SILLOTH-ON-SOLWAY: A photo tour from a sunny Spring day (all 18 holes posted)

[Scott Warren]

I've eyed off many 1st tees in GB&I after walking off the corresponding 18th green, wondering if I might get a few more holes in before darkness or other commitments dictate that I put the clubs in the car, but none demanded a replay as much as Silloth-on-Solway.

Silloth may have the best site of any links course I have played.

Silloth is likely the most beautiful of any course I have played.

Silloth is near certain the most consistent course I have played.

Silloth is unquestionably one course you should ensure you visit.

Located about as far north and west as it is possible to get and still see the St George's Cross flying from the clubhouse flagpole (I played in a festive move given it was the day after St George's Day and the day before ANZAC Day - the biggest days for my home country and adopted temporary home country), Silloth should be pictured in the dictionary as the definition of remote, but no detour could be more worthwhile in GB&I than the left turn off the M6 at Carlisle.

For those who appreciate value - and don't we all - myself, Mark Pearce and Andrew Mitchell paid the princely sum of £55 to play at 2pm on Saturday and what's more the pro allowed us to play from the members' competition tees.

Golf World rates Silloth at 48 in GB&I. I think that does it a disservice. It holds its own in a head-to-head comparison with any golf course I have played.

The course opens with a 380y (all distances unless stated otherwise are from from white [second to back] members' tees) par four to a dell green - the first of many blind shots, but the blindness is typically combined with some space and an absence of hazards.

An out of place drive can use the front slope to get on the green or therabouts, while the putting surface falls gently from left to right, where balls will feed off if pushed slightly or putted too boldly.







The 2nd is a shortish, but not easily reachable 315y par four that bends gently to the right around a heather-clad dune.

I'll mention the heather and gorse early: it is a beautiful feature but also adds some teeth, though it seems the club has been working to keep the gorse back from playing areas. But with that prickly plant waiting off-line, it may be the first time I ever prayed for my ball to end up in heather! Funny how it becomes an attractive option when an even more uncompromising foe is beyond it!

To try for a drive close to the green requires a driver to a blind landing area at the inside of the dogleg, which is where the green opens up. The more safe play of a long iron or hybrid down the left brings into play a dune short of the LHS of the green that wreaks havoc with an approach or recovery shot from that side.

The greens are undoubtedly a feature of Silloth, brilliant in their variety, and the 2nd is one of the more subtle complexes that still has oodles of strategic interest. On return plays it will definitely be a green I consider while standing on the tee.







The 3rd was one of my favourite holes on the course.

A 352y par four, it doglegs left as it climbs a steady hill to a plateau green that features a steep LHS fall-off. The more adventurous are tempted to cut the dogleg, protected by a dune covered in heather, but there is ample fairway to the right for mere mortals.

By this stage of the round you are already realising the wonderful movement in the land is as constant as the heather and gorse. Sidehill, uphill, downhill... the lies at Silloth are always interesting, testing your shotmaking chops. I can't think of a fairway that didn't have some interesting movement, creating preferred approach zones even when there wasn't an obvious hazard to scream loud and clear where a tee shot should be placed for the A1 approach.

The greenfront lets you approach by air or ground, but the strong R-toL slope means a running shot has to be played with intent or it will run away down the hill.

Look between the three stakes at the foot of the tee and raise your eye straight up and you'll see ythe yellow flag against the brown of the rough on the dune. The guys you can see are up on the 4th tee.

[Mark Chaplin]

Silloth membership fees - outrageous!!

The pricing for 2010 is as follows:

                         Subscription   Joining Fee
Full Member            £355    £300
Student Member            £115   
Junior 16 - 18 years    £ 65   
Junior under 16 years    £ 25   
Past Playing Member    £ 15   
Social Member             £ 10

   

[jonathan_becker]

Silloth membership fees - outrageous!!

The pricing for 2010 is as follows:

                         Subscription   Joining Fee
Full Member            £355    £300
Student Member            £115   
Junior 16 - 18 years    £ 65   
Junior under 16 years    £ 25   
Past Playing Member    £ 15   
Social Member             £ 10

   

You Brits have it great!!

