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Finally managed to get a game here this autumn. I played it on a reasonably nice night. There was a reasonably strong wind blowing from the west (prevailing wind in this part of the world) which I would say was about a 3 clubber.
First off let me remove one of the great misconceptions about the course. You do NOT need to buy a gross of balls before you play. I wasnt hitting the ball that well when I played it and managed not to lose any. The course is tight but doesnt get silly unless you end up 50 yards offline. The greens are, frankly, terrifying. You have to spend at least a minute reading your putts because there are so many subtle breaks you dont see from a quick peek. It's actually not all that long off the members tees, some of the championship tees add up to 50 yards a hole but there are only 2 or 3 holes that have them that far back. We played the 17th from about 20 yards forwards of the back pegs and I was front edge with driver 3 wood.
I will go through it hole by hole:
1st : Scary opener, not much to look at from the tee so you get a little nervy standing at the ball. It's actually quite open once you get past the bottleneck. The bunkers around the green are very tricky and its a big green, in the wind we played it in I hit a hooky Driver and a solid 4 wood and was about 20 yards short in one of the bunkers.
2nd: This is a lovely hole, It was cross wind when we played it and the wind carried you away from out of bounds but I can imagine it being scary without that protection. Its downhill most of the way and has a very bumpy fairway. I hit driver and was only 30 yards short of the green.
3rd: Another nice hole you dont see much of on the telly. I didnt realise the shape of the hole and took driver, not knowing that there was a bottleneck which shrinks the fairway to 20 yards wide 260 from the tee. I was lucky that I split the fairway and found myself smack bang in the middle of the bottleneck. It could have been messy if I had been offline.
4th: A great looking par 3 with a hard green with a drop off to the left and well bunkered. It was 185 from the tee we played it from and I hit 8 iron, because of the strength of the wind!!! I ended up on the back fringe about 15 feet from the pin.
5th: The first par 5 and again a tough looking driving hole. It was only a drive and a 4 iron on the night but I can see it being tough with no following wind. The green is well guarded and has some wicked slopes.
6th: The first blind tee shot of the round is pretty scary. You have to hit towards a tree in the distance and hope for the best. The approach shot is blind as well as you play over a hill.
7th: The second par 3 is only about 140 yards. It has an elevated green and is surrounded with the deepest bunkers I have ever seen. It was a good job I had a 60 degree wedge in the bag.
8th: Hardest hole on the course apparently, according to the card. Its a dogleg right and the corner is well protected by bunkers (which I ended up in!!) The approach is again blind over a ridge to a flat(ish) green. Its typical of Muirfield in that it can be parred reasonably easily if played correctly.
9th: Hardest hole on the course based on the average score we took. Into the increasingly strong wind I absolutely tore the backside off the driver and still had 4 wood then 9 iron to go!!! The green slopes quite dramatically left to right and front to back so it's a hard green to hold from distance. A mighty par 4.
10th: After such a hard finish to the front nine the back nine doesnt really let you relax. This is a long hole with tricky bunkers in the fairway. There is a ridge running across the fairway as well. the greenside bunkers are relatively friendly.
11th: This is a great little hole. The tee shot is blind, played over a very high ridge right across the fairway at about 150 yards. Once up on the top level the approach is played to a tricky green with a couple of big level changes on it.
12th: Straight downhill to a big green on what looks like 3 levels. Pretty straighforward hole normally but into the strong prevailing wind a real challenge.
13th: Absolutely beautiful par 3. The greeen is above the level of the tee and sits in its own little amphitheatre surrounded by hillocks. The green is treacherous and heavily contoured. Was really pleased with my 3.
14th: Another hard hole into the wind. An uphill tee shot followed by a long iron into the green. The fairway slopes gently from left to right with deep munch on the right but bunkers on the left to stop you playing too far away from the trouble right.
15th: Another long one into the wind a slight dogleg left to right, bunkers across the fairway protect the green from the run up approach.
16th: The final par 3 is a long one with a sloping green protected by deep bunkers. My mate scored a great 3 when he dumped his approach short in the munch but knocked a lob wedge over the bunkers to 3 feet and holed a snakey little downhill 3 footer.
17th: Long par 5 with lots of bunkers down the left hand side of the fairway and short of the green. The green is protected by a ridge that runs all round it. Made my only birdie of the day here.
18th. You all know it, what a hole!!! I managed to hit a good drive down the left side and left myself a 6 iron in. Was really chuffed to hit it to 10 feet with a group of players standing behind the green. I almost holed the putt as well but it did the wall of death and stayed out. The green is much more contoured than it looks on the TV.
All in all a fantastic course. I would really like to play it on a calm day just to experience each hole as they were designed but it was a great experience all the same.
In general the course was superbly kept (as you would expect) tight firm fairways and thick but fair rough. The greens were very smooth and quick. The bunkers are very good with quite heavy dark sand which is very nice to play from.
