I can usually recall all holes of a course after a single play. That’s not the case with Walton Heath Old. Odd, as it is a top 10 favorite of mine. I can only reconcile those statements by concluding that the whole is better than the sum of the parts. Crossing the road after playing the rather pedestrian opener yields one of the most attractive panoramas in my experience. The remaining seventeen holes are free of theatrics but without a single weak hole. Bunkering is well placed, of reasonable scale and tends to sneak out into the fairways. Greens are subtle but far from flat. The sporadic groupings of trees rarely come into play but dramatically enhance the landscape. Firm fairways are often angled from the tee and have abundant width for the shorter hitter, narrowing for the long driver. The routing yields a seamless walk from start to finish. Generally the course accommodates all players while still suffering no fools.
Of the so-called championship courses I’ve been fortunate to play if limited to one for the rest of my days I’d choose Walton Heath Old. It is ideal.