Reddish Vale is a very early MacKenzie course, only his third brand new complete 18-hole course after Alwoodley and Moortown. (For the record he had also by this time made alterations to Leeds GC and Harrogate and added nine new holes at Doncaster.) This was also MacKenzie’s first essay outside Yorkshire, with seven holes and the clubhouse lying in Lancashire and eleven holes in Cheshire.
Work began in 1910 and thirteen holes were ready for the opening in 1912. The remaining holes had been completed by July 1913, but when MacKenzie visited the course in October of that year he found that some holes had not been constructed as he had intended and alterations had to be made during the following winter.
The course is to be found at the end of a residential street in a suburban area of Stockport, but you are only aware of the housing on the 1st and 3rd holes, the rest of the course being wonderfully secreted away in a haven for nature straddling the River Tame. Yet you are only a stone’s throw from the ever-busy M60 motorway and a mere 4 miles from the centre of Manchester. For those flying into Manchester Airport, you could be on the 1st tee at Reddish Vale in only 15 minutes from collecting your hire car.
Sean Arble and I played on a beautiful autumn day with ne’er a cloud in the sky, for a bargain green fee of £18.50 each on a two-for-one scheme. The fairways and greens were in excellent shape – all except one green, which was undergoing maintenance. But more of that anon.
There are some quirks to the card with four par threes going out and only one coming in, resulting in an outward half of 2770 yards, par 33, and 3316 yards, par 36, for the back nine.
1. 421 yards par 4
The first five holes occupy a tract of high ground behind the clubhouse. From the first tee you get no impression of the adventures ahead. The prospect is of what seems to be a straightforward parkland hole.
Following a decent drive you discover that the green is located on the far side of a gully.
Most greens at Reddish Vale are quite small in area, and this one has a significant slope to it. It is almost a double green shared with the 4th, immediately behind it.
A winter shot, viewed from behind the green, reveals the nature of the undulations which are used so tellingly on this part of the course.
2. 179 yards par 3
This plays back over the gully we encountered on the 1st hole. The green is somewhat higher than the tee, calling for one or two clubs more than the card suggests.
There is enough slope on the green to provide many a tricky putt.
3. 390 yards par 4
An inviting downhill drive.
A marker post gives the ideal line. Sean has hit a monster drive here.
Again the approach is over low ground to a small green raised up on the far side.
Low winter sun brings out the movement in the land.
4. 166 yards par 3
It is not immediately apparent why out of bounds should be enforced on the left of this hole all the way from tee to green. Perhaps it is to spare you the indignity of trying to look for your ball in the steeply plummeting woodland beyond the trench on that side. But even without the out of bounds this is a very narrow target on the far side of yet more low ground, with a hill on the right, a long bunker on that side, and two to save you on the left.
Looking back from green to tee the closeness of the out of bounds markers to the direct line is readily apparent.
5. 306 yards par 4
Out of bounds is again a factor, lying only just off the fairway to the left and close to the left and rear of the green. The drive is made over yet another gully and a bunker 250 yards out threatens on the right, 55 yards short of the green.
The flat green, unusually for here, lies on level ground, making distance judgement tricky.
6. 240 yards par 3
A pleasant saunter down a woodland track leads to the 6th tee, and something completely different.
The River Tame flows through the trees on the left and is considered out of bounds. Three bunkers guard the entrance to the green on the left and two on the right. Although the green is far, far below the tee the ground down there is flat and there will be precious little roll once the ball has landed. This is a very dangerous hole in a swirling wind. Make a note of the pin position on the adjacent 18th green before leaving the 6th tee, because you will not be able to judge where it is from the bottom of the hill.
A look back from where we have descended.
7. 538 yards par 5
A bridge over the River Tame leads to Cheshire and the comparatively flat 7th. Good players should drive well clear of the fairway bunkers on the right, so there is little to inhibit a long drive other than trees first left, then right, which might cut out a long second shot.
The green is nicely framed in mound work to the rear.
8. 393 yards par 4
The ideal line is down the left, but the trees on that side are dense.
A ditch about 250 yards out from the tee will probably have restricted the length of the drive, so the approach shot to this beautifully sited green may be longer than you expect.
9. 137 yards par 3
This is a beauty!
Sean likened this green to a Redan. You can go straight for the pin but judging the carry is tricky. You will need to take two or three clubs more than usual for this distance. From the tee you cannot see a sinister little pot bunker just to the right of the entrance to the green. I thought my mishit iron shot would finish in it. But no! It hit the bank just of it and ran smartly to the left to finish on the ideal line. Maybe that is a valid way to play the hole, but it was not intended! The view from up here is delightful.
10. 343 yards par 4
Having climbed the hill it is time to go straight down. Out of bounds runs the entire length of the hole on the left, making it dangerous to hug the inside line with the fairway curving slightly left as it descends. The trees on the right are farther away than they look. To ordinary golfers the bunker on the right at 236 yards is of greater concern. Sean, accidentally, took the dangerous direct line to the green and almost drove the green.
This is said to be MacKenzie’s first ‘MacKenzie’ green. It is on two levels but, as Sean observantly pointed out, if they mowed the downhill approach a little it would be a Biarritz green. A delicious bunker on the diagonal guards the front right of the green, waiting to snap up the approach shot of those who took too cautious a line to the right off the tee. There is also a depression rear right of the green from which escape onto the putting surface requires a sure touch.
