Sprouting from their forest setting, the Hanging Stone Rocks of Charnwood Forest are well known Leicestershire landmarks. This area has long been quarried and has yielded slate and granite for centuries. Rather harshly, the M1 cuts through the middle of this 67 sq. mile forest whose makeup, ironically, includes large tracts of barren moorland. A nine-hole course five miles south of Loughborough uses Charnwood Forest as its name and there are rocky outcroppings in the middle of the SSSI property. First designed in 1890, it would appear the course has gone under the knife on several occasions and now bears no resemblance to the original layout. It is thought James Braid may have had his say, but I can find no definitive proof the great man was involved with the evolution of the course. There is little doubt Charnwood’s routing around the rocks, over walls and sloping fairways displays a certain charm, but the simple greens and lack of bunkers are the dead give-away of the back-to-basics provenance of the design.
A blind hole, the opener feeds from the right toward the stone boundary wall....quite a pleasant hello.
The wild second really is wild. At 447 yards, the hole is long as well. Trees near the tee prevent a fade which would counteract the sharp slope to the left. Then there are trees further up the fairway which make the drive very much placement golf. We played in fairly firm conditions...I don't know how the hole is played in high summer!
The approach is a bit funky as well. It is blind with the green tucked a bit behind trees down the left. A draw banging into the bank and kicking right is a useful shot.
A bit more conventional, the third plays over a wall and for bigger hitters over trees on the right.
However, there is a wee pond prowling up the right to catch out the overly greedy. The benched green makes for a difficult target.
More to follow.
Ciao