Course Description
The best view of the course is to be obtained from the clubhouse balcony. A central ridge can be seen extending into the distance towards Holme. To the right is the River Hun and to the left is the Wash, separated from the course by low dunes. The ridge makes an excellent vantage point and can accommodate a sizeable gallery as it moves up and down following the fortunes of a match. On a warm, cloudless, summer's day the vista across the course and the Wash towards the Lincolnshire coast can induce a sense of contentment rarely experienced in this troubled world. Enough of this nonsense! Tell us about the course!
First
This hole must have been quite fearsome in the days when the tee was sited where the eighteenth green is now.
The carry over the huge bunker, seen in the photograph on the home page, is not so formidable with modern balls and implements as it was then.
Nevertheless a good shot is still required and those of a nervous disposition are best advised to avoid teeing off soon after the last competitors in the Shotgun Foursomes have arrived back at the clubhouse.
On this particular Sunday morning the balcony of the clubhouse overlooking the first tee is occupied by a noisy rabble of intemperate members whose teasing gaze and extravagant cries of "shush" are sufficient to make the most impervious soul wish he'd gone to church instead.
The green can, of course, be driven under the right conditions.
The second shot needs to be held up to the left as the green falls away towards the Hun on the right.
Second
This hole is noted for its strategic bunkering.
The tee shot needs to be hit with a little draw towards the right hand drive bunker.
Any hint of a pull will run the gauntlet of the three covering bunkers on the left hand side of the fairway.
A wilder shot to the left may end up in the greenkeepers shed. This is in play and the shot back through the open doors can be quite entertaining.
A big drive during the summer may leave only a short iron second to what is the longest hole on the course.
There is a ditch to the left hand side of the green which needs to be avoided with the approach.
The green is fairly flat although there are borrows towards the middle from either edge.
Third
Stroke index one but not the toughest hole on the course.
This is another well-bunkered hole and once out of position the score soon mounts.
The hole plays as a right hand dog-leg from the medal tee but pretty straight from the winter tee. Anything off-line to the right will put the ball in some of the deepest, thickest rough on the course and a wild slice will deposit it out of bounds in the Hun.
Once again the green falls towards the Hun and this time towards the back as well.
There are some twenty to thirty yards of dead ground before the putting surface and the shot that comes up short will often stay short with the shot that pitches the green running through.
The right hand side of the green is only a few yards from the dreaded Hun.
Fourth
A straighforward par three. Miss on the left if you must.
Fifth
The fifth fairway is probably the lushest on the couse and some recent contouring has given it a well manicured look reminiscent of some parkland courses.
The drive is straight but some account needs to be taken of the pin position before deciding which side of the fairway to aim for.
Do not miss on the right as the rough, which is as bad as on the third, puts the green out of range for the second shot.
The second is played between two bunkered humps which conspire to make the green seem closer than it really is.
There are, in fact, some forty or so yards between the front of the bunkers and the edge of the green.
Once again the green is hard by the Hun which lies even closer to the right hand side than on the third.
Fortunately this is the last time we will encounter this greedy serpent.
Sixth
One of the best holes on the course.
Short by modern standards but with a real knee-trembler of a second shot.
After a long drive downwind a chip and run may be all that is required but under any other circumstances great care needs to be taken if the putting surface is to be reached and held safely.
The green is set high up on a plateau, angled to the direction of the fairway, canted towards the player and fully exposed to the wind.
Missing the green does not bear thinking about.
During the summer the ball also needs to be held below the hole as a putt from the rear can easily slip off the front of the green and back some thirty yards down the fairway.
Seventh
Played across the 'crater' to a green fronted by a bunker big enough to swallow a small bus, this is another of Hunstanton's feature holes.
The sixth green used to lie in the middle of the crater and even though the second shot was blind this was probably infinitely preferable to the present arrangement.
The seventh in those days was played blind, over the ridge, towards a green near the eighth tee.
The green at this hole has some particularly subtle borrows and any putt of medium length and upwards will probably break both ways.
Eighth
Care needs to be taken with the tee shot on this hole as the public right of way to Holme beach crosses the fairway some two hundred and fifty yards out.
The road is raised and can be seen from the tee. The deep ditches on either side cannot!
It is probably safest to lay up but downwind the big hitters can clear the road and leave themselves a short iron approach.
The lucky ones hit the road first bounce and gain a further hundred yards!
The raised green is small, as befits a short par five and has a nasty swale to the front right.
Each year the greenkeeper, Jimmy Read, exacts his revenge and positions the flag just above this swale.
For one day only all eighteen greens get the same treatment.
No prizes for guessing where the pin goes on the sixth!
Ninth
The eighth green represents the furthest point from the clubhouse and standing on the ninth tee one gets an idea of what the wind is going to be like for the ride home.
The tee shot must clear the public right of way this time. This is no mean feat against the wind. However, should the ball land on the sandy track, providing it lies within the marked area, this is Ground Under Repair and a free drop is allowed.
Against the wind this hole can be three full blows with the driver but downwind during the summer the second shot may be as little as an eight iron.
A running ball will be swept towards the green from the left but anything with a touch of cut on it will disappear down the slope to the right, leaving a very delicate up and down.
The green is two-tiered with the upper, back tier being slightly raised at the rear.
This makes judgement of pace the critical factor here although if the pin is on the lower tier wild swings are possible.
Tenth
This is a rather deceptive hole.
It looks easy enough and at three hundred and eighty-two yards it ought to be but both shots need to be played with some precision.
