Golf Monthly UK – August 2019

Haveyoueverplayedan
‘unplayablecourse’or
onesetupbeyond your
skilllevel?
NearHull,GMwebsiteforum
Twothatspringtomind
areIleauxCerfs(formerly
LeTouessrok)inMauritius
andBallybunion’sCashen
course–bothvisually
stunningbutwithfairways
andgreensthatcanbe
exceptionallyhardtofind.
Ballybunion’swebsite
evenadmits,“Inastrong
wind,‘MissCashen’verges
on being impossible.”

WhichOpenrotacourse
wouldyourecommend
playingfirst,andwhy?
ArnoldArmChewer, GM
websiteforum
MyfirstwasRoyalSt
George’sclosesttohome,
butifI weretopickoneit
wouldbePrestwick.It
hosted 24 Opensfrom
1860 to1925,including
thefirst12,anditsunique
terraingivesyouabetter
ideathananywhereofthe
challengesfacedbyThe
OpenChampionship’s
earliest competitors.

What’sthemost
underratedcourse
you’veplayed?
JamesR,GMwebsiteforum
IwouldsaySeacroftjust
southofSkegness.It’s in
ourNext 100 and
obviouslyhighlyregarded
locally,butI thinkit’safine
linksworthyofamuch
widerreputation.Outside
ourNext100,EastDevon
inBudleighSaltertonand
SandwellParkinWest
Bromwichboth
impressedme,despite
quiteafewpylonsonthe
skyline at the latter.

nGotaquestionforRob
andJeremy?Emailitto
[email protected]

The joyofthe

elevated tee

I

nourOpenissue,RobSmithspoke

abouthisdislikeofuphillpar3sand

I wroteaboutCanterburyGolfClub

followingareturnvisitafter20+

years.WhatI’drememberedmostwas

thenumberofelevatedteesfromwhich

I’drelishedlaunchingtheballaway,a

designfeaturethathasprobably

broughtmemorepleasure than any

otherovertheyears.

IthinkofplaceslikeTrump

InternationalinScotlandortheback

nineatHillside,whereseveralteestake

fulladvantageofthedunes.Closerto

home,someofmyfavouriteholesatthe

London Golf Club are the par-3 12th on

JEREMY ELLWOOD SAYS...

theInternationalcourseandtheshort

3rdontheHeritagewhereyouplay

downtogreensprotectedbywater.

Ifspaceallowed,I wouldbeableto

recallcountlessindividualholesplayed

fromraisedtees.Whenyouwalkonto

themeverythingislaidoutbeforeyou,

invitingyoutojustgiveityourbest,

ratherthanfosteringanunhelpful

degreeofvisualuncertaintyaboutthe

holeahead.Somemayarguesuch

holesareofmeritstrategically,butthe

elevatedteeblowsthemawayvisually.

LikeRob,I’mnotabigfanofuphillpar

3s,norofhazardsthatarehiddenfrom

thetee.Whoamongushasnot

experiencedthedeflationofhittingthe

seeminglyperfectdrive,onlytoget

downthereandfindthemselvesbadly

bunkeredorsittinginaditch?Good

strategicdesign?Maybe.Alittle

devious?I thinkso.Givemeaholeany

daywhereI canseewhat’srequired of

me...evenifthatalsomeansthe

disappointmentofactually seeing your

ball find water or sand!

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EXPERTS

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