tee1up rating 7/10 a good course very nice
greens, worth a visit.
We had a good turn out for Dummer with twenty four
players attending of which five were new members joining
us for the first time. For a change we decided to play
only 27 holes as in the past getting round in the
morning quick enough on eighteen holes wasn’t leaving
much time for the lunch before we were back on the tee
again to start the next round of eighteen. The morning
round over nine holes we played Texas Scramble with an
extra rule of any player could have two consecutive
shots chosen on a hole and each had to take three
drives. This proved to be a bit of a farce as I think my
team was the only ones to stick to the rules and the
rest just didn’t grasp what I had said, in hindsight
it did make are game very difficult to play. The
eventual winners were Stewart Rennie, Tom Page and Andy
Stagg with a Gross 28 each received a sleeve of balls
for there trouble.
After we had enjoyed our extended lunch of Lasagne and
chips plus several beers we went off to play the main
competition of the day eighteen holes full handicap
Stableford. Because a number of players were celebrating
a birthday they were allowed to go of first as they had
to leave straight after the game for a party, one of
these was Rob Franckiess. Now Rob spoiled things for the
others that wanted to leave by registering a score of 38
points and as we have a rule in the society if you are
not present for the awards you can not collect them and
they go to the next best player on the list. Rob was
forced to stay to watch the scores come in from the
other players and it wasn’t till the second to last
group arrived he knew that it was a wasted effort. Dave
Harfield had 39 points beating him to second place
closely followed by Andy Clark on 36 points. Dave is a
new member and I had found out earlier on the tee that
he was a newgreen
keeper at my home club Romsey, needless to say I put my
order in for course improvements. Just to add Dave was
on top form on the day and he even managed to carry it
over to the Captains day at Romsey Golf Club taking the
first prize in the juniors competition.
The staff at Dummer were some of the friendliest I
have meet at a golf course and the food was excellent
value for money certainly didn’t need to top the bag
up with chocolate bars after lunch. The only annoying
part of the day was being chased up by the course
marshal which I felt was unnecessary as we were well
with the two hours for the front nine apparently the
members were moaning, all I can say is we weren’t slow
and if members are unhappy maybe they shouldn’t invite
societies in future.
The day we visited the course it was sunny with some
light wind which was luckily as it had been raining
quite hard leading up to the day at Dummer. The course
is not the longest course around a only 5913 yards and a
par 70 of the yellow tees we played on the day. The
first hole a short par four 262 yards is easily hit of
the tee only trouble is on the right with and large tree
just before the green which sits at the end of the pond.
the second a par three is a little more testing the
green is elevated at 177 yards from the tee and your
shot should favour the left side and high as possible as
I don’t think any of us managed to hold the ball near
the flag which was cut front left. The third is another
par four 382 yards dog leg left you don’t need a long
shot on this hole but you will need to be positioned
right hand side of the fairway to have a shot to the
green.Hole
four a par four 383 yards takes you along side the
driving range its a straight forward hole that just
needs a straight drive best approach is from the right
hand side. The fifth is a par four at only 265 yards and
probably the silliest hole on the course only problem is
a bunker on the left covering the front of the green.
Hole six is a difficult up hill par for with a slight
dog leg you will need to be as close as you can to the
bunker on the left to have a real chance of hitting the
green in two on the right hand side opposite the same
bunker is a large hole taking anything that over shoots
the corner of the fairway. The seventh is a another
short 300 yard dog leg left par four a medium iron off
the tee will leave an easy lob onto a blind hole. The
eighth only 314 yards down hill in the summer you can
hit this green anything right will be caught in a large
crater.The
ninth hole takes you back towards the club house the
hole looks fairly easy from the tee however there is out
of bounds on the left and a hidden bunker just over the
mounds on that side catching anyone that try’s to cut
the corner off on the right is deep rough so you have to
be in the fairway for a shot at the raised green. The
second half starts with a 395 par four only trouble on
this hole is the small green which is protected on all
sides either by grass mounds or a bunker. There is a
short walk to the eleventh tee this hole is a nice dog
leg par four fairly short at 359 keep as close as you
can to the right side and you should disappear down the
hill towards the green watch out for the water on the
far right of the green. The twelve is a short par three
at 155 yards over water is a lovely hole. The thirteenth
on the card is the hardest hole on the course at 427
yards it certainly is a better test than the other par
fours on this course all up hill and a difficult green
to hit in two. The fourteenth is a very short par three
aim you ball over the small trees on the right and you
will be left a lob onto the green but don’t over cook
it as there are a couple of bunkers waiting for you on
this route. The fifteenth is a nice dog leg keep you
ball to the right as there is OB on you left there is
also a large bunker just before the green to navigate.
The sixteenth is a fairly short straight forward par
four the green is a challenge though. The seventeenth
you will be looking at a very large bunker from the tee
to the green with big sleepers holding it all together,
the green is also very tricky which makes up for the 135
yardage total. Probably the nicest hole on the course is
the eighteenth it has plenty of obstacles from the tee
you will see the lakes on the ride hand side what you
don’t see is the crater on the right and that the
fairway only has a small landing zone for your drive
your second shot is best kept short of the second pond
that is on the right of the green.