The tee shot can easily run out of fairway on the right since the hole is a slight left hand dog-leg although the longer the drive the straighter the hole plays.
Look back at the tee when you reach the green to see what this means.
The green slopes dramatically from left to right and to a lesser extent from back to front so the second shot can be aimed towards the eleventh tee and allowed to come round.
Eleventh
No bunkers, an uneven fairway and two stout shots into the prevailing wind combine with the roar of the sea in the background to make this classic example of a links hole.
From the white tee to the middle of the green the hole measures four hundred and forty-three yards but the putting surface is long, narrow and thirty-eight yards long so with the pin on the back, four hundred and seventy yards is nearer the true length.
Although the hole is straight the tee shot needs to be played down the left in order to open up the green for the second shot.
The rough to the left of the green is heavy and penal.Saving par from here is something of a lottery.
The putting surface is flat for the most part although some putts will be found to have a few inches of break.
Twelfth
This is a lovely driving hole. The tee shot needs to be aimed over the middle of the drive bunker with just a touch of draw. This will pitch the ball in the middle of the fairway and with some run will take it over to the left hand side, opening up the green for the second shot.
The scrub just in front of the tee that was for so long the denouement of many a successful foursomes partnership has now thankfully been cleared.
The right hand side of the green is covered by a nasty little bunker which seems to gather in shots that fall well outside its immediate confines, hence the advice to approach from the left.
Once again beware the dead ground in front of the green.
Thirteenth
One of Hunstanton's most famous holes, the thirteenth is another great driving hole.
The tee shot really does need to be aimed at the marker post on the distant ridge.
Anything leaking to the right, if it is not bad enough to be lost, will find itself either with an awkward lie or in lush, green rough from which it is almost impossible to get home in two.
A weak, pulled shot will find itself in a large bunker with a steep face thwarting any attempt of a shot at the green.
The second is played across a wilderness of sandy scrub. This shot is blind if one's ball has run down the far side of the ridge on which the marker post stands.
The green is angled to the direction of play with surprisingly more room on the left than one imagines.
Fourteenth
What! A two hundred and twenty-two yard, blind, par three! Aim at the distant pole over the ridge. A shot left of the marker will often find its way onto the green whereas one going right will not usually be so fortunate. Don't forget to push the button to indicate to those on the tee that the green is clear. Why no bell? Because it wouldn't be heard in the wind.
Fifteenth
The drive here requires a big, bowling draw down the right hand edge of the fairway as seen from the tee.
This will obtain maximum distance as the ball will kick on and into the lush, valley fairway below.
Precise clubbing is necessary for the second shot, particularly during the summer when there is a lot of run.
A low ridge crosses the fairway some seventy-five yards short of the green to give a foreshortening effect and beyond this the fairway is hardpan making chipping a somewhat nervy affair.
The green has its own miniature Valley of Sin on the right hand side.
Sixteenth
The scene, in 1974, of Bob Taylor's famous feat of a hole in one on three successive days. The first was with a one iron into the wind, the second and third with a six iron downwind. He was probably oblivious to all the sand surrounding this green. The bunkers, however, surround the front two-thirds of the green only and as the pin is usually sited on the rear of this two-tier green the safe shot is to the back. One should err towards the left as to miss on this side leaves an easier up and down than on the other.
Seventeenth
The hardest hole on the course.
With the pin on the back of the green it measures over four hundred and seventy yards and is played into the prevailing wind.
The tee shot is fairly straightforward but it is the second shot, played with a long iron or wood from a hanging lie, that makes the hole.
There is a somewhat flatter area, twenty or so yards beyond and to the left of the right hand drive bunker, which allows for an easier stance but this is still two hundred yards from the green.
It is all too easy to pull the ball over the central ridge and down the slope into some heavy rough in an effort to avoid the second shot flying to the right as the lie of the land and the wind determine.
The green which is long, narrow and cut into the seaward side of the ridge drops off precipitously on its right hand side.
The second shot that finishes here leaves a nightmarish shot back, often from an indifferent lie. With tension in the hands and an over eager head the ball can be winging its way over both the green and the ridge in an instant.
Putts on the seaward side of this green break away from the sea and those on the landward side fall towards it.
Eighteenth
Don't miss this green on the right either! The shot back is just as difficult as on the seventeenth but this time has to be played in full view of the clubhouse windows and those waiting to tee off on the first, who would be well advised to return to the bar until the all-clear has been sounded.
The drive is aimed down the right hand side of the fairway in order that the approach can be played into the heart of the green.
The traditional advice is to play towards the clubhouse clock with the second shot but if the ball stays on this line it will miss on the left, leaving a nasty chip onto a falling green with every prospect of ending up down the slope on the right, which one was trying to avoid in the first place!
A badly pulled second shot will end up on the practice putting green.
The shot back to the green from here is blind and played over the first tee. During the time it takes to drop the ball and determine a line a sizeable crowd will usually have gathered to watch the fun!
A measure of how difficult these last two holes can play, particularly under championship conditions, was provided at the climax to the Brabazon Trophy in 1980. Peter McEvoy, one of the world's finest amateur golfers and fresh from a visit to Augusta, contrived to finish six, six and leave himself tied for the championship with Ronan Rafferty, the sixteen year old British Boys Champion. Earlier in the day, Rafferty, in his third round, had taken eight at the seventeenth. The wind was apparently helping! Honours even, the Trophy was shared, each retaining it for six months.
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