Matt Cohn’s excellent post on America’s most underrated courses, set me thinking about those unexpected surprises and disappointments in my limited experience in the UK. I’m not trying to suggest that these courses are underrated or overrated, but merely that my expectations (however wrongly founded) were either greatly exceeded or dashed.
Surprises:
1. Seascale
2. Northumberland
3. Crowborough Beacon
4. Littlestone
5. Stoneham
6. New Zealand
7. Cleveland
8. Sherwood Forest
9. Ipswich
10. Yelverton
Disappointments:
1. The London
2. Frilford Heath
3. Carden Park
4. Manor House Hotel/Bovey Castle
5. Southport & Ainsdale
6. Nefyn
7. East Sussex National
8. The Oxfordshire
9. Moortown
10. Worcester G & CC
Seascale. I first played Seascale MANY years ago and I was immediately bowled over by the rough and tumble of the site, far greater than I had imagined. I was particularly struck by the quality of a number of holes, namely the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th. Return visits have reinforced those first impressions.
Northumberland. Although I had been there as a lad I didn’t remember anything about the course until I played there a few weeks ago. Quite a lot of it is heathy, with plenty of heather plus broom and gorse. Mark Pearse, my kind host, would be better equipped to describe the star holes, so abysmal was my play, but it is a classy test of golf with a refreshing mix of types of hole and, therefore, requirements expected of the golfer.
Crowborough Beacon. I played this the day after playing Royal Ashdown Forest for the first time, so I did not expect as much of Crowborough. But it is a very interesting course in its own right, with a couple of great holes, the 2nd and 6th, and plenty of variety, especially in the choice of green sites. The superb views from the clubhouse are irrelevant to the course, but they enhance the experience.
Littlestone. I didn’t really know what to expect, other than that the 17th was a highly rated par 3. First impressions before playing the course suggested that the very flatness of the site might make for a dull round. How wrong I was! I remember with affection a number of the two-shot holes: 4th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 16th. I was sorry not to be able to attend Buda Cup there.
Stoneham. This is a genuinely underrated course in a non-descript suburb of Southampton. How much, if any, of Willie Park’s original course survives I cannot say, but great golfing use is made of the undulating site. At under 6,400 yards with a par of 72 it looks short on the card, but it feels several hundred yards longer and the driver is required on plenty enough holes. Good holes include the short par-4 3rd, 462-yard 4th, the delightfully cross-bunkered 6th, another cross-bunkered hole the 11th and good downhill driving holes at the 14th, 15th and 17th.
New Zealand. Flat as a pancake, but well served with plentiful heather. The trees are handsome but not choking, and there are some very individual holes. The clubhouse is wonderfully archaic. I found the secretary to be most amiable, despite his reputation for being Muirfield-like!
Cleveland. The industrial skyline is horrid, there is a caravan site adjoining, there is no sight of the sea (but I think there have been alterations since I was last there) and the ground looks uninteresting. As with Seaton Carew, as soon as you are out on the course you forget about all these things. As I have a feeling that the course has been changed I will not attempt to single out specific holes.
Sherwood Forest. Notts, Lindrick and perhaps Coxmoor get the star billing in this coal-mining corner of England, but I would leap at another chance to play this handsome and very strong course. Despite the name this is very much a heathland-style course, the trees rarely entering normal play. The back nine is seriously demanding, an incessant (although not boring) string of long and powerful par 4s. The front nine has charm aplenty. A must see.
Ipswich. This is another heathland course, and I believe that since last I was there there has been further revival of the heather. Lots of fine longer holes with intelligent bunkering.
Yelverton. The photos on Philip Gawith’s recent thread about Yelverton say everything you need to know about this entertaining course, which see.
The London. I just found both these courses bland – challenging, of course, to a golfer of my inability. The staff made me very welcome and they were proud of their courses, but neither course had any personality.
Frilford Heath. I played here quite a bit as an undergraduate, the Red and Green courses being very typically heathland. But when I returned in 1999 or 2000 I was disappointed in that I found neither course as uplifting as I remembered them. The bunkering seemed tame, there was a sameness to the flat holes in the middle of the property and the place had become commercial. As for the third course, the blue, it was wholly unmemorable apart from a par-3 over water. It is built on agricultural land totally unlike the red and green courses.
Carden Park. I hate to write nasty things about Nicklaus courses, because he is one of my great heroes. But this, like The London, is dull and uninteresting. There is more character to the older course here, eccentric though some of the holes are.
Manor House Hotel/Bovey Castle. Once the eccentricity of the 1st hole (now rebuilt) is over there is a good stretch of holes along the River Bovey, but once that is left behind most of the back nine is utterly forgettable. I find it hard to think that this was designed by the same Abercromby who showed such individuality at The Addington, Worplesdon and Coombe Hill. In fairness, when I visited the whole place seemed to be very run down and maybe under its new owners it is revitalised – it jolly well should be at the price!
Southport & Ainsdale. My judgement may be clouded by the fact that I found the welcome in the Professional’s shop and in the clubhouse somewhat frosty. However, the start is good (a 200-yard par 3 never an easy opening hole), the 2nd is a fine par 5 and the 3rd (named after Braid) a strong hole. But I forget everything after that until the famous 16th (Gumbleys). It is just back and forth across a flat plain surrounded by housing.
Nefyn. I know, I regularly suggest that visitors to North Wales should include Nefyn on their itinerary, for it is an outstandingly scenic course, and all the romance of dropping down to the beach-side Ty Coch Inn for a pint is fun. There are some good holes, but there are also many very ordinary holes with some pathetic home-produced bunkering, and while the back nine is spectacularly sited on its rocky promontory a number of the holes are on the verge of unplayable. The condition leaves a lot to be desired, but the green fee is cheap.
East Sussex National. When I first played this course some European Tour event had just taken place there and the course received rave reviews in the press. They said that it had brought the finest elements of US Tour course design to these shores. I cannot find any touch of Sawgrass or Riviera, Spyglass or Bay Hill here. It is a rather featureless pair of courses wandering aimlessly round a pleasant bit of Sussex countryside.
The Oxfordshire. While it is exciting to take on the water holes, the rest is an eyesore – looking dreadfully artificial and hardly helped by the lack of interest in the ground on which the course is built.
Moortown. Yes, Gibraltar survives, but much change has been forced on the course by the disappearance of a neighbouring part of Sand Moor and the entire sale of Moor Allerton for house building. The trees are overcrowding the course, which keeps changing its nature because of the enforced changes, and while it is undoubtedly a good test of golf, it lacks the spirit and character of MacKenzie’s original – and there’s Alwoodley on hand just around the corner to reinforce the point.
Worcester G &CC. Mackenzie, too, in part, but so disappointing was it that I remember nothing about it.