Courses I've Played : South Downs : 6/10

After playing Glenvista and writing the review, I thought that I sounded like a little bit of a snob having a slight dig at the courses in the south the way I did, so I arranged a game at South Downs Country Club with the brother and a few mates who barely get to play golf and are by no means picky about the courses they tackle, and I have to say that pleasantly surprised is probably the best way to describe the experience we had - I arrived with very low expectations as the course has previously been known as bit of a dirt track and I wasn't initially surprised to find it that way; the pro shop wasn't open yet when we got there, there are no directions to the
tee boxes and the 10th hole (a par 3) looks horrible (although it will probably look much better once the earth works are finished), although they do have nice new parking lot, new carts and their security is well organised.

The course is a classic parkland layout, with wide fairways, lots of run in winter (I will be returning in summer to compare), it has plenty of water and ditches, etc to catch you out but most holes are wide open and have plenty of room (and trees) for you to get yourself into trouble - for the most part the additional hazards are only found on the harder holes. The course will probably play a lot harder and look a lot better in summer

The greens are really good, for the most part they are consistent on the speed front and easy enough to read - expect the 18th which is all over the place and has slopes and lines I wouldn't even expect to find at Augusta it is so tricky; but thats probably my ego talking given how shocking my golf was

For me the feature hole is the par 4, stroke 5, 7th - its relatively short at only 313m but it deserves its rating - you play over a stream, between two wooded areas to a fairway that turns to the right; the stream and trees run down the entire right side of the whole and there is a strategically placed bunker on the left to catch those that don't get the line just right. Getting your drive in the fairway is only
half the fun, if you don't get it in the right place, you limit your opens going in for your second as the approach to the green is guarded by trees (again) on either side of the green, a stream across the front, a bunker down the right and a raised green that pretty much runs everything off it that is not perfectly place. If you add a nasty pin position on the crest of green, you have a nasty little hole that leaves you satisfied if you walk off with a par (and not to unhappy with a bogey if you have
bounced off the back of the green and faced a somewhat tricky recovery shot).

The halfway house is somewhat rustic but the food and service where great and the meal was reasonably priced - a trend carried through the club as a round is cheap and the bar is not at all overpriced, even if a cart cost same as clubs in the north.

Overall then the course is tough but fair, probably very enjoyable if you are a beginner - you can get a big score on a hole, but you won't loose many balls and you won't hold the experience against the course; go and play South Downs Country Club you will be pleasantly surprised; given how the parking lot was packed when we left (AND the number of very expensive vehicles) it contained, I was surprised we got a round at all!