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Matchplay - Silloth vs Goswick
Mark Pearce:
There was some discussion last weekend after the final of the UK knock-out over the relative merits of the North of England's two unsung links superstars. The general feeling was that good though Goswick is, it doesn't quite match Silloth. Inspired by Sean's N&P v Portsalon v Crossland Heath thread but unconvinced by his understanding of how a skins game works, I thought it might be interesting to have Silloth and Goswick face off in the time honoured GCA matchplay format (which I think we all know isn't really a great way to compare courses!)
Please feel free to chip in, if you know these courses, I'm going to discuss each hole and give my decision but I'm open to persuasion that I'm wrong.
1st hole.
Standing on the first tee at Silloth gives a great insight into what is to come. A gently undulating fairway, flanked by rough wends its way gently up a hill but, even from the tee, we can see that the approach is blind. That approach is to a flattish green hidden in a bowl, difficult to hit and hold on the fly and needing you to come in from the correct side to hold with a shot running down the bank.
Goswick shows you everything from the tee. The green sits off to the right, with trees and internal OOB between you and that green, benched in the dune and with a huge false front. Hitting the green from anywhere but the right of the fairway feels almost impossible but that's where the OOB lurks.
Both really strong openers, though Goswick's is more controversial with the internal OOB. For me, though, Silloth takes the opener.
Silloth 1 up.
Mark Pearce:
Silloth's second is a fabulous short par 4. Doglegging sharply left to right hitting the fairway is only half the battle. If the first green was flattish, this green is a ride on the waves. The front right bunker makes an approach from the right awkward but there is a bank and a hidden bunker left. Played well a birdie chance but no pushover par.
At Goswick, we stay with quirk as we play a blind par 3, over a deep hollow of rough and a bank to a green inclined towards us and the left. It's the first of a mixed set of par 3s at Goswick (I think it may be fair to say of both courses that they have one excellent short par 3 each but the other short holes aren't great sets).
Goswick has opened with two pretty good holes but, like the first, pretty good doesn't get the job done against Silloth's second. The hole goes to Silloth.
Silloth 2 up.
Ian Galbraith:
Looking forward to reading your thoughts Mark, I've played 36 at Goswick on outings nearly every year for the past 20 so know it pretty well. On the other hand Silloth is sadly still high up on my undone todo list. I suspect the outcome will be an even stronger pull to get down to Silloth!
Mark Pearce:
On the 3rd, Silloth turns straight into the prevailing westerly. A smallish shoulder of dune on the right obscures the right side of the fairway and there is another dune, and rough, down the left. On a breezy day a very intimidating tee shot. The hole doglegs left, to a green banked up in the dunes. It can take a long club to reach on a windy day, so it's fortunate that the ball can be run up. Miss left, however, and there's gunk to get out of and a steep bank of rough to get over. Miss right or long, however, and you can be faced with a chip down hill to a green running away from you, so that holding the green can be a challenge. I was astonished when BUDA was at Silloth to learn that, in an unusual Easterly wind, this green can be driven. Perhaps only Ben Stephens would try! This may be the weakest of the first four holes at Silloth but it's still excellent.
Goswick's third is the best hole we have played so far at that course. Driving from an elevated tee to a fairway that doglegs to the right, hinting from the tee that there may be some benefit in toying with the rough and bunkering on the inside of the dogleg. In fact, the outside of the dogleg gives an easier approach to a green protected by some fabulous undulation short right. A really good hole and this is the closest shout yet.
I'm tempted to give a half but I want to avoid sitting on the fence wherever possible and, on balance, Silloth just takes this. It's close, though, and could go the other way on another day. Goswick has made a pretty good start here, with three holes that would give most a run for their money but finds itself 3 down. Can it fight back?
Mark Pearce:
Undaunted by being 3 down after 3, Goswick ups its game again at the 4th. The first par 5 on either course and it's a ripper! As an aside, whilst Silloth's 13th may be, as mooted last week, the best par 5 in GB&I, I think that, as I suggested last weekend at Silloth, Goswick has, overall, a significantly better set of par 5s than its opponent. Goswick's 4th hole has a tee shot similar in many ways to the previous hole. Dogleg left to right, tempting an attempt to carry, or at least take on, the inside of the corner. Like the 3rd, however, I don't think there's any real advantage in this. For most, the second will be a lay up without a helping wind (which there may well be). If having a go at the green, however, it's narrow, very narrow. Missing right brings a bank and an elongated hollow into play, missing left requires a chip up a bank, over a slight ridge and from either side getting it on the green is no gimme. A really strong response to the plight Goswick finds itself in.
Silloth, however, can see Goswick's 4th and raise it. Driving from the ridge of the dune the 3rd green is benched in, we play to a blind fairway, picking one of the industrial buildings on the horizon as our aiming point. There's a large dune on the left and the hole doglegs to the left. It's easy to run out of fairway and the rough on the right is not to be toyed with. The smart play here is rarely driver. Hit something that will hit the fairway and roll out to the right side, to give a good view of the green. And what a green! The green itself is a really good one, almost a flattened out Biarritz (thanks Niall for that thought) but that isn't what is notable. See Ran's review of Silloth for the steep rough drop off on both sides. Miss either side and you can be going backwards and forwards across this green for a while. A truly memorable, unique golf hole.
Goswick must wonder what it can do to compete. It throws in a really, really good par 5 and Silloth summons a great par 4. Silloth takes the hole and leads 4 up.
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