Scott,

Thanks for the photos. 

How long is the first hole?  The green looks impossibly small and it also looks as if a miss right with the approach will result in heading directly to the next tee.  How much room until you're in the gorse?

I look forward to the rest of the holes.

[Scott Warren]

After three holes played away from the clubhouse you turn 180 degrees for the par four 4th, with its blind drive to a wide fairway.

This is, I am told, typically played with the prevailing wind helping the ball on its 370-odd yard journey, and that will be appreciated when you see the green, which doesn't allow for any sort of miss. A wedge in hand for your approach is a massive benefit to a well-struck drive (or even one that gets a helpful kick off the tall LHS dune!).

Left and right both fall steeply away, and from front to back the green has a wonderful flow with a low middle section connecting the front and back raised portions.

Interestingly, the side slopes of the green are maintained as short rough, forcing the golfer who has missed to use an aerial shot from the tightly-mown collection areas.







The 5th (523y) is the first par five, and it's one that bears more than a passing resemblance to the 6th at Sandwich:

An angled drive towards the sea shore daring you to cut off as much of the LHS as you can, before the hole runs through a valley to a green protected by bunkers short and right of the green that appear closer to the putting surface than they really are and more sand hard against the left front of the green, which slopes back right to front left.

The risk and reward is there for those capable of getting home in two, while those requiring three shots will need to plan the placement of their second with some thought, sidling up on the two short bunkers for the easiest pitch to the green.

On perhaps some of the more sedate land, this is a hole that is of such sound design it wants for nothing. This is played into the teeth of the prevailing wind.







The Postage Stamp-replica 9th hole may be the famous par 3 here at Silloth, but the other three are each strong holes in their own right.

The first one-shotter is the 6th, 200 yards from the back tee and 182 from the members' plates down a significant hill to a green recessed behind the saddle between two low dunes. The natural right to left slope helps the ball find its way to pins tucked behind the LHS bunker, and balls run easily over the back, down a slope that is much gentler than it appears from the tee.



We are six holes in now, and if it's your first time around the course, you're likely wondering if the course can keep this up. I certainly was, hoping it would, but sure there had to be some dud holes out there awaiting my arrival.

[Scott Warren]

How long is the first hole?  The green looks impossibly small and it also looks as if a miss right with the approach will result in heading directly to the next tee.  How much room until you're in the gorse?

I look forward to the rest of the holes.

The green is larger than it appears, and the land seems to gather most shots to at least the vicinity of the green. There is space to the right for a miss, but not a heap. Left is the place to miss for safety, but it also happens to be where there is a bunker sitting atop the hill 20-30y short of the green for just that play.

[Alex Miller]

The sixth seems like it has more redan qualities than a postage stamp!

Great tour, looks amazing.

[Scott Warren]

Alex, the postage stamp replica is still to come. It's the 9th.

[Martin Toal]

About 15 years ago, I moved to work in Carlisle, and went over ahead of time to look for somewhere to stay, and I called Siloth to get a game when I was over. "No problem, just turn up" said the pro, so I did, and set off to play with a couple of members. After a couple of holes, I had told them I was moving to the area, and one asked if I was planning to join Silloth. I knew already that I wanted to, so I said I would love to, and asked what was involved. The member responded that it would be no problem and I would be a member before the barman had finished pulling the pint of beer after we finished. He warned me, however, that there was a joining fee. £100!

So I joined and enjoyed playing Silloth for the next 4 years while I worked locally.

The course is quirky in places but has a lot of subtlety. Like all links, it also depends on the wind.

The postage stamp 9th can play anything between a sand wedge and a 4 iron, and I have played driver, 3 wood, 5 iron then 3 wood, 7 iron, at  the 12th and 13th, two par 5s playing in opposite directions.

The membership and staff are also very down to earth and friendly. I totally recommend it. If you play it twice, ytou will get a lot more out of it.

[Mark Pearce]

Martin,

The back to back par 5s are 13 and 14, I think?

