Lincolnshire: Home of English golf

Last updated: 15th April 2010

Not many golfers think of Lincolnshire when they contemplate a golfing break, but Matt Cooper discovered that the county has lots to offer when he visited there at the end of March - good food, great golf course, nice hotel and a friendly welcome!

Arrival

My first thought as I enter the village of Woodhall Spa is how like Sunningdale it is.

As with the Surrey town you get a sense of stepping back in time to the Edwardian era.

The tree-lined roads are have elegant villas, one or two very modern box homes, a few well-to-do hotels and the odd cosy pub. I arrive just as it is getting dark but I am excited to get a glimpse of the golf course so wander up to the 1st tee and 18th green, peering into the darkening skies, little knowing that the light is going to be a lot worse next day! Then I continue to my hotel, one mile outside the village.

The Village Limits

I'm a little ahead of schedule but the hotel proprietors Billy and Sonia Gemmell were happy to show me to my room and before I knew it was settling back on my bed, connecting to the free wifi (isn't it about time all hotels offered that simple service?) and catching up on the scores from the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Then, after a great shower (you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but there is nothing wrong with judging a hotel by the power of the shower) I met up with my companion for the next two days - Will Spence from National Club Golfer magazine.

The award-winning Village Limits is involved with the Tastes of Lincolnshire scheme which celebrates local produce and dining (one fifth of England's food hails from the area).

Tucking into our delicious dinner we weren't too surprised about the awards nor The Guardian's heralding of Village Limits as the ideal base for a foodie tour of the county.

Benji Layado wrote, "the restaurant sources local whitebait and mussels, duck liver pate and Dennetts ice-cream (not on the same plate)."

I actually started with Ayrshire Haggis on a flat mushroom (I always associate haggis with golf so it made sense), had medallions of Lincolnshire pork with a blackberry juice for the main course and ended with a lemon sorbet.

Over the meal we eagerly discussed the four rounds of golf ahead of us and settled on a Golf365 .v. National Club Golfer Challenge Match - a 72-hole stableford marathon!

After the meal we sat down for a nightcap and chatted to Billy and Sonia, learning that the English Golf Union girls teams often stay at the hotel. And next morning, after a breakfast that fuelled us for the first 36 holes, I leave feeling confident that what is good enough for England's hottest talent is good enough for me.

Woodhall Spa - EGU HQ

With those young English stars in mind we spend an hour walking around the facilities of The National Golf Centre before our first tee time. Will smashes some balls on the range (one of the best I've seen with greens and trees to aim at or shape your ball around) whilst I use the magnificent short game academy - a series of tricky greens to test your putting, pitching and bunker play. I also read a few inspirational/instructional quotes on the wall and am particularly taken with this from Bernhard Langer: "Be decisive. A wrong decision is generally less disastrous than indecision."

Woodhall Spa - the Bracken course

Designed by Donald Steel the Bracken course was opened in 1998. A parkland course, it is mostly tree-lined with some holes on the outer edges more open and American in style.

There isn't too much trouble off the tee but approaches, pitches and lag putting are severely tested by the large undulating greens.

I prove as much with a 30 foot birdie putt on the third green that goes 20 feet past the cup.

The edges of the greens are cut tight and sweep errant balls towards bunkers and tricky-to-escape swales. There is a fierce wind blowing which makes the 528-yard par-five sixth hole play about 100-yards longer. Fortunately it also makes the 14th, which runs in the opposite direction alongside the sixth, play a lot less than 518 yards.

An excellent start to the two days and my highlight is a bizarre par on the short par-four eighth. I push my "safe" tee shot into trouble, hack my second into a pond, take a drop and then knock a wedge from 50 yards down the throat of the hole - it never even touched the sides!

Woodhall Spa - the Hotchkin course

We meet up with Alan Darby from Visit Lincolnshire and set off on the original championship course at Woodhall Spa.

Set amongst gorse and broom, built on sandy soil, with oak, fir and silver birch trees framing every hole, the course is beautiful to look at.

But it is also admired as a masterpiece of golf course architecture - it is ranked the 45th best course in the world by top100golfcourse.co.uk and Golf World magazine rate it the number one inland course in the UK.

Beauty and quality are not it's only two characteristics however - there are also some of the toughest bunkers in golf.

Jon Gidney, one time England squad member at the venue and currently playing his first year as a pro, warned me on twitter: "Have fun but stay out of the bunkers - they are deeeeep. Especially the par-3 12th."

On every tee box I stand, peer down the fairway, sigh loudly and then announce, "this is one of the best holes I have ever seen, they just get better." Fortunately both Will and Alan agree, otherwise they'd hit me for being boring and repetitive.

The only mild let-down is that we are playing before the lilac heather blooms. Perhaps it is no bad thing - I am so enraptured I might pass out if it was any more beautiful.

