#2 Worplesdon, Surrey

Given I am a member at West Hill, which is literally over the road from Worplesdon, I am not sure how it has taken me until now to play the third of the 3 W's (the other being Woking)... but anyway, I finally had the opportunity last night to judge for myself which one of the trio I feel is the best. 

Teeing off at 5.10, I feel that twilight always shows a course off at its best and I have to say the raised vantage point from the clubhouse was fabulous, showing off the par 4 opener in its entirety as well as a glimpse of numerous other holes, the putting green and practice area. While the terrace was closed by the time we finished, I can imagine it would be a great place to spend a few hours after a round. 

The first hole itself is a fairly innocuous way to ease yourself into the round, a start not dissimilar to West Hill it has to be said (the last time I am going to compare the two....). The downhill tee shot requiring a mid to long iron onto a generous fairway followed by an 8 iron to the large green shouldn't present too much of a challenge, and allows you to ease yourself in fairly gently. 

The second is one of those blind tee shots that feels significantly easier once you walk over the hill and see what is in front of you. Picking a line off the tee is tricky first time round, however a long iron pitching onto the downslope is fairly straightforward once you know where the hole goes. The opening to the green looks pretty narrow through the two bunkers front left and right, however there is plenty of green long and left of these. 

I really enjoyed the third - you could feasibly hit half the clubs in the bag off the tee depending on how confident you are feeling. There is a bunker in the middle of the fairway which can be carried with a half decent drive, and if you can hug the right side of the fairway you could get somewhere near the green off the tee, though this is risky with trees left and right. The play is probably a lay up short of the bunker and a wedge onto the green, but fortune favours the brave (or not - I made 5 with a driver off the tee finding some bushes on the left). 

(The view back down the 4th) 

Four is an imposing par 3, back up towards the clubhouse, with a bank in the middle of the green and a steep bank in front of it. The key here is to hit enough club, though with flowering heather and a path directly behind the green this is easier said than done. I would imagine some entertainment can be had from the terrace watching players struggle with the 4th green! 

(The fairway looks but a sliver of grass amongst the heather on 5) 

On the card, a 402 yard stroke index 2 doesn't sound too taxing, however the fifth is so well designed it implores you to take on an aggressive carry down the right, running the risk of finding two deep bunkers or an abundance of heather. The ideal shot is a slight fade off the left hand fairway bunker, which should leave a mid iron into the green though as ever the challenge is to avoid overdoing it and finding the heather anyway! There are a couple of swales short of the green which need to be carried, so par here is a really satisfying score. 

I'd mark the 6th down as the weakest hole on the course, with a fairway bunker around driver distance however a decent one should get past this leaving a downhill short iron to the green of the par 5. I hit a fairly poorly struck driver off the tee followed by an 8 iron to the front (my playing partner hit 2 iron, 8 iron.... admittedly off +2) leading to a routine birdie - I generally feel you should have to work a little harder for birdie on a par 5! 

(The sloping 7th green) 

The two tiered green on 7 is the holes biggest defence, and you need to hit your tee shot to whichever tier the flag happens to be on to give yourself the best chance. The bunkers are well positioned and deep, so finding one of these will make par a real challenge. At this point, I will mention how purely the greens were rolling - not the fastest I have ever played but a lovely, playable pace that I felt immediately comfortable with. 

If you thought the slope on the 7th green was steep, wait until you try the eighth. The drive needs to favour the right, avoiding the cavernous bunker where the hole starts to dogleg left. After finding the fairway, the hole becomes really fun.... while you might only have 100 yards left it really isn't a case of just pulling your wedge out and flying it to the hole. If the flag is on the back tier of the green as it was for us, the only way I could really envisage getting it close is a low, running bump and run in a style you would typically need on the Fife coast. 

The 9th requires a similar shot to the 5th from the tee, a soft fade off the bunker on the left side of the fairway. Overdo it and there are numerous trees and water to swallow up the ball,  too far left and you will be blocked out or out of bounds. The single green side bunker is smartly positioned, but the score here is really earned off the tee. 

