Whittington Heath is one of the older clubs in England being founded in 1886 near Litchfield, birthplace of Ben Johnson. Before becoming a golf course the area was used for horse racing. The road on #6 is evidence of the old track and the clubhouse still retains the shape of a racing stand. Being next door to Whittington Barracks, the course was originally for military personnel. After some time civilians were allowed access and eventually the Ministry of Defense sold the course to the members in 1994. In 1927 HS Colt redesigned some of the front nine using the existing corridors for the current 1-3 and 6-8. All but the 18th on the back are original Colt holes. I don't know the changes Colt performed on the holes he didn't design, or how the bunkering has been altered, but Whttington Heath feels quite unusual for a Colt course as the bunker scheme seems much more penal than his other non-championship work.
What intrigues me most about Whittington Heath is its ability to continually impress me over multiple plays. This is especially surprising given the course doesn't have any really stand out holes. However, balanced against this is the lack of any duds. There are enough interesting architectural features to keep me keen. Of special interest is the terrain. One gets the impression the course is flat, but that would be mistaken. The elevation changes are very subtly dealt with and part of the way Colt incorporated the terrain is with several front to back running greens. #10 is a perfect case in point. The fairway is wide open, but the green is severely tilted and must be approached from the correct angle.
Given my high regard for the course, my apprehension concerning the redesign due to HS2 is understandable. As seen by the map below, the rail line will cut the course in two and make it necessary to relocate the house. Five entirely new holes to the design of Jonathon Gaunt are currently being built directly beyond the current 1st green, which will become the 18th. Thankfully, the main changes to accomodate the new holes will occur on the front nine. No full holes will be lost on the back nine, although the numbering will be different. The 11th green will be used for a new 9th which will be a sharp dogleg across the current 8th fairway. The 18th green will be used for the new 17th hole which will play across the current 2nd fairway and maintenance area. The only holes surviving fully intact on the front nine are 4 and 6. The current first hole corridor will be used as the 18th with a new green immediately left of the current green. The new bunker work for the old holes which will be incorporated into the new design are complete and should fully open in the near future. The holes which will be lost will not have the bunker treatment even though it could be years until HS2 is actually in the ground.
There are two questions which will be difficult to sort out until the new course is built. First, how badly will the train effect the solitude of Whittington Heath. Second, how well will the treeless new holes blend with the mature old holes. Sadly, even though there has been talk of removing trees for at least 10 years, there is a long way to go. Consequently, heather is almost completely absent from the course. There is possibly evidence of heather topped bunkers (if so, the heather is swamped in rough) on some new bunkers, but without heather flowing in from the rough it might look out of place.
Card of the new course.
In a sort of perverse take on the runway tee, a wonderfully wide tee greets the golfer on the first which continues behind the camera.
The opener sends the message as to how tight this round will be. Almost every drive is harassed by bunkering and/or rough. This is an excellent example of strategic bunkering as the opener is a reachable par 5 for those who take on the bunkers. The 2nd hole takes the player back toward the house and offers no respite from bunkers.
The new bunker placed in a prime spot short and right of the green makes this a very difficult hole for those who depend on roll. It is an oddly placed bunker, but it will be on the new 17th which will play across the 2nd fairway.
The 3rd finds us driving over the 2nd green to another tightly protected fairway to the first of many greens which run away from the fairway.
A lovely short hole, thankfully the 4th will be preserved as the new 7th. The hole plays sneaky long up the hill and has some strong contours which are difficult to read. Below is an old photo which doesn't reflect the new bunkering, but one gets an idea of the green.
A view of the green from near the second fairway.
The fifth (will be the new 6th following the five new holes) is a sharp legger left over trees and a deep depression. The green can be driven, but the land moves right and losing the tee shot is very easy. The hole could be dramatically improved if the large hollow on the left were cleared of trees and a view of the green opened up. The uphill approach after a lay-up.
Another short par 4, the 6th legs hard right over an old part of a race track to a fairway which is too narrow for the concept. The approach is to a wild volcano green with dips and rolls just shy of the putting surface.
A medium length, downhill par 3 with the green running away to the right. Like many par 3s of this type, it is lovely to look at, but the 7th plays the easiest of the set.
The eighth is a down n' up hole bending left. It is only listed at about 350 yards, but it seems to play longer. The left bunker has been made irrelevant because of the trees. It seems to me that taking the trees down and putting a bunker in the face of the hill would create a much better visual enticement from the tee. The 9th is an unremarkable par 5 heading back toward the house. #10 comes back down the hill that 9 climbed. The drive doesn't seem like its up to much until one sees the green. It has just about the most severe front to back slope I have ever seen. Anything down the left brings a bunker into play which makes holding the green nigh on impossible. The club has recently made some moves in cutting down trees and this is evident behind this green. A new fairway bunker on the right has tightened up the drive. The new 11th tee will be located some 75 yards or so beyond the left hand bunker.
Before and after.
#11 is a cracking hole which moves gently right and up the hill. The green is another one which runs away from the fairway. By now it should be evident that Whittington Heath more or less sticks to tried and tested methods of design. There is nothing terribly fancy to get the golfer over excited, yet it is wonderful golf all the same.
The excellent back 9 continues with the splendid 12th. Yet another legger at the driving zone which makes avoiding the rough with a driver most difficult. The front mounds hide the movement of the green which slides away from the fairway and moves left.
There is loads of dead space between the mounds and the green.
#13 is a very good par 3 whose sunken green is shaped like an 8 on an angle. Yep, its another green which runs from front to back and some of the contouring off the backs of the bunkering is very good. There are also some blind rear bunkers for the over aggressive players.
Before and after. While I think the bunkers are an improvement, there is a lack size variety which niggles.
The back 9 is loaded with lovely holes and the following one is no exception. #14 slides gently right and downhill. YES, the green falls away from the fairway. I have never seen so many greens of this type on a course, but Colt kept things reasonable as the slopes are manageable.
The green also moves against the grain of the dogleg by sloping right to left.
A look at 14 green from behind shows a gathering depression short of the green on the left (to the right from the fairway) which feverishly collects balls. Getting up and down from this area is very difficult.
15, 16 & 17 are good holes which gradually take us back in the direction of the house. All are tricky and challenge the best of players not least because of some awkward elements. The long one-shot 15th is difficult to visualize from the tee, but the new bunkering helps.
Reminiscent of the 12th, the 16th has had a bit more radical treatment. There was a line of bunkers well short of the green which were removed. Consequently, the view of the green has been opened up.
The 17th too has been altered by placement of two bunkers. Previously, the hole was bizarre with a very narrow fairway which turns left around a very large swath of rough. Visually, the hole was a mess. The new bunkers are a great improvement, however, a tree just off the right front of the tree severely limits the ball flight options.
Made even more awkward because of a new bunker fronting the green, the 18th isn't much of a finisher. Despite the rather staid finisher, Whittington Heath is a corker and certainly one of the better ones in the Brum area. In fact, Whittington Heath is good enough to host Open Regional Qualifying now and again. At ~6500 yards the course is deceptively difficult as is evidenced by its SSS rating of 71 to a par of 70. The bones of this course are excellent, but the rough and fairways which don't come close to filling the corridors take away too much from the clever architectural elements. All in all, I recommend a stop at Whittington especially if one is in town. 2019
Ciao