- Four of us started our golf weekend
early as we normally do each year with a trip down to
Wareham Golf Club for 18 holes before traveling the rest
of way down to Dartmouth. I had mixed reports reviews of Wareham from other
members of my golf club who had played it as it is part
of the clubs reciprocal arrangement, some had said it
was a boring flat parkland course and wasn’t worth
playing. I can only think they must have played another
course because the one we played certainly wasn’t
boring or flat in fact we all thought it was a delight
to play as well as being challenging in places and also
a credit to the greens staff as it was in superb
condition. After a light lunch, we headed down to
Dartmouth
to stay overnight in a B&B and of course a few beers
and curry in the town before going to Dartmouth
golf club the next morning.
We had arranged to play the nine hole course in
the morning before the rest of the Tee1up group arrived
around dinner time. I had visited Dartmouth three times
the previous year and hadn’t played the nine hole
course and was looking forward to it, I have to say it
is just as good as the championship course although a
little shorter it was just as tricky in places. As we
came on to the ninth tee I could see some of our players
arriving in the car park and some of them had made it
early and had the same idea to play the nine holes
before the main event in the afternoon which due to
start at 1pm on the Championship course. For this year
and the third year running, we had planned a Ryder Cup
event over the three days with two teams of 16 players
competing for the Tee1up Tour Trophy. Team
captains were Andy Webber (Tee1up Captain) and Gavin
Hall (Tee1up Vice Captain) competitions for the weekend
are based on the Ryder cup format starting with
Greensomes on Friday, Better ball Stableford on Saturday
and Singles on Sunday. This was the biggest number of
people we have had on the golf weekend, the format was
just right for all players, and ability making all feel
every part of the competition. As usual there was plenty
of banter between the teams throughout the weekend in
fact the competition was very close going right down to
the last few four balls before the result was know.
Gavin Hall’s team won the tee1up Trophy and the
individual best player for the weekend went to Stewart
Rennie.
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- The weather forecast for the weekend was
looking good with some cloudy conditions expected and lots of
sun although that was not all we got. The first days golf was
superb no rain at all although quite breezy on the second day
we had played seven holes and it started to look very black in
the distance not being put off we carried on until we reached
the ninth hole and the clouds opened up. The rain did not seem
that bad so we carried on to the tenth tee and then the sun
came out and we all took of the wet weather gear to play out
tee shots, we played the hole in the sun and walked off to the
next tee on top of the hill. At the top of the hill we could
see the thick black clouds in the distance but they look as if
they would pass over the hills in the distance and wouldn’t
affect us in fact we managed to play out the hole and tee off
on the next one before all hell let loose. In mid fairway
after playing our second shots, we heard thunder and could see
lightening strikes not too far from us I thought I could just
play out the hole. As I was walking onto the green with putter
in hand when a saw a great flash and bang that was enough for
me to run off to there nearest bushes for shelter. There was
no way we could have made it back to the clubhouse as we were
smack in the middle of the storm which was getting worse by
the minute and included heavy hail by now. We all sheltered in
the bushes between the trees for about 30 minutes getting
soaked through and it rained so hard it went straight through
the material on my brolly as well as turning all the paths
into streams. It was apparent the weather was not going to
improve; all the greens had turned white with hail and were
flooded so we made our way back to the club to spend the rest
of the afternoon playing cards and drinking. Sunday our last
day was excellent hot and sunny all day.
