ROYAL ASHDOWN FOREST:
..No bunkers in sight!
Gene Sarazen is generally credited with the invention of an implement used so devastatingly well by the modern proponents of golf, the sand wedge. Whereas the average club golfer harbors a deep-seated dread of seeing his ball end up in sand, most top-class golfers would often prefer to be in that particular kind of hazard rather than in rough around the green.
There is not a solitary bunker on any of the 36 holes at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.
However at one particular club in Olde England the Sarazen invention has no place at all. There is not a solitary bunker on any of the 36 holes at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club, a veritable haven of rural tranquillity in the hills of East Sussex, a 30-minute drive from London's Gatwick Airport. Nor will there ever be any because excavations of any kind are forbidden by law in the ancient 6,400-acre forest in which author A.A. Milne set his enchantingly timeless Winnie the Pooh tales.
By a strange quirk of fate a Royal golfer unwittingly contributed to the uniqueness of Ashdown Forest's bunker-free zone. When he acceded to the throne in the 17th century the monarch who had been King James VI of Scotland--and was now King James I of England--brought not only his court, courtiers and retinue south to London from his native Scotland; he also brought golf.
The club became entitled to use the cherished "Royal" prefix a mere five years after being established.
In December 1888 Ashdown Forest and Tunbridge Wells Golf Club was established with the welcome blessing of Earl de la Warr and Buckhurst, Lord of the Manor of Duddeswell and owner of the Forest who became President of the Club. It was through the good offices of the noble Earl that the club became entitled to use the cherished "Royal" prefix, which was awarded a mere five years after being established.
In May 1893 the British Army was on maneuvers in the Forest when the Commander in Chief, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, came to inspect his troops. He was prevailed upon to strike his first-ever golf shot. The Duke, attired in a plumed cocked hat, tight blue coat and breeches, and with his sword in his belt, dismounted from his steed and with a club specially made for him by local professional John Rowe, took his first-ever swing. He not only made contact but propelled the ball 60 yards down the fairway.
The Queen's cousin must have been hooked because, after granting the Royal prefix, he became a member of the club. Within a decade or so the words "Tunbridge Wells" were dropped from the title. Almost from its inception the club has been acutely aware of the local populace, and the artisan section, called the Cantelupe Club, is the second oldest of its type in England, having been formed in 1892. It has spawned many good players, including Alf Padgham, British Open champion in 1936, while another past member has an indelible place in golf's rich history. The figure atop the Ryder Cup trophy is that of Abe Mitchell, an Ashdown artisan who became personal coach to English seed merchant Samuel Ryder, presenter of the trophy which is now so hotly contested by the professionals of Europe and the United States.
In many respects Royal Ashdown Forest is reluctant to shuck its Victorian heritage. The clubhouse, which has commanding views over the ancient forest and heathland, is unashamedly Victorian and none the worse for that. The golf played by the some 500 members is mainly foursomes, i.e., alternate shot or two-ball. That is not to say that four-ball play is prohibited. Every effort is made by secretary David Scrivens and his staff to accommodate visitors more accustomed to the four-ball medal play format of the game.
Because it has none of the long carries over heather and unforgiving rough found on some other British Isles courses, the New Course is ideal for beginners.
There are several unique aspects to Royal Ashdown Forest, not least of which is the shorter New Course. Play there is almost exclusively for visitors and, because it has none of the long carries over heather and unforgiving rough found on some other British Isles courses, is ideal for beginners. It is principally a pay-and-play course which at 5,700 yards is only 777 yards shorter than the Old in distance but plays many shots less than mere distance can tell.
The club is not the easiest place to find without precise instructions from the nearest town, East Grinstead, but once you top the rise and head into the Forest from the village of Forest Row the visitor is greeted with an unforgettable sight. The views across the Weald to the Downs are spectacular. There is none of the intrusive hum of freeway traffic, the air is clear and clean, and even the jumbo jets headed in or out of Gatwick are more like toytown models than goliath people transporters.
The course itself is severely undulating. But do not be deterred. A few uphill treks are referred to by the membership as "coronaries," but they are not nearly as life-threatening as they sound. Laid out over, through, up, down and across a delightful mixture of heath and forest land, it soon becomes apparent that the course has no need for bunkers. Nature itself provides sufficient hazards with heather, rough, mounds, streams, ponds and sloping fairways. There are not all that many flat lies for approach shots, many of which are deceiving.
Scotsman Martyn Landsborough considers himself hugely fortunate to have been professional at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club for seven years and describes playing the course as "a unique golfing experience in that as the crow flies it is relatively close to London and its teeming suburbs, but we could be a million miles away here in the heart of the Sussex countryside."
"To me it is heaven on earth," Landsborough says. "Basically the course has not changed for the last 50 years or so, and a large part of the attraction is that very rarely does the player have a level stance. As far as lack of bunkers is concerned, the main problem is that without them it is difficult to gauge depth perception on shots."
The solitary common feature shared by the Old Course at St. Andrews and the Old Course at Royal Ashdown is that the first and 18th holes share a fairway.
The Old Course at St. Andrews is also largely natural, as are many of the bunkers, but the solitary common feature shared by the world's most famous links and the Old Course at Royal Ashdown is that the first and 18th holes share a fairway. The first at Royal Ashdown is a short par-4 of 332 yards. The tee is elevated and the drive has to carry a heathery bank to a fairway which slopes left-to-right. Behind the two-tiered green, down a steep slope, is an out of bounds roadway, so the approach must not be struck too boldly.
The fourth is 356 yards long, straight uphill, and plays longer than its yardage with the second to an elevated green, which means the player rarely sees his approach finish. The fifth is a par-5 of 512 yards from an elevated tee to a wide fairway, but trees on the right can be dangerous. The longer hitter might be tempted to reach the green in two, but a 20-yard-wide stream front and left of the green advises caution.
The sixth, called "the Island," is one of the best-known holes on the course. Only 128 yards, the difficulty on this par-3 is the fact that the green is virtually an upturned saucer. From the front right to the back left is a stream which hugs the two-tiered putting surface, which has a landing area of no more than 10 yards in width. This is a difficult green to hit even with a short iron.
No. 9 is a wonderful little 143-yard hole. It plays from a sheltered tee to a green which slopes back to front and left to right. The safe shot here is to err on the short side. The slopes on this green are so severe that no member concedes a short putt; they have all seen too many missed here.
The 10th is a par-5 of 476 yards with a drinking pool for deer to the left of the green set in a bank. It is difficult to judge distance for either the uphill second for the long hitter or the pitch for the average player as there is a lot of dead ground in front of a flat green.
No. 12 is the longest on the course at 568 yards. This par-5 demands a long carry over a lot of heather. Many people cannot make that carry to a fairway which slopes right to left. It is a fantastic looking hole and generally does not play its full length.
The 16th is possibly one of the best par-4s in golf. Playing 407 yards from the back tee it invariably plays longer to a wide fairway with trees on the left. About 270 yards out there is a belt of cross rough which must be avoided, and this green has as protection a lot of pimply bumps of heather and gorse in front of the putting surface. Again the green is above the player.
The last hole is a gentle 352 yards from a very high tee to the fairway it shares with the first hole, although yet again pressure is applied to the approach by the fact that the green is above the player with a bank at the front right which will throw a ball off the putting surface.
Golf at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club is a pleasurably unique experience and one not to be missed. Everything about the place is just a little old-fashioned but it remains a very warm and welcoming place and is, as Martyn Landsborough so rightly says, a little bit of heaven on earth.