I got lucky yesterday. It rained heavily for most of the bank holiday weekend in London, but I got sunshine for the duration of my visit to Hankley Common. Yet another really enjoyable heathland golf course that you don't hear a lot about, but should.
Built on 800 acres but utilising less than 150 of them for golf, it's easily the most secluded place I have played, with rolling fields of heather as far as the eye can see, the occasional ribbon of green fairway cutting through.
The routing is the star of the show at Hankley, with the holes laid out in a series of triangles and U-Shapes (1-4, 6-8, 10-12, 13-15) to ensure the wind is constantly hitting you from a different angle. Joining those loops are linking holes that take you between the best sections of the property.
The terrain is largely similar to Walton Heath - not wildly undulating but with sufficient movement and elevation changes, while remaining an easy walk - and the open vistas are reminiscent of the same course. There's something fantastic about seeing the next hole open up as you walk towards the green of the one you're playing.
Benefiting from the greatest change in elevation are two of the three par fives, the 6th and 8th. The former climbs a steady hill to a green set in a steep hillside that hides its surface from view, while the 8th tee offers sweeping views across the course and a grand drive downhill over a field of heather.
Linking them is the brilliant par three 7th, a 183-yard journey set across a valley (naturally covered with gorgeous heather) to a skyline green that is brilliant for more reasons than the aesthetics and recovery options. The green itself consists of four equally-sized segments. The lowest of the four is front-right and they rise steadily in a clockwise direction finishing weith the highest tier at the back-right. Truly an all-world hole where just hitting the green feels like an achievement but is in reality only half the assignment.
Thanks to the lack of trees blocking your views, a number of dogleg holes allow you to see the flag fluttering far out of reach with nothing but heather in the way. Despite knowing it's too far to reach, it has the effect of drawing your eye and inevitably your clubface. The outside of the dogleg offers the best angle in, but only the most resolute golfer will be able to force himself to aim there.
It's an effective design trick that Braid (who converted Hankley to 18 holes in 1922) also utilised on the 10th at Cinque Ports, and elsewhere, I'm sure.
Speaking of comparisons, the 1st at Hankley bears a striking resemblance to the opening hole at West Sussex in the way it uses some pretty ordinary land to get you away from the clubhouse.
The variety is what shines through most after playing at Hankley Common. The par threes and fours vary wildly in length, some holes are out in the open and others cut through thickets of pine, the approach shots are played uphill and down and the constant changes of direction ensure the wind never stays with you, against you or across you for too long.
In my mind the Surrey heathbelt is amazing not for how good its best courses are, but for the sheer depth it possesses. The quality of the courses that many golfers have never heard of, or heard of but not bothered to play, is astounding.
The course - one pic per hole.
1st - 422 yards (all distances are back/sometimes second to back tees - there are tiger tees behind them on 9 holes) with a fantastic green that continues the downslope of the land the last 100 yards or so of the journey.
2nd - 145 yards. After a tough opening hole comes the shortest on the course.
3rd - 349 yards is one of the holes where a drive to the outside of the dogleg earns you the best angle in.
4th - 327 yards, guarded in front by a deep bunker, it's a case of flying it on if you go for the green off the tee. Awkward pitch from close to the bunker, or behind the LHS greenside bunker if you drive pin high to the left.
5th - 378 yards, doglegs left with the green visible through the gap in the tees.
6th - 533 yards, doglegging left at about 300 yards from the tee, then climbing steadily to one of the best greensites on the course.
7th - 183 yards, from one of the best greensites to THE best, and a fantastic green cut into four "pieces of pie" and climbing steadily higher as you move clockwise from front right.
8th - 518 yards, one of those " I could hit this forever" drives from an elevated tee.
9th - 371 yards, driving over the bunker allows you to shorten the journey and also take advantage of the slope, which as at the 1st continues flowing into a great front-to-back green.
10th - 423 yards, the flag waving in the distance tempts you to take your drive over the trees, but out to the left is the smart play, albeit leaving a longer approach.
11th - 216 yards, anything blocked leaves a tough second shot over the mound.
12th - 396 yards, another tempting diagonal drive, though yet another that favours a right-to-left shape. The course sets up really well for a right-handed drawer of the ball, though the three 'capper I played with was -3 for 32 holes yesterday playing a predominant fade...
13th - 498 yards, a great green set over a small valley, with thick forest right and expansive views over a sea of heather to the left.
14th - 382 yards, the uphill approach to a green recessed into the hill and guarded fiercely by sand is yet another good one.
15th - 318 yards, and even shorter if you cut the corner (dogleg left), but a sea of heather guards the green, meaning a possible 2 or 3 is more likely a probable 6! But not too many worries if you play safe.
16th - 151 yards, the last of the one-shotters continues the variety by playing uphill.
17th - 400 yards, a sweeping drive that again offers some diagonal risk/reward, with the green very much favouring an approach from the left.
18th - 432 yards, the drive is over a gentle hill allowing an extra kick to give you distance, before a knee-knocking approach over a grass ravine.
