Wentworth (West course)

[Andrew Mitchell]

I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to play the West course at Wentworth last week.  Despite its Colt pedigree Wentworth doesn’t seem to get much recognition on here.

This was my first visit to Wentworth and I was pleasantly surprised.  The conditioning was good for this time of year, although the course clearly played longer than it would in the summer months.  Despite having seen the course many times on television it is only on playing or walking the course that you come to appreciate the various angles on each hole and the subtle contours on the greens.  I took a few pictures.

Looking back down the 1st fairway from behind the green.  From the tee the large depression in front of the green is unseen.


Unfortunately the 2nd green had been re-laid and we played to a temporary – view from the tee.


The 3rd is a long par 4 (442 yards from the daily tees) and the group of bunkers down the right hand side are in reach from the tee.  A drive placed down the left side forces you to take on the bunker guarding the front left of the green.


Unfortunately this picture doesn’t show the extent of the three tiers to this green.  You don’t want to leave yourself above the hole here when the flag is on one of the lower tiers!


The dog leg fourth swings left handed downhill off a blind drive with a ditch crossing the fairway just beyond the reach of a well struck drive.  This is a view from the ditch back up the fairway.


The par 3 5th is guarded by bunkers at the front and sides.


The fairway at the sixth slopes from right to left, against the angle of the hole.


The seventh is another green with a severe slope between tiers.  Again it is essential to get your approach onto the same tier as the flag.


Despite watching hours of golf from Wentworth over the years I never realised there was water on the course (other than ditches).  This is the pond in front of the eighth green.


The ninth is a long straight par four with the railway line bordering the left side and bunkers down the right.  This is the approach from the left side of the fairway.


Back nine to follow.

[Andrew Mitchell]

The back nine:

A heather lidded bunker guarding the par 3 tenth.


The drive on the dog leg eleventh, a great driving hole.  Essential to find the right hand side of the fairway.


The approach to 11 from the wrong side of the fairway(!), leaving a more difficult shot over the front left bunker.


Twelve is a short par 5 (of the five par fives four are less than 500 yards from the daily tees).  However to reach the green in two you have to carry a stream just short of the green.


Fourteen is severely uphill to another two tier green where it is crucial to be on the same level as the hole.


Fifteen is another great driving hole, again a wide fairway to tempt you to open your shoulders.  However the left side is favoured as a drive down the right leaves a shot over a front right bunker to a green tilting away from you.


Sixteen is another lovely hole which, for me didn’t play as easy as it looks!  This is the approach from where your drive should finish!


Seventeen is the longest hole on the course, with the tee shot needing to be aimed down the left side of the fairway (close to the out of bounds which runs all the way down this hole) where it should kick down to the right hand side.


A good drive leaves you with a blind approach.


The green is out of range to all but the longest hitters, but a good second leaves a simple approach to a green with no bunkers.


18 is another par five.  Unfortunately this green was also being relaid and we had to play to a temporary just in front of the green.


I thoroughly enjoyed my day at Wentworth.  There are several good driving holes and the greens are full of subtle contours.  Why is there little or no love for it on here?  It undoubtedly has a corporate atmosphere and the green fee for a visitor playing without a member is extortionate but that shouldn’t detract from the quality of the course.

I haven’t played any others of the London heathland courses but if Sunningdale, Swinley, Woking, the Berkshire et al are the equal if not better than Wentworth I’d jump at the opportunity to do so!

[JMorgan]

Andrew,

Thank you for posting the pictures and for the guided tour.  I've always liked Wentworth as a match play venue on tv.  I suppose it does have a history of being one of the first "country clubbish" golf developments in Britain ... I don't know how that fact plays in the UK.

Paul Turner probably has some nice historic pics that maybe he'll share with us for comparison. 

[Andrew Mitchell]

JMorgan
Thanks for your comments. The impression I gained on my visit was they were aiming at the corporate market - company golf days, client entertaining etc.  The proximity to London, Heathrow, the M25 etc all aid this strategy. 

However if I lived in the area and wanted to be a member at a classic course I wouldn't choose Wentworth for these very reasons.

I too hope Paul Turner shares any historic photos he has.

