Enjoy the read and also listen to The Golf Pilgrim podcast from Parkstone here
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There are many challengers for the best view from a clubhouse, but I reckon Parkstone beats them all.
The elevated terrace is above the first fairway with its immaculate central-line cut, white-sanded, scalloped bunkers.
It leads to a sloping green with a false front and menacing rough to its rear.
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The glorious vision is set off by the lake to the right of the hole and up to the 18th tee on the left.
Parkstone has a super vibe and we enjoyed a lovely lunch with our host from its terrace before a quick warm-up.
On our way, a jovial lady member wished us a great day but warned us to steer clear of the rough.
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Apparently, the greens’ staff can only cut down rough twice a year because the course is in an area of special scientific interest. The intense spring rain has prompted it to grow like Topsy.
Its density was apparent after I thinned my approach to the first hole. The ball darted into tangly stuff behind the target, and it took me three attempts to extricate it.
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Thus, it became clear that keeping the ball on the course is imperative to success.
Parkstone is a gorgeous course and among its jewels are its five par-threes, beginning at the second, a 165-yarder through an avenue of tall trees to a raised green defended by bunkers from and left and rough behind.
The right side of the green falls away into a swale, so holding the ball is very tricky.
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Drama increases on the par-five third with a tee shot over water and reeds to a fairway framed by grassy mounds on the left and a copse on the right.
The second shot is blind over a ridge to a green which can be reached in two but out-of-bounds threatens at the back for the over-ambitions.
The conditioning at Parkstone was not just good, it was superb. The fairway turf was tight, the greens were true, and the tee boxes were pristine, ensuring a top-notch golfing experience.
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It also looks great, with trees, water, and stellar properties that provide gorgeous backdrops.
But, above all, the holes on this Wille Park Jr course are excitingly varied, forcing players to think hard about placement, when to risk attacking, and when to hold off.
For example, the risk-and-reward fourth hole is a par-four of 280 yards that will tempt longer drivers. The rest of us will need to go down the left to avoid the slope into rough on the right.
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Mrs W had teamed up with our genial host to take on me and another pal, and, by this stage, we already knew the writing was on the wall. The member was taking local knowledge to a new level, with trees diverting wayward shots onto fairways.
“Get the drive away and this can feel like an easy par-five but get it wrong and you may be reloading from the tee.”
These words from the excellent club website could have been written for me on the sixth, a lovely curving hole down a dip and then up to a raised, sloping green. I pulled my tee shot and the ball which was never seen again.
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However, there was glory on the gorgeous par-three seventh which slopes dramatically left to right, encouraging the ball to take one of Parkstone’s beautiful run-offs.
Mrs W and I hit splendid shots that held on the putting surface, and I was rather chuffed with my par, only to be overshadowed when she rolled the ball straight at the cup for birdie.
Suddenly, a groove was found and I was very chuffed with my par-four on the eighth, which curves through trees and over a brook up to a green with traps to the front and side.
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I could imagine the mirth of Parkstone’s most famous professional, Peter Alliss over what happened on the 12th. Indeed, his commentary would have been priceless.
I fancied my chances of three Stableford points as I prepared to strike a seven-iron towards the elevated green of this innocuous-looking par-four.
The ball arched towards the flag but hit the bank leading up to the target. It had a think and rolled back about five yards. Incredibly, my three playing partners all suffered the same fate.
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I giggled as one of them followed up that initial failure by putting to the top of the hill and seeing the ball return to his feet. But my hilarity turned to dismay when I experienced the same fate… twice.
The run-offs on the whole course are carved like links but the one on the left of the 14th hole is so slippery that our host’s ball skidded down into the gnarly rough and was never found.
The best views of Poole Harbour are from the tee on the 16th, a par-three which dips beyond a cart path with out-of-sight bunkers.
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Those who venture left or right could lose their balls and those who play too long will thud into a thick bush.
A rare par was followed with another one on the gorgeous, bunkerless, par-five 17th where heather and humps abound and those off target will struggle to score. I was nearly denied by another of Parkstone’s infamous false fronts.
We had watched players on the 18th tee from the clubhouse and it appeared that they were hitting from a tee on the side of the hill, carved between trees and rough all around them.
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I counted myself as very unlucky as my drive into this 200+ yard par-three was green-bound when it struck the highest branch of a tall tree and dropped like a stone.
My playing partners laid up in front of this slanting green protected by a sand trap.
It is a gem of a hole to conclude a day at one of England’s finest courses.
It also should be mentioned how much Mrs W enjoyed our time at Parkstone and that it has been particularly progressive in developing women’s golf.
Georgia Hall was a member alongside current PGA professional Alice Davis, who founded the very successful Pink Ladies Academy.
It has also developed European-style gender-neutral tees to ensure that players of all ages and abilities have a great time. We certainly did.
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