| East Horton was the first
club we played as a society around 1997, the course could
have only been open a couple of years. It has two eighteen
hole pay and play courses the Greenwood and the Parkland
and a nine hole par three course, Greenwood reported as
the better of the two by its members. When we played it we
had around forty players on the day and because there were
two courses we all got round in time without a hitch. The
clubhouse then was in an old 16th century barn,
which was small but had some character about it, they have
since built a new clubhouse with a function suite on the
first floor. I have been back a couple of time to play the
course and on both occasions the greens and fairways were
in poor condition probably because of the investment in
the clubhouse. Having said that although the lay out of
the courses is a little odd it’s still enjoyable to
play. As I have played the Greenwood more times than the
Parkland and to be honest I have to agree with the members
it is the better of the two however I do think that the
Parkland is also worth playing especially if you want a
full days golf.
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- The greenwood course is play
amongst some woods the course is par 69 and only 5587
yards in length. The first hole on this course sets
the theme for the rest of the eighteen it is a tight
short par fours 287 yards long going for the green is
definitely not the right option you are better off
playing a mid iron over the trees and ditch on the
right to the middle of the fairway leaving you a short
wedge on to a undulating green. The par four second is
slightly longer dogleg right the only trouble on this
hole is a bunker sat in the middle of the fairway
right on your drive length so be careful also the
green is very undulating. Hole three is 359 yards par
four all up hill you will need a straight drive to
have a chance of a shot to the green sat on top of a
large hill there are also two large bunkers to catch
anything short of the rise. The fourth is the first of
two back to back par threes only 127 yards in length
and stroke 18 on the card all you will need to do is
have enough club to get you over the three bunkers
protecting the front. The fifth par three is back down
the hill you just climbed on the third the elevated
tee makes this hole look quite short but you will
probably need another club but certainly enjoyable to
watch your ball fly towards the green from that
height. Hole six a par four dogleg left has a bunker
right in the middle of the fairway you will need to
keep it to the left to have any chance of hitting the
elevated green in amongst the copse at the top of the
hill. It’s a short walk three the trees to the next
tee the seventh which is another elevated tee and
lends itself to opening the shoulder with the biggest
club in the bag, you’ll however need to be on the
right side as the left is protected by a number of
bunkers and deep rough stopping you cutting the corner
off. The eight is only 267 yards long and down hill
but the green is protected by bunkers across the
front, I would suggest having a go for it anyway. Hole
nine a dogleg right par four has out of bounds on the
left and right but cutting the corner isn’t to much
of a problem as there is a quite a large run out on
the other side of the fairway before the OB. There is
also a small ditch just before the green which catches
any duff shots, the green slopes from back to front
and if you find yourself putting from the top you wont
have a chance of making par. The tenth is a straight
par four only problem on this hole is the two large
bunkers protecting the approach to the green. Hole
eleven another par four is only 306 yards long the
first thing you will see is two bunkers on the left
playing over these is you best line to the green. Hole
twelve another straight three for all down hill but
still 197 yards there are two bunkers to the left
which catches any stray shot and two more at the
greens edge so you have to fly the green also at the
back of the green to the left is a pond so don’t
over shoot. The thirteen starts you on you way back to
the clubhouse a long hard par five with two ditches
crossing the fairway both off your drive and your
second shot playing short of the second ditch is a
better option on this hole. Hole fourteen a short
dogleg par four to the left is more difficult than it
looks, The first obstacle is the very tight tee shot
between trees and if you hit a good shot you need to
be on the right hand side as hidden behind the trees
to the left is OB and three sets of bunkers all the
way up to the green.
The tee to the fifteenth is back over the road
and you play off an elevated tee which over looks a
lake on the left and a large bunker on the right about
200 yards way. Your best shot is on the right as close
or over the bunker; there is also another pond just
short of the green to your left. Hole sixteen the
second on two sets of back to back par threes on this
eighteen is my favorite hole only because it made me
laugh the first time I played it. My ball managed to
hit the hut to the left of the green and bounce off to
within two foot of the pin since then my other visits
to the club have used a little more conventional
approach. The hole itself has a large lake from tee to
green and the approach is a little tight too. The
seventeenth the second par three in this set is a
deceptive hole over a valley from you will need to
take one more club to be safe. The finishing hole is
down hill your first shot is a blind one to a fairway
and if you are a big hitter be careful of the ditch
across the fairway. The fairway also closes in on you
at the bottom of the hill and if you are on the right
you will not have much of a shot into the green.
- The Parkland
- I have decided not to review this
course because I have to agree with the members that
it is not as interesting at the Greenwood only one
hole excited me the sixteenth and only because of the
all or nothing tee shot it presented to me you will
see if you decide to play. Having said that this
eighteen isn’t all that bad it does have some nice
holes but there is also plenty of room to stray off
the fairways.
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