I recently managed to get round to playing Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, a charming, bunkerless, nine hole course designed by James Braid. Charnwood showed up in one of Mark Rowlinson’s recent “Aerial” threads where he mentioned that this course doesn’t get mentioned on here much, so here goes…
Charnwood Forest was founded in 1890 but it is unclear when James Braid made his alterations. According to the clubs introductory booklet, it has been bunkerless from the start, but it is also unclear as to why this is? The course is set high up on mature heathland and in places there are large rock outcrops, believed to be some of the oldest rock strata in Britain, known as The Hanging Stone Rocks, and much of the course is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The Braid courses we play today, has 9 greens but each hole has two sets of tees, with men playing yellow on the first nine and blue tees on the second. These on occasion offer a different angle off the tee and in one case, the 6th plays as a long par 4 SI 1, while on the second nine it plays as a short par 5 SI 14.
Right, here we go!
Edit: scorecard removed as didn't show up well!
…and here is the aerial (thanks to Mark R for this one!). For reference north is to the left, and the prevailing wind in this part of the World tends to be from the south west.
Here are some of the photos I took, though I have to admit that the weather wasn’t great, so apologies if some of them are a bit dark!
Hole 1 & 10
361 yards
Par 4
This par 4 plays to a fairway set slightly above eye level so you can see the previous group, but the fairway itself cant be seen. The drive is just to the left of the trees to the right, with a dry stone wall running up the left which is out of bounds. In the trees to the right are some of the large Hanging Stone Rocks.
A lot of the greens aren’t that big, and have a very basic cut and fill nature to get them level.
Hole 2 & 11
433 & 464 yards
Par 4
A series of terraced tees run back up the hill giving a stunning view, though the weather doesn’t do it justice.
The approach is blind over a rise and between some trees. This is the view once you have reached the rise. The green looks very small, though its probably not one of the smallest. It seemed to me that most greens looked quite small, probably due to the lack of definition that any bunkers would give, and the simple sut and fill nature of the greens?
Looking back from behind the green, the movement in the land is clear.
Hole 3 & 12
360 & 376 yards
Par 4
On this par 4 the two different tees give very different angles. This is the right tee played as the third. You get a decent view of the fairway below and the dogleg to the right.
From the left tee, it pretty much blind.
The fairway sits down in a small valley, on ground that feels more meadow than the heathland of the first few holes. The hole doglegs to the right, with a small pond on the right to put off the big hitters from cutting too much off, though this isn’t visible from the tee.
Hole 4 & 13
283 & 311 yards
Par 4
This hole plays up hill, back up to the more heathland turf. The wall is about 50 yards short of the green, and could be carried, but its tricky as playing up hill makes the shot a lot longer than it looks.
The approach is to a raised, shallow green, and anything short will run back down the slope a little. This is the view back down the hole, which hopefully shows how much the green is above the tee.
Hole 5 & 14
183 & 165 yards
Par 3
A narrow green, the approach is slightly uphill and played over some dead ground. This is the view back to the tee.
Hole 6 & 15
446 & 471 yards
Par 4 & 5
Another tee raised up on a rocky outcrop that gives a fantastic view of the countryside around, though in the weather we had the photos didn’t do it justice so I haven’t bothered posting them. This is the tee shot on this long hole, easy carry over the edge of the old quarry, with plenty of room, even though there is out of bounds to the left over another dry stone wall. However, a longer drive is to much narrower area, due to the heather that comes in on the right, pinching the fairway. I think this could be my favourite hole, however the green had just been returfed so we played to a temporary. Its cut and filled into a right to left slope, however the ground to the right is kept rough so you can’t run the ball in from there.
Hole 7 & 16
203 & 193 yards
Par 3
This green runs off sharply to the right, so a shot needs to be run in from the left.
Hole 8 & 17
347 & 389 yards
Par 4
This is another hole where the different angles from the tee make quite a difference. This is the right tee played as the seventeenth. The hole then doglegs left to a green that runs back to front, sitting really well for a bold approach shot, sorry no photo of this green, thanks to the rain!
Hole 9 & 18
313 yards
Par 4
Though I’m sure some would be tempted to try and cut the corner of the right to left dogleg, the inside corner is a mature wood that is out of bounds and there are also some nasty heather and gorse bushes, so keep it simple with a 200 yard tee shot down the middle.
This shows the reason not to go for the green, and also shows the green just in front of the clubhouse.
Even without bunkers, the cut and fill nature of the greens, made for some interesting chip shots, and though there is an initial feel of a short nine hole course, it measures 5972 yards to a par of 69, the par 3s aren’t short and there are those couple of long par 4s so you need to be on your game. The testing nature of the course is proven by The Rock, a 36 hole amateur invitation only tournament, with winners including Paul Broadhurst and Gary Wolstenholme.
I’m not sure that the course would warrant a special long distance trip, but its easily accessed from the M1 so anyone heading along there should consider giving it a go. The greens were in real good condition for the time of year, and the heathland turf makes it good for winter golf (even if the weather doesn't help!) Great setting, a good challenge and its always worth knowing quality bunkerless or nine hole courses to throw into conversation occasionally!
Cheers,
James