Great Britain,
Ireland, France, and Sweden May 16-28, 2016
This looked to be a tough trip. From May 17-27, a span of 11 days, my
itinerary called for 16.5 rounds on 16.5 courses (one of which was a nine holer
and proved to be the best of the lot), plus 6 flights within between Great
Britain and Ireland, France and Sweden (actually Copenhagen, Denmark), and some
1000-1200 miles of driving. I was
working three bucket lists on this journey, the Top World 100 EVER, MacWood
Spoof, and Cups EVER. The first two were
far more important to me and if I got tired, I planned cut back on the Cups
EVER courses.
Here is where I stood at the start of this trip, and my plan
for this trip:
Top 100
EVER—had 5 left and itinerary included 2 of these 5
MacWood
Spoof—had 7 left and itinerary included 6 of these 7
Cups Ever—had
19 left (9 US; 10 Europe); itinerary included all 10 Europe
Note—Alwoodley was on both Top 100 Ever and MacWood
I ended up playing all 17
courses (including the one 9 holer)…and have decided to make this my last major
major trip. I will still travel, but
will not squeeze in courses to such a tight schedule.
The afternoon of Monday May 16,
my darling Pat dropped me off at Logan airport for my Boston to Dublin
overnight flight, connecting to a Dublin to Manchester, England flight. Flights went smoothly and late the next
morning I was driving about 50 miles west to England’s west coast.
Southport & Ainsdale GC,
May 17, 2016: S&A, a true links test, hosted two Ryder Cups (1933 and
’37). Although separated by 4 years,
because the Ryder Cup is held every two years and rotates between the US and
British Isles (now Europe) these were “consecutive” events. S&A sits on a wonderful piece of
linksland which runs along the Merseyland coast from Royal Liverpool to the
South and also includes Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Formby,
and Hillside. The club started as a 9
holer at another location in 1906 and then to its present location a few years
later. In 1923 James Braid completed a
major redesign. Many shots are played
between large towering sand dunes. The
course has its share of blind shots and like most links courses, requires
several rounds before the player has a good understanding of how to approach
the greens. I was tired from my trip and
my focus certainly could have been better.
Played with two members (Paul R., who had lived and worked in the Boston
area for about 10 years., and Allan ?).
After the round, I faced a 90
mile drive to Leeds and Paul R. suggested that I leave as soon as possible to
avoid Manchester’s rush hour traffic. As
I was driving on the “ring road” motorway around Manchester in the far left
lane, a car in the lane to my right suddenly edged close to and into my
lane. To avoid that car, I pulled left,
but due to construction there was no shoulder at this point, just a barricade, which I side swiped (creating a rather sickening loud bang). There was a service area about 200 yards up
the motorway where I stopped to examine the damage. While the car suffered no mechanical damage,
the sheet metal and wheels on its left side were definitely scratched. In the commotion of the accident, I did not
get the license plate # for the other car and that driver may not have even noticed what
happened. Very fortunately, no injuries,
no serious damages, and my car was very drivable. I reported the accident and the insurance is
still being sorted out.
I finally arrived at my hotel in
Leeds and looked forward to a night of sleep in a real bed. I faced 36 holes the next day at Alwoodley GC
and Moortown GC, which lie across the street from one another.
Alwoodley GC May 18, 2016: Alwoodley was founded in 1n 1907, with a
local GP, Dr. Alister MacKenzie as one of the Founding Members and the Club’s
first Hon. Secretary. MacKenzie designed
Alwoodley’s course, his first effort at course design. The course was cut through acidic heathland
and winds through outcroppings of heather and gorse. One prominent feature of the land is “rigs
and furrows” (akin to small waves) that were created by medieval farming
practices on the land over many many decades.
The course has many of the trademarks of a MacKenzie track…heather “eyebrows”
on top of bunker front edges, bunkers totally hidden when looking at the hole “backwards”
(from green to tee), large greens with vexing subtle breaks, and wide fairways
offering a variety of options and angles into the greens.
The par 5 8th hole, which doglegs left to a wonderful green to
my mind has a feel very much like Royal Melbourne West’s hole #2.
Shortly after the course was
completed, the club sought the opinion of one of Britain’s (and the world’s)
finest architects, Harry Colt. Colt was
so impressed by MacKenzie’s work that he later hired MacKenzie into his
partnership.
Alwoodley has changed little
over the years, and in fact in 1928 it leased extra land to allow the 10th
green to be extended back some 40 yards…just as MacKenzie had proposed in 1914.
