- Petersfield’s eighteen hole new
course is situated on the A3 there is also another nine
hole course near the town centre. The entrance to the
club is hard to find especially if you are heading from
the south, the signpost is hidden from the road and if
you are going to fast, you will pass it and have another
few miles before you can double back down the dual
carriageway. We only had seventeen players for this
event poor by tee1up standards and I had heard that a
number of players had stayed away because they thought
the course was uninteresting. In fact those who attended
really enjoyed the course and thought it was a good test
of golf with some quirky holes thrown in to make it just
a little more fun. We could not have picked a better day
although I regretted wearing my shorts to the club in
the morning, as it started very chilly but then
temperatures improved and then rose for the afternoons
round. We have visited the course before but I could not
remember much about the layout with the exception of one
hole that stuck in my memory the par four fourth, which
has a funny tee shot to the fairway with the green down
the hill off to the right, so I was looking forward to
rediscovering the course. As there was only seventeen of
us we played a 36 hole Stableford competition we players
picking there own partners for the day. Rob Franckiess
was sporting new irons, which he had recently acquired
from Gary Kemp at a knock down price, and won the first
eighteen holes with a massive 44 point with them, then
in the afternoon followed it up with another 40 points.
Second was Steve Dunn with 78 points and third was Gavin
Hall on 71 points.
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- The course starts with two par
fives both are reachable in two the first of which has
an uphill tee shot followed by a straight second, which
could take you to the green in dry conditions. The
second hole has a tight entrance through the fairway
between some trees if you can get pass them you will
then have a long shot over a small valley to the large
green. After crossing the road to the third tee you are
faced with a par three around 160 yards protected with a
bunker on the right side and a green that slopes from
back right to front left. The fourth hole could be
classed as a risk reward hole for any big hitters at 302
yards it is possible to take the straight shot towards
the green. However, for those of you that are like me
all you really need is a five iron towards the end of
the fairway then hope you have a shot either over the
trees or between them to the green at the bottom of the
slope without rolling off the back into the stream. The
fifth is a difficult par three at 183 yards with the
right quarter of the front of the green protected by a
large bunker. The hardest hole on the course the sixth
par four has water on the left side and out of bounds
down the right, the water will come into play from the
tee so a straight shot is need to give you a chance of
hitting the fairly large green. The seventh a par five
at 502 yards has a wicked tee shot although it looks
straight forward you will find you ball heading toward
the large bunker on the right hand. The rough was high
on our visit so we found the next shot is best played to
the centre of the fairway up the hill leaving a wedge to
the green but watch out for the sneaky bunker just over
the green on left hand side. I cant help feeling the
eight should be the finishing hole for the front nine as
it is a lovely par four needing a straight tee shot
between the trees then a mid iron to the green at the
bottom of the hill just in front of the barn. The ninth
is just over the road and is a 214-yard par three; the
green cannot be seen from the tee so hitting it is very
difficult. The green, which has large slope, is
protected on the right by a bunker. The next three holes
are all straightforward par fours with the odd bunker
just on your drive on each of the holes. The twelfth
hole played the hardest as hitting the second shot into
this green was a challenge. The
next hole a par three is only 120 yards down hill with
bunkers on both sides. The fourteenth tee sits outside
the club house and is a up hill par four at 289 yards
its not very long but has a large bunker to catch you
tee shot playing short of this leaves a short iron to
the green at the top of the hill.
Fifteenth is the last of the par threes on the
course and has another 130 yard down hill tee shot with
a bunker on the right. The sixteenth tee shot needs to
be accurate even though there is a large bank right of
the fairway, if you hit it you will find fairly deep
rough and on the right hand side the fairway drops off
down a hill. Next shot this green is very tight but
plenty of room on the right hand side, on the left is a
series of bunkers. The seventeenth is another par five
only 470 yards but plays much longer, there is a long
walk back to the tee and even longer hit back to the
fairway up hill. The second to this green is straight
forward if you have hit a long enough tee shot. The
finishing hole runs along side the practice area and a
straight tee shot will see you ball down the hill
towards the green leaving a wedge to the green that
slopes front to back.
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