[Mark Bourgeois]

A must-do on the MacKenzie Tour. He would have worked on this course in the early- to mid-1920s, putting it as a jumping off point for his international work.

His major contribution I suppose was to move the course off the flat Snooks and into the dunes, and while it retains the standard out-and-back routing of traditional links, with a hole or two doubling back against the prevailing direction of the nine in question, the Good Doctor in his high fever of creativity refused to conform to whatever emergent standards of par there may have been: three par 3s, three par 5s (just two from the whites). (Or did he: par of 72.)

As to the sight pollution: tant pis anyone who can't look past it or, in Rihc's memorable phrase comparing gorse to in-laws: learn to live with it.

These courses put a song in my head that does the trick every time: "Dirty Old Town."

Art and beauty are where you find them: "Kissed my girl by the factory wall..."


I like Ran's criterion for starting holes of "makes you want to play golf."  This one does it for me: two gaping bunkers and run it up and through or take it over -- best to drive it down the middle for the best angle in. Called "Rocket:" believe me there's plenty of that to the left!

1 green, seen from approach


2 approach shows indicative hazards one must negotiate at Seaton Carew...


...and the despair one faces all too often after attempts at difficult recoveries such as this! (Sorry A.L., pic too evocative to leave out...)



Next we come to the first par 3, a hole that captured my imagination.  Look at those bunkers! It's as a fortress, and those bunkers are holes created by aerial bombardments that fell just short.

3 green: just look at its beautiful leftward cant, perhaps against expectations as the shore is off to the right but correct in that it sits on the landward side of the dune



And now we're over the major dune line that radiates as a spine from the clubhouse to the farthest reaches, and the first hole on that side is a beauty.

The severe green and front-right bunker dictate the strategy off the tee: drive as far left as you dare. A bunker at 206 off the yellows plus nasty rough give one plenty of thought: the hole at 345 may be attacked by something less than a driver off the tee.

4 tee


4 approach


4 green: couldn't you play to this hole again and again...and again...and again...



And now we're back on the other side of the dune and over towards the Snooks.  These holes are flattish and tend to be uninteresting off the tee, but the approaches and green complexes are entrancing.

5 approach: really nothing to the hole, unless you fall foul of the dreaded "flare" or short-right bunker!


6 approach, with new green off to left


The 7th offers a nice decision off the tee: challenge the buckthorn(?) inside the dogleg or play away? Those who played away often found themselves farther "away" than they would have liked.


7 approach, with 9 green to the left


7 approach: lovely ground



The 8th is the last hole outbound, rather flat most of the way -- but with a bang at the green!

8 approach


8 green: many pits of danger on this course


Cast outward into the industrial scape, we make the turn for home at 9, where a good drive throws you in a ditch!


The 9th green is brilliant: a slight raise in the front, it runs (fast!) to the back where a more significant drop awaits.

9 green


I will post the second nine when I get the chance. (Not sure when that will be...)

Mark

[Paul_Turner]

Mark

Thanks.  I've never been there or seen many pics.  Some lovely movement  in that terrain.

It certainly looks better than a Doak 3!  I don't think Tom gave it much time after seeing that backdrop.

[Ryan Farrow]

I personally love the backdrop. My feeling is, if your going to be surrounded by an eyesore like that, use it and go with it. I would rather be completely  immersed in something like that, than say having a water tower or large power line poking through every once and a while.

[Craig Disher]

I didn't find the backdrop all that offensive. Your sight is always brought down to the interesting ground in front of you and anyway, over half the holes head away from the industrial areas. I'm sure that when the course was built the views were fine. Thankfully, the course survived the residential and industrial construction in the area. Ignore the Doak rating. It's a must play.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Once agin pats on the backs all round.  I've heard great things form pople who've played it but never a picture. Thanks Mark.

and when you guys have covered the back 9 can we agree on a new Doak rating of ....?

[Paul_Turner]

Sean

I think in Tom's review he basically stated he didn't give the course any time.  Probably should have left it without a number?

I'm a big fan of The Confidential Guide though,  the reviews agree with my tastes in general.  From the GB&I perspective, before The CG was published in '96 we really didn't have a much in the way of quality guide books.  The best I knew was The AA guide and Peter Allen's book but Tom's book was better.

[Brent Hutto]

I only have a handful of snapshots and none of them of quality to match Mark's. But I will add a bit of commentary.

The good points of Seaton Carew are several. The quality of the turf is very good and the small and medium scale movement of the land is outstanding. Most importantly, as befits a course showing considerable influence of Dr. MacKenzie the green complexes range from excellent to wonderful. Even the fairly basic ones are set in the topography of the dunesland in a very natural and effective manner.

The biggest bad point to my mind is the waist-high grass which is in play on just about every hole. It made the heather at Alwoodley seem benign. I hestiate to make a big deal out of it because I was hitting shots, particularly approach shots, way off line frequently. But there didn't seem to be real good odds of finding a light spot in the roughs or even of finding the ball if you were 10 yards off the fairway in several spots around the course. I thought the section of the course with lighter, mown rough were more desirable. We only had light 10mph breezes but I think on a windy day rounds could get long.

Then there are two perhaps debatable characterstics of the course that could be good or bad depending on ones preferences. One is the routing which is very compact and open, meaning that groups on one hole are frequently within hailing distance (and therefore danger zones) of groups playing adjacent holes. I actually rather enjoyed the collegial feel of being able to see so many of the other players at any given moment but along with the tall grass the overlapping fields of fire (so to speak) contribute to slow play on a busy Saturday.

