Royal Worlington & Newmarket , ENGLAND  

“The best nine-hole course in the world.”  That description of Royal Worlington & Newmarket, while accurate, is as misleading as calling Saville Row “a good place for English tailored clothing”  For Royal Worlington stands on its own among the world’s finest, needing no qualifiers.

If it weren’t for its small property allowing for only nine holes, Royal Worlington would be better known as the possessor of the finest green complexes in England.  In addition to the first-rate firm and fast conditioning, the greens feature bold contouing, the likes of which are not seen south of Hadrian’s Wall.  They are well varied – from the rolls of the first to the crowned second and sixth to the wild fifth to the side-sloping ninth.  One could place a top amateur on a closely-mown area five yards off each green in regulation and he would be quite content to save par five out of nine times.  This course does not rely on bunkers or rough for its defenses – the cunning use of the land and its contours does that.

The 3rd plays across the 2nd green.

Most of all, Royal Worlington gets the most that it can out of the property it occupies – the surest compliment to any architect.  Holes 1-3 and 7-9 are set, basically, in a field while holes 4-6 are stretched out on a wide but wooded avenue. The second hole perhaps best illustrates how easy it can in fact be to create a fine hole.  In addition to its 223 yards, the green was simply pushed up, creating a most difficult but still interesting short hole.  Patric Dickinson likened finding the green with the tee shot to “pitching on a policeman’s helmet.”  Indeed, one can’t help but think how fun the hole would be at any length.  A 270 yard version would be intriguing.

Perhaps the most enduring aspect of Royal Worlington & Newmarket that keeps encouraging the player to go round and round is that it keeps the player on edge.  With just nine holes, Royal Worlington has the best collection of “half-par” holes with which the authors are familiar.  The “par” on the card for holes 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 is 5, 3, 5, 4 and 4 respectively, yet a score of 4, 4, 4, 5 and 5 is just as likely.

Holes to Note:

The difficult approach from the left side of the fairway. 

3rd hole, 380 yards: Somewhat of a sleeper that seems to become more difficult with each attempt.  The hog’s back fairway is the very devil to find from the tee, with the slightest pull or draw finding a nasty hook stance in the healthy rough.  There is slightly more room to the right as there is a hint of a valley in that side of the fairway, but a long drive that just veers right will find a small bog.  After a good drive, the approach should be simple enough, yet it rarely is.  The green provides an ample target with subtle rolls, and the front left bunker is far enough away (although in a most frustrating spot to a player who finds the left rough off the tee).  Perhaps the reason is that this is the one hole where the approach must carry onto the green, over a swale.  There is no fairway to help a hot, running shot from the rough find the green.

This hole is the scene of a rare bit of controversy at Royal Worlington since the days of Darwin.  At the bottom of the dip fronting the green used to be a stream (or, at least, some sort of water course).  Somehow, it became abandoned and treated as just a moggy area through the green.  Appreciating the strategic appeal of the water hazard, several members proposed that the area be returned to its former character.  This work was carried out, and a cry went up from the membership, largely due to the aesthetics of the sleepers used.  Instead of giving the construction a second chance, the majority of the membership insisted that the work be undone.  Sadly, the area now looks most peculiar – the outline of the ditch with inordinately tall grass still looks as if it should have yellow stakes surrounding it.

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