If you ever get the chance to play it, take it!!
D.
First off let me remove one of the great misconceptions about the course. You do NOT need to buy a gross of balls before you play. I wasnt hitting the ball that well when I played it and managed not to lose any. The course is tight but doesnt get silly unless you end up 50 yards offline. The greens are, frankly, terrifying. You have to spend at least a minute reading your putts because there are so many subtle breaks you dont see from a quick peek. It's actually not all that long off the members tees, some of the championship tees add up to 50 yards a hole but there are only 2 or 3 holes that have them that far back. We played the 17th from about 20 yards forwards of the back pegs and I was front edge with driver 3 wood.
I will go through it hole by hole:
1st : Scary opener, not much to look at from the tee so you get a little nervy standing at the ball. It's actually quite open once you get past the bottleneck. The bunkers around the green are very tricky and its a big green, in the wind we played it in I hit a hooky Driver and a solid 4 wood and was about 20 yards short in one of the bunkers.
2nd: This is a lovely hole, It was cross wind when we played it and the wind carried you away from out of bounds but I can imagine it being scary without that protection. Its downhill most of the way and has a very bumpy fairway. I hit driver and was only 30 yards short of the green.
3rd: Another nice hole you dont see much of on the telly. I didnt realise the shape of the hole and took driver, not knowing that there was a bottleneck which shrinks the fairway to 20 yards wide 260 from the tee. I was lucky that I split the fairway and found myself smack bang in the middle of the bottleneck. It could have been messy if I had been offline.
4th: A great looking par 3 with a hard green with a drop off to the left and well bunkered. It was 185 from the tee we played it from and I hit 8 iron, because of the strength of the wind!!! I ended up on the back fringe about 15 feet from the pin.
5th: The first par 5 and again a tough looking driving hole. It was only a drive and a 4 iron on the night but I can see it being tough with no following wind. The green is well guarded and has some wicked slopes.
6th: The first blind tee shot of the round is pretty scary. You have to hit towards a tree in the distance and hope for the best. The approach shot is blind as well as you play over a hill.
7th: The second par 3 is only about 140 yards. It has an elevated green and is surrounded with the deepest bunkers I have ever seen. It was a good job I had a 60 degree wedge in the bag.
8th: Hardest hole on the course apparently, according to the card. Its a dogleg right and the corner is well protected by bunkers (which I ended up in!!) The approach is again blind over a ridge to a flat(ish) green. Its typical of Muirfield in that it can be parred reasonably easily if played correctly.
9th: Hardest hole on the course based on the average score we took. Into the increasingly strong wind I absolutely tore the backside off the driver and still had 4 wood then 9 iron to go!!! The green slopes quite dramatically left to right and front to back so it's a hard green to hold from distance. A mighty par 4.
10th: After such a hard finish to the front nine the back nine doesnt really let you relax. This is a long hole with tricky bunkers in the fairway. There is a ridge running across the fairway as well. the greenside bunkers are relatively friendly.
11th: This is a great little hole. The tee shot is blind, played over a very high ridge right across the fairway at about 150 yards. Once up on the top level the approach is played to a tricky green with a couple of big level changes on it.
12th: Straight downhill to a big green on what looks like 3 levels. Pretty straighforward hole normally but into the strong prevailing wind a real challenge.
13th: Absolutely beautiful par 3. The greeen is above the level of the tee and sits in its own little amphitheatre surrounded by hillocks. The green is treacherous and heavily contoured. Was really pleased with my 3.
14th: Another hard hole into the wind. An uphill tee shot followed by a long iron into the green. The fairway slopes gently from left to right with deep munch on the right but bunkers on the left to stop you playing too far away from the trouble right.
15th: Another long one into the wind a slight dogleg left to right, bunkers across the fairway protect the green from the run up approach.
16th: The final par 3 is a long one with a sloping green protected by deep bunkers. My mate scored a great 3 when he dumped his approach short in the munch but knocked a lob wedge over the bunkers to 3 feet and holed a snakey little downhill 3 footer.
17th: Long par 5 with lots of bunkers down the left hand side of the fairway and short of the green. The green is protected by a ridge that runs all round it. Made my only birdie of the day here.
18th. You all know it, what a hole!!! I managed to hit a good drive down the left side and left myself a 6 iron in. Was really chuffed to hit it to 10 feet with a group of players standing behind the green. I almost holed the putt as well but it did the wall of death and stayed out. The green is much more contoured than it looks on the TV.
All in all a fantastic course. I would really like to play it on a calm day just to experience each hole as they were designed but it was a great experience all the same.
In general the course was superbly kept (as you would expect) tight firm fairways and thick but fair rough. The greens were very smooth and quick. The bunkers are very good with quite heavy dark sand which is very nice to play from.
If you ever get the chance to play it, take it!!
D.
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