY to hang with you and the Naffer. I am envious of how you two live like I desire too. Great pictures as always.

[T_MacWood]

Its good to see Matt Ward is having an impact on Tom Doak....soon he will be sporting super short shorts.

I can't get over how well preserved these Simpson courses appear to be. Thanks for posting your pictures.

[Sean_A]

Paul

This course reminds a load of Blackwell.  I was just there this past weekend, some of these photos could have been taken there.  Mind you, Blackwell is quite a bit shorter.  I think Simpson redid Blackwell in about 1920ish.  When was Spa done?

Ciao

Sean

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Paul, Thanks a lot for posting these.  Glad you enjoyed it.  Pity you couldn't make Sart-Tilman as it's very different from Spa in style.  I played Spa in winter and none of the deciduous trees had leaves, so the views were more expansive, especially from the holes on higher ground.

I think the reason these courses have remained largely unaltered is that Belgium was a golfing backwater.  It was only because one of its Kings recognised the significance of golf as a tool in diplomacy and attracting the captains of industry and commerce that golf in Belgium happened at all.

In 1903 King Leopold II gave the go-ahead for a course to be built in Ostend, his favourite beach resort.  Ostend became the first club to receive the Royal seal of approval (Antwerp became a Royal club in 1925).  This was followed by Royal courses near Brussels, Ghent and Knokke-Heist.  Leopold II’s grandson, Leopold III, was a talented golfer, while his son Baudouin is the only monarch to have played in a national championship while on the throne.

With its distinguished past, why is golf in Belgium such a well-kept secret?  The answer is that fewer than a dozen courses had been built by the outbreak of war in 1939.  As most were exclusive establishments, the country kept a low golfing profile.  What’s more, with few top-class players – despite Flory van Donck (1912-1992) and Donald Swaelens (1936-1975), two of the best European professional golfers before the modern tour took off – the domestic game has had little chance to blow its own trumpet.

It wasn’t until the Eighties that Belgium saw the commercial potential of the sport and that new courses began to spring up, from the simplest pay-and-play beginners’ layouts to lavish American-style country clubs.  There are now
more than 60 clubs and around 100 courses.

[RT]

Paul,

Thanks for the fine pics.  Really enjoy the fine folds, mini-rises and shapes of Simpson's greens.

RT

[Keith Durrant]

Mark, in what way is Sart-Tilman in a different style to Spa? Is one superior?

This pic of a beautiful green-site is from the club's website:

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Keith,

I think the gestures at Sart-Tilman are altogether bigger.  It's more lowland than Spa, though still quite undulating, and the sweep of fairways, scale of greens and bunkers are grander.  Sart-Tilman fairways are wider and there is more room on many holes before coming to grief in the trees.  It has some rather expensive houses overlooking it, whereas Spa is out in the wilds.  Spa reminds me of many British courses of the golden age and if you took away the over-close trees and got that open, upland feel back it would remind me of places such as Crowborough Beacon.  When you compare these two, then throw in Royal Belgique at Tervuren and Royal Antwerp you have four enormously different styles of course, each one very much a response to the land with which the architect was working.  No formulaic responses here.

[NAF]

Ah Spa-

I've only got a little bit of time with the baby being home but I will echo Paul in that the photos do not do the course justice.  One can also see several of the greens were coming back from being tyned etc.

The fallaway nature of the green coupled with how the front 9 is routed into a big hill makes it a tremendous place to play when firmer.

I'm not sure Paul showed a picture of the opener where the short par 5 can be reached in 2 if one bounces it in.. The problem was the maintenance crew mowed a semi collar before the green to stop it..

Still, Spa is wonderful bunkering and strategy.  

Tom Doak--are you consulting there?

[Paul_Turner]

By my count 7 of the greens run away, either diagonally or straight from the line of play.

We know (from Darwin) that Woking was big influence on Simpson and you can see it in his greens.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Paul and Noel,

I'd be interested in your comparing the various Low Countries courses you've visited with other well-known courses - ratings on a Doak scale perhaps.  I've probably made myself very boring by enthusing about them for far too long and it would be good to get your objective assessment.

[Paul_Turner]

Mark

I think Spa would definitely make the GB+I top 100.  I think it would get a comfortable 6 on Tom's scale.  Say a 6.5.  It compares favourably too with some of the better inland courses I've played here in the US too.  I wouldn't play it before Yale, but I would before Ridgewood or Aronimink.

Spa does need a bit of TLC for it to really shine.

[NAF]

Mark-

These would be my Doak Ratings... Paul would differ

Kennemer  (7)--8 when they redo the bunkers
Royal Hague (7)
Eindhoven  (6)
Toxandria (5)
De Pan (7)
Spa (7)
Zoute (7.5)-a must see, i know you didnt love it..
Mortfontaine (--best of the trip.
St. Germain (7.5)--the surprise of the trip

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Paul and Noel thanks - much appreciated.

I'm glad you liked Zoute.  I expect my negative impression was influenced by a nasty run-in with the club president and his mistress who tried to chuck me off even though I had the secretary's express permission to be there for an article I was writing.  He then tore a strip off her for letting me out on a Sunday.  

Was Holland still good value?  I'll be there in early August but, sadly, with no opportunity to play golf.  How were Belgian green fees?