It has changed and evolved with time, trees that were not a problem 20 years ago, are now well and truly in play and recently four new tees have been added to get the yardage up and strive for a higher standard scratch score.
For those of you familiar with the set-up at Marsden, the order of play has reverted to the "old" nine first.
The opener is a hole that used to wait for my bleary-eyed arrival every Saturday morning and it is a hole that means you need to be on your game from the start. It's a big dog-leg right and there's a stream waiting before you get anywhere near the green that always seems to want to kick things off to the right. The second hardest hole on the course has ruined many of my cards before I've even woken up properly!
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The next is the first of the new competition tees. Around 50 yards have been added to take it to 180 and a solid shot is required. The new tee has also changed the angle of the hole and a bunker above the left of the green is now much more likely to come into play.
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The third is the only par five on the front nine and another hole that has been shortened by time - until, inevitably, a new tee bed was added for major competition. New club technology and better golf balls had taken both ditches on this hole out of play for most players, now they are back in contention! |
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The tee bed at the fourth has been moved for competitions. It used to be "on" to drive over a clump of trees just short of the green and get on in one. Now the hole is about 30 yards longer and that option has largely disappeared leaving an iron off the tee and a short iron into the green that has loads of trouble through the back.
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The next two holes both feature in-course out of bounds and are both dog-legs. Many years ago, with a younger, more supple back, both were holes you tried to chew the corner out of and go for the green - usually with disastrous consequences. But the trees have grown considerably and caution has to be the watchword, especially if you have a good card going. |
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The 7th is the second of the par threes. Downhill and 192 yards, the natural slopes mean you need to aim left and let it kick in, but that side of the green is protected by a bunker and then the nine finishes with two par fours. |
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The 8th has a ditch about driving range that gives you plenty of thinking to do. The green is small and protected on the right, so you have to try and get left without getting in the rough. |
And the course finishes the first nine with a tee shot from an elevated position that just makes you want to open your shoulders and go for it. |
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The back nine starts with an up-hill drive at the 362-yard hole which has a severe dogleg left and trouble all around. I don't intend to go on about the rough on every hole, suffice it to say that if you're more than a couple of feet off the fairway, expect trouble! The rough is severe in most places and will lead to the loss of more than the occasional ball.
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Another feature of the course is that the greens will be firm. There may not be many big breaks on them, but hitting from range and staying on them can be a challenge. The 11th is another of the holes that has been extended to an elevated tee set back in the rough.
From the original tee and in fair conditions, the hole was just over 300 yards and the temptation was to try and drive it - but the new tee has taken that option out as it now measures 347 yards. The hole is downhill all the way and, as with many holes at Marsden Park, the big trouble is through the back. |
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The 12th is a fraction under 500 yards, a big dog-leg right and the temptation is to try and chew off the corner by flying the out of bounds. It's a makeable shot that will only leave an iron into the green, but it is also a shot that can leave you in heaps of trouble. |
The next is one of the best holes on the course and nearly made it as the feature hole - the only thing stopping it was the length of the hole.
Back in the days of wooden woods, bladed irons and "old technology" golf balls, the 371 yards here were a real test. Now a good drive leaves no more than a short iron, but the fairway slopes from left to right and kicks everything down towards the rough on the bottom side. |
Photo to follow |
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The first par-three on the back nine is next up and at 179-yards, uphill all the way into a two-tier green surrounded by bunkers, it's a tee shot that can lead to problems - as it does at the next which is 148-yards of pure carry to an elevated green with a severe slope down the left hand side. This is a hole that was extended in 2006 for competitions and now plays around 35 yards longer. |
Many familiar with Marsden Park may be surprised to find that the 16th - Cardiac Hill - is not my feature hole. Two decades ago it would have been as it was a mighty effort to get up in two at this 391-yard uphill hole. But the change in technology has shortened the hole and while it remains stroke index one at the moment, it would not surprise me to find that changing over the next few years.
It could easily swap places with the 17h, my feature hole, and more of that later. |
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The first time I ever played this hole in a competition I had a 13.
I had been going so well up until that point that finishing with two fives would have given me a nett 63 and I would have won by a street.
Where did I go wrong - I hit driver!
Sometimes it's the right shot and I'd been driving well all morning.
But the wind was blowing left to right and I ended up in neck-high rough.
Did I take the sensible option and declare it unplayable - I was 21-years-old and on my way to winning my first-ever competition, what do you think?
Several swipes, swear words and cigarettes later I was back on the fairway, then I was in a bunker having a Hamlet moment and then I drained a 15-footer for a 13. Ouch.
What do I do now? Four iron off the tee, six or seven iron into the green and walk away happy.
So what makes this hole so good? Options.
Standing on the tee you can see the green.
The 363-yards between you are largely blocked out by mature trees.
You can knock the ball over them or try and draw it round them, but don't go in them!
Once you're over or past the trees, the fairway falls from left to right towards some drastic rough - rough I know only too well.
Then your next shot is into an elevated green.
Come in from the left and you're blocked out by another mature tree.
Come in from the right and there's a bunker waiting for you and a severe slope pointing back towards that rough.
This hole also has a big green and you can easily find yourself in three-putt land!
How much trouble do you want?
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So on to the last and another tricky tee shot. Out of bounds waits all the way down the left and rough on the right beckons. Get the ball in the right place and with a big green to aim at, you should make par. Get it wrong off the tee and you really can pick a number.
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I have many happy memories of playing at Marsden Park. Not only is it the only club where I can look at the honours board and find my own name, it is also a course that constantly evolves and presents new challenges. |
| Thanks for Edward Lee's permission to include this comprehensive review of Marsden Park Golf Course |