The other controversial topic is the bunkering. I think Seaton Carew is brilliantly bunkered greenside, although the fairways are defended more by contours and rough than by extensive bunkering. Hidden bunkers behind shallowish greens (The Doctor f'rex) and other bunkers that just stare you down and dare you come near. However, they tend to be deepish with smallish floors and the sand was very, very fluffy and deep. I found the combination of powdery sand and required shot elevation vexing. The rest of my foursome seemed to be of the opinion that "bunkers are hazards" and that such difficulty was spot on.

I'll say this about that. At least one member in the Blue Room that evening was very vocal in expressing an opinion similar to my own. And I had a sense that the room was in agreement with him. Apparently, at times in the past the sand has been shallower and firmer and therefore more to some people's liking. My other comment was that the feared bunker at Ganton the next day erred in the opposite with wet concrete-like sand in some and a thin layer of powder in others. I find that such conditions require more feel and creativity than the extremely difficult deep powder type of sand.

Now that I've warped my commentary with way to many critical words relative to my more succinct praises, let me reiterate that I loved the course. The rough and the bunkers are more an issue of my own lack of skill than of a lack of merit in the course. And I'd say in the most important issue which is how much fun the course was to play I'd rate Seaton Carew very highly. Of the courses I played this trip, Seaton Carew is more inspiring of trying to hit good shots than Royal Birkdale and has more thought-provoking second shots than Alwoodley or Moortown. I'm a sucker for the sorts of approach shots that I associate with MacKenzie courses and Seaton Carew offers a full menu of them. Add in the compact, easy-to-walk layout and the seaside setting and the course is a real blast to play.

[Randy Thompson]

Love the fairway movement, for years I have wanted to spend the time and effort and create fairway movement like that, unfortunately the golfing clientele in South America doesn't get it. So I have been unable up to now to convience the developers. Maybe these pictures will help! Bravo some parts of the world get it and more importantly some golfers appreciate it!

[Jon Wiggett]

Seaton Carew is a course that doesn't get the respect it really deserves. It has everything that a good course should have including playing differently every time you play it. It is one of several good courses along the north east coast which are often overlooked by people from further south rushing up the A1 to play in Scotland.

One small note is the main course is only in play in summer (or used to be) the holes furthest into the dunes are out of play in winter and though the four winter holes are not of the same caliber it is stil worth playing.

[Andy Levett]

Nice pics Mark, though the one of the duffer on the second won’t be becoming my screensaver. Looking forward to the second nine.

Brent, in three months time the geezer in the Blue Room will be complaining there’s not enough sand in the bunkers. The maintenance budget doesn’t compare to an equivalent course in the States and it’s simply less labour intensive to throw a lot in at once rather than add it a thimbleful at a time for the ideal ‘maintenance meld’ that all golfers want but most of us are unwilling to pay for.
The rough is thicker than usual at the moment – it would have burnt off in a drier summer – but ‘waist high’?
There are a few TOC-style shared fairways, with just a narrow strip of semi-rough in the middle for form’s sake. This was one of a number of issues addressed when four new holes, designed by Frank Pennink, were built in 1974. They are currently being rested but when combined in various permutations with 14 or 15 holes of the Old course subtly change the character of the test.
As well as making possible a greater separation from fellow golfers the new holes are more testing and interesting driving holes than some (but not all) of MacKenzie’s, where the fun really starts with the approach to the green.

As for the Confidential Guide, I agree I’ve never been to a course highly-regarded in it and felt short-changed. But the self-imposed task of rating every significant course in the world must have been wearing at times and I really think Tom’s heart wasn’t in it when he swung through north-east England. He admits he didn’t even walk Seaton Carew, from the pic it appears to have been almost dark when he arrived at Brancepeth Castle, and Goswick’s (aka Berwick-upon-Tweed’s) 3 may be the most bizarre number in the book.

[Mark Pearce]

I didn't know that Brancepeth and Goswick featured in the Confidential Guide.  What did Tom Doak say about them?  I'd agree that a 3 for Goswick appears, well, perverse.  

[Andy Levett]

Mark,
I haven't got the book in front of me but from memory Brancepeth got a 4, with Colt criticised for over-use of the ravine. Goswick he says it's disappointing the course is such an average links layout given Braid's involvement.  

[Mark Pearce]

I'm puzzled by the suggestion that Colt made too much use of the ravine at Brancepeth.  It's a few years since I played there but the only holes where I recall it being a real hazard are 9 and 10, which are two of the outstanding holes on the course.  Am I forgeting others?  I know you need to carry it on 7 or 8 but it isn't a long carry, except into a strong wind.

[Andy Levett]

Mark
I reckon the ravine comes into play in diverse ways on seven holes at Brancepeth - creating heroic carries of varying lengths on 9,10 and 15, green cut into far side of ravine on 2, diagonal hazard on 8, top shot hazard on 11 and far side as climbing fairway on 18. I don't think thats excessive either.

[Mark Pearce]

Perhaps we should visit Brancepeth next year and reassess?  

[Andy Levett]

Yes, I'm always up for a game at Brancepeth - if they'd rip out some of the daft saplings they planted a few years ago if would be hard to fault.
I just checked CG and what Tom actually wrote was "unfortunately there are so many ravines that the routing plan resembles an obstacle course at times, which would make it a struggle for less confident golfers".
Well, no, it's not an ideal beginners' course but doesn't that go for the vast majority we discuss here?

[Mark Pearce]

Sounds like a criticism of the land, rather than Colt's work.  Perhaps it makes sense, having played in a corporate day at Brancepeth I've seen what it can do to "less confident golfers".

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()