The bunkers are everything we were warned they would be. But on the par-three fifth I actually escape from one with a par.

Some effort given that the wall of turf in front of me was about two feet higher than my head and that the pin was no more than ten feet over the lip. The secret is to thin the bunker shot into the base of the front of the bunker, let the ball run up that face, with just enough gas to make it over the edge and dribble pin high. Easy!

Not every recovery goes quite so, ahem, smoothly. Moreover the gorse and trees are costly if you ever visit them. The course might be over 100 years old but it is no gentle ride. On the other hand, as with every high quality course, if you hit good shots you are well rewarded.

The round ends in darkness - almost total darkness. But we had seen enough - the Hotchkin races into my personal top five courses ever played. A wonderful experience which we end with a drink in the clubhouse.

The North Shore Hotel, Skegness

Will and I drive the short distance to Skegness for our second night and check-in at the North Shore Hotel. Then, after a curry on the seafront and a couple of pints in the neon-lit bars of Skeggy, we return to the hotel bar for a nightcap, pondering the first 36 holes of the challenge match.

We are entertained by the ease with which we have fallen into the perceived pattern of 72-hole golf - we both felt as if we were a little cagey in the first round and warmed to the task in the second. I hold a one point overnight lead ...

The North Shore course

Day two begins with the hotel abuzz with excitement. At breakfast I spy someone who looks like a celebrity. "Aye," says Will, "he's one of the Temptations."

That leads to a discussion of what songs they are famous for - difficult because we have them confused with the Drifters. The receptionist tells me "My Girl" was one of theirs and that they were playing a 60s weekend at Butlin's down the road. So that's where all the action was the previous night!

Out on the course the day has dawned bright and we both find our putting boots on the hotel's James Braid course. Half parkland/half links, it allows us to free the stiffness from our arms and legs. Will finds it hysterical when I compare the ninth hole to the 18th hole on the Old Course at St Andrews. But the way he drives the green is reminiscent of what big hitters can do at the Home of Golf.

I manage to turn an easy short par four into a golfing death-trap. I leave myself a blocked approach, over-hit into a bunker I didn't know existed, am left an impossible shot, but eventually chip close and finally get down for five. I finish the back nine in much better fashion.

By this point I have fallen behind Will and he, again, drives the green on the 319-yard 18th. I hit my approach to six feet and hole it for birdie. Will three putts for par. Phew, that leaves me two points adrift with 18 holes to play.

Seacroft Golf Club

By the time we reach Seacroft the sun is blazing and we need some refreshment.

We sit in the clubhouse with tea and sandwiches, watching four-balls leave the first tee.

One man wears pinkish-red trousers and a pink shirt. Watching his progress along up the fairway he looks a bit like a highlighter pen. But it isn't his golf he is highlighting ...

As with yesterday we had saved the best till last. Seacroft is a wonderful venue and a lovely test of links golf. It is the first sunny day of the year, there is a light breeze and a competitive round ahead of us.

Perfect! The professional warns us that the fairways aren't running fast yet, but like any good links, they are fast enough.

The first two holes witnesses some very ropey (and stiff) swings from both of us but then we then catch fire. Our better-ball score for the final 16 holes is two-over.

As we had said the previous evening, our match was conforming to expectation and the final 18 holes were still friendly, but there was less chatter as we fought and scrapped for every point. The course was perfect - good shots were rewarded, bad shots ended up in trouble, the greens allowed us to attack the hole with confidence. It is not a long course at 6,225 yards off the yellow tees but in a stronger wind it would be a very tough test. And the final holes have trouble all the way down the right-hand side - as first I (on the 14th tee) and then Will (on the 15th tee) discovered.

Founded in 1895 and expanded to 18 holes by the Open winner Willie Fernie, Seacroft was described as "an absolute gem" by Donald Steel and I wouldn't argue. If it was on the opposite side of the country (along the Lancashire coast) you would have heard a lot more about it.

It provides the perfect finale for our match which, astonishingly, is still in the balance as we play the 398-yard final hole.

Will has a one point advantage and we both hit solid drives from the tee. I hit my approach to the back of the green, Will follows suit.

When we make the putting surface one thing is immediately clear - we both face the toughest putts of our entire trip. Both need to clear two huge humps in the middle of the green before attempting to settle the ball near a pin position halfway down a tricky slope. From fully 60 feet I go first and am chuffed to leave the ball a mere two feet from the hole. Will follows, leaving his putt two rolls short of the cup for the win. A suitably fine end to an enjoyable match!

And what a two days it has been - my first golf in Lincolnshire but certainly not my last.

The two days prove that the county has courses to suit everyone - parkland golf with a modern American-style twist, a classic traditional design in a wonderful setting and some sensational links golf too. What's more the food is great and the hospitality wonderful. Don't overlook it next time you're planning a golfing break.