Ringway is a course only two or three miles from my house. The club opened in 1909 with a 12-hole course. Harry Colt was called in in 1912 for an 18-hole course. Further land became available after the First World War and Colt returned to enlarge the existing course. There were minor alterations which need not concern us now, but James Braid made a visit shortly before his death in 1950. He walked the course, made mental notes and wrote to the club shortly after with his suggestions. He died before these alterations were made, but they were implemented by James Braid Jnr, who was a member of Ringway. There is a particularly good interactive aerial view of Ringway at
http://www.ringwaygolfclub.co.uk/course.php which you may care to follow while looking at the pictures. It is a very compact site, with not a square foot of unused ground. Consequently there are many parallel holes with corridors of trees planted for separation and safety. Although its overall length is 6482 yards with a par of 71, there is a higher proportion of par 4s over 400 yards in length than at many of the other local clubs such as Wilmslow or Prestbury. The clubhouse was burned down in 1987. Workmen lit a bonfire and went to the pub for lunch. The wind changed direction and when the workmen returned they no longer had a job! The new clubhouse is most comfortable and the membership and professional staff are warmly friendly to visitors. It is literally five minutes from Manchester Airport, so if your plane gets in earlier than expected this could be your first round of the day.
1. 327 yards par 4. A short two-shotter curving gently past two trees (the club emblem) which were there when the course was built. What you cannot see is that your tee shot is played across the front of the clubhouse, rather like Hoylake. The bunkers are serious here.
2. 528 yards par 5. As you can see, the trees can be intimidating. More to the point, the fairway curves to the right as it climbs but the fairway leans to the left. The enormously lengthy green is almost a reverse Biarritz, with a rising apron at the front, a long, higher middle section and a lower portion at the back where this flag was cut. This was on the day of a local professionals' competition and they had selected some wicked pin positions. Additionally, there was a heavy dew and the ground was saturated. Even for them the cpourse played very long.
3. 168 yards par 3. Visually the plainest hole on the course, but the bunkers can be tricky if you finish under the steep faces.
4. 289 yards par 4. Again, visually not much to speak of from the tee. Surely it can be driven. But the green is small and the bunkering plentiful. There is an opening at the front of the green, but failure to find it could lead to dropping shots. There is the additional peril that the green is squeezed into a corner of the property and out of bounds is very close at hand on the right.
5. 423 yards par 4. A lovely hole with a slightly angled drive to a running fairway with visible bunkers. The green is sunk in a hollow, and fun to approach with a running shot.
6. 413 yards par 4. Largely on the flat, with further serious bunkers. Nice to see a player carrying.
7. 450 yards par 4. A very strong hole. The drive is made downhill to a fairway running slightly left to right. The second shot (normally a wooden club shot for longer handicap players) is made slightly obliquely to the right over and between bunkers which can devour the slightest mishit. There is a fall off below the green to the left.
8. 130 yards par 3. A most attractive short hole, played slightly uphill over bumpy ground. The two-level putting surface is surrounded by a number of man-sized bunkers.
9. 476 yards par 5. Drive narrowed by trees and bunkers as fairway curves to the left, climbing slightly through further bunkers to a green with a little step up at the front.
10. 532 yards par 5. An appealing drive, and there is always a temptation to bite off too much of the curve. Big hitters need to be on the left if they intend to get home in two. The mound to the right of the green is far from friendly.
11. 362 yards par 4. This hole is a combination of two earlier holes, and is a very sharp dog-leg to the left, with an approach to the green over a little stream.
12. 403 yards par 4. Another two-shotter on which the approach is governed by bunkers.
13. 179 yards par 3. A very attractive short hole, just sufficiently uphill to add a club or two to the length. Nice to see them hand-raking the bunkers.
14. 451 yards par 4. The drive is very similar to that on the 10th. Again, the green is well bunkered.
15. 415 yards par 4. A strong hole with perhaps the best approach shot on the course.
16. 177 yards par 3. Seemingly innocuous from the tee, but there is venom around the green for those who err.
17. 406 yards par 4. A Braid hole with a drive on the flat to the marker cross, then quite steeply downhill to the green on which Tom Williamsen putts.
18. 353 yards par 4. Also a Braid hole, basically straight up the hill towards the church of St Ambrose. But OOB is a threat on the right, and look at where the hole has been cut for the professionals!
