A few bunkers today, and a lack of them.
The Hotchkin course at Woodhall Spa has a reputation for having some of the fiercest bunkers in British golf.
So does Ganton. From the air Ganton’s bunkers look more formidable and they are generally more visible and intimidating as you play towards them, but Woodhall Spa’s deepest pits are savage.
When it opened in the 1920s Fairhaven was said to have had 365 bunkers, one for every day of the year. It has around 100 now. The design was by a local golfer, JA Steer, with advice from James Braid. Fairhaven is only a few hundred yards from Royal Lytham and it is on even flatter sandy ground giving good playing conditions all year round. It is used for final qualifying when the Open comes to Lytham.
Royal Ashdown Forest’s Old Course is renowned for having no bunkers. There are all manner of pits and hummocks, falls away and ditches should you fail to find the putting surface.
Piltdown is only a few miles from Royal Ashdown and is also bunkerless, enjoying occasional outcrops of heather.
Berkhamstead is another prominent club with no sand bunkers. The card reveals a goodly number of short par 4s, yet Peter McEvoy says of it, ‘I can assure you that it is very difficult. I still cannot put my finger on why.’ I have not played it for a long time, but I remember it with great affection. It’s gravelly soil, making for excellent winter golf. Gorse is a frequent ball swallower. An unusual hazard is the ancient earthwork Grim’s Dyke, a 6-ft high bank covered in heather accompanied by a 3-ft stony trench. It’s well worth a visit.