Ganton Golf Club, Scarborough
Tuesday 22nd October 2013Tee time - 1007
Green fee - £75
Score - 90 (par-73)
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| The clubhouse at Ganton - from the 18th green. |
Situated a couple of miles outside of the seaside town of
Scarborough, Ganton golf club is rated as the best course in Yorkshire.
Host of a number of amateur and professional tournaments
over the years, most famous of which have been the Ryder Cup (1949), the Curtis
Cup (2000) and the Walker Cup (2003). The clubs course guide suggests that if
the Open Championship were to move away from the seaside, this would be a
favourite. Unfortunately while I would agree it would get a vote of me for the
same, in modern terms of length, it is simply not long enough - not that I
agree with this!
Ganton was opened for play in 1891 and one of its early
professionals was the six-time winner of the Open Championship (Harry Vardon).
The course itself is a fairly open heathland course with banks of thick gorse
around. There are little changes of elevation around but subtle banks, hollows
and valleys along with masses of bunkers very cleverly positioned to inflict
the maximum damage to your game.
Like my round at Woodhall Spa the day previous, the
heavens were open for the majority of the round and added was a very strong
wind whistling around the course.
The entrance off the main road takes you down a drive to
the clubhouse which cuts across the 17th and 18th holes. It gives the
impression that the designers realised they were running out of space at the
last moment and extended the last two holes across the road (probably not the
case!).
The clubhouse was a pebble dashed single storey building
and sat nicely in its surroundings. As I had read previously, this is a club
somewhat stuck in the dark ages and visitors are to park behind the clubhouse
out of view of the members. I don't particularly like clubs with the likes of
'no phones' and 'jacket and tie' but I must admit I walked away with a
completely different opinion.
After checking in at the pro shop I went to get changed
in the locker rooms. It was like stepping back in time and it was fantastic.
All the walls were wood panelled and contained what looked like the original
lockers from back in the 20's. These were immaculately kept with all the bumps
and dents that come with time. As with the car parks, the visitors and members
areas are separated. Hanging on the walls around the changing areas photographs
of previous amateur champions and club professionals over the many years, most
famous of with was Harry Vardon. The place seemed like it hadn't changes since
Harry himself was walking these halls.
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| The visitors changing room - Ganton golf club |
I also met up with the caddie master, a lovely chap who
explained a bit about the course and offered for me to find my own gap due to
the on-going bad weather and the likelihood that the more elderly members wouldn't
play in this weather. It did also humour me that he called me Mr Wilson at all
times despite me being 15 or so years his junior!!
The caddie master held one of the only items of
technology in the whole place - a computer - used to check my tee time! I did
ask about the opportunity for a caddie, however this is very much a dying
luxury as due to the world of electric golf carts, demand for caddies is now so
small. It is a shame as I would probably have used one.
The members themselves were very stereotypical of what I
expected - minimum age of 70 years, immaculately dressed in three piece tweed
suits and very well spoken. I like the way that traditional etiquette is still
respected at Ganton….that said I still feel a little out of place in such environments.
I could not really say much about the practice ground as
it was pretty much a wasteland field to knock balls out to. No markers, mats or
anything. Unfortunately this is where places like Ganton get a little left
behind despite this beauty of a golf course.
I didn't try the putting green this morning as aside from
my poor putting performance in the past couple of days, there was a gap on the
tee that I wanted to take advantage of.
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| The 1st green - Ganton golf club |
The 1st tee is set off to the right of the clubhouse and
I was quite astounded by the perfection of the tee box. Dead flat and square
with a firm footing (despite a number of days of rain!) and perfectly cut. The
markers were simple and clear to all.
Before I go on, while I sprayed it around a bit, the wind
was such that it magnified your error and got you into a lot of trouble. Forget
about a 1 or 2 club wind, you needed 3-4 over club to reach at times!
Straight off the first tee with a bit of a shaky swing, I
found my first bunker of the day. As with Woodhall Spa, the bunkers were also
cavernous in size and depth and steps were otter the method of getting in and
out of them. As I soon figured out, once you find a fairway bunker your hope of
making a good score is always left in the bunker with your ball.
Throughout the 18 holes I can't recall any fairway bunker
that you would be able to take anything other than a sand wedge out of! Brutal…but
a great pleasure to play out of.
The greens had been scored in two directions as part of
the winter schedule and were cut very tight. Unlike Turnberry where I have
previously seen this, the greens at Ganton ran very fast and true. Like the tee
boxes, all the greens were rock hard and you had to run your approaches up to
the green rather otherwise they would be hurrying off the back to find you some
trouble!
Hole 2 a 415 yard par-4 is a gentle dog leg left downhill
where everything hit feeds right. A challenging hole, particularly with a
strong wind from left to right to hold it on.
