HRC99
Journeyman Pro
Quite simply as beautiful a course as I've ever played. Just stunning. It would be a lovely course at any time of year, but the heather was in flower which made it even more lovely.
It is an unrelenting test of golf with any wayward shot punished ruthlessly. The tight oak, fir and birch-lined fairways and fiendishly placed fairway and greenside bunkers mean that anything vaguely off-line means a bogey at best.
The bunkering is tremendous and daunting, both in terms of the number of them and their size. If you are even a little erratic in your direction, you will be playing an awful lot of bunker shots in your round - with one of my playing partners managing to play into three bunkers in consecutive shots on one hole!
The greens were quick, true and receptive but were nowhere near as tricky as you might expect as they were without severe undulations. The courses protection clearly comes from it's length, tightness & bunkers. And, if the wind blew, god help you!
There are only three par 3s on the course which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing as each of them is a card-wrecker and a curse as they are incredible golf holes.
Now, index 18 at my home course is my bogey hole (quite literally) and I will often moan about how tricky it is for stroke 18. Having played the Hotchkin's index 18, I will never complain again. If your tee shot is anything less than spot on, a monstrous bunker awaits.
Memorable holes? Pretty much all of them. There isn't a bad one on the course. But aside from the wonderful par 3s, the 3rd, 15th and 18th stood out for me.
It is also a truly fair test too. Good shots are rewarded and bad ones punished. If you keep it in play, you can score well (as my first 14 holes will attest) but, as soon as you start leaking balls left or right, you are in real trouble (as my score on the closing 4 shows).
Mentally, it is a real challenge too. As the pressure of having to play near-perfect golf builds and builds, your ability to stay in the moment and focussed on every shot is really tested. A test that I utterly failed on the final four holes.
A really fabulous test of golf in a beautiful setting, the Hotchkin is an absolute must-play.
It is an unrelenting test of golf with any wayward shot punished ruthlessly. The tight oak, fir and birch-lined fairways and fiendishly placed fairway and greenside bunkers mean that anything vaguely off-line means a bogey at best.
The bunkering is tremendous and daunting, both in terms of the number of them and their size. If you are even a little erratic in your direction, you will be playing an awful lot of bunker shots in your round - with one of my playing partners managing to play into three bunkers in consecutive shots on one hole!
The greens were quick, true and receptive but were nowhere near as tricky as you might expect as they were without severe undulations. The courses protection clearly comes from it's length, tightness & bunkers. And, if the wind blew, god help you!
There are only three par 3s on the course which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing as each of them is a card-wrecker and a curse as they are incredible golf holes.
Now, index 18 at my home course is my bogey hole (quite literally) and I will often moan about how tricky it is for stroke 18. Having played the Hotchkin's index 18, I will never complain again. If your tee shot is anything less than spot on, a monstrous bunker awaits.
Memorable holes? Pretty much all of them. There isn't a bad one on the course. But aside from the wonderful par 3s, the 3rd, 15th and 18th stood out for me.
It is also a truly fair test too. Good shots are rewarded and bad ones punished. If you keep it in play, you can score well (as my first 14 holes will attest) but, as soon as you start leaking balls left or right, you are in real trouble (as my score on the closing 4 shows).
Mentally, it is a real challenge too. As the pressure of having to play near-perfect golf builds and builds, your ability to stay in the moment and focussed on every shot is really tested. A test that I utterly failed on the final four holes.
A really fabulous test of golf in a beautiful setting, the Hotchkin is an absolute must-play.
