During a recent visit to Woodhall Spa I took some photos of the Greenside Bunker repairs to the right of the Par 3 Nr. 8. The original intentions of Hotchkin are being respected. Although the green surface is relatively flat and uninteresting the bunkers are very deep and the faces almost vertical. Turf has been draped over the vertical face to provide the smooth grass appearance. No maintenance meld here - just caring respect for tradition.
I asked a player about the changes and he explained they were being made so that the ball would fall to the middle of the bunker making the recovery shot easier. A sweetener to the pill of the 6 foot vertical face.
These bunkers are unlike any I have ever seen and probably have only survived due to the fact that the golf course architect Colonel Stafford Vere Hotchkin owned the course and his son Neil Hotchkin carried on the tradition. The course was sold to the English Golf Union a few years ago and they appear to be continuing the 100 year old tradition of the course.
Here is the 8th Green Bunker Repair showing the vertical draping of the turf.
The 8th Green is flat and not tied in to the mounds on the edge, suggesting Hotchkin’s changes to Colt’s original.
Maintenance practise around the 8th green avoids any greening up of the surrounds or smooth surfaces leading to the green. Natural but not for the ground game.
Some fairways are distinctly “closed off” with natural bunkers across the width of the fairway. The corridor feeling of normal golf courses is broken down into a field feeling, giveing a more intimate contact with the surroundings.
Bunkers on the 9th Fairway
Bunkers on the 11th Fairway
The bunker maintenance of the “natural bunkers” is also very respectful, with patches of gorse and heather being allowed to develop but also not overdevelop. The course is a tribute not only to Hotchkin but also to the greenkeepers who over the years have respected the golf course and resisted the temptation to meld the course to suit their maintenance.
The golf course is maintained for golfers not for hackers, sloggers or toppers - large expanses of heather before the tees and narrow fairways keep the golfer very honest.
Here the Par 3 Nr. 8 taken from the Tee
and Nr. 12
For more photos check out Tommy Williamson’s excellent account at:-
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=5c55e2617d93e5cf42d7cee2abeb1b9b&topic=37897.msg782638#msg782638