Grand Day Out

I had a round at Sand Martins Golf Club just outside Wokingham today. It's a private members club owned by top coach Andrew Hall and is just shy of 6000 yards off the yellows. It's also where my wife works and she got a decent deal on green fees and made sure everyone knew I was coming so I got some rather nice preferential treatment including a free bucket of range balls and strokesaver.

I am always excited about playing a different course and the anticipation is whetted at Sand Martins as the drive to the clubhouse cuts through a number of holes and you can see the course laid out in front of you. It looked a picture today in the bright sunshine and with the fairways freshly mown.

I took my good mate Hywel along, as much to say thanks for carrying me in recent weeks in matches and our friendly roll ups during my recent dip in form. I got there early (the wife had a lot of work on and wanted a bright start) so I had a good mooch around the place. I wandered into the pro shop and was greeted by the assistant Matt who I knew from the Downshire (a pay and play between Bracknell and Wokingham) where he worked. We had a chat and I wandered down to the range. There are mats at the moment but there is a wonderful grassed area that the members can use in a few months time. Next to it is an excellent short game area where you can play off grass to a proper green that is maintained to on-course standards and a large (and rather deep) bunker. I bashed a few balls to get loose (and was surprised that I managed to get a few away okay too) and hit some chips and moved onto the putting green which I thought was rather slow.

Hywel arrived, we booked in and were behind a mixed fourball playing a greensome so weren't going to be held up too much. The 1st is a dog leg left playing 388 yards. I hit three wood trying to miss the pond right and the range left. I hooked it and was concerned I'd tweaked it onto the range but it was safe. I missed the green but made a solid 5 (nett 4). The 2nd is a funny little hole. It's only 302 yards but has was left and right and in front of the green. Not sure where we were hitting we both hit too much club and went left but stayed dry. I had a full swing amongst the trees but Hywel was up against a trunk and had to chip out. I only had a lob wedge left to a pin only just over the pond. I only just got over and it held on the bank. If it had been Augusta last week I'd have been wet.

I was actually playing steadily. I still had no confidence from shot to shot that I knew how I was going to hit it and where it was going but made a few pars and bogeys and was 3 up by the 8th. It's 173 yards on the card and it was downwind. I hit a 5 iron and it looked great in the air. It landed to the right of the green and it was only then that I realised there was a small pond there. I hadn't bothered to check the strokesaver. Bugger. As if to compound my misery further, I hit the 9th in regulation while Hywel went through onto a bank and was faced with a downhill chip. He only went and chipped in for a birdie. I duly 3 putted.

Sand Martins really is a game of two halves. The first nine meanders in a nice parkland setting although the numerous ponds and bunkering means it's a strategic course rather than one that can be blasted into submission. The back nine however has a much more links feel to it and each hole seems encased by banking (think sand dunes) and there is more necessity to get the ball running towards the greens rather than trying to fly it there. The strong breeze also made it a challenge. I actually drove the ball quite well on 10 and 11 but missed the greens for bogey (net pars mind). In fact, because you didn't need driver every hole meant the 3 wood was seeing some action and was behaving. I guess there is a lesson in that but given that Ascot needs length to reach some of the 400+ yard holes and there are several holes that have a significant carry, driver is usually the only option unless it's playing downwind.

The 16th is one of the signature holes. It's a 503 yard par 5 with pond left around the 230 mark and a huge bank to the right (where Sand Martins nest hence the name). As I was two up at the time I hit 3 wood off the tee to make it a proper three shotter and hit a great drive. There is a collar of deep bunkers left and right to catch unwary second shots but I threaded a hybrid perfectly to leave a wedge into the green. Hywel hooked a drive, found it, chipped out and then missed the green left before chipping some twenty yards past the flag. Two putts for the win. Suddenly to putts to halve the hole as he outrageously holed the putt. He won the 17th too which was a downhill par 3 playing 155 yards over a pond. I went right and missed the pond but found a drainage ditch and he hit the green.

The 18th is another par 5 of 502 yards played down a fairway that is banked on the right and tree lined down the left. I hit probably the worse drive of the day short and right on top of the banking. I was going to hit three wood again and play it sensibly but bravado go the better of me. Fortunately when I got there it was a flat lie and I got a hybrid to it and got it back into pay about 150 yards away. The green sits in a little hollow protected by a large tree right and some mounds and hollows. Sadly Hywel also hit his two poorest tee shots and hooked two balls way left never to be seen again so it was a comfortable passage. Good job too as I hit a horrid fat 5 iron into the green and ended up making 6.

The bar staff made sure we were looked after too and it was nice and also strange to be a visitor to a club yet treated as well as the members. We also had lunch on the wife's bar card so freebie burger and chips each (very nice too) was a bonus.

It is a great course and well worth a visit if you're in the Berkshire area. The only complaint I had was the conditions of the greens which were very woolly and slow and rather bobbly (reminiscent of the practice putting green) and they didn't look like they had been cut for several days. I did see the greenstaff working on some and it looked as if they were spraying which may explain why they were like that but it was a real shame. It felt like you really had to hit the putts hard and some would race four or five feet back and then bobble especially around the holes or they would finish several feet short. It was the only gripe, albeit a significant one. However the rest of the course was beautifully presented and I'll definitely be returning. Once the greens are up to scratch it'll be a good test and playing to your handicap is definitely not a given.

And do you know what else? I enjoyed it. I didn't worry about my swing (too much) and almost just hit it round. Yes I got annoyed at the bad ones but there were no real horror shots. I'm playing the medal tomorrow and arranged to play a roll up with Hywel on Sunday and so maybe, just maybe a bit of the old mojo is coming back.

Total number of lost balls in 2010 = 8