Beauport Park Golf Club

COME away from Beauport Park with a score anywhere near to your handicap and you will feel like a world beater. However, if you follow the common path and succumb to the endless tree-lined fairways then you may brush off your spikes with an altogether different feeling. For this 6,180-yard par 71 parkland course is well and truly the most testing courses in Sussex, and would be high-up the list, where one to exist, of challenging tracks in the country. It is layouts like this that the USGA surely created their Slope Rating system for; yet, if you do not bite off more than you can chew, then there is a chance to tame the beast. Opened in 1972, Beauport Park has 13 holes where the flag cannot be seen from the tee, making finding fairways vital. The challenge of the latter is that 16 of the 18 fairways are guarded on both sides by towering, dense trees, the types that boarder forests and swallow golf balls for fun. The course starts easily enough; the 1st at 363-yards can be reached with a solid drive and a pitch, while the 2nd, a 493-yard par 5, has the widest fairway on the course and can be found in two by the big hitters. The 3rd, at 385-yards, forces you to place a long iron or wood at the bottom of a valley to avoid a tree that dominates the fairway. From here it takes a mid-iron to find the green and with two putts you may be fancying your chances of shooting under your handicap. The 4th, and your first par 3, is the last of the consecutive ‘easier’ holes. The 133-yard s are played slightly uphill and are guarded by a sole front bunker. As you step onto the 5th tee the character of the course unveils itself in dramatic fashion. A doglegging fairway dips and then rises some 50-yards, while the fairway slopes viscously with the dogleg, meaning an ideal tee shot starts on the right tree-line and draws back in to the middle. If you navigate this successfully then you are met with a mid-iron, with the ball below your feet, back up the hill to a tiered green. The 6th is a 199-yard uphill par 3, guarded by a bunker short right. It takes all but the best players at least a fairway wood to get close to a green that is treacherous should you find yourself the high side of the hole. The 7th is deemed the second easiest hole on the front nine and plays back down the hill parallel to the 6th, meaning any wild slices can find the adjacent fairway. Assuming you keep it on the straight and narrow, you are left with a pitch to a green that is protected by a bunker to the right, trees to the left and a steep bank at the back. The 8th is memorable for its saddle that sits level with the tee and green, between the two valleys the make up the 388-yard par 4. A 250-yard carry is needed from the back tees to reach this saddle, but anything short and the hole soon becomes a par 5. If you make it up on to the flat you are left with a 150-yard approach over the valley and its two hazards to a large tiered green. The 9th at Beauport Park is another left-to-right dogleg. At 324-yards it is short on paper, but tall trees and an uphill tee shot make any thoughts of cutting the corner non-existent. Instead, players must lay-up on the corner of the dogleg with a long iron, before hitting into a green guarded on either side by bunkers.

The course record of 2-under has stood for more than 20 years and while you may struggle to see how that was ever possible, you will undoubtedly want to return to find out.

The back nine is the more difficult of the two, as the fairways start to narrow and the holes become longer. The par 4 10th drops dramatically downhill, offering stunning views of the East Sussex countryside, before doglegging left and uphill to the green. The 11th is one of the most picturesque holes at Beauport Park, the 203-yard par 3 drops downhill and can play anything from a 3-iron to an 8-iron depending on the wind and the firmness of the fairways, which can often play like links golf across the course in the height of summer. The 12th is the start of Beauport Park’s very own Amen Corner. It is the narrowest and most intimidating fairway on the course, doglegging from left-to-right with a stream running alongside the length of the right tree-line. The best play on this 379-yard par 4 is to hit a hybrid followed by a mid iron. The stroke index 3 13th is next on the list, playing 415-yards uphill and doglegging right,  the par 4 leaves the average club golfer with a 180-yard second to a green that hugs the left tree-line and falls off to the right. The last and the most difficult of the trio is the stroke index 1 14th. The 408-yard par 4 again drops and rises around a densely tree-lined dogleg. The best tee shots will cut off some of the corner to avoid the ball running out of room as it bounces across a narrow fairway that slopes towards the right tree-line. Nothing short of your ‘A-game’ is needed to hit the green from the long uphill second to a steep and narrow green that is surrounded by trees on three sides. The closing stretch, if played sensibly, allows you to gain back some shots. The 504-yard par 5 15th can be reached in two if you successfully manage to navigate another doglegging tight fairway. The 140-yard 16th is the easiest hole on the back nine and anything that finds the green leaves you with a half chance of a rare birdie. The 17th is arguably the club’s signature hole, nicknamed ‘Heart Attack Hill’ after the two - non fatal - victims it has claimed. Your tee shot must arc over another valley and favour the left side of a generous fairway. From here you can either hit over another valley at the green in two, some 250-yard away, or lay-up short of the stream at the bottom of heart attack hill.  If you choose the latter then you are left with a 100-yard pitch up the steep hill, which after a long hilly walk will undoubtedly burn your thighs. The 18th provides the last of the slight inclines. The 307-yard par 4 offers you the choice between a faded drive and a pitch, or a long-iron and a mid-iron combination to a sloping green. The course record of 2-under has stood at Beauport Park for more than 20 years and while you may struggle to see how that was ever possible, you will undoubtedly want to come back and find out. Off the course the club boasts a large driving range and professional shop that has one of the most  successful junior teaching programmes in the country. The clubhouse also has male and female changing rooms, a restaurant, casual dining area and a veranda that overlooks the 18th and has incredible views towards Kent.   Beauport Park is located on the south coast just north of Hastings and costs less than £20-a-round during the week.