Royal Worlington & Newmarket, ENGLAND   

4th hole, 490 yards: The player enters a broad expanse of fairway between the darkest of woods on the right and a thinner row of trees on the left that separates the 6th and 8th holes.  The fairway should be an easy target to find from the fourth tee (holes 4 and 6 actually share a fairway, albeit often divided by a number of bunkers).  The woods to the right is most intimidating and dense, encouraging the player (at least subconsciously) to steer away to the left, toward, of course, the bunkers. (Sound familiar?  See St. Andrews (Old).) What really makes this hole, though, is the green complex, starting with the slight rise in front of the green that, along with the green, races away from the player.  When the hole is located toward the front of the green, a player is tempted, from 50 yards out, to empty his ball in an effort to contrive the shot that will get him within 15 feet of the hole.  It is this green that first confirms for the player that he is someplace special.

The terrifying slopes of 5th green.

5th hole, 160 yards: Perhaps the greatest one shot hole outside the United States.  From the tee shot that charmingly plays across the 4th green to the final putt, this hole commands every ounce of the player’s attention.  Otherwise, even the very best players can look foolish as they wreck their card during a medal round (of which there are mercifully few at Royal Worlington).  A former captain of the club once found the green with his tee shot, only to hole out in 8.  The green is long and narrow with essentially three levels.  To the left is large hollow known as Mog’s Bog that used to be a water hazard but is today just the start of many fives.  To the right of the green is another rather steep slope, leading down to a stream that occasionally catches a ball.  Even the best players are happy to take two fours here in a medal round.

The long approach to the 6th green.

6th hole, 460 yards: This tee shot is a fooler.  From the tee, looking across the 5th green, the trees to the right are not as fearful as those to the right of the 4th, and, after playing the 4th and perhaps becoming ensnared in one of them, the player is acutely aware of the bunkers on the left between the two fairways.  He will then favor the right side of the fairway, only then to realize that the green is partially hidden from that side, just ever so slightly tucked around the corner of the tree line.  The player might not be in a bunker, but he now has to fade a long-iron or wood around the trees, whose branches seem to extend across the fairway, to have a putt for a three.  The bold tee shot that challenges the bunkers on the left leaves a straightforward, although long, second.  The green is slightly raised, sloping off on all sides, ensuring that there are few fours earned with a chip and a putt.

The approach to the tough eighth hole.

8th hole, 460 yards: A brute of a hole.  This is the most tightly bunkered tee shot, with pits on either side of the fairway at just the distance of a good drive.  If the fairway is found, the second is a long one over cross bunkers some 80 yards short of the green.  The flagstick is visible but not the putting green.  A formidable bunker protects the left side, leaving the right the side to favor.  Yet, for some inexplicable reason it is difficult to play all the way over to the right.

The approach must cross the road at the unique ninth.  

9th hole 290 yards: At first glance, some might think that the architects tried too hard to force another par four into the routing.  How simple, they would think, it would have been to build a par three from behind the 8th green to a green just short of the public road.  That way, they would argue, there would be no long hike back to the tee and players (as well as drivers) would not have to worry about pitching across the road for the approach.  Such a plan might be a practical approach, but Royal Worlington is not about practicality.  If anything, it is about frugality and getting whatever is possible out of the land.  The player has already played across three greens, so why not toss in a road in for good measure?

The 9th works wonderfully, with a bit of a Cape drive across the corner of the boundary and the pitch to the green with the left-to-right-slope.  At times the club has entertained the idea of building one or two bunkers left of the fairway, but fortunately this has not occurred.  As it is, the players will naturally tend to miss the fairway to the left, away from the boundary on the right.  This tendency is accentuated by the vacuum to the left.  However, a player who does so will soon appreciate his error, as the rough there is significant and the green pitches sharply to the right, making his angle of approach the least desirable.

Another noteworthy feature of the 9th is its proximity to the 1st tee, a temptation that requires a strong (or foolish) player to pass up, whether he has just finished his 18th or 45th hole of the day.

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