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The clubhouse is set in a valley between two hills and
overlooks the eighteenth green and 10th tee facilities at the
venue a just right for a golf weekend it has a well stocked
golf shop, superb food, plenty of room in the bar, fitness
centre and swimming pool. All the rooms had just been
refurbished therefore you cannot take you clubs back to the
room but you do get your own free locker to stow all your
gear. The championship course has some long walks some hilly
between tees, so I suggest taking a trolley at least to save
you’re your back and stamina if you are playing three rounds
over the weekend as we did. The first hole is a long walk up
hill situated just above the hotel, a straight par four
needing a good tee shot to give a look at the green, which
sits lower than the fairway. The second is a delightful hole
par four dog leg on paper very shot and you only really need a
mid iron to the right of the bushes that jut out from the
trees running all the way down the left side. There is a
sneaky bunker just behind the bushes and a further one on the
other side of fairway. You will start taking risks with your
tee shot the more times you play it and I am told it is
possible to take on the green but to be honest I wouldn’t
try it. Get your camera out for the third hole you wont see
much better par threes than this one in
England
. The tee is elevated on one side of the valley depending
which one of the three teeing areas is allocated you will have
about 150 yards to the tiered green sitting in the valley over
water, on the right side the green falls away to the bottom of
the valley. Fifth hole tee shot is very tight only needing a
long iron or fairway wood to get you to the narrow par five
fairway below, a stream runs all the way down the left hand
side of the fairway and out of bounds on both sides. The green
is also protected by a pond on the left hand side, this hole
can certainly wreck your score early in the round and if you
walk away with a par think yourself lucky as this hole plays
every bit of it stroke index two awarded. Another beautiful
par three sat between a pond and stream on the left and a
large hill on the right hand side with a large green. After a
trudge uphill to the next tee and you have caught your breath
back you are faced with a par four with a fairway that raises
as you go towards the green. I good tee shot just right of the
large bunker will give a shot from the fairway at the raised
green. The seventh another par three at about 200 yards is
protected on both sides by trees and just in from of the tee
is a pond with a water fountain was is slightly off putting.
The next two holes are par fives the eighth is long straight
hole with a large bunker that comes into play off the right
side of the fairway and trees jutting out of the left and
right as you go down the fairway. The green protected which
slopes from front to back is protected by bunkers on both
sides with only a small entrance to the green available to
you. The front nine finishes with another par five dog leg the
tee shot is fairly easy with just a bunker on the right to
catch any off centre shots, then you have another shot up the
fairway before it breaks to the right and the green just down
the hill. After another long walk down the hill and past the
hotel, you cross to the other side of the valley to the tenth
tee you are a faced with a straight par four with slate rock
face on the left and on the right hand side of the fairway the
slope down the valley. If like me, you hit right to left off
the tee or in my case, a duck hook on more occasions than I
can remember you will watch you ball bounce hard off the rocks
and fall back onto the fairway if you are lucky. The second
shot to the elevated green can also be played of the left hand
side. The eleventh par four is up the hill above the tenth
green a straight hole needing a straight shot to a narrow gap
favouring the right side of the fairway to open up the green.
The next two holes are very similar short par fours but
always seem to be into the wind making them play much longer
than the yardage on the card. Both holes slope off to the
right hand side into deep rough and have the odd bunker placed
at the length of your tee shot, however there is plenty of
bail out areas on the left. The greens are elevated form the
fairway but both have plenty length and width to take your
ball. Water features on both of the next two holes starting
with an elevated tee over a large expanse to an uphill
fairway. Again, the wind always seems to bang in your face
force you to hit it harder than normal just to get across.
Because of the steep incline after the water your are faced a
very long shot into the green to get on for two something I
couldn’t achieve the four or five times I have played the
hole and when you eventually get on the green you find it has
a large incline with borrows from all directions, great hole!
The fifteenth the hardest hole on the course par four 405
yards long, it has bunkers and ditches down the left side and
woods on the right. Although it looks like a fairly long way
to the marker that marks middle of the fairway don’t be
deceived as if you reach it will find your ball either in or very
close to the water at the bottom of the hill. Depending where
you land you are face with a shot right over the water and
valley to the green on top of the hill on the others side. The
sixteenth hole is an easy straight par five with a large
bunker just on the right side of the fairway catching and
wayward tee shots, the only other trouble on this hole is a
dip before the green which has rough ground.
- Seventeen is a nice par four finish
needing a straight tee shot on the fairway followed by a short
iron to the raised green. The finishing hole is a par three
around 200 yards from an elevated tee over water to a sloping
green very picturesque and a great finish to the round.
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