Unfortunately, I played it on a
heavily overcast day with rain hitting us on about 4 or 5 holes. But I had the distinct honor of playing with
Anthony B., the Club’s current Chairman and a true gentleman.
Best holes on the course are
probably the aforementioned #8, #10 (235
yard par 3 with a deep bunker to the left, a grass hollow on the right, and a
false front), #11 (179 uphill par 3 to heavily sloping green well guarded by
bunkers and a false front), #17 (434 yard par 4 with menacing bunkers guarding
both sides of fairway about 300 yards out, and a blind approach to a punch bowl
green), and #18 (a very stout 484 yard par 4 into the prevailing wind and a
fairway “littered” with 10 fairway bunkers).
It is clear that over the past
25 years the club has had a program to upgrade the course and the other
facilities to bring Alwoodley back to its historical greatness. As part of a 20-25 year program to upgrade
Alwoodley’s facilities, a new clubhouse was built and opened in 1995, provides
a warm friendly atmosphere at what is clearly one of England’s finest
clubs. Additionally, new land has been
acquired, tree cover thinned out, and bunkers and greens rebuilt. I only wish I
had been able to experience it without the rain and the record breaking rains
of this past winter that had raised the water table.
From the tips, Alwoodley plays
to 6900 yards, par 70. It is a mainstay
on GB&I’s Top 50, and Golf Week (UK) had it as #88 on their 2011 World Top
100. Because of the weather I am only
guessing but that level feels right for 2011.
However, with the burst of great new courses in recent years, especially
overseas, I think it will be difficult for Alwoodly to re-enter the World Top
100 ranks, except for listings focusing mainly on fun courses to “play every
day”. The MacWood Spoof list has such a
focus and Alwoodley was posted at #91 there.
One last historical footnote… Alwoodley
chose not to host the 1933 Ryder Cup Matches due to “lack of accommodation in
the clubhouse.”
Moortown Golf Club, May 18,
2016: After some drinks and snacks
and meeting other members, it was time to go across the street and down the
block to Moortown, MacKenzie’s second design and host to the first Ryder Cup Matches
played on the "Eastern side" of the pond (1929).
This was to be a round played in
rain for about 12 of the 18 holes, and standing water (again due to an
unusually high water table) was prevalent in many places. I was able to utilize a buggy, or certainly
would not have finished the round.
Given the conditions, it was
difficult for me to evaluate the course.
Clouds were always threatening and I was hurrying to finish the round
(played in 1:55), which turned out to be wise as it started to rain very hard
about 10-15 minutes after I completed the round. And I mentioned above, the unusually high
water table resulted in lots of casual water on/in fairways, bunkers and
greens. The course has an excellent
collection of long pars 4’s (six measuring 435-465 yards), but by far the best
hole is its 10th, a par 3 of 175 yards to a raised green guarded by
deep bunkers front right and to the left and right of the green. Word has it that the 10th was the
first hole that Dr. MacKenzie designed at Moortown and he succeeded in
dispersing his 18 hole budget on this masterpiece hole.
From the tips Moortown is 6980
yards par 71 with the strong set of par 4’s offset by three relatively short par
5’s (488, 517 and 554 yards). Good
course, yes…great course, no. Even
adjusting for the weather conditions, I was clear to me that Alwoodley is the
far superior course in this part of England.
After the round, I drove some 50
miles to Lindrick Golf Club, where I was scheduled to play early the next
morning. The good news on the drive was
that the sky was showing signs of clearing.
Lindrick Golf Club, May 19,
2016: A busy day ahead. Was scheduled to play Lindrick at 8:00am,
then drive to Manchester Airport (about 60 miles) and catch a flight to Paris. I arrived early and teed off with a local
member, Graham M., who has worked diligently to upgrade the historical records
regarding Lindrick.
The Club was founded in 1891 and
within 100 days of the initial meeting to form the club, a 9 hole courses had
been laid out and was playable, and became a full 18 within 3 years. From about 1912-16 Dr. MacKenzie was retained
to help revise some of the course. Other
world-class architects to lend their hands and thoughts to the club include
Harry Colt, Willie Park, Jr., William Fowler, and Tom Simpson.
Lindrick hosted the 1957 Ryder
Cup, which was the only Ryder Cup Match won by GB&I after 1937 and before
the European victory at The Belfry in 1985…so this club represents an “oasis”
for GB&I golfers. It also hosted the
1960 Curtis Club Matches. Playing to
6606 yards (par 71) it is on the short side, but it is in excellent shape and
today is utilized by members Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, and current
Masters Champion Danny Willett when they are in the UK.
