I'm mortally offended with your write up of the course / club I grew up on
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However, I can only disagree on a few things - the 13th for example is, in my opinion, an excellent hole. Having played it hundreds of times I know that you can just flick an iron up to a fairway that is incredibly wide. However, the further right you are, the longer, blinder and trickier the second becomes. You ideally want to be long and as far left as possible to give a view of the green - preferably a big draw. This brings in the trees to the left and if you're in there you're dead. The green is now effectively a dell green whereas it used to extend all the way almost from the top of the hill - about 30 yards long with some really funky pin positions. This is one of the many examples where I think the course was much better before the changes the club have made.
The changes they made in the early 90s were as a result of building the new Blue course, and made the course much worse in my eyes. They lost the old 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes and changed the 5th. The 1st hole now swings round to the left and is enclosed by gorse. The old hole swung slightly to the right, was much more open and had a lovely natural green. The new hole actually promised much but has never really worked for me.
The saddest thing was the loss of the 3 old holes, particularly the 2nd and 3rd. The 2nd was a devilish shortish par 4 swinging right over a hollow that is now the 18th fairway on the blue. The green was two tiered with a very steep slope. The new 2nd is a "modern" par 5 which doesn't quite fit (like the 3rd and 4th also) as it is built on land that used to be a pig farm and is not sandy at all.
The old 3rd was a fantastic hole - a 400+ yard par four doglegging significantly to the left. There were some big poplar trees on the corner that, in my flatter bellied days I always used to (try and) drive over. There was then an excellent 3 tiered green that led to some interesting long puts. This hole has actually been partially retained as the 10th on the Blue course. However, the tee is 100 yards to the right and is now a dog leg right. The trees on the right are much closer so you can't go over and have to go round. Most criminally of all though, they flattened the green so it is just a gentle back to front slope with no tiers. Why they did that is beyond me? The less said about the current 3rd the better - absolutely hate it.
The 4th was a nice mid length par 3 through some trees to a green just to the left of the current 5th tee. It wasn't the best hole on the course but had a much more natural feel than the current 4th. The 5th was a par 5 with the tee back to the left of the old 4th green - about 50 yards back and to the left of where it is now. There used to be a big cross bunker about 80 yards short - pretty much where the two bunkers in your photo are now (not the front right one which is also new). This was only taken out recently as it had sort of lost its relevance now the hole was a 4 - you couldn't drive into it and it didn't really effect the second. On the old hole, a less than average drive gave you a real decision to make as to whether you went for the carry.
The 11th used to be quite scary. Pretty much from the front of the tee to 5 yards short of the green was a sea of gorse bushes. These inhibited the view of the green - i.e. you could only see the flag. Also the green is now just a very flat raised green whereas it used to extend down the slope at the front for 5 or 6 yards. Now they have cleared the gorse and it is a pretty straightforward short par 3.
It is very interesting that you enjoyed the 12th. It was always a favourite of mine but I played it for the first time in a couple of years a few months back. I was absolutely fuming with the change they had made to the hole. What had they done - replaced the number 5 with 4! It was always a half par hole - just a good opportunity to pick up a shot. It just seemed to me to be symptomatic of what the club thinks is important - e.g. getting the English Amateur. Most of the members can't reach it in 2 and there are no forward tees, even in winter - unless they are planning to put them in. As you say, the green is narrow and well protected with a severe slope from back to front and drop off right - all very well for a 5 but a bit severe for a 470 yards 4.
I'm glad you liked 14 as this is my favourite hole on the course. Again a severe green but short par 4s should have severe greens - not long ones! 16 is much tighter than it used to be - where the sea of gorse is on the right used to just have the odd bush. It took away a bit of the fun for me as driver is not really a smart play anymore. The green is excellent - the drop to the bunker on the left is more severe than it looks on the photo.
17 is yet another example where the green has been made smaller and a tier removed. It is now flat and raised - previously it extended off the front down the tier for 7 or 8 yards. I don't know why they suddenly decided that tiers were bad but there is only really the 16th now when there used to be 5 or 6 tiered greens.
18 on both the red and the green are very nice holes. Unlike the 18th on the green this is a bit too long to drive (please don't ask me about my hole in 1 on the 18th on the green
). However, a big advantage is gained if you can a good drive away onto the top level. It is a bit scary though - my wild hook has been responsible for a few balls into the car park in the past.
Frilford is undoubtedly a great place to be a member - anywhere you can rock up at 9 on a Saturday without a booking and be round in 3 hours as a 2 ball has its plus points. It just could and should be, and in fact was, better.