KNIGHTON GC ... 7 square greens .... course tour with pix

[Thomas Dai]

(Above, the green of the very short, very uphill par-3 3rd hole)

Knighton? Where's the hells that I can hear some wondering!
Well its on the border between England and Mid-Wales, not that far from the likes of Kington, Church Stretton and Welshpool - scroll and you'll find its location here -https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Knighton/@52.2480965,-2.8005254,241804m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x486fe1ffc43fd097:0xefe41dbc37939b59!8m2!3d52.341009!4d-3.046971

There was a 6-hole course beforehand but in 1912/13 Harry Vardon laid out 9-holes on a hill south of the town. There is a lot of cut-n-fill evident. And the course has likely not changed much since. It's only 2,400 yrds but ....... read on ......

The lane to the Club is narrow, very narrow, narrower than the lanes to Welshpool and Kington, so pretty damn narrow. It's also very steep, has grass growing in the centre of it and when you reach the top there's a gate that may well be closed and which you have to open (and importantly close after you) to continue to the Clubhouse.

The course is rural and rustic with grazing sheep. The greens are cut with a hand-mower and the fairways are mown by a tractor towing a gang-mower. So classic era maintenance!

The first 3 holes traverse up the steep hill, holes 4-8th tee play across a relatively flat plateau and then the 8th plays down, way, way down with the 9th playing on a side-slope back to the Clubhouse.

Below - the tee shot on the 300 yd 1st hole and a view from above the green



Below - the view from the 370 yd 2nd fairway and the 2nd green



Below - the view from the tee at the severely uphill 110 yd par-3 3rd hole and it's green. Who says square greens have to be flat!



Below - the (circular!!!!) green of the 300 yd par-4 4th hole. The tee is at far right in the photo.


Below - the green at the blind tee-shot 130 yd par-3 5th hole


Below - the tee shot and a close-up of the left side of the green at the 230 yd par-3 6th




Below - the green on the 290 yd par-4 7th hole as seen from the adjacent 6th fairway


Below - the green at the 490 yd par-5 8th hole. The tee shot or second shot has to be played to the end of the hill-top plateau and then, well, and then it's Franz Klammer time! From the edge of the plateau it's 200 yrds to the green although obviously the yardage plays shorter due to the severely downhill nature of the shot.



Below - the tee shot on the 330 yd par-4 9th hole (with at left the 8th green) and the 9th green itself as seen from near the Clubhouse.



Well, thats Knighton GC. A bit different to the norm. Marmite golf? A £10 honesty box greenfee to play all day.

Courses like this are a great way to appreciate how golf once was ... lay-out and construction wise, maintenance wise, playability wise. I chose not to play with modern era clubs. Instead I played the course with 2 persimmon woods, 3 blade irons, a blade wedge and a putter. And I probably could have taken less clubs with me without effecting scoring of fun. Next time the hickories will be used.

Great part of the World too. Serene, tranquil and stunningly picturesque.

Long live Knighton GC and all other courses akin to it.

atb

[jeffwarne]

That's just not even fair.
Especially when I'm supposed to be in the UK right now....
On the brighter side I' getting to watch The Open on TV for the first time in years.

[John Mayhugh]

Would love to check this out sometime. Looks like a perfect stop between Kington and Welshpool. That part of the world certainly offers up golf with a bit of adventure.

[Niall C]

Is the whole of Wales on top of a very big hill or is it just the golf courses ?


Niall

[Thomas Dai]

Is the whole of Wales on top of a very big hill or is it just the golf courses ?
Niall

Yee olde golf situation Niall, not unknown in your neck of the woods either.
The best land was used for growing crops and general farming while the less suitable upland areas that were fine for grazing sheep and goats and horses etc could also tolerate golf so that’s where early courses were laid out. Similar to the development of early courses on the links and the heathlands.
Have a look at the current MacKenzie-Rhayader thread that I’ve just updated following a visit for another example, albeit a more severe one.
Atb


PS - rolling big rocks down steep hills onto the heads of incoming invaders has apparently long been a native pastime!

[Sean_A]

Thanks David, looks rather interesting. Is the design the sort that would be mad if keen?

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Sean,
‘Keen’ in this context isn’t something likely to happen too often in Mid-Wales but in saying that a touch of care (thought) is needed on the slope sided holes. There is some rough tough, which should slow down balls that start moving sideways so they shouldn’t roll too far off a reasonable playing line.
A bit of care with shots into the greens is certainly needed however. They were pretty firm and playing shots above or into the ‘cut’ so the ball rolled down onto the ‘fill’ was the call for the day, likely just about every day. There’s a judgment skill in this though, where to land shots and how they’ll roll out. More ground game than aerial game. If a ball finishes below one of the square greens it’s likely to roll a fair distance away. A flighted recovery shot is possible but so is a bump into the bank aiming to hop the ball up onto the putting surfaces.
You’d like Knighton as would a few others posting herein. It’s probably marmite to some but I reckon all interested in the architectural and construction side of the game could learn something about how the early game developed and how shots can be played in different ways by playing courses like Knighton, even if only playing them once with a handful of clubs.
Gorgeously scenic part of the world too.
Atb

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