North of the city of Leeds, by Eccup resevoir, is wonderful land for golf. Originally boasting four courses, the land has suffered from urban development and one course, Moor Allerton, has been lost entirely. Of the three remaining courses, Alwoodley is one of the very best inland courses in the UK. A second, Moortown, is a former Ryder Cup host and offers some very good holes, but appears to have lost some quality with land lost to housing and new, inferior holes replacing them. The third, and fairly unanimously lesser of the three courses is Sand Moor. Originally adjoining Moortown to the north, Sand Moor lost four holes to development in the '60s and now sits entirely north of Alwoodley Lane.
Historically, Sand Moor had a rather attractive Art Deco clubhouse (Ally McIntosh posted a picture in a previous thread) but this large, rather unattractive building replaced it, just to the north of the putting green, which Ally suggests (and I think he's right) was originally the 16th green.
Close by the putting green is the first tee. The first hole illustrates much of what is both good and bad about Sand Moor. Hole lengths in this tour are from the white tees, which we played. A par 5 of only 486 yards is a clear birdie chance.
An uphill tee shot on a short par 5. Trees are hard by the left hand side and are certainly in play on the right. That said, there's enough room to go after a tee shot. A decent drive leaves an enticing second shot. This picture, taken from somewhere forwards of where most players will drive to, shows the downhill approach to a well bunkered green:
It's an enticing second shot but a difficult green to hit. The lay up is no gimme, though, that short left bunker is well placed. A view of the green from the 2nd tee shows the two tiers in the small green.
As far as I can tell the second is one of the four holes which replaced the four lost to development. Three of these (2, 3 and 4) are on a new plot of land west of the original course and the fourth, the 13th, is squeezed in between the 12th and the (extended) 14th. The second ( a par 4 of only 256 yards) may be the weakest tee shot on the course (13 offers strong competition for that title).
The green is tucked around the corner to the left but I can't see anyone trying to drive the green, even though it's a very driveable distance. For me, it was a utility off the tee, for better golfers I imagine a 5 iron would be perfect. You want to hit the ball 200 yards to leave this
Just 70 yards to a small, pear shaped green. Not a bad hole but not a good one. An unintereting tee shot leaving a reasonably precise second.
The third, a par 4 of 411 yards) is another "new" hole and another less interesting one. A decent tee shot suits a gentle draw
Leaving another downhill approach, though a far less interesting one than the first. This picture is taken from the left rough, halfway down the hill
Only a short iron off a decent drive.
More to follow.