Royal Worlington & Newmarket
Mildenhall, as it's affectionately known, is said by many to be the best 9-hole course in Britain, possibly even in the world. 9 holes occupy 3,105 yards with a par of 35. It is a remarkable club, with a huge number of members living at some distance - annual subs are calculated by how far away you are from the course! Two-ball play, only, is acceptable and stroke play must give way to match play. There have probably been opportunities to buy neighbouring fields and turn this into an 18-hole course, but only under this particular rectangle of land does the right combination of sand and gravel give the fabulous drainage for which the course is famed. It plays brilliantly in winter, and very fast in summer. The greens are superbly set up, making them one of the best tests of the traditional running approach game imaginable. If you have Patric Dickinson's 'A Round of Golf Courses' there is a wonderful description of the course. The photos date from the mid 80s but nothing has changed - probably nothing has changed since the course was laid out in 1891. It is anachronistic - there are several crossing holes, for instance - but if you ever have the opportunity to play it, do. It simply oozes quality.
Approach to 1st green (486-yard par 5). It's a very decptive opening hole. First appearances show it to be flat, featureless, hard to distinguish. Second time round you begin to appreciate that it is rather a clever hole. Links-like bunkers can be the very devil if you get just under the lip.
2nd green. At 224 yards this is no pushover. The green is domed wickedly ('like pitching onto a policeman's helmet'). There's a big bunker on the left front, a smaller one front right.
2nd green. You drive over this green from the 3rd tee and it is not unknown to bury your drive in the bunker that was meant to defend the 2nd green!
3rd green. At only 361 yards it is only a moderate par 4, but it is a little gem, with an inch-perfect approach shot required to carry a damp depression and a green-side bunker then hold a not overgenerous green.
4th tee. 495-yard par 5. Much of the fairway is shared with the 6th and there are five serious bunkers in the middle ground. From the back it's quite a narrow, gun-barrel drive.
4th green. This is a tricky green to approach, however long the shot, for there is a ridge in front, the green slopes away from the line of approach - towards a stream just through the back! My picture is from the side, my thougths obviously already on the famous 5th.
5th green. 157 yards par 3.
5th green. What's all the fuss about? It is a narrow little green, raised up above damp low ground from which escape is made towards the narrow hunp-back of the green. It is also much higher at the back than the front and it is not uncommon to see players putt off the green.
6th fairway. 458 yards par 4. A great strategic hole. A line of trees down the right cuts the green off following a pushed drive of any sort. But those bunkers shared with the 4th threaten on the left, so there is no marging for error - just inside the bunkers will do very nicely.
6th approach. Shadows complicate the distance judgement on the run in which is no easy matter with a swale, left-hand bunker and tricky little ridge just in front of the green.
6th approach. Another view.
6th green from behind.
7th green from behind. 165-yard par 3. The tee is slightly sheltered in the trees and this green is right out in the open where the winds wreak havoc, and they can be a bit nifty at times in winter when they travel unimpeded from ice-cold central Europe. Again, there's a depression and ridge complicating the direct approach.
7th green from the side showing the depression which kills anything the least bit short, and the ridge which frequently causes us to be too strong with the tee shot, only to roll off the back whence the chip needs great judgement of pace.
8th green. Not a big target at the end of a 460-yard par 4. The fairway runs on the other side of the trees from the parallel 6th, and in the opposite direction, so if one hole is played with the wind, the other most certainly is not. Nicely bunkered fairway.
9th green. 299-yard par 4. Yes, you pitch over the road, and there are several deep bunkers if you get it wrong. It's an excellent Cape Hole, no doubt driveable by some, but there's no marging for error with trees and a stream on the right, and rough ground if you are too cautious and run through the fairway on the left.
The clubhouse is a throwback to another age - with a hole in the wall through which refreshing nectars and restorative calories are delivered, and at which you pay your green-fee to the steward.