Hunstanton

 

Hunstanton Golf Club was founded in 1891, with George Fernie the man to lay-out the original 18-hole course.
 

Five-time Open Champion James Braid extended and revised that design, while James Sherlock created three new holes in 1920. They are today's 9th, 10th and 11th, at the furthest end of the links.

Martin Hawtree has led a project over the last decade or so that has seen the course undergo significant redevelopment. That has included both new bunkers and rebuilding of existing bunkers, as well as reshaping of the 8th and 10th. The opening and closing holes on the lay-out have also been redesigned as part of Hawtree's ideas.
 
A number of prestigious tournaments have been held at Hunstanton, which has strong historical links with high-level amateur golf. 

They include the Women's Amateur Championship in 2022, while the Brabazon Trophy, English Men's and Women's Amateur Championships and the British Boys Championship have all been played here over the years.
 

The course is more or less an out-and-back links, with a central spine of dunes running down the centre of the course. Most of the front nine plays away from the clubhouse, although the short 4th doubles back, the par 4 6th plays towards the sea and the 9th turns for home. The back nine is closer to the sea, with the journey back towards the handsome clubhouse beginning on the 11th. With a par of 72 and stretching out to 6,740 yards, this is championship golf from the back markers. 
 
For the better player, oblivious to the potential embarrassment of an opening drive struck from a 1st tee yards away from the bay windows of the clubhouse, the approach will be little more than a pitch and the par 5 2nd often plays shorter than would appear likely to judge by the scorecard.
 
Even the 3rd and 5th, both well in excess of 400 yards, can be safely navigated without need for heroics and the large flat green at the 4th, played back towards the clubhouse, is a generous enough target.
 
The need for strategy is paramount at the 6th. Better players can choose to play short of, between or beyond the fairway bunkers with the drive. Depending on the wind, finding and holding this green – even with a short iron – can be incredibly difficult and the penalties for missing it severe. It is a fine hole.
 
Then comes the famous 7th, played across a gully and over an enormous, gaping bunker to the green beyond. It is hard to know whether you would rather be playing downwind or into the breeze. Two par 5s end the front nine, and since they play in opposite directions, it is often the case that a five on the one is more worthy than a four at the other. The 8th is quirky while the 9th is classy. 

After the awkward 10th, dog-legging left into the farthest corner of the links, comes the turn for home. Stand on the 11th tee and not only can you survey a par four of genuine championship stature, you will also be able to see the clubhouse in the distance. The run for home starts here.
 
The 12th, with its blind drive across the dunes, is less taxing before another par four, in the opposite direction, traverses the same set of dunes to a green sunken and hidden by the ripples of the land. This is a terrific hole but the next is not as universally loved. 

It involves an oscillating marker post, a completely blind long iron or wood and the hope of a favourable downhill bounce to take you on to the large green. Holes like this do split golfing opinion but on the basis that a solid shot will invariably find the 14th green while a poor one will assuredly not, it is hard to be entirely critical.
 
The last four holes offer a little bit of everything – a five, a three and two fours. The short 16th is a vintage par 3, and also the scene of a quite remarkable feat back in the 1970s.
 
The most testing is the 17th, surely one of the toughest par fours in the British Isles. It does not need the protection of a single bunker. Measuring over 464 yards and into the prevailing wind, the real difficulty lies in the green. It is tucked against the spine of dunes and is little more than a ledge – especially when viewed from 200 yards or more away.
 
Go left and you will find thick rough while anything fading away will run off and down, leaving a chip few will relish. The final hole is fractionally shorter but again anything off line will leave the hardest of up and downs. They combine to create a fitting finish, and are worthy of deciding any match.
 

 

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