England – North East 1 (West Yorkshire)
Only three counties to consider here, but Yorkshire alone has over 170 courses so this will be another labour of love. Next to Wales, the north-east provides many of Britain’s best value green fees. Yorkshire may be a huge county with a long coastline but it only has one genuine links, The Cleveland. I’ll start, however, in the west of the county in the Pennines.
http://www.baildongolfclub.com/I’ve directed GCAers to this website before. Wonderfully natural and rugged upland golf with a wittily-written website.
Halifax (I don’t think it has a website) is similarly natural – primitive you might say – but there are some splendid holes making full use of rocky mountain becks for strategic purposes. The turf is springy moorland giving lies not unlike links golf. You climb slowly up a rugged valley before emerging on top of Ilkley Moor, play a few very airy holes up there and suddenly plunge down the mountainside in the spectacular 17th, a mid-length par 3 as far down as it is long!
http://www.huddersfield-golf.co.uk/One of my favourites – a Herbert Fowler layout on a hilly site. On the whole it is a very spacious golf club, although the 1st and 9th fairways do cross each other. The course still features a number of fairway cross-bunkers (a feature all too frequently eliminated these days) and there are several quite unusual holes on the back nine, not least the 18th which involves a drive up to the summit of a hill before plummeting down the far side. I’m sure that in dry weather a strong hitter could clear the summit with enough to spare to catch the steep downslopes, suggesting the possibility of driving the green on a straight par 5!
http://www.bingleystivesgc.co.uk/Bingley St Ives hosted a few tour and senior tour events in the past. The website suggests that Alister Mackenzie was one of the architects. A correspondent whose knowledge of Mackenzie is considerable suggests that he was not involved. No matter, it’s still a fun mixture of heathland and woodland holes and very attractive, too.
http://www.bradfordgolfclub.co.uk/home.phpFowler and Simpson, I believe. I’ve not played it, but I gather from some who have that it’s a good test.
I haven’t found a website for Headingley, but it’s worth a look if you’re in Leeds. Mackenzie was the designer, the course runs out and back over high ground to the west of the city, with lovely views and really rural feel.
http://www.leedsgolfclub.com/Often overlooked (easily done when there are Alwoodley and Moortown close by), an entertaining parkland course in lovely condition, remarkably rural given its proximity to the city centre. Nicely undulating ground well utilised.
http://www.alwoodley.co.uk/A ‘must play’ for anyone with the least interest in golf architecture, Colt or Mackenzie. It’s beautifully kept, the course is pretty well exactly that mapped by Mackenzie in about 1910 (play from the present-day ladies’ tees if you want his exact course). Trees have been removed to restore Mackenzie’s original sight lines, ecology is a high priority and from the moment you hit your opening tee shot you get that feeling that this is ‘spot on.’
http://www.moortown-gc.co.uk/Just over the road from Alwoodley, one of Mackenzie’s first solo designs and home to that famous short hole, Gibraltar. Unfortunately, not all the original holes remain, and I always feel that the new holes are not really in the same league. Quite tree-bound, not at all the open moor you might expect.
http://www.sandmoorgolf.co.uk/I believe that even less of Mackenzie’s work survives here. That is not to say that it isn’t a good course. It’s very well set up for modern play and has produced many fine amateur players over the last few years.
http://www.otley-golfclub.co.uk/A pretty course in handsome surroundings. Don’t know who designed it. Holes crossing stream are charming and out-of-bounds is a frequent threat.
http://www.ilkleygolfclub.co.uk/An absolute beauty with a most intriguing opening seven holes running along the banks of the River Wharfe – not only running along but often playing over it on and off islands. I admire the later holes equally. They are man-sized and the 16th is a stand-out for me, played from a tee high on a wooded hillside down to a narrow, angled fairway. Gorgeous scenery.
http://www.shipleygc.co.uk/I haven’t played it, but my attention was drawn to it very recently by a fellow GCAer, and from the website it looks to have some fine holes and several interesting greens. A Mackenzie design.
http://www.woodsome.co.uk/As you’ll see from the home page, Woodsome Hall’s pride and joy is its historic clubhouse. The course is uneven. It was apparently laid out by the club’s inaugural professional, W. Button, with advice from James Braid. There are some good holes (the 3rd, 8th and 9th, for instance) but there is too much hill-climbing for my taste on the back nine which doesn’t seem to match the front nine in character.