Enjoy the read and also listen to The Golf Pilgrim podcast from Woodbridge https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-golf-pilgrim/id1743914901?i=1000662722225
“Don’t beat yourself up – plenty of good cards have been ripped up after the 16th, 17th and 18th.”
I received sympathy from our generous host as we had a post-match pint on the gorgeous terrace overlooking Woodbridge’s final hole.
We had enjoyed a delightful round on this relatively unheralded Suffolk heathland course, although my hope for a handicap-cutting score was denied by my disappointing finale.
Woodbridge deserves its place in England’s top 100 because of the excellent variety of holes, including some memorable and quirky ones.
An especially friendly welcome in the pro’s shop was followed by a spot of breakfast, a few balls on the impressive practice range a few yards away, and a putt next to the first tee.
The 346-yard opening hole, a turning, slightly downhill par-four, gives the players a clue to the keen strategy needed to succeed.
I needed a clip with a pitching wedge after a drive down the left but was warned that the green ran quickly from front to back.
My 20-yard pitch quickly gained speed and went through the green by a yard. Nevertheless, I notched a par.
I would like another opportunity to replay the intriguing par-four second, which only needs a nudge over rough to a descending fairway.
This stands before a pond in front of a raised green that falls from back to front. Sadly, despite thinking I had hit a decent shot, I lost my ball off the tee.
Woodbridge only has two par-fives; both are in the first nine and require skill to avoid bunkers.
The third is uphill, bending inside bunkers with heavy rough down the left. We played it into the wind and were impressed to see our host narrowly miss birdie.
The Heath Course is not long (we played 6,200 yards off the gold tees), but sand traps abound (Mrs W could only laugh at how many she found), while heather and thick rough await those who stray offline.
My game had been steady if unspectacular until the lovely par-three seventh, a 146-yarder over heavy rough and three giant bunkers in front of the green.
My heart beat faster as the ball arched towards the hole, resting five feet from the cup. I nestled the birdie.
This inspired a run, beginning at the dogleg par-five eighth with a bunker on the Tiger line and two more nasties filling the fairway, 100 yards from the hole.
Much conservation work has been done at Woodbridge, including tree removal, which opens up views towards the clubhouse down the par-three ninth from the eighth fairway.
The ninth is a heck of a par-three. A tee shot that makes the green 201 yards away over heather and between bunkers would deserve hearty applause.
Woodbridge has several enticing short-par fours, including the 11th, which requires a precise approach to avoid being left with a treacherous downhill putt.
There is talk of changing the green because its Stimp rating dictates the rest of the course, and the greenkeepers dare not make it too quick because it would be impossible to hold the ball.
Thus, I was very chipper to nail my par and even more pleasing was my par three on the 12th, which had the scary sight of sand traps, rough and only a slither of green from the tee.
I was veritably skipping after notching another par on the 13th but made the old mistake of believing my scorecard was indestructible.
The 14th is a splendid par-four which needs a drive down the left to avoid thick rough and a sand trap before dipping and then rising again to the target.
Our host identified the 15th as his favourite - a sublime par-three surrounded by bunkers and gorse..
My comeuppance was on the monster par-four 16th, which, at 443 yards, I had decided to play as a five.
This defensive plan was online to bear fruit when I struck a decent-ish drive over the crossing 14th fairway to light rough, played alongside a mean-looking fairway bunker and left myself with about 150 yards to the pin.
However, I pulled my approach into a greenside bunker and, with a tricky stance, thinned the ball into a bush. Null points.
The 17th would need to be played several times to understand the required strategy.
The par-four doglegs sharply to the right over a mound and the player must decide whether to go for the green through trees and bushes or lay up before a nasty band of rough.
Woodbridge’s final hole is s home to a Second World War look-0ut which was only rediscovered in recent years
It is an apt;ly quirky finale, turning to the left over a sequence of Colt-like bunkers which straddle the fairway.
I wasn’t thrilled by my golf during that final stretch, but that should not detract from the impression that we had played on a course in prime condition that would be more celebrated if it were in the Surrey sand belt..
The turf on the fairways was as good as anywhere, and the greens were superbly consistent.
The good news is that the club has a history of continual improvement, from bringing in James Braid to improve on original designs to enlisting Fred Hawtree for further modifications and, much more recently, Martin Hawtree to improve its bunkering.
Further changes are planned, and this will make it even better.
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