[Philip Gawith]

I made my debut at this much discussed course about 6 weeks ago and it lived up the hype. I am always impressed when I can easily remember the routing of a course, which was the case here. Apart from the memorable 12th and 13th, there it a lot of variety to enjoy. I was struck by the interesting camber of some of the fairways - such as 4 and 5 - which seems to be a feature of some of the more interesting inland courses.

For a Londoner, it is also fun to play a course where you can see the skyline of the City and Canary Wharf in the backdrop (of 14 and 16). Although it is only about 15 miles from where I live, in London traffic it is about 90 min, which is a shame!




Looking back down the par 3 first...



The approach to the 4th



Looking back down the 4th



View from behind the 5th...The bunker about 50 yards short of the green on the right (left of this pic) plays tricks with the approach as it appears to be greenside, but clealy is not.



The approach to the 6th with the bunker immortalised by PG Wodehouse...



The lovely enclosed green-site on the short 7th



The hogsback fairway on the 8th which makes the tee-shot nearly impossible, much to the irritation of Pennard's finest!



View from behind on the same hole...



Approach to nine over a ravine. A quick hook left as played by yours-truly is not the play!



The drive on the 10th...



The short 11th, looks quite similar to the 9th??at West Sussex with its Sandbelt style bunkering.



The second shot to the memorable 12th - say no more!



Followed by the no less memorable, and fiendishly difficult 13th (230 yard, uphill, par 3)



Another view of 13 - note the fox making his progress down the mid-right of the photo!



Tee shot on the downhill 14th (361yds off the back) - with central London in the background. A clever hole - just about driveable in the right circumstances, but if you get out of position short right as I did, it is impossible to get the ball close.



Next up is the long, uphill par four 15th - a nice contrast to the previous hole



Looking back down the same hole...



The approach from about 215 yards on the par five 16th after a good drive..



Same hole from about 100 yards....



And looking back up the same hole...a truly wonderful fairway with fantastic movement.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Once again nice report Philip.   Although it's hard to see it from the photo's the chainsaws have been at work on the course.  Last year most holes were surrounded by trees and this year I had a much greater awareness of the routing of the course.   The greens have improved and the clubhouse is getting some attention. All the more reason for visitors to seek this course out.


So what do you really make of the 8th?  I'm moving more towards Sean's POW.   This time I played as safe as I could. Hit a nice 5i and never saw the ball again.  Ari T went with a 3w and we were lucky to find his ball in some leaves on the far side of the fairway.
14 & 15 do seem like a change of pace and you sum up their virtues well.  It is easy to underrate them compared other holes before and after.   The course just builds on what's gone before and I like it more with each visit.

[wsmorrison]

Thank you, Philip.  What a wonderful golf course.  Your photos capture the essence of the course very well.  

[Mark Bourgeois]

Greens look in great shape; how did they putt?

Tell us more about the conditioning, for I am glad to hear of firmness.  Any sign of the green rebuilding beginning? The clearing looks nice; they still need to clear out the brush along the left on 9 and 12 and thus enable views of the greens from the tees.  The difficulty of those holes likely increases as a result.

Leaving out the pars / bogeys as listed on the card, what do you make of the rhythm of the course as established by the length of holes in sequence? How difficult did you find the scoring under the conditions?

Mark

[Philip Gawith]

Obviously I had not played the course before so did not have grounds for comparison re the clearing work they have done, but it was pretty evident. I wish they would do the same at Huntercombe!

As for the 8th, I love the look of the hole and the fairway, but the share randomnness of where the ball may actually finish, on a blind drive, is a bit dispiriting! I suspect the shot is something like a 6 iron aimed pretty far left, but that is just a guess!

I agree with Sean re 16 - you don't see too many great par 5's and this is certainly one. I did hit a good drive on this hole which allowed me to go for it, but you still have to hit a very good second to benefit, so risk/reward is much in your mind, and that double-camber fairway is special.

Re 2 and 3 - I did actually photograph all the holes but the 2nd is quite difficult to capture. Actually I thought it also a pretty good hole, left to right off the tee and then still blind for the second, with the green behind that little hill. It is quite unusual to have to wait so long to see the green - especially on an inland course! When I get home I might try to post one or two of the second and the third. I suppose if you were being critical you would say 1 and 3 are relatively similar, coming so close together in the round, albeit 3 a bit longer than one.

Mark - conditioning of the course was quite good - certainly not "poor" as one has sometimes heard in the past. I think you can see that from the pictures - not up to the best standards, but respectable.

As for the flow of the course - on reflection, it is quite a tough start. Arguably you get to the 6th before you run into a hole where you are not having to hit a good mid-long iron somewhere along the line. On further reflection, isn't the wisdom on the course that the 6th is when it really gets going? I can see where that thought arises but maybe that is a measure of the quality of the course because, as mentioned, the 2nd is a strong hole, and I think 4 and 5 are also strong two-shotters (4 is tough; I particularly like the sweep of 5 and the short right bunker referrred to).

Thereafter....well, just a lot of good holes. Maybe the par fours become a bit less muscular, a bit more strategic (though the last two two-shotters - 15 and 18 - revert to the earlier mould a bit).  Thinking back I liked the flow of the course - I was not particularly aware of it at the time, but seems to work pretty well. What is your view?

Re scoring - quite a challenge. I suspect I suspect I leaked away a few more than I recall!

[Philip Gawith]

Sean - I am amazed to be reminded of the yardage - that is not much more than Huntercombe (and shorter off the yellows). It certainly felt to me like it played a bit longer - though I suppose at Huntercombe you also have some quite muscular par fours, depending on the weather.

Alas, I have not played a Ross course for purposes of comparison - something to look forward to! Maybe that is where Mark was coming from with his question about the rhythm of the course?

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Am I right in thinking that the course was once played in a different order, from a different starting place?  

How was the green fee?  It used to be very reasonable, but if they improve the condition of the course it may get pricey.  Do they still have no professional?

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