Courses Played

With its mature trees creating a naturally sculpted challenge, accuracy is required to negotiate the avenues of The Woods, arguably the most difficult of Sandford Springs’ three nines.

A par 36 loop that winds uphill and down dale to guarantee breathtaking views of Watership Down, the variable elements, sloping lies and tricky greens all combine to create the combative characteristics that define The Woods.

The potential card-wrecking hole also doubles as the Woods’ premier hole. The par four 355 yard 13th asks the golfer to fire his tee-shot into a cascading chasm and, once at the bottom, negotiate a sloping lie shot over water and a deep bunker to find the putting surface.

As its name implies, water is everywhere! The opening four holes of the Lakes provide a tough start to any round – be it your initial induction or when commencing the back nine.

The relentlessly ruthless start – a par 444 yard par four, 515 yard par five, 205 yard par three and 403 yard par four stretch of holes – presents as much a mental battle as a golfing one.

No more so is that true than the 21st – a 205 yard par three requiring a long iron over a big lake into a green surrounded by bunkers and bordered by thick woodland. Not a shot for the fainthearted.

Strategy, placement and ball-striking are all examined fully on The Park, which, upon climbing to its highest levels, is commonly buffeted by strong prevailing winds that help make it more of a links test.

With plentiful, penal ditches also snaking across the par 34 circuit, those tempted into a risk/reward big hit to clear them will need their ‘A-game’ to do so.

The 9th is the Park signature hole – a 317 yard par four that plunges downhill, requiring an accurate long iron off the tee followed by a nerve-inducing pitch to a green protected by two lakes and two green-side bunkers.  

https://www.sandfordsprings.co.uk/golf/courses