Probably in part because of the
heavy rains in previous days, the course was far from firm and fast and seemed
to be a nice course but not a great one.
In summary, certainly good but not great. Ends with a strong par 3 of about 210 yards
to a raised green and best hole probably 431-yard par 4 5th with
blind uphill drive and approach to a well guarded green.
After the round was running a
little late (schedule was too tight) and had to pack up golf bag and get moving
to Manchester airport (and possible delays due to car damage). Flight was on time and took an Uber car to my
hotel in Paris.
Les Bordes, May 20, 2016: For the last almost two years as I looked to
complete the “World Top 100 Ever”, it proved very difficult to gain access to
two courses. Going to play all the resy
was not easy, but generally I was able to find a way on to these clubs
(especially after I was invited to join the Golf Magazine panel). Les Bordes in the Loire Valley of France and Ellerston
about 150 miles north of Sydney Australia were the two real tough ones (one more in Canada was added by Golf Digest in January 2016...more on that in a later post).
In December 2015 a good friend
from Pinehurst (who lives in Toronto) Steve S. put me in touch with Richard W.
who lives in Paris, and Richard played like Moses and the Red Sea. Then in March, a game at Ellerston was
arranged for late April by Ron L. of Hong Kong (see prior posts). Having completed the round at Ellerston on
April 26, I was anxious to get Les Bordes behind me and “in the bag.”
Went to dinner the evening of
May 19 with Richard and his wonderful bride, Annie at a local bistro. Dinner was delicious and the company even
better. Richard is originally from PA
and then the Midlands region of England and has had the golf bug almost as long
as I. Annie is from France and likes the
game of golf but, like Pat (and unlike Richard and me), somehow keeps her
enthusiasm under control.
Early Friday morning, they
picked me up at my hotel and we were off on the 1:30 drive south to Les
Bordes. We arrived at this phenomenally
beautiful estate on time and the sights were amazing. The estate encompasses some 1400 acres and
the estate and golf course has been through a couple of ownership changes since
the golf course was completed in 1986.
Designed by Robert von Hagge who apprenticed under Dick Wilson and is
credited with well over 100 courses worldwide, Les Bordes is renowned for being
both beautiful and very difficult. It
was initially built by the founder of Bic Pens (Baron Marcel Bich) and then
later sold to a Japanese group who opened it up to play. More recently, and English group bought out
the Japanese and is restoring the club to its original very very exclusive
nature (and perfect condition).
As I recall there were around
2000 rounds played there last year (pretty small number but like a NYC muni
when compared w Ellerston). We were (not
surprisingly) the only golfers at Les Bordes that day. And as you can see below, we were treated with great respect.
 |
| :-) |
In every respect the place in visually
beautiful…the clubhouse feels like it is 125 years old and is magnificent
without being outrageous. The golf
course is beautiful as well although from an architectural standpoint I think
it makes much too much use of water hazards and is a little too flat (but then
again so it The Old Course).
 |
| Enough water?? |
To give you a sense of just how
tough a course Les Bordes is, the course record is 71 (by Jean van de Velde)
and there is a board in the clubhouse listing all the players who have broken
80 from the back tees (see pic below…that is me pointing to the name of Fergal
O’Leary, a friend from Boston…and the youngest ever to complete a GM World
100…who broke 80 there in September 2014.
Fortunately for the club, they did not have to incur the expense of
adding my name to the board.
 |
| Moi pointing to Fergal's name...my board is in the sub-basement! |
The club is in the process of
constructing a number of townhouses they hope to sell to new members for not
small $$ amounts. I wish them the best,
but have my doubts. Am attaching some
pictures of a spectacular home they have restored…I forget to inquire regarding
price.
 |
| Just what I was looking for... |
In terms of World 100, Les
Bordes has been included on World 100’s published by top100golfcourses.co.uk
(2006, 2011, and 2012), Rolex (both Editions), and UK GolfWeek (2010 and 2011)
with the highest rating of #30 in UK GolfWeek in 2011. I would suspect it might have made some other
top 100 listings but was disqualified due to not satisfying minimal number of
ratings criteria. However, for what it
is worth, this rater would not place it in a World 100. It certainly is not the best course is
France. Morfontaine is superior in about
every regard and frankly I would far prefer playing Chantilly, Le Touquet, and
Chilberta. Generous widening of the
fairways, tree removal, and drastic rough height reduction is highly
recommended by this rater.
After the round, we had a superb
lunch and then had to run so that I could catch a late flight to England and
make my way close to The Belfry. The
next few days would be very busy and probably very tiring.
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