I am back from a rigorous 36-hole match at Ganton, where I lost my ball and the match in the right hand rough near the road at the last...ah well. The weather was glorious and the gorse was blooming well enough to allow for optimum playing conditions and full aesthetic appreciation as well.
The course is very much a sanctuary in my mind, an anomalous deposit of sand with a burgeoning array of birds and wildlife and hellish bunkers. The greens rival Luffness New and Muirfield in quality, and surely beat them in speed for this time of the year. The course, to me, plays more like a links than some originals. The variety of holes is good, with some outstanding individual features, such as the left and back portions of 4th green complex, which looks like MacKenzie's work to me, the clumpy lone gorse bush on #2 that gives you the line off the tee, the natural looking 'water feature' in front of the 6th tee, the fairway contouring at the 9th, or the sinusoidal approach at the 15th. I rate this course ahead of Woodhall Spa, where the bunkers are surely deeper, as the best inland courses outside of Surrey. It also has one of my favorite practice putting greens that I have seen.
As to tackling Ran's question:
In all honesty, I think that the title of Mr. Wethered's work is more than a little clue as to who's perspective his viewpoint is geared towards. The majority of the tee positions at Ganton are not elevated, and much of the fairway bunkering is not visible off the tee. With more bands of gorse, even more of them would fall from site. If his assertion was that little patches of very low-lying gorse should not have been removed, he may have a point, although I am unsure as to whether or not the aesthetic advantage outweighs the poor player's suffering. The only plausible way I can envision gorse working off the tees at this course is if it had the same height as the heather in front of tees a la Swinley, Woking, Walton Heath, etc. Even then, the heather remains fairly playable. The only heather I saw at Ganton was on the 7th hole, behind the fairway bunker left and in the rough on the right past the treacherous bunker complex. I think the introduction of the heather in front of the tees could be quite nice, but it is doubtful if heather would proliferate in this era, and with such a meager estalished basis.
Here are the pictures of the first six tee shots. It is also relevant to note that Darwin's 'Historic GC's of the British Isles' has some hole discrepancies with the existing course, particularly the 12th, which was a par-3 over a tree row back in the day. If the present fairway bunker were part of the original green complex, it would fit in the routing as the 13th fairway butts heads with the corner of the 12th at that spot anyway. Thus, the first six holes to Wethered may not have been the first six today.
The 1st tee (sorry it was into the sun).
The 2nd tee. Also a little uphill with below-average visibility of bunkering.
The 3rd, a driveable four with OB left and threatening cross hazard. Tee is slightly elevated (2-3 feet). Low lying vegetation could look nice here...picture frame if you like.
The 4th, credited to Colt (MacKenzie?), doesn't give the eye too much off the tee..
The gorse in front clearly works visually here at the short 5th hole. Again, there is a significant elevation change from tee to green, though, and you can see the target and hazards.
The 6th has the pond to carry already, so some gorse to the right might block the safe route around for ladies or beginners. The better player wants to carry the right fairway bunker for the best line in.