We made a quick drive down to the ancient town of Painswick. It was just about dark when we arrived, and I didn’t manage to get any photos of the town as our efforts were focused on finding our B&B. Painswick is not as easy a driving town as this two way street suggests.
The Tibbiwell Lodge was a great place to stay. Wonderful view of the Cotswald countryside outside the bedroom window.
My breakfast companion. Where did that last piece of sausage go?
The road to Painswick Golf Club is one of those turns that you had better be watching for.
There is no way a photo can do justice to the huge climb up the hill on the first hole.
The old quarry pit short of the green gives a hint of the kind of hazards and quirk to expect.
Note all of the places where a hole crosses another one or a road. It’s wilder in person.
This epitomizes a trip round Painswick. Where do I go now??
I intentionally did not look at photo threads prior to the trip, wanting to enjoy a bit of the discovery. James Boon had the most recent one (and it’s quite good), though it seems that not all of the photo links are still working.
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35805.0/Players have to share the land with walkers, runners, & dogs. Sometimes all of them on the same hole. Rather than being a huge distraction, I think this usage of the land makes the course somewhat more endearing.
The tee shot for the fifth. The hole is only 114 yards, but the green is completely hidden behind a bronze-age fort wall. Scott Warren asked me how long it took to figure out where we were going, and for good reason. Jason & I both trusted the yardage on the card and the aiming point, and had this result. Give me more blind tee shots!
Near the fifth green is the highest point on the course. There is a marker with this plate on a trig point.
And what a spectacular view from there.
This cottage off the 8th fairway was spectacular.
I cannot believe anyone that was big enough to dent this bench was able to walk the course.
A small viewing platform so you can see the 17th fairway. I got to see very little of that fairway.
Road crossings happen a number of times, as do fairways crossing each other. This was the last road to worry about.
Off to the side of the 17th green is an area used for cricket.
We settled up our green fees after finishing and hit the road down to Burnham & Berrow. The route to the motorway was a bit confusing, taking us on some really small side roads. Worth the detour when you can spot a sign like this.
Painswick was everything that I hoped it would be and more. Site of one of the early Buda cups, it was a treat. The second course of the trip that’s under 6,000 yards (this one is under 5,000), but climbing fort those fort walls is quite a walk.. Like Kington, Painswick shows that length isn’t everything in golf. There was a great deal of variety in the holes, with opportunities to play all sorts of interesting shots. The use of the hills, fort walls, and old quarrying pits will be an enduring memory.