Scott,

Thanks for these pics.  I'm not so sure I should thank you for that picture of my swing, though, particularly knowing the result!

Silloth is a great course.  Like Scott, I think it is ranked far too low.  In post round discussions, following Saturday, it has been compared to Rye, another short(ish) quirky English links.  Rye, of course, is a highlight of English golf, was a 9 in the Confidential Guide and is spoken of in hallowed tones.  Few have heard of, let alone played, Silloth.  However, thinking about it, I find it very difficult to think that Rye is a better course than Silloth.  Certainly Silloth doesn't have any holes as week as 10 and 11 at Rye.  I wonder how much location and history have to do with this stark discrepancy in ranking?

We were very fortunate to be at Silloth on such a calm day.  It's a different course with a 20 mph wind into your face on the first tee.

[Martin Toal]

Martin,

The back to back par 5s are 13 and 14, I think?

You are quite correct. I had forgotten the par 3 12th when counting forward from the 9th.

[Scott Warren]

The 7th plays at 398 yards, with the drive a steady hill to a typically rumpled fairway. From there the second is to a green that is somewhat like the 1st, but with some punchbowl qualities.

The hole drops steeply from about 40 yards short, but that front slope also slopes more than a little bit right to left, which helps as the green is tucked ever so slightly into the dune on the LHS.

With the steepness and length of the fronting slope, you need to fly your ball on if you hope to finish near the front of the green.











It surprises me now looking at the scorecard that so many of the par fours are so similar in length, because they felt anything but while I was playing them.

The 8th measures 371 yards and features a strong right to left slope off the tee to help you hit the favoured left side of the fairway, where a bunker that seems well out of reach from the tee turns out to be very much in play, such are the visual tricks you often see on a links, with so little around to help you gauge distances.

The green also falls somewhat from the right, especially at the front, giving this hole the feeling of one - and really much of Silloth felt this way to me - where the features have simply been draped over the existing land.







The walk to the 9th tee follows many that precede it by heading up to the top of a tall dune (seven of the first nine tees are significantly higher than the previous green), from where the view opens up and you can see for miles in every direction, across the Solway Firth to Scotland, over the links and beyond, and back into Silloth itself.

The hole itself drops steadily from the tee to the green 130 yards away. The green has bunkers hard against its front and LHS, while a steep slope at the RHS of the green will kick a blocked shot even further away into one of three traps that will mean a 10-15y bunker shot up a hill, with the surface not visible.

The green itself has a steady L-to-R slope, matching the flow of the land. Even in still conditions it was a tough shot. The green may be long, but it is narrow and from your lofty perch on the tee you have a great view of all the places you don't want to end up!

[David Stamm]

This course has been on my list of places I want to play for quite some time. I absolutely love the looks of the place. Thanks for the pics, Scott! Keep 'em coming!

[Bill_McBride]

Lovely write up, Scott.  A great day out with two of our stalwart UK Buda Cuppers on what looks like a super links!

I think my favorite words in golf are "where the features have simply been draped over the existing land."   It's what I love about golf courses as disparate as Elie in Scotland and the Crenshaw course at Barton Creek in Austin, Texas.

[Michael Taylor]

Silloth membership fees - outrageous!!

The pricing for 2010 is as follows:

                         Subscription   Joining Fee
Full Member            £355    £300
Student Member            £115   
Junior 16 - 18 years    £ 65   
Junior under 16 years    £ 25   
Past Playing Member    £ 15   
Social Member             £ 10

   

My god! So I could play there for 60 aussie bucks a year?! Awesome stuff.

I haven't seen your entire review thus far Scott, but the thing that struck me was the size of the 1st green. Is it as small as it looks in the photo? It is not unfairly small?

Keep it coming.

Pup

[Josh Stevens]

Played it jsut after easter, and concur was a hoot.  Only complaint - there seemed to be just one or two too many blind greens for my liking.  Happy with blind drives, but from memory (correct me) there were 3 greens that were blind - just hitting over a hill down into a dell.  One would be fun but noit more I think

[C. Sturges]

Great Post!  One of my favorite courses!  It is off the beaten path, but that makes even better. 
Thanks for the good memories.

