I had the pleasure of playing this course yesterday morning and the weather could not have been kinder to me with the sun shining,the temperature being T-Shirt weather and only the slightest of breezes blowing.
After a bacon roll and cuppa in the beautiful and very interesting clubhouse (loads of Open memorabilia to look at) it was off the the 1st tee to start a round that I had been looking forward to for a fair while.
Now,I have played many links courses and a few on the Open Rota but the 1st here is a very poor hole and I can see why the course was changed to make this the 3rd hole during the 2006 Open.It is a straight away par 4,albeit a dog leg right with OOB down the right hand side but for me it is pretty nondescript with acres of room left and it has a huge fairway so the OOB never entered my thoughts on either the tee shot or 2nd shot....visually it just didn't say to me that I was teeing off at a top course but after hole 1 the course does get going!
Hole 2 is a great mid distance par 4 with huge cavernous bunkers right at driving distance and also protecting the green and this feature is found on each and every hole from 2 onward and for me makes it very easy for your mind to see the shot required...it is just a shame I don't have the ability to pull them off!!
Holes 2 through to 12 are without doubt the best part of the course with the stand out holes being 4, a long par 3 played to a green perched up a height and surrounded by huge run off areas,swales and bunkers,6 a somewhat quirky mid length par 4 where you have to drive blind over trees to a narrow fairway with OOB left and bunkers right....no bail out area at all,7 another long par 3 that seems to play a hell of a lot longer than the 198 yards on the card,8 a superb shortish par 5 played with a snaking fairway to another green perched up high and surounded by run off areas and swales and 12 a sweeping 412 yard par 4 dog leg left with a green with no bunkers but again wicked run off areas, being my stand out holes.
The course then for me goes a wee bit quiet with 13 a short par 3,14 a straight away par 5 aptly named 'Field'....most uninteresting,
but then the last 4 holes are 4 absolute belters with 15 being a long par 4 with OOB right and bunkers well placed off the tee and protecting the green,16 having the same problems as 15 but being a par 5(I can see why they use this as the closing hole in the Open as it's a great hole),17 being much the same feature wise as 15 but without the OOB and the 18th being a nice finishing hole which played short, but again as with all the holes on this course,bunkers and swales being a great feature!!
All in all this is a superb course to play and the condition of the course was nothing short of exquisite.We played from the green tees which made the course play around 7100yards par 72 and were told before we teed off that the greens unfortunately could not be cut due to overnight frost but I can honestly say that once the sun got up and dried up the dew from the defrosted frost they were the best greens I have putted on this year.....quite an accolade given we are nearly in November!!
Do I have any critisisms?? One or two.
1)The 1st should be the 3rd full time,I thought it was a really poor hole but as a 3rd hole it wouldn't stick so badly in your mind.
2)Tee boxes...the yellow tees have those bloody tin boxes on and I hate them,they look bloody dreadful,like a municipal track so get rid of them please!!
This course is,apart from halway up the 8th to the 13th tee,incredibly flat but it is brought to life by the complex swales and run off areas at the greens and also by the way the bunkers have been designed so that they are visual on each shot, in fact I cannot think of a trap that you cannot see when you are playing....excellent work.
If you get the chance make sure you go and play it,I know that next year I will be hoping the event I played in is held at the same place because I would be back in a flash!!!
After a bacon roll and cuppa in the beautiful and very interesting clubhouse (loads of Open memorabilia to look at) it was off the the 1st tee to start a round that I had been looking forward to for a fair while.
Now,I have played many links courses and a few on the Open Rota but the 1st here is a very poor hole and I can see why the course was changed to make this the 3rd hole during the 2006 Open.It is a straight away par 4,albeit a dog leg right with OOB down the right hand side but for me it is pretty nondescript with acres of room left and it has a huge fairway so the OOB never entered my thoughts on either the tee shot or 2nd shot....visually it just didn't say to me that I was teeing off at a top course but after hole 1 the course does get going!
Hole 2 is a great mid distance par 4 with huge cavernous bunkers right at driving distance and also protecting the green and this feature is found on each and every hole from 2 onward and for me makes it very easy for your mind to see the shot required...it is just a shame I don't have the ability to pull them off!!
Holes 2 through to 12 are without doubt the best part of the course with the stand out holes being 4, a long par 3 played to a green perched up a height and surrounded by huge run off areas,swales and bunkers,6 a somewhat quirky mid length par 4 where you have to drive blind over trees to a narrow fairway with OOB left and bunkers right....no bail out area at all,7 another long par 3 that seems to play a hell of a lot longer than the 198 yards on the card,8 a superb shortish par 5 played with a snaking fairway to another green perched up high and surounded by run off areas and swales and 12 a sweeping 412 yard par 4 dog leg left with a green with no bunkers but again wicked run off areas, being my stand out holes.
The course then for me goes a wee bit quiet with 13 a short par 3,14 a straight away par 5 aptly named 'Field'....most uninteresting,
but then the last 4 holes are 4 absolute belters with 15 being a long par 4 with OOB right and bunkers well placed off the tee and protecting the green,16 having the same problems as 15 but being a par 5(I can see why they use this as the closing hole in the Open as it's a great hole),17 being much the same feature wise as 15 but without the OOB and the 18th being a nice finishing hole which played short, but again as with all the holes on this course,bunkers and swales being a great feature!!All in all this is a superb course to play and the condition of the course was nothing short of exquisite.We played from the green tees which made the course play around 7100yards par 72 and were told before we teed off that the greens unfortunately could not be cut due to overnight frost but I can honestly say that once the sun got up and dried up the dew from the defrosted frost they were the best greens I have putted on this year.....quite an accolade given we are nearly in November!!
Do I have any critisisms?? One or two.
1)The 1st should be the 3rd full time,I thought it was a really poor hole but as a 3rd hole it wouldn't stick so badly in your mind.
2)Tee boxes...the yellow tees have those bloody tin boxes on and I hate them,they look bloody dreadful,like a municipal track so get rid of them please!!
This course is,apart from halway up the 8th to the 13th tee,incredibly flat but it is brought to life by the complex swales and run off areas at the greens and also by the way the bunkers have been designed so that they are visual on each shot, in fact I cannot think of a trap that you cannot see when you are playing....excellent work.
If you get the chance make sure you go and play it,I know that next year I will be hoping the event I played in is held at the same place because I would be back in a flash!!!
