I played Beau Desert today in cold, wet weather. Thankfully, the wind was mild. The course has held up pretty well, not too much standing water considering all the rain we have had in May and more recently.
Approach to #2 - the cross bunker comes in play after wayward drives.
The short 3rd with a fallaway green
The club is in the very slow process of regenerating more heather
The wonderful 5th. Drive down in the valley
Then back up to this well guarded green
Another cross bunker to menace the approach after a wayward drive
Just short of this narrow green with a false front
A view from behind the green showing how hilly this hole is
The 6th from just in fornt of the ladies tees. There are loads of tee shots at Beau which are partially or fully obscured because of hills or trees.
A closer look at 6 showing the severe slope right to left. That great little nob front right of the green makes approaching from that side very troublesome when the course is keen. I would like to see more of this type of subtlety in design.
The 9th is one of many favourite 3.5 pars in golf.
This pic shows how dangerous it is to go for the green - anything long is in desperate shape.
The short 10th - one can readily see how overgrown Beau has become in places.
The 11th
Behind the wonderful 11th green. I still haven't figured out how Fowler got a green to move so much more than it looks on this fairly flat piece of the property
The approach to #12 - a double legger
The approach to #13. I really like this bunker on the left - it makes flat bellies really think on the tee. This green looks flat, but it is huge and it runs very much away from the fairway.
The 14th is a bizarre green with an elephant buried in the front. The bump rises about 3 feet.
From this pic it looks like a false front, but its a huge pimple.
There are also hidden bunkers on the right cleverly hidden by mounds.
This pic from behind shows how most of the Beau greens are built up because of the hilly site. Its a bit like Kington, but a tad more sophisticated. These gulleys behind greens are often 5 -8 feet high
Tee shot at #15 - using cross sandless bunkers
Approach to the very cool 15th green - everything falls very hard to the left. This green needed to be lifted on the left side to make it playable after subsidence due to mining.
A closer look
Another cross bunker protecting the short 16th green.
This view shows how many of the greens are like wonky table tops.
The long approach to 17 after laying up short of the snadless cross bunker.
The 2nd at 18. One can either layup to a severely downhill and blind position or go for it.
Approach after laying up
From behind the 18th - approximately 20,000 sq ft. Some have said Beau has the biggest greens in England - haven't seen any set nearly this size.
Ciao