[Martin Toal]

Played it jsut after easter, and concur was a hoot.  Only complaint - there seemed to be just one or two too many blind greens for my liking.  Happy with blind drives, but from memory (correct me) there were 3 greens that were blind - just hitting over a hill down into a dell.  One would be fun but noit more I think

Josh

After playing once you get to know them and the blind holes become another challenge just like the wind or a random bounce from the middle of a fairway. Locals tend to run the ball into the first, but carry it onto the 7th green.

[Scott Warren]

The 10th is, like the 2nd hole, a reachable par four that for the reward of a drive that reaches the green demands the golfer risk the perils of heather and gorse by hitting blind over a large dune covered with the stuff. But where the 2nd is downhill, this is slightly uphill, and where the 2nd bends right, this one heads left.

Adding to the peril of a driver at the green is that anything pushed right has a good chance of going OOB.

The fairway at lay-up distance is wide and inviting, with a pair of bunkers guarding the premium line on the inside of the dogleg. Another great little feature is a ridge that cuts across at about 200 yards off the tee that looks more likely to deflect the ball away from the green the further towards the safe RHS you play.

The second shot is semi-blind from more than 100 yards out and the green has a slightly concave shape, rolling balls off the front and back if distance control isn't precise.







The 10th and 11th occupy more sedate land than the rest of the course, but it's still far from flat. It's also a bit of a welcome break from the drama of tumbling land that doesn't disappoint because both holes are well put together.

The 11th is 411 yards doglegging right through the saddle of two dunes, with OOB right and a forest of gorse to the left. The fairway is visible off the tee, but not the landing area, which is over a slight rise in the land. The further you drive and more you hug the RHS the steeper the land is, and more likely then to kick you down to a short iron approach from a flat lie. But if you err even a touch right of the ideal like the land pitches to the right, and a bounce past the OOB posts seems almost certain.

The second shot is quite flat to a green that sits between two dunes, sloping quite a lot back-to-front. Not among the most gripping holes, for mine, but not one you could easily fault, either.





Surrounded by a "stadium" of gorse, the 12th is the first level par three on the course (200y), with the green accepting a running shot on L-to-R sloping land. A bunker awaits on the right of the green. The green seemed quite domed, with a slight false front rejecting anything undeclubbed.

[Scott Warren]

The 13th is the first of two consecutive par fives, running parallel and adjacent in opposite directions. It struck me as I thought about the benefits to such a set-up on a high-wind site (notably that as one became a slog into a gale the other would likely become a driver and iron affair) that it is quite common on GB&I links:

13/14 at Silloth, 5/16 at Deal, 5/14 at The Old Course, 2/7 at Prince's Shore, 3/7 at Prince's Dunes.

This hole might have many similarities with others in that regard, but in every other way 13 is quite unique.

The drive is to a flat fairway flanked either side by thick heather. The hole rises steeply about 350m from the tee to a higher plateau that falls away steeply on both sides, again into a sea of heather, climbing slightly to a skyline, slightly domed green that (you guessed it) falls away steeply either side to a sea of heather.

The green is fronted by a bank that kicks the ball hard left, meaning a running approach must approach the green some way to the RHS to allow for the slope, but also with enough pace that the hill doesn't sweep it away entirely.

It's a brilliant hole, without a single bunker called upon. Incidentally, it's the hole Tom Doak singled out for praise in The Confidential Guide before giving Silloth a 5. I am not sure if the course has changed much since that 1983 visit, but I would like to think that were Tom to drop by now that ranking would be at least one, perhaps two notches higher.







The 14th is back down on sea level, playing in the opposite direction to 13. The drive is to a rollicking fairway, before a blind second. It's much more likely to be reached in two than 13, but that requires a long iron or hybrid/wood into the unknown, but the space around the green means a brave strike on a good line should be rewarded.





