XLV: West Sussex
​Never has the game of golf’s footprint been bigger and there is little to suggest a downshift in momentum- balls fly further, courses stretch longer and rounds drag on. In truth much of this excess has been wasted, with dead ground, dead time as the primary benefactors serving only to suppress the game’s chief joys. Across uninteresting grounds challenge is manufactured with overwhelming length, the reality being that any course which fails to rouse and compel golfers at 6,200 yards will find little more than a miserable slog with an extra thousand up their sleeve.
Pulborough boasts a wonderful intimacy
Inspiring golf is found amongst walks which boast a deep variety of thought-provoking shots and a consistency of compelling puzzles - when architects carve these out with a sharpness and efficiency a golfing sweetspot is found. At this utopian crossroads of punchy, lean and joyful, golfers find themselves an hour from the grips of London’s chaos and amongst the charms of West Sussex Golf Club (or ‘Pulborough’), where a sub-three hour loop packs more punch than the vast majority of courses which overwhelm its 6,200 yards.
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Like all of Britain’s most enamouring inland masterpieces, West Sussex cuts its teeth on sandy soil laden with heather and pine– a golfing haven in a most unlikely neighbourhood. Through an intimate property of mild terrain there is little to overwhelm at Pulborough, where an understated wash of seclusion relaxes the shoulders and the timeless appeal of textured views stamped with golf guide the way. With the downs in the distance, more pleasant walks are few and far between.
Sand, heather and Pulborough's wonderful clubhouse
Three One-Shotters in Four holes
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Following a trio of solid if unspectacular longer holes, including Pulborough’s lone par-five opener, the routing’s disregard for convention becomes apparent as it delivers three one-shotters in the space of four holes. One can only assume that given the excellence of the triad of greensites that they were staked out as one-shot holes- their clustering rendered irrelevant in favour of the highest quality of golf. Though the eighth would find a spot in most world class layouts, the back to back pair rise above as two of Pulborough’s finest holes.
The Fifth
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The first of the bunch arrives at the fifth – a pretty little flick tucked in a pocket of pines. With rugged traps encompassing the sloping surface at various depths, perception and judgement become its greatest test.
The pretty little fifth
The Sixth
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A more intimidating visual awaits at the sixth tee, 220 handsome yards separating tee from green and 180 of them to cover the lurking pond. With a dune hugging the left of the green, the target is entirely miserly for a hole of its length – a half-par hole of the finest accord.
The hulking scale of the sixth
Wide Reaching Par Fours
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In a similar vein to Colt’s compact routing at Swinley Forest, West Sussex finds intrigue and challenge through its diverse range of par fours, where the property’s natural landforms defined the hole free from the chokehold of par and length’s idealisms. Greens sit in dells, atop ridges and across valleys, fairways ripple and bumble with just the right amount of divine randomness and no pair of holes present a similar puzzle.
No two holes present the same test at Pulborough
As strategically watertight as any, Pulborough’s bunkering is some of the world’s finest, consistently tapping into the line of charm where players taking them on will be rewarded with the most appetizing angle in, whilst shying away from the challenge merely defers the difficult shot for the approach – simple in practice, but thoughtful planning goes a long way at West Sussex.
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As the golfer soaks up the joys of West Sussex, its meagre par never once occurs to them, owing in no small part to the fact that a half-dozen two-shotters stretch beyond 400 yards. and with par’s relevance resigned to the frustrated pencil pusher, the remainder find themselves entirely enamoured with the wide-reaching assortment of holes. The dozen par fours are the beating heart of Pulborough, their sustained quality the lasting taste of its excellence.
A familiar scene as bunkers drive the strategy of the 17th
The Fourth
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Much of Pulborough’s variety is presented in the shape of holes and the first dogleg of substance sweeps quickly left through a passage of heather as a bunker guards the shortcut from the tee. With an approach which rises to a picked up green, it takes two proper shots to reach the surface.
The fairway of the fourth legs sharply
The Seventh
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With a ridge-top marker post suffocated by purple heather, there is very little guidance on offer at the entirely blind seventh. As the fairway is revealed beyond the dune, a long and difficult downhill approach awaits.
Blindness awaits at the 7th tee
The Thirteenth
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Arrow straight and fraught with trouble, sand and heather encroach on the fairway of the thirteenth. The greatest danger is found at the approach however, with the picked up green loaded with Pulborough’s most dynamic slopes and ringfenced by three heaving traps. Without a doubt, the most exacting approach of the round.
Pulborough's most aggressively guarded surface
The Sixteenth
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As with West Sussex’s one-shotters, when the golfer reaches the sixteenth they are left with little doubt that its green site must have been a staked-out cornerstone of the routing. Atop a heather loaded dune and separated from the fairway by a deep gully, the entirely bunkerless green complex stands so beautifully natural. The approach over the ravine delivers a moment of heroism at the perfect time in the round – one of inland golf’s great holes.
One of the game's great green sites at the 16th
The Seventeenth
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Pulborough finishes with gusto and quality and the brawny 17th legs right and rises, its fairway threading between the heather and traps. In a classic case of angles, playing closest to the left fairway bunker rewards golfers with the cleanest angle of approach – another brilliant hole which often goes unmentioned amongst a slew of compelling par fours.
Brawn and beauty - The rising 17th
In Pulborough we encounter an education – golf’s scale needs not be excessive to delight. Its ability to confound, entertain and stir joy amongst what are often lazily perceived as limitations, challenges much of the ethos of modern golf. In the haze of length and excess, golf has failed to grow a lineage of courses which evoke every emotion and test every skill one could hope for with efficiency.
There is a distinct shortage of world-class courses which can be digested in under three-hours and even fewer courses on the planet which match the engagement and enchantment which West Sussex bundles – rarely is the game so appealing.