Ferndown – Golf Course Review

Golfer’s Tips

• The tee shot on the 7th is not a pleasant one for anyone hitting right to left – the row of pines to the left perimeter cuts in sharply on driver length, so despite it being a par 5 you may want to take some length off and play it as a three-shotter. The relatively short yardage does permit this strategy and could even allow you to reach in two without touching driver.
• The 18th is a fantastic finishing hole with the green sitting seemingly adjacent to the clubhouse, but the approach can be deceiving due to the length of the green and the uphill nature, so at least one extra club will be required and perhaps two depending on where the pin is located.

Signature Holes

• 14th – one of many superb par 3s, this one is the shortest but provides a beautifully framed green sat amongst tall pines, with the punchbowl green surrounded by classical heathland bunkering.
• 18th – a fantastic finishing hole. The tee is set back amongst pines and mounds of heather and gorse, with the hole playing slightly right to left with a bunker sat to the right of the fairway, prior to the approach up to a green sat in the shadow of the grand old clubhouse.

Review:

The last of the fabled Dorset golfing threesome, and a classic heathland treat.

Ferndown feels mature and established, and the quality of the golfing surfaces and the club in general is very clear. Holes are to be navigated among tall pines and encroaching heather, as you might expect on a course of this ilk in in this location, and accuracy on tee shots and particularly on certain approaches (slotting between mounds or bunkers, or both) is the name of the game.

The start is a good one, with an attractive, ‘firm but fair’ par 4 opener down the hill away from the clubhouse, followed by a decent par 3 and two other doglegged par 4s that all require thought without presenting too much to destroy your score, assuming you stay out of the deep heather at certain times of the year.

My favourite stretch was undoubtedly on the back nine between 12 and 14 – unsurprisingly two of these are excellent par 3s, which are fantastically bunkered and very pleasing on the eye, and between these you have a superb hole (named “Alliss” after the most famous Ferndown member) which is a snaking downhill par 5 that doglegs and then descends to an interesting green complex sitting between bunkers and mounds – reachable with a good tee shot, but equally perilous if you have a miscue on any of the first 2-3 shots.

The entire course shouts quality and maturity, a real heathland treat. You could perhaps argue that some of the shorter par 4s don’t present much of a risk-reward choice and, the consistent quality of the par 3s aside, there is a lack of real ‘wow’ moments, but make no mistake this is a beautiful course.

For me Ferndown does sit third of the three ‘biggies’ in Dorset owing to overall interest, with Broadstone and Parkstone both offering just a little more individuality and perhaps a friendlier feel (particularly at the former), but this really is splitting hairs and a trip covering all three is clearly a must for any domestic golfing traveller.

• “Top 100” Ranking: 3rd (Dorset), 49th (England)
• Golfer View Rating: 80%

https://www.ferndowngolfclub.co.uk

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