I'm slightly embarrassed to reveal that at this point it appeared my camera appeared to have run out of battery. It took me some time - long enough to play the 15th without any pics - to realise in fact the memory card was just full.

It's a 400-yard plus hole across relatively flat land to a simple green, but the brilliance of the hole for mine is the ridge that cuts across the RHS of the fairway out of driving distance.

The right is the easier side to drive to - slightly lower than the left IIRC - but that ridge makes for a blind second. It's yet another case of the holes at Silloth on the less sexy land being so well designed that they don't lose much on the better land.

[Niall C]

Scott

Good to hear we've got another convert to the ranks of Silloth supporters. I was fortunate to be a full member there for 5 or 6 years until I gave it up last year and as Martin said you couldn't get a friendlier or more relaxed club. I've been banging the drum for a while that this course is easily better than its ranking suggests. Anyone who appreciates links golf can't help but love this course. Tom D has written some great stuff but he must have been having a bad day when he only gave this a 5.

Interesting to hear your comment on the 5th green which is a new one. I must admit I much prefer the old one but maybe thats me being loath to see the course tampered with. Speaking of which, whats happened to the left hand greenside bunkers on the 10th ? They look as though they have been filled in, in your photo ?

Scott, there was a recent thread which I think started on about the Fishers Island course and their Biarritz hole and I suggested that the original 4th at Silloth ie. with the tee short right, could almost be a Biarritz. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, I notice you picked up on the low point in the middle of the green.

Niall

[Scott Warren]

Funny you ask, Niall. I was going to call it a "subtle Biarritz" shape but thought that might be taking it a bridge too far, because it's a pretty subtle, smooth undulation.

But I can see where you're coming from. I thought the 2nd to #4 was definitely one of the best shots on the course, and those subtle slopes in front of the green and within the green would lend themselves to a lot of different shots coming into play depending on the pin and wind, I would imagine.

The greenside drop-offs are slightly reminiscent from what I have seen in pics of the Fishers Island Biarritz hole (which is, incidentally, the desktop background on my computer here at work!).

Re: greenside traps on 10, I can't be sure. I seem to recall bunkers on both sides.

[Scott Warren]

The 16th, measuring 180-odd yards, has a major slope at the front of the green, forcing you to either deliberately run a shot up with some pace on it, or fly the ball onto the green. At around 180 yards it is about two clubs shorter than the 12th and despite being the same length as #6, the great differences between the two mean you're likely hitting very different clubs.

The angle on the edge of that front slope will also mean anything misdirected will be pushed into one of the awaiting bunkers.

(No pic of my own, so here's one from elsewhere)


The final par five is in that tantalising length where most golfers, unless aided by significant wind, will be able to drive close enough to have a crack at going for the green in two but not so close that the shot is straightforward, or played with a short enough club that it is reliable.

Add to that the brilliant slope short of the green that will kick the ball forward, coupled with the thick hedge quite hard against the back of the green.

The fairway is also quite strongly undulating.




The closing hole is the third consecutive two-shotter measuring at more than 400 yards and the longest on the course at 433 from the members' tees.

A large ridge cuts across just out of driving range that adds to the difficulty of the second, reducing visibility, and the green has a subtle but significant R-to-L cant.

A quite conventional golf hole to finish, but the tough drive adds to the pressure, as does OOB down the right.

The final two holes are not among the best handful, IMO, but they were still engaging and interesting in their own right. Especially the half-par 17th.

[Mark Pearce]

I can't help noticing how green the 16th is in that borrowed 'photo, compared to the conditions we played in.

[Scott Warren]

I thought the same thing, Mark.

It's from Ran's review.

The whole course looks mighty green and one of the effects IMO is that the rich colour seems to flatten a lot of the slopes.

16, for instance is much steeper than it looks in that pic, wouldn't you agree?

On another note, here is Tom D's summary of the course from TCG:

[Mark Pearce]

Yes, the bank at the front of 16 is really quite steep.  On the still day we were there you could fly an iron on to the green and hold it.  On a windy day, with the wind behind it can require a short or mid iron pitched short but run up the hill.