Aberdour
Looking back along the super-tough eleventh hole at Aberdour
(Image credit: Aberdour Golf Club)
As golfing counties go, Fife might just be Scotland’s equivalent of Surrey; packed with quality and quantity and several courses in the Golf Monthly Top 100 UK&I. Founded in 1895, Aberdour is one of its less well-known clubs, and it moved to its current parkland home on the northern shore of the firth in 1905. Seemingly of modest length, the real reason is that there are six varied short holes offset by a lone par 5 at the 13th, Ash Tree. Unusually, the course is bookended by par 3s, with the opener a chance to get off to a flyer if you can ride the wind without falling off! The 11th is both beauty and beast, skirting Barnhill Bay at the far end of the course.
Abbeydale
The par-5 sixth at Abbeydale is a real beauty
(Image credit: Abbeydale Golf Club)
Also dating back to 1895, Abbeydale is to the south-west of Sheffield and moved to its current site just over a century ago. Here, it benefited from a design by the great Herbert Fowler, famed for his Top 100 courses at Walton Heath, Saunton and The Berkshire. It uses the gently rolling landscape to great effect and has recently benefited from renovations and substantial bunker improvements by Jonathan Gaunt.
Out of bounds lines the left-hand side of the shortish par-4 eighth
(Image credit: Abbeydale Golf Club)
The greens are large and undulating, and there is an unusual but very enjoyable imbalance to the two nines with two par 5s on each but just one short hole going out and four coming home.
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Ashford Manor
The par-3 fourteenth at Ashford Manor is just 151 yards from the back tee
(Image credit: Rob Smith)
Although you will glimpse Heathrow’s arrivals and departures while playing, such are the flightpath angles and the protection offered by the many specimen trees that you would never know you are just minutes from the busiest airport in Europe. This oasis of golf runs over a level, free-draining course that dates back to 1902, and is one of the best golf courses in London.
Bunkers protect the short but sweet sixteenth
(Image credit: Ashford Manor Golf Club)
Key to scoring is positioning from the tee, and there are some very tough par 4s such as the 7th, 10th and 16th. Harold Hilton, two-time Open champion and founding editor of Golf Monthly was a member, and there is a lovely clubhouse with fine views out over the course.
Ashridge
Thunderdell – the eleventh at Ashridge – is a lovely par 3
(Image credit: Rob Smith)
Not far from the M1 to the north-west of London, this beautiful and remarkably peaceful course is distinguished by the wonderful space between its holes. The opening pair ease you gently down a wide valley before things tighten up a little and the front nine closes with a fabulous drive and pitch par 4 to a green that is tricky both to find and read.
The final par 3 at Ashridge is the sixteenth – Willow Pond
(Image credit: Rob Smith)
The back nine on this excellent Next 100 course has even more variety and fun with the 16th the prettiest of five diverse and intriguing short holes. The modern clubhouse is light and airy, with excellent views over the course.
Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands
Lined by trees, the fourteenth at Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands is a beautiful par 5
(Image credit: Geoff Ellis – golfworking.co.uk)
Close to the three Top 100 courses at Woburn, the original nine holes of this undulating parkland course were designed just before WWI, appropriately enough by the 1902 Open champion, Sandy Herd. It was expanded to 18 around 50 years ago, and while not long, it is packed with variety and interest.
The closing hole is a tough par 5 back up to the clubhouse
(Image credit: Geoff Ellis – golfworking.co.uk)
Not until the 12th does a hole head in the same direction as the one before, and although the trees offer protection from whatever breeze may be present, you can never be quite sure of the impact. Stand out holes include the par-3 10th, played over a sea of ferns, and the left-to-right dogleg 16th.