(The Picturesque tee shot over the water on 10) 

I thought that the short par 3 10th came at the perfect time in the round - a tricky green but relatively easy tee shot to give some respite after a tough finish to the front nine. Crossing the road to the 11th tee, I wasn't sure what to expect as previous experiences of courses with holes on 'the other side of the road' felt like they had almost crammed in a few new holes to make up the numbers, but its safe to say that is not the case here... 

(The view back from the 13th green, looking incredible in the setting sun) 

The back to back par 5 11 and 12 holes both favour a drive down the left hand side, and are reachable in two, however are very tight second shots if you are to find the putting surfaces. The 12th in particular is an incredibly well protected green, with a raised bank of heather left and bunkers all the way around the front of the green. I didn't really get much chance to take in how challenging the second would be if you are going for the green in two (as I was chopping my 2nd out of the heather) but a birdie here very much needs to be earned. 

(The par 5 11th, looking decidedly challenging from this angle!) 

The par 3's at Worplesdon are stunning, with the 13th being the pick of them for me. There are bunkers protecting every inch of the massive green, with Heather framing the hole beautifully. I learned just how large the green is when I found the very front edge, with the pin at the back I must have faced a 30 yard putt which was fun to say the least (to give you a clue, I didn't 2 putt). 

The caveat for me at 14 is that it was playing very much downwind for us, and so I don't think I experienced how difficult the SI1 usually is - given that I hit driver down the middle, past all the bunkers and had 120 yards into the green. I would imagine into the wind, threading a driver down the funnel of trees before hitting a long iron into the extremely narrow green would be rather daunting!

(disclosure - I stole this picture of the 13th from the club website, as I couldn't get a good one myself with the angle of the sun!) 

The par 5 15th is the 3rd long hole in 5, and is another great test of golf - but can reward you with a birdie if played correctly. The tee shot is so narrow that a driver does not feel like the play, even with a 2 iron in my hand I felt I needed to be accurate to keep the ball out of the trees, ditch and in bounds. Two good long irons could find the green, however the bunker front left really gives you something to think about and is a great piece of course design to protect what is a pretty short hole on the card - I would suggest that far fewer 4's are made here than you would expect from a 489 yard par 5. 

Another fabulous piece of design follows on 16, with cavernous bunkers in play 50 yards short of the green for higher handicap players to worry about, a deep bunker right and a swale left meaning there is no easy bale out for anybody clinging onto a score late in the round. A green that slopes from back to front makes it tough to read, again making par a great score. 

I was told by my playing partner that the bunkers on the right side of the fairway have been recently redesigned, and are now a true penalty if you find them. This leads you to favour the left side, despite the angle being better to the green as tight to the bunkers as you can tolerate - however too far left and you are blocked out by overhanging branches so accuracy from the tee is crucial. Another steeply sloping two-tiered green means finding the correct tier is again crucial. 

18 strikes me as one of those holes that the more times you play it, the harder it becomes. I just stepped onto the tee blindly and hit a driver without a care in the world, as it all looks fairly straightforward. However, once I got down there and had a look at the hole it becomes apparent just how tight to the left the OOB is and how easily you could hang onto one with a scorecard in your hand and gently tug it out of bounds. Another hole where you could hit an iron off the tee, but I really wouldn't fancy a long iron to the small, firm green with out of bounds close to the back of the green... 

So, in summary, where do I put Worplesdon in the hierarchy of the 3W's? Much as it pains me to say it, from a purely golf course perspective, I would probably put Worplesdon fractionally ahead of West Hill - predominantly based on the fact that it is a better test of driving ability. I thought the greens were great, probably not as quick as WH but consistently true and very interestingly sloped. Another really enjoyable day for me (helped by the fact I got it round in 75, with doubles on 9 and 13) and one which I would be very keen to return to.