Course Review: Cranleigh Golf & Country Club, Surrey

[I’m going to do this properly which means I’ll only be doing a hole at a time and will add plans of the holes]

Hole 1 - Click for plan of hole

Par 3 : 167 yards : S.I. 9

This downhill opening par 3 can be an intimidating opening hole, especially if you have had recent trouble avoiding hooks. A stream passes in front of the green. On the greenside of the stream is a bank which rises to the green. There are two steep front bunkers and bunkers to the left and back. To top it off, there is out of bounds on the left leading up to the stream.

Depending on the wind and the flag position, it will usually be a 5, 6 or 7 iron used for your opening shot.

With the existence of the out of bounds, you’re natural thought (if playing to a left-hand pin) would be to bail-out to the right. However, due to the angle of the stream and bank in front of the green, the further right you go, the longer the carry is. Most people still go for the pin on the left, but the success rate of getting close to the pin is not high. I would expect in the majority of cases, the ball will find either the front left or back banker or the stream (or worse!).

The view amongst some members is that if this hole came later in the round, scores on it would be better. I’m not so sure. It’s a wide but relatively shallow green and is not simple find however warmed-up you are.

Is hole 1 all we're getting of this?
I was interested to hear your thoughts on each hole Merc. Played your place over Christmas 4 under handicap

One word can explain my lack of updates: January

Well done on being 4 under handicap. Off the yellows, I assume?

Hole 2 - Click for plan of hole

Par 4 : 342 yards : S.I. 4

When you first play this hole, you wonder how it can be as difficult as S.I. 4, but the more you play it the more it becomes apparent that it can be tricky and a par is a good score. Despite the hole's short length, the ground does rise gently all the way from tee to green. It's easy not to see this as you play the hole but when you're on the green and you look back towards the tee, it becomes clear.

The hole is a slight right-to-left dogleg, but it's difficulty is that:

• there is only a sliver of fairway to hit from the tee;

• the carry to the start of the fairway is about 180 yards;

• there is a steep bank that leads down to the left edge of the fairway that can keep hold of the ball giving you a tricky lie and stance;

• there is a steep bank that leads down into trees from the right edge of the fairway

The green is long but not wide, with banks on its left and right similar to those on either side of the fairway so, even if you only have a wedge in from the fairway, it's very important to be accurate, especially with the left to right camber of the green.

If you're accurate off the tee with a driver, you should, at worst, get 4, but a short or wayward drive will likely mean you'll be scrambling for par.

As an aside, there has been talk of switching this hole's S.I. with the Par 3 6th (S.I. 14). As a 200+ yard par 3, I agree that S.I. 14 is a bit of a nonsense, but swapping it with the 2nd would just be moving the imbalance. It still wouldn't correct the rest of the course. Thankfully, the Club Pro found another 3 year's worth of scorecards in a cupboard so all changes are on hold for the moment.

I've now added a plan of each hole - just click the hole number at the start of each post.