Surrey & Berkshire are awash with famous and great courses. The most televised of this lot by quite a margin is Wentworth. Not surprisingly, Wentworth is the most ostentatious club as well. The centrepiece of the club is the 19th century Wentworths which is now the clubhouse. The surrounding 2.7 square mile estate was given over to three full size courses, a nine-hole course, country club and housing estate. WG Tallant, the same developer behind St Georges Hill, obtained the development rights for Wentworth and once again called upon HS Colt to design a golf course. Due to the Depressio, Tarrant went bankrupt before the estate could be built out. WWII further interrupted development and instead the estate was used as a provincial command post using a network of bunkers and tunnels for security. Home building continued after the War well into the 1960s and is now one of Europe’s premier housing estates.
The East Course was opened in 1924 and quickly followed by the West Course in 1926. The West, sometimes known as the Burma Road because of the prisoner of war labour was used to clear the golf course of overgrowth after being abandoned during the war, is the premier course on the property. It has been host to a legion of elite events which includes the 1953 Ryder Cup, 1956 World Cup, World Matchplay Championship from 1964-2007, PGA Championship from 1984 to present and the 1980 Women’s Open. However, the Winter Tour stopped by the relatively new Edinburgh Course.
Opened in 1990, the Edinburgh was designed by John Jacobs, an English pro whose heyday was the 1950s. He appeared in one Ryder Cup, the 1955 matches held at Thunderbird CC in California where he won both of his matches. As the initial Tournament Director, Jacobs was pivotal in the creation of the European Tour perhaps because he held so many pro positions and was a well-known golf coach. He also captained the 1979 & 1981 Ryder Cup sides and as such was instrumental in the inclusion of European players for the first time. The main goal was to make the matches more competitive and get Seve Ballesteros to participate. Fittingly, the R&A made Jacobs an honourary member of the club. The Edinburgh was by some margin Jacobs’ most high-profile design job.
Early March isn’t the best time to visit Wentworth, but since I hadn’t been on the property for well over 20 years, I accepted the invitation to play as much to see how the house and property have changed over the years as to see the Edinburgh. I admit to knowing very little about the course and can recall only a few people speaking highly of the design. My main take-away from these brief conversations is that the Edinburgh may be lowest on the totem pole, but it is a testing course. This certainly proved to be the case. Beyond the length of the course, the design features six severe doglegs which require precision driving to gain playing and sight lines on fairways sheathed between trees.
The Edinburgh starts off fine with a right dogleg adjacent to a practice ground. The green complex is fairly generic, but not without interest.
A good short hole follows. Too many trees around the green is a common Edinburgh theme. The reader will see shadows present throughout the course. A par five, the 3rd is another legger right. The green is benched into a hill.
For shorter hitters the 4th is a difficult hole due to the sharp dogleg and a tree in the middle of the fairway. Unfortunately, there are at least six holes of a similar dogleg nature which compromise the design. Its a style of hole which was popular during this period. Who knows, if the club had waited five years to build the Edinburgh it could be a different animal. All this said, I think the hole is perhaps the best of this type on the course. I like it., but wish there was more width. Bigger hitters can reach this point which affords a view of the green. The likes of me may be well back with no view other than a constricted fairway.
The green about 1/3 of the way down the hill.
The 5th is a a longish and severely uphill par 3. I can only assume the preponderance of trees is due to environmental restrtictions. Another good hole weakend by wood.
More to follow.
Ciao