Sean’s reward for his daring line off the tee was this putt for his birdie.
11. 460 yards par 4
Apart from the 6th tee, every other tee so far has been right beside the previous green (albeit that a bridge is crossed to get to the 7th tee). The 11th tee, however, is a walk of about 200 yards from the 10th green. It ensures that this is the longest par four on the course. But there may be another reason for this. There is a patch of slightly raised ground beside the 10th green which could conceivably have been a tee. From there big hitters would be blasting the ball over the crest of the fairway in the distance hoping to reach the green in a single shot and putting those out of sight beyond the crest at risk. This is the view from today’s tee.
That crest is now about 340 yards from the tee, which means that most of us will be playing blind over it to the green. This is the view from about 120 yards out.
The later parts of the fairway lean from right to left and the fairway also curves gently right to left. The approach is hard to judge if it is being played blind. It looks innocuous from close to. The putting surface is only 26 yards deep.
12. 188 yards par 3
This is a good par three, all carry to a green sitting up on high ground. There is room, however, to land the ball short of the green and run it on. A bunker guards the front left of the green. If you are going to miss to the right, do it properly, for the rescue shot is much easier from the 7th fairway than from close to the ridge.
And a view looking back from green to tee. And how close that tee is to the previous green. User friendly routing!
13. 456 yards par 4
Once played, never forgotten, this is a corker of a hole. I presume this was originally a three-shot hole – and remains so for many of us – but if you boom away a big drive down the centre you may fancy going for the green in two. This is the view from the tee.
And from about here you might have a crack at the green. Only, where is it?
You might just be able to spot a flag beyond the left edge of the fairway as it climbs that distant ridge. If you know what to look for you may spot a white diamond-shaped board on a stick, the aiming marker. Having hit an excellent tee shot Sean was left with 175 yards to the pin according to the course guide. He could not believe it. The flag appeared much closer. But, with my encouragement, he committed to the iron which would carry him 175 yards. It flew exactly as expected and landed right in the centre of the green. As he climbed the ridge to look down to the green on the other side this is what he saw:
The real green had been taken out of action for maintenance. A temporary green had been cut at the top of the ridge and was, as Sean thought, well short of 175 yards!
Here are two photos of the green in play. Remember this is a blind approach, with a horrible pit down to the right of the putting surface which is only 26 yards deep.
Would MacKenzie have had a model for this hole or was it totally original?
14. 340 yards par 4
MacKenzie’s clever routing ensures that it is only a short walk to the next tee, which gives this inviting view.
The trees have grown a bit in the twenty or so years since I took that picture. This is what it is like today.
The river should not be a factor, but the better tee shot keeps to the left of the fairway to gain straight access to the green through the guarding bunkers.
Looking back from the green, the tee is in that clearing just below that ghastly apartment block on the skyline.
15. 477 yards par 5
For the shorter hitter this tee shot is a question of laying up short of the steep bank 190 yards away. The really big hitters go over the corner of the trees but this needs a carry of 270 yards or more. For the goodish player in between these extremes the drive is fierce, needing to clear the top of the ridge but not err the slightest bit to left or right.
If you can hit far enough with your tee shot there is a rewarding slightly downhill run in to the green, which is cleverly guarded by a dip in front, allied to five bunkers.
16. 322 yards par 4
Another little gem.
From the medal tee (above) it is hard to make out exactly where the green is. From the yellow tee, further to the left, the flag is visible and so is the trouble you must avoid if you want to get close to the green. The farther you hit the ball the tighter the hole becomes.
Even from close to the approach is nervy with the river flowing round both sides and the back of this narrow green.
17. 377 yards par 4
I was told years ago that this was not MacKenzie’s 17th and as if by way of confirmation there is a walk back down the 16th fairway of some 200 yards to the 17th tee. As we played I could not envisage where that 17th hole might have been, but having looked on Google Earth it could conceivably have been a short hole crossing the river or on the other side of it to a green close to the final tee.
This is the view from today’s 17th tee. On the right in the distance you can see the 15th green close to which are the 16th tees. From the 17th tee you have to play across the 16th fairway towards the bank on the right and beyond. Trees and the river threaten on the left.
Given a decent drive the approach shot is not arduous. A little stream or ditch has been opened up 60 yards short of the putting surface. If my memory serves me correctly this was done about twenty years ago at the same time as a land slip closed the 10th hole for a while.
18. 353 yards par 4
It is only a short walk back over the same bridge that connects the 6th green and 7th tee to find the final tee. What a monster faces those of us no longer so youthful! It is 200 yards or so to the bottom of the hill and it would be foolish to attempt to gain extra distance up the hill which is narrow and ever so slightly angled to the left.
Having laid up successfully at the bottom of the hill, this confronts you.
You have about 150 yards to go, but it feels like 250! For the good player who hits towering irons it is no problem but for us geriatrics we cannot hope to get the length and height at the same time. Invariably we fall short.
I believe that MacKenzie’s original 18th fairway was terraced. I have no idea when or why it was smoothed out. But whatever the merits or demerits of this hole, Reddish Vale is a must play if ever you are in the Manchester area.
