Accompanying me this year were Ken, my father and Tony, my cousin. We arrived at the course to find the last few groups of the annual Captain's Drive completing their rounds, we were told when we phoned they had gone out in a shotgun start but it turns out this was not the case.
According to the sign by the 1st tee, being a three ball, we had to start at the 10th, which turned out to be great for me. I tend to take a longish iron at the 1st here, being a short par 4, always managing to draw it slightly, either into the small bushes and trees that separate the 10th and 1st fairways or actually onto the 10th fairway itself. This time I took my Tri-Metal wood, given to me by an old Irish Tour Pro and sent it soaring down the middle of the 10th fairway for an eventual par to start.
A 7 iron down the left of the 11th saw it roll all the way across the fairway to settle on the right, short of the large tree perched on top of the steep bank that leads down to the green, I know the course well. A pitch over the tree left me with a 20ft putt that I managed to roll in for a birdie, this was going to be a good round.
Three solid shots to the 536 yard 12th which runs the whole length of a valley with the 8th and 2nd holes playing over it saw me post another par, along with three more at the 13th, 14th and 15th. This was turning out to be a very good round for me, although at the time it didn’t register in my mind.
The 16th is a very tough uphill par 4 but I managed to go through the green with my second shot, the adrenalin must have been in full flow. I took three more to post my first bogey along with a five at the par 3 that followed. The final hole of the course, not this particular round, has a split level fairway and is best played down the left along the upper level to avoid the bunker that is within reach on the lower level. My drive pitched on the bank just to the right of the upper level and ended up shooting left all the way across both levels to finish up just short of the bunker, a thinned approach left me with a long putt and another five.
My 4-iron went straight down the middle of the 1st this time, maybe I should warm up more when I play here, a chip onto the green and two putts set me in good stead for the back nine. Ken was not playing at all well at this point and Tony was having difficulty with any type of wood, a 5-iron had become his choice of club from the tee. Unfortunately the 2nd hole requires a drive over the valley that the 12th runs through, meaning a carry of at least 200 yards just to reach the other side. I hit my drive a little right as did Tony with quite a well hit 3-wood, he didn’t think he could smash a 5-iron 200 yards, Ken however ended up at the bottom of the valley on the 12th fairway.
The 3rd is a nice length par 3 with an uphill forested bank on the right and a downhill grassy bank to the left, I manage to find the green and two putt. The drive from the back tee of the 4th is fairly tight but I do like the shape of this hole, a dogleg left with the fairway sloping away from you causing the ball to gather on the right. I make a mess of this one and get a six but both Ken and Tony have birdie putts which, unfortunately they both miss.
The 5th is straight and played slightly uphill then the 6th comes back the other way, the hole used to be drivable but they have now added three bunkers in front of the green so to achieve this feat you need to thread your ball between a gap just 4 paces wide. Upon arriving at the 7th tee we notice that we have caught up a 4-ball, during the short wait I totalled up my number of shots for the round so far, 66 strokes with just three holes left, unfortunately I think this stayed in the back of my mind for the rest of the round.
We all played irons from the tee on this dogleg to the left hole, which again has the fairway sloping away from you so anything hit too far will just run out of fairway. Tony and Ken found the green easily with their approach shots but I managed to catch an overhanging tree branch that diverted my ball off to the right and back onto the 6th fairway, I eventually managed a six with my companions both putting out for pars.
We talked about the next hole on the short walk to the next tee along the woodland path, it has appeared in the publication Britain’s 100 Extraordinary Golf Holes. At less than 150 yards from the yellow tees it should not pose too much of a problem but the green is up on the level of the 2nd tee area while you are teeing off from within the valley on the other side of the 12th fairway, it is an elevation of some 60-80ft!
A 5-wood is the usual choice, Tony doesn’t make it and his ball rolls back to the 12th fairway but Ken however nearly finds the green. I hit a good shot and after the energy sapping walk up the path to the green I find that I have found the old green, the new one being 3 paces wider and 3 paces longer but still very much a postage stamp. Ken manages a par, I don’t think this hole has seen many par three, I fluff my chip onto the new green and end up with a four.
The final hole of our round, the 9th on the course bends round to the right and slightly uphill, it is a tough par 4 especially if the wind is blowing but we all manage good drives. My approach falls short of the green and my attempt to chip and run along the sloping right to left green starts off too far right and does not release down to the hole. I finish with a five for a round of 81, I wonder what I would have scored if I had not been thinking about it so much on the final three holes?
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