The first day of March brought glorious weather to London town. 50 degrees, bright sunshine, the best golf day I have seen since arriving in Britain. I took advantage of the fine, spring-like day and ventured out for a round at Denham Golf Club.
The primary reason I chose Denham is that it features its own rail station. It is a half-hour trip from London Marylebone. It makes it a very convenient course for a man, like me, who is staying in London without a car. Along with Sandy Lodge (whose station has since been renamed Moor Park Underground), Denham is the only golf course in Britain that is directly accessible from its own station. After alighting at Denham Golf Club, one walks along a wooded path, hops a fence, and emerges into the 11th fairway.
Denham Golf Club is far from a just novelty club with its own rail station. The course itself is a very fine H. S. Colt layout dating from 1910. I enjoyed the golf course immensely. A few highlights:
- The 1st and 2nd holes make for a very unusual start. The first hole is a short par four that plays to a beautiful sunken green. Once the player putts out at the first, he walks up to the second tee to the right of the first fairway. He then drives in a sheer crossfire over the first green. The second hole is also a fine hole. The long hitter must avoid a gully to the right of the fairway. Otherwise the player will have a poor view and angle for his approach. The first and second holes engaged me immediately and got me excited to play golf.
- The 5th hole is the first of four fine one-shotters. Denham is my second Colt course, and I am starting to detect that he is a very good designer of par three holes. The fifth might be the weakest of the four at Denham. Neverthless, it features a fine greensite with a wicked false front.
- 7 is a very fine long par four. The golfer must flirt the fairway bunker and keep the ball on the high left side of the fairway for the best angle of attack.
- The 8th is my favorite hole on the front nine and the second of the one-shotters. It features a brilliant diagonal bunker scheme and a green that slopes wickedly from left to right. The golfer will initially try to avoid missing to the right of the green. However, upon approaching the green, the golfer realizes that a miss to the left, rather than right, of the green will leave a nearly impossible up-and-down.
- The course really comes alive on holes 10 through 12. 10 features a disappearing fairway that leads to a brilliant double-plateau green. 11 requires a drop shot second to a well-bunkered green in a glen. The 12th is a short par three to a green that is benched perfectly into a hillside. The 12th bears a striking resemblance to the 3rd at Wannamoisset. These three holes utilize the wildest terrain on the course, and they are a perfect introduction to the back nine.
- 14 is the second of back to back par fives, and features a great bunker scheme throughout. It is not a particularly dramatic hole, but it is solid and strategic nonetheless.
- 15 is a great mid-range par four to a wild shelf green. This green is the most severe and most interesting on the course. I can imagine it is a bear to putt in the summers, especially from above the hole.
- 16 is the last of the par threes. It is a another short one to a green nearly as wild as the 15th.
My one issue with the course was the tree maintenance. It appears that the club has planted a number of filler trees between holes. These trees are particularly prevalent on the holes around the clubhouse. I am not sure of the reason for these plantings, but they detract from the character of the course.
Nevertheless, Denham is another fine English layout. I heard very little about the course until this year. It certainly worth seeing among the London courses. Of course, I recommend the train as your mode of transportation to the club.