Worplesdon – Golf Course Review

Golfer’s Tips

• 1st tee nerves can be somewhat quelled by a reasonably comfortable opener, which is a downhill tee shot to a fairly generous fairway with real trouble quite wide on both sides. Get a decent one away and you’re off and running.
• The 8th hole is another fine doglegging par 4, and the green is significantly two-tiered. If the pin is at the front, then it is possible to run the ball back off the slope, essentially providing a back-stop for the lower approach. I would suggest that the lower running second shot should always be the option for any flag positioned on the back tee – attempting to hit a high ball and stop the ball on the top surface without running through the back is potentially very dangerous.

Signature Holes

• 5th – a classic heathland hole, with an element of risk-reward. The tee shot is to a fairway that slants diagonally right – carrying more of the heather on the right hand side means a shorter shot into the green, but with it more risk. The second shot is played into a green that sits on a plateau with a significant swale just short, which will catch any under-hit shots and will leave a tricky up-and-down.
• The 10th, another par 3, does prompt mention due to its nature as a very picturesque par 3 played over a pond, but from a purist standpoint one could argue that perhaps it does not quite fit with the nature of the rest of the course.
• 13th – a beautiful par 3 (pictured below), which is a plateau green flanked by tall, mature pine trees and fronted by sand including a nasty pot bunker on the left. The tee shot should be aimed to be long enough for the back half of the green – this will take the bunkering that surrounds the front half out of play.

Review:

A timeless heathland circuit – beautifully put together.

Worplesdon is the first that I have played of Surrey’s famous ‘3 W’s’, the others being West Hill and Woking, which form a set of highly-rated courses within incredibly close proximity of each other. The club and course have the feeling of classical heathland golf, giving you the feeling that both have been in existence, unspoiled, for a long time.

Starting with a relatively straight forward par 4, you quickly find your feet over the first half-dozen holes with the pattern of the course as a hole. Majoring on excellent par 4s, where tee shots played to gentle doglegs should be aimed strategically in order to minimise risk or optimise approach angle, and mixing in some fantastic par 3s with a few longer holes for good measure too.

The 4th is then the first of 5 absolutely superb par 3s, from which it is very difficult to pick a favourite – all have excellent greens, often with tiers and significant undulations, and all are wonderfully framed by good quality and cleverly placed bunkering and run-off areas.

The par 5s are all good, without being standout, but like most of the holes are lined by tall pine trees with heather at their base, which provide strong viewing holes throughout the round. The greens at Worplesdon are excellent, both in terms of quality and their undulations, which often require considerable thought and no little touch.

I cannot wait to return to the other two ‘W’s’ on the basis of the strength of Worplesdon, but they have a very hard act to follow – a beautiful course.

• “Top 100” Ranking: 30th (England), 73rd (GB & I)
• Golfer View Rating: 83%

https://www.worplesdongc.co.uk

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