North Hants – Golf Course Review

Golfer’s Tips

• The club website suggests taking an extra club on the challenging first hole – I would argue that this isn’t necessarily the play given the nice open turf short of the green, which in the warmer months is firm enough for your ball to roll up to the putting surface.
• The placement of the marker posts is a bit curious in some places. On the par 5 3rd, this signifies the left edge of the lake, so where this hazard interjects into the fairway, and on the blind 6th hole tee shot, this isn’t really the line, which in fact is probably 10-20 yards left of the partly-obscured pole.

Signature Holes

• 3rd – a wonderful par 5 early into the round. The tee shot is as you see it, navigate bunkers either side of the fairway with missing right a no-no, but then the second brings the large square lake into play. Playing safe means shooting for a thinner piece of fairway running down the left hand side, whilst the carry is a strong 160-200 yards depending on how close you get with your tee shot.
• 14th – a superb heathland hole, and a nice summary of the North Hants offering. The tee shot is blind to a fairway that bends sharply from left to right with heather either side, and the subsequent downhill approach is a very attractive one, with rhododendrons and a ditch lining the right-hand side and neatly placed bunkers left to catch the bail-out to the safer side.

Review:

Squeezed among many other strong heathland offerings either side of the Surrey/ Hampshire border, North Hants is a timeless classic with some real highlights.

Pulling into North Hants, famously home of Justin Rose, the first impression is that this is very clearly a proper club. Excellent facilities, a wonderful new clubhouse, and with a peek through some mature pine trees, the somewhat daunting 1st hole comes into view.

The long par 3 opener, not to everyone’s taste, is part of a super start to the round, with four diverse and very strong holes to get you going. The 2nd hole is a a nice driving hole turning right to left, and then the excellent par 5 third hole brings with it a real risk-reward element with the second shot to be played over a substantial lake, the only water featured on the course. The start is then rounded off with a fine shorter par 4 at the fourth – clever bunkering and a tiered green putting a real premium on strategy and accuracy with the second shot.

The greens are of an excellent quality and run very true, but are not quite as undulating nor as devilishly difficult as many of North Hants’ heathland contemporaries are. Harry Colt’s bunkering is a major defence seen throughout, and the recent revamp of many of the bunkers can be seen throughout the course and particularly on the back nine on some of the longer holes that close out the round.

The sixth hole is one of a few holes that features a blind tee shot, the hole following also does for example, but the sixth is tricky in that its alignment with the hill that peaks halfway through the hole is on a slant, so finding the line that avoids trouble and shortens the downhill approach to the green is not at all simple.

The finish to the front nine is excellent. The 8th is a lovely little par 3 with tall pine trees on the surrounding bank to the rear, and steep drop offs and Colt-esque bunkers front and right ready to catch any under-hit shots, and then the 9th is a classic heathland par 4, evoking thoughts of Swinley Forest, Ferndown and all in between – bunkers dotted along the fir-lined fairway, leading to a larger green complex with grassy mounds all around. 

The back nine again starts with a strong par 3, creating something of an unusual pattern, and this is followed by two longer par 4s where good driving is paramount. The course then reaches a great little stretch of holes from 13 through to 15 – 13 is a very pretty short par 4 played uphill, with treacherous bunkering at the front of the green sat at the top of the hole, the 14th is then a fine downhill hole that sits amongst heather snakes round to the right after a blind tee shot, and the 15th is another nice par 3 played through a gap in the pine trees to another

The course is one that has a nice feel to it – tee boxes are of the utmost quality, and the combination of flora and fauna found around the course, including vibrant rhododendrons, is a real highlight. There were some scruffier areas in the second cut and between holes, but they do not detract from a very well put-together course.

The finish is a strong one, with two longer par 4s either side of a par 5, so it is far from a canter into the clubhouse. 16 in particular is tough given its uphill nature and narrow diagonal green sloping severely from back to front.

In an area of the country with many fine heathland courses, North Hants sits comfortably alongside and provides an excellent overall experience. For me Camberley Heath is a more interesting layout, but I would put North Hants just above Blackmoor and level with Stoneham, so very much a course to be sought after and enjoyed.

• “Top 100” Ranking: 5th (Hampshire), 81st (England)
• Golfer View Rating: 78%

https://www.northhantsgolf.co.uk

Back to Reviews