High Post – Golf Course Review

Golfer’s Tips

• At time of review the practice area is undergoing a significant refurbishment, so for now the pre-round facilities are very much limited.
• The chalky ground plays firm, so allow for significant run on tee balls and lower trajectory approach shots into the green, should the bunkering permit the latter.
• The only short par 4 that does not immediately suggest bombing driver is the 10th – this aside there is very little to deter from having a crack on many of the shorter holes on the back nine.

Signature Holes

• 7th – a longer par 4 that sweeps around a right to left corner. Pulling anything left is almost certain death, so the aim is to leave your tee shot inside the wooded area on the right hand side, before an approach down to a green with severe coffin grass bunkers either side.
• 12th – another stronger par 4, again playing downhill with great views beyond the hole. The green is well bunkered short, so ensuring you take enough club to hit beyond these into a green which slopes back to front is paramount.

Review:

A scenic and somewhat gentle stroll across Wiltshire downland, High Post provides for an enjoyable and attractive day without shooting for the stars.

Founded just over 100 years ago, with its original clubhouse (ie. shed) still intact and present, High Post is a course perched on top of a chalky hill with some great views overlooking Salisbury Plain and the wider Wiltshire countryside.

The course itself is enjoyable and steady without ever being truly challenging or breathtaking, but still provides for a good round on well-maintained surfaces in attractive surroundings. Typically fairly open off the tee, with just a few hedgerows and isolated trees to avoid but nothing substantial for the more wayward shot, it’s major defence are slick green complexes with steep drop offs and grassy borrows that surround nearly every hole.

The course starts with three holes relatively straight forward holes hitting in the same direction as the nearby road just the other side of the hedgerow lining the left hand side, before turning right to the 4th which is a nice shorter downhill par 4 with a vast bunker spanning the front of the green with steep drop offs either side.

The course then starts to get nice and interesting from 5 through to 7, which starts with a fine par 3, followed by a sweeping downhill par 5 and then a challenging dogleg par 4.

After the short but well bunkered 8th you then reach a section of the course that provides a great number of short to mid length par 4s that are either hitting downhill away from the clubhouse or uphill if turning and returning back. Some are interesting – 10 is not a driver hole and requires strategic placement and allowance for the camber of the fairway to provide yourself with the best angle into the green around the corner, and 12 is a longer but downhill hole with scenic views beyond – but there are possibly one or two 300-325 yard par 4s too many, with limited shape or danger from the tee which perhaps lightens the intrigue and perhaps gives longer hitters the potential to overpower the course.

The finish is a nice one – 16 feels similar to the 12th in direction, view and shape but the green complex possesses a severe upward slope at the front, 17 is a nice mid-length par 3 that traverses the far end of the course, and then the 18th is a par 4 playing back up the gentle incline to a green with subtle borrows and drop offs that can catch you if you lose concentration at the end.

• “Top 100” Ranking: 5th (Wiltshire)
• Golfer View Rating: 63%

https://www.highpostgolfclub.co.uk

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