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The Timeless MINCHINHAMPTON OLD COURSE: 2022-23 Winter Tour

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Adrian_Stiff:
I spoke to one of our members today and he is a member at Minch also and lives very near the common.

The 17th was changed quite a long time ago and at that same time the 15th got shunted to the left to avoid the road cross. This road is quite busy I suspect traffic has doubled in the UK in 20 years, sadly the Safety measures were essential. I asked him about 6 and it did play across the road and was quite a meaty hole, I vaguely do remember playing it, but struggle to remember the next one which was once quite tough. My friend also told me that the club are only allowed to fence a green off in order to repair the damage and that only a maximum of 6 at any one time can be fenced.

The old 17th tee position was just over a less used road I suppose and so it made less difference. It was a good hole from there, you could drive the green and you needed to take on the grass quarry, great architecture really in biting off as much as you dare, with old fashioned sticks I guess it needed a good blowy wind to make it and at other times it was not possible. The tee elevation was a fair bit higher than the green and old 17 was very much a stand out hole, possibly the signature hole (lol). Fortunately with the new tee its a good hole, overall it might have been a tad better in its former, but not lots in it.

As a further point I think crossing holes in routings is often taboo in some minds. You will see one Sunday Sean.

Paul_Turner:
Nice thread Sean,

This resurrects some fond memories of playing Minch several times when I lived in nearby Horsley in 1995.  Re the changes I definitely remember some of those greens in transition.:  2nd, 7th, 10th.  Perhaps the 13th too but I don't remember the 15th change.

The original 10th was amazing but the 16th was always the favourite there.  It was the first hole I spotted on my first drive up from Nailsworth and left a strong impression....a course that was unique and demanded a second look.

But I did once get chased of the course by a swarm of horse flies (presumably attracted to the cows),  had to leg it from the 14th to the car park!

Tony_Muldoon:
Just bumping for now. For some reason the Search facility won't work on my home computer.

More later.

Niall C:
Sean

Great to compare your photos to the tour of the course yesterday where the course was a lot bearer and no livestock wondering about. Not sure which look I prefer but I do know that I preferred Minch to Cleeve Cloud. Possibly because at Cleeve I was getting anxiety attacks every time I looked at the views. Not a course to play if you're scared of heights and wide open spaces ! Mind you I've never played a course with more space than Minch which makes its somewhat ironic they had to move some of the greens for safety reasons.

It was great fun also playing as a fiveball and with no one behind or in front.

Robin

There was an old black and white aerial in the clubhouse which showed the old 13th and 14th with the old 14th green clearly visible. I'm sure the old tee can be identified but unfortunately can't remember where it was and didn't take a photo either, mores the pity.

Re the old tenth, I had a look at the raised area immediately back of the 9th green to see if it was maybe an old tee for the current 11th on the basis that the current tenth was a later addition and what is now the 11th was once the 10th. Knowing now that the old tenth was over to the right makes me wonder if at some point that area was used as a tee for the 10th. It certainly would have been a great shot and simnilar to the 16th.

Niall

Tony_Muldoon:
Let’s not forget Minchampton.  Initially I thought it might provide a gentle let down back to more usual  golf after the other two, but like Niall I really enjoyed it. 

The course looks beautiful in your pictures Sean but for us there was virtually no difference between the fairways and rough.  With the course spread over a huge area this was the purest form of golf I’ve ever seen.  A  tee and a green.  Perhaps I’d learned from the previous day but I did carefully choose a spot to hit it too and it worked.  The greens are great fun and there are several cracking holes.


I’m back in the area in September and if my brother in law brings his clubs along for their annual  airing, it will be the perfect place to take him. Fun for both of us.

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