[henrye]

Andrew.  I think it would be tough to argue that Wentworth is not an excellent course.  It's biggest downside is probably that corporate atmosphere.  While it is fairly wide open, it still gives the impression of being heavily tree lined and is more of a parkland layout than heathland.  While there are trees at Sunningdale & Swinley, both feel more open, even  if their fairways are tighter.  I really enjoy the holes at the turn, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11.  You really feel far away from the clubhouse scene.  The uphill #14 is a great blind par 3.  Other good blind spots are the landing area on #4 and the 2nd shot on #1.  The Rhododendrons in June were beautiful, although nothing can match the gardens at Swinley.  All in all it's an excellent course, but I think it's tough for a high handicapper.  Another issue is that because almost every hole is framed by trees you get a visual sense of repetitiveness.

Hopefully Mark Rowlinson can add as he always has good comparative editorials on this stuff.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I haven’t played any others of the London heathland courses but if Sunningdale, Swinley, Woking, the Berkshire et al are the equal if not better than Wentworth I’d jump at the opportunity to do so!

I haven't played it but I did follow Jiminez and Harrington coming down the back 9, on the Saturday of the European last year.  It was wet but even for those guys it seemed more like a slog than a course I'd really want to play. The friend I was there with had once taken 3 clients and the day left him £1200 poorer and no real love for the course.

Andrew tack a couple of days on to next years Buda and we'll go see some of the others.  To give an example we both know I would play Alwoodley anyday but I have no desire to pay what they are asking at Wentworth - it's the one course that's a price to far even for a single play.

[Jason McNamara]

Andrew, how close to the green is that bunker on the 10th?  Tough to tell from your picture, but it kinda looks like the type that's not really all that close - though from the tee it looks like it's right there.

Thanks for the pics.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Cart paths on a Colt course, sweet J----s.

Interesting they've relaid 2 green; couldn't have anything to do with that infamous tree next to it, could it!

How come some bunkers have the heather lips and some don't? It seems odd to see them in some places but not others.

What about clearing back those trees left of the hazard up by 8 green?

BTW Hi, Andrew --  thanks for posting the pics!

Mark

[Sean_A]

I haven’t played any others of the London heathland courses but if Sunningdale, Swinley, Woking, the Berkshire et al are the equal if not better than Wentworth I’d jump at the opportunity to do so!

I haven't played it but I did follow Jiminez and Harrington coming down the back 9, on the Saturday of the European last year.  It was wet but even for those guys it seemed more like a slog than a course I'd really want to play. The friend I was there with had once taken 3 clients and the day left him £1200 poorer and no real love for the course.

Andrew tack a couple of days on to next years Buda and we'll go see some of the others.  To give an example we both know I would play Alwoodley anyday but I have no desire to pay what they are asking at Wentworth - it's the one course that's a price to far even for a single play.

I walked the course during the HSBC a few times and thought the course looked good.  It was difficult to tell anything about the greens though.  Having said that, the course didn't look the kind of place worth the green fee - by a very long shot.  In fact, I have turned down several corporate opportunities to play.  I will say that if its possible to swing it, Wentworth is a great place to stay while on a tour of heathland courses. 

Mark - the heathlands is full of courses with heather on some bunkers and not on others.  Once the heather is taken away, many of these bunkers (probably the newish ones) are exposed as bland pits they really are. 

Andrew, thanks for posting the pix.

Ciao

[Andrew Mitchell]

Jason - there's probably five to ten yards between that bunker & the green.  As you say its one of those bunkers that deceives you from the tee into thinking its hard against the green.

Mark - there are no cart paths as such, just paths through the rough from tee to fairway.  There are only a few heather lidded bunkers.  Indeed there is not much heather at Wentworth, certainly far less than at Alwoodley.

Tony - a few days post Buda 2009 to explore the heathlands sounds great!

To all who mentioned the cost I agree £275 is a ridiculous price to pay for a single round.  I was extremely fortunate to go as a guest of a corporate member, I certainly wouldn't have paid the unaccompanied visitors green fee.

[Joe Hancock]

Andrew,

I can't tell on all the pictures, but the first is pretty clear: Are all the fairways mowed so narrow in relation to the cleared corridors of play?

If so, that's too bad.

Thank you for the pictures.

Joe

[Andrew Mitchell]

Joe

No, I think the first is an exception rather than the rule.  That fairway is also mowed in only towards the landing area for the second shot.