Though we’ve already had a couple of excellent phototours of Cavendish, thanks to Tommy Williamson
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,34493.0/and Sean Arble
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41162.0.htmlafter a couple of trips there this year, and this being a real favourite, I hope you don’t mind a few more pictures. Plenty of history in the discussions on the previous threads so I’ll keep this one simple…
All yardages from the yellow tees, as these re the ones most likely to be played by a visitor.
Hole 1334 yards
Par 4
A relatively gentle start, but a decent clue as to what is to follow. The drive is from a series of different tees that step up the hillside, and across a rough ravine to a pretty wide fairway that slopes significantly. But then so do plenty of the holes at Cavendish.
The approach to a pretty small green with bunkers right and drop off left
Hole 2308 yards
Par 4
You double back on yourself a little higher up the hill. The tee shot does play slightly uphill and as the tricky part of this hole is approaching the green, the decision of trying to get as close as possible or laying back for a full shot. Here is the view from the fairway
And from left of the green you can see the difficulty of the narrow green, the drystone wall behind, the hollow short. In the distance, further down the hill, you can see the first tees, and clubhouse. This green was actually enlarged recently as there used to be a small bunker back right.
Hole 3281 yards
Par 4
A fantastic downhill short par 4, that allows even modest hitters to have a chance of sneaking on onto the green. The funny thing is that though this is one of my favourite holes on the course, it was originally designed by MacKenzie to be a much longer hole, driving down to the current green and then an approach to a green in the field behind, though it turns out the club couldn’t use the field in the end.
From short right you can see how a ball needs to be ran in from this side. Even if the second is a pitch shot it will almost certainly need to be played out well right to get close to the hole, especially if the flag is at the back
From behind the green, you can see the narrow gap between rough and bunkers that a shot needs to be fed through to get on the green from the tee.
Hole 4121 yards
Par 3
A wider view of the short drop shot par 3. The mound on the right is also the location of the tee for holes 5 and 17 as well as the green for 16. Further in the distance you can see holes 17 and 6 as well as the tees for 7 and 18.
Hole 5 411 yards
Par 4
Like quite a few holes at Cavendish it doesn’t look much on the card, but playing uphill and often into the wind this is a tough hole.
The green is raised up with a false front, and is benched into the side of an embankment. MacKenzie makes splendid use of this feature on this hole and also the 14 green and 6 and 15 tees. The embankment was in fact formed to be part of the Buxton to Manchester railway that never got completed.
Hole 6406 yards
Par 4
From a raised tee, back down to a wide fairway, the approach is then to a great little greensite, protected by the bunkers and a tree, and plenty of interesting undulations in the green and around
The view from behind
Hole 7300 yards
Par 4
A big hitter can go for this, but the woods right will gobble up anything blocked right. A ditch across the fairway, is actually a recent addition, pretty shallow and can be ran through if you prefer a shorter approach
Hole 8361 yards
Par 4
A wander through the woods to the next tee, and the ground appear to all fall away left. This will possibly tempt you to hug the trees on the right, but the ideal position is actually left centre, aimed at the marker post, just on the edge of the fall off.
You can see how any approach from the right must get past the menacing front bunker as there is still quite a bit of green behind this.
Hole 9131 yards
Par 3
Another short drop shot par 3 to a recently rebuilt green. Plenty of interest in this green, but it feels bigger than a lot of the greens on the course and therefore a little out of place
So the front nine is 2,653 yards and a par of 34. Certainly not the longest, and plenty of birdie chances, but a few stern tests also.
Hole 10415 yards
Par 4
A cracking par 4 to get the back nine under way. The hole doglegs to the left and the drive must take on a rough drop off to the left to get a shorter shot in. A bail out right leaves a much longer shot and there is OOB on the outside of the dogleg.
The approach is over a stream and small cliff. Not for the faint hearted!
Hole 11396 yards
Par 4
A narrow drive that gets narrower further down. The second is played from the higher plateau, over the stream again and down to another wickedly undulating green. This picture from a conservative tee shot, doesn’t do the approach justice I’m afraid.
Hole 12342 yards
Par 4
Possibly the one mediocre hole on the course which may explain the lack of pictures I’m afraid. It runs across level ground to a green that is actually pretty decent.
Hole 13178 yards
Par 3
Mackenzie again utilises a par 3 to get across some tricky ground. This one plays uphill to a green with a hint of a Redan. Your approach needs to be played out right, a little draw will help, over the front bunker, and it should feed back round to the green nicely.
The view from behind shows the shape of the green
Hole 14488 yards
Par 5
The only par 5 and a dogleg to the left. If you take on the tree and drystone wall off the tee, then the green is easily in reach in two shots.
The wall again pinches in on the layup short of the green as can be seen on this picture. You need to get as close as you can to the wall to give a good chance to go for the green in two, but if you cant make it, the lay up is then very tricky as you try to steer away from the wall and end up in the right rough. However, a conservative tee shot will leave a relatively straightforward layup.
The green sits at the end of the railway embankment mentioned earlier and has a big false front.
From behind you can see how the drystone wall hugs the fairway all around the dogleg.
Hole 15108 yards
Par 3
A great little par 3 at the far end of the course, surrounded by Derbyshire hills, playing from knob to knob so to speak and to a green with some great undulations. You can use the back slope to get the ball back onto the green, but if you accidentally carry it, its an impossible shot back. Also, anything long, if kicking back a little too strongly can easily run right back off the front, between the bunkers, leaving a devilish shot back.
The green as seen from the left
Hole 16391 yards
Par 4
The downhill drive is to a wickedly sloping fairway
And if the downhill approach is to be ran in, you must avoid bunkers and a knob just short left of the green, but don’t go long or its real trouble!
The view from behind the green
Hole 17154 yards
Par 3
The last par 3, and its another interesting green with plenty of undulation
Hole 18427 yards
Par 4
The last drive is to a rolling fairway that runs round to the right. Your drive needs to be either up the right or long enough to reach the far plateau otherwise you wont have a view of the green, and with a lot of club in hand.
The long approach needs to carry all the way, due to the slope short of the green. As the ground falls away to the right also, you may be tempted to bail a little left but the bunker and clubhouse beckon!
The back nine adds up to 2,899 yards, par 34 which gives a total of 5,552 yards from the yellows to a par of 68. The medal tees stretch the course to 5,721 yards but I don’t think it will feel that short, mainly due to a series of par 4s that might not be 470 yard monsters but 4 or 5 of them can be really tough.
The one disappointment of my recent visit was the conditioning of the course, which was pretty lush. They get plenty of rain in that part of the World, but it was as soft and wet as I’ve ever played it. But this is a minor gripe about a course that may be short on length but is long, very long, on character!
Cheers,
James