Number 3 is a short par-4 with an intimidating tee shot
from an enclosed area. Sprawled across the middle of the fairway is a large
bunker to collect anything that as such much looks at it. Fortunately a long
iron found the fairway (just) and a following 6-iron to an elevated green
position took me to 20-feet before knocking it in for a birdie 3.
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| 3rd hole from the back tees - Ganton golf club |
Number 4 played as the third hardest hole on the course
and I can see why. On this day, the wind was strong directly into my face.
After drilling a low drive up a slight hill onto the fairway (only managing to
get 200 yards), I was left with another 200 yards to the green. The hole kinks
around to the right through a little valley at the bottom of which is a little
brook, a tree and plenty of gorse where you can wave goodbye to your golf ball!
Being a par-4 I decided to have a crack at the green, however there was no easy
route. It was all or nothing insofar as I needed to draw the ball low over the
trouble to get near. There are few shots that you play in golf when you can
honestly say 'that was a perfect shot', this was one of those occasions. I set
the ball out 20 yards right of the green and with a low penetrating flight, the
ball started drawing back. I knew I needed to land the ball 20 yards short of
the green and on the right half of the green. I couldn't have dropped it in a
better position. The ball pitched into the bank which took a bit of pace out
and it ran onto the green and up to the flag. It was probably 12 feet from the
flag. Standing there in the wind and rain on my own I held my arms aloft like an
idiot.....then I missed my birdie putt!
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| 4th fairway - the site of my 3-wood second into the green...... |
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| ....to here - 4th green - Ganton golf club |
The 5th is a lovely downhill par-3 to a small landing
area requiring a full carry with thick gorse and a stream in the run up to the
green. With a strong wind behind and in 2 minds coupled with not catching it
right narrowly kept me out of real trouble and I was fortunate not to end up in
the hazard.
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| A view from the front of the tees - 5th hole - Ganton golf club |
In effect Ganton is a links course without the seaside.
Especially when the wind comes over the hill at Staxton it can be viscous!
Bunkers on this course have been carefully planned and in
most instances have a risk reward factor. If you get caught out though, it
really hurts your score and is unforgiving. Hole 7 is just one of those. A
434yard dogleg par-4, on the kink of the fairway sits 4 deep bunkers surrounded
by thick rough. Playing with the wind, my drive flushed the face of the last
bunker and left me with nothing but a wedge out. You need to have had a go at
it otherwise you would be playing the hole as a par-5.
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| The perils of taking on (and failing) at Ganton - 7th hole |
Number 9 is a very tight 505 yard par-5 with trees and
gorse left and right that rewards accuracy rather than power. To walk off with
a bogey 6 after stuffing it through the gorse was an achievement.
From the twelfth I went off the rails a bit and lost 3
balls in 5 holes which wasn't helped by the wind. That wasn't considering the
amount of provisional tee shots I played, but fortunately I found the originals,
otherwise I would safely have been into three figures on the scorecard!
Holes 16 to 18 is a lovely closing stretch. The tee shot
from 16 is dominated by an enormous bunker spread across the fairway at about
180 yards that blocks the rest of the view of the hole. Once you find the
fairway, the hole narrows towards the green and it feels very intimate and
somewhat protecting of the gusting winds.
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| Hole 16 featuring the massive bunker - Ganton golf club |
Hole 17 crosses from one side of the entrance road to the
other. Played off the tips, this can be played as either a par-3 or par-4. Off
the whites is a 251 yard short par-4. There is a landing area, but it is so
small and would leave limited visibility of the green that a smooth swing of
the big dog straight at the green is the best advice. After missing right into
one of the 3 bunkers in the run up to the green, I was fortunate to walk off
with a par 4.
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| View from the front tees - hole 17 - Ganton golf club |
The closing hole a Ganton has a blind tee shot played at
a marker post. It is possible (as I did) to find the fairway and be completely
blocked out from the green by the towering pines as the hole banks to the left.
With confidence lacking at this stage to hit it directly at the clubhouse and
draw it into the green, I decided that's chip out and approach back over the
road into the green was the best way. 2 putts finished me up with my 90.
In all, this was a magnificent course and highly
deserving of such high rankings. What I love is the fact that this club doesn't
brag about it and is happy to get on with it whereas some courses rest on their
laurels and go into decline. In truth I didn't have great hopes for Ganton bit
it completely won me over.
While I was probably the youngest player on the course by
about 30 years (something I was concerned about), I shouldn't have worried.
Speaking to the caddie master afterwards he said that 90 was a great score in
normal conditions let along in the wind and rain. He also said that most
members rarely meet their handicap and summer brings a new dimension to the
course when it dries out. He said it is incredibly difficult to keep the ball
on the fairways and greens.
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| It could have been a lot worse! - Ganton golf club |
Would I return to Ganton? The answer is a resounding yes
and in a heartbeat. It was great value and the course was in excellent
condition and a good challenge to even the best of golfers.
