XXXIV: Worplesdon
Many of the great courses in the world are heralded for their ability to envelop a layout with an idyllic sense of place, blending seamlessly with its surrounds with grace. For the layouts blessed with natural advantages as they saunter along the coastline or flow through the mountainsides, this identity and connection comes easy - but what for those which don’t? The irony of this all, is that the courses which straddle the edges of cities and busy roads are the ones which this ambience and tranquillity is most valued, and the sense of escapism is most craved. This is why when an inland, suburban course carves out a rare oasis of peace and quiet, it resonates so strongly with golfers – its release felt immediately.
Calm and pleasant with holes stamped through the rolling terrain, woodlands and purple heath, Worplesdon - hugging the outskirts of London, delivers an unexpected inland haven which one could never tire of being immersed in.
An oasis of golf on the outskirts of London
Blessed with a property of great diversity, Worplesdon’s front nine dips and dives through rolling terrain, its run home a more subtle affair boasting nuances a little less obvious, with a scattering of intelligent manmade hazards. With a routing which bobs, weaves and deviates with a sharp frequency, it presents a variety of golf which matches the pleasantry of its walk.
There are two stretches of holes in particular which best embody the qualities of Worplesdon, as well as the wide assortment of golf on offer.
Built up features bring the back 9 to life
1-6
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When a section of a layout tackles the most dynamic land, the number one priority lies in navigating and maximising the landforms to provide the highest quality holes and ask the greatest variety of questions. Great land also demands an element of intelligent restraint, allowing the movement to double as the holes’ primary defence and greatest thrill.
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The ethos of the first may well be ideal opener, plunging from an elevated tee, the introduction is relatively short but handsome – a quick examination of accuracy in avoiding the layers of bunkers from the tee and slightly uphill approach to an easy-going green. The second tee is the first of a handful of Worplesdon’s tee shots to a blind landing area, its fairway tumbling over a ridge.
The second’s blindness is the antithesis to the out in front, downhill tee shot at the third, the simplicity of a centre-line bunker and subtlety of the front to back sloped green delivering some strategy and intrigue to a flatter fairway.
The grandeur of the uphill shot into 4
As the routing loops back up the hill which houses the opening tee, golfers encounter the first of Worplesdon’s wonderful set of one-shot holes. Playing straight uphill to a green nestled at the foot of the clubhouse, there is a grandeur and severity to the challenging par three.
The introduction of heather to the right side of the fifth brings with it a rivetting dose of strategy as the fairway angles right, crowded by a bunker on its left edge. The ‘bite of as much as you can chew’ nature of the tee shot paired with a valley fronting the putting surface make it one of Worplesdon’s finest. The blind second over the crest of a hill at the par five sixth is thrilling and made all the more complex by the steep front to back tilt of the fairway and tiny green, bringing an assortment of hazards long into play.
The 5th and its timeless angled tee shot
With the land at the forefront, the variety of this half-dozen holes runs deep with golfers facing; a pair of downhill tee shots, two uphill approaches, a dogleg each way, a couple of blind shots and an assortment of subtle green shapes.
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11-14
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The perilous crossing of Guildford Road is quickly forgotten as the small parcel of land delivers a quartet of inland golf’s most inspiring holes. Across flatter ground, the nature of Worplesdon’s dilemmas arise from built up features and fairway bunkers challenging the playing lines – an exercise in strategy and a golfer’s ability to plot their way around.
The questions of the 11th tee
The back-to-back three-shotters at 11 and 12 make compelling chess matches full of options and decisions. The staggered bunkers and fingers of rolling land combine to complicate the 11th tee shot, while the real decision comes next as golfers are rewarded with the best angle if their layup challenges the cross-bunker on the right.
Yet another contested tee shot begins the 12th as it swings right and bunkers cling to the inside of the dogleg. The green site however is the star of the show, tucked against the boundary, fronted by a menacing trap and flanked by hillside – risk and reward fraught with danger.
The brilliant 12th doglegging right
Penal and menacing, the one-shot 13th brings with it a theatrical flash of extravagance, with a horse-shoe bunker smothering a slightly raised green. Breaking up a run of strategic questions, the 13th is linear in its solution – hit the shot or else…. Closed out by the testing 13th and its smattering of sandy hazards, this loop of holes perfectly encapsulates just how strategic and appealing inland golf across flatter terrain can be.
The infamous horseshoe bunker of the 13th
Worplesdon does so much right in squeezing the most out of its property. Tee shots are consistently engaging, challenged by sweeping land or intelligent hazards. Subtle green complexes are offset by the rolling waves and multiple tiers of the surfaces at the 5th, 7th, 8th and 10th and truthfully there are holes outside the pair of stretches discussed which are every bit as clever and interesting, not least the gorgeous 18th – Worplesdon is flooded with holes of deep variety and intrigue.
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Whether heathland, parkland, or a mix of both, when such a wide array of golf is experienced amongst a setting which charms and delights, the answer lies trivial. Amongst a famous neighbourhood, being tagged as one of the ‘3 W’s’ does Worplesdon a disservice – a layout of such immense quality deserves mentioning in its own breath.
Utterly pleasant