The West Course at Wentworth is the DP World Tour’s field of dreams.
Winners of the BMW PGA Championship, the circuit’s flagship event, consistently recall how they walked the fairways as children, chasing after their favourite golfer, nagging them for a glove, a ball or an autograph.
In one sense it is Europe’s Augusta National because we know it inside out from television coverage year after year.
But would that familiarity help me when I took it on this summer at the championship’s media day?! Let’s find out.
The front nine
The first tee. The clubhouse sits behind it, the putting green is away to the left, the first fairway stretches away in the distance, ex-England cricketer Gladstone Small has just walked past and said hello. It feels special, it feels luxurious, it also feels a little odd.
Because to the right there is no grandstand surrounding the 18th green and so there is far more space than I’m used to.
But there’s no time to ponder that. The golfing journey awaits and my playing partner has just topped his drive, missing a car that had parked up to let him hit by a matter of yards.
I hastily wave the car through, crack a decent drive down the middle and breathe a sigh of relief. I’m away.
Of course the players have a dilemma on the first tee. Lay up at the top of the valley or bang a long one down it. It’s not a quandary I have to bother with. The valley does offer a different problem though, because I don’t want to hit a bad shot and find myself at the bottom of it. Fortunately, I miss the green, but not by much and walk off happy with a bogey.
Another valley awaits at the par-3 second, hitting from an elevated tee box to a green perched high on the other side. I hit one of my shots of the day to 12 feet and the birdie putt lips out. I skip to the third tee and get my comeuppance with a double bogey-6. The standout moment is standing in the fairway and looking at the green. I know, from experience, that the putting surface is big enough but from 150 yards away it looks tiny, imposing and almost impossible to hit.
The par-5 fourth has always been one of my favourite holes. Downhill, right-to-left, it’s easy to visualise a sweeping drive and a sweeping approach. I produce the goods as well and tick off another par.
From the tee at the par-3 fifth the green again looks tiny. I tense and drag my opener into a bunker, clear the green with the escape but get up-and-down for a bogey. Sigh of relief.
The sixth has an echo of the famous 17th because the shaping of the ground kicks the ball in the opposite direction to the flow of the hole. Flustered, I make double bogey despite a one putt.
The seventh is all about undulation change. The tee is set high, the fairway low, the green even higher. There is even an undulation change in the putting surface with a big step in the middle. I scramble a bogey and then hit a rough patch.
The approach to the eighth requires a bold hit over water and I’m thinking of it so much I mess up before I even get there. Triple bogey. The ninth sits parallel to the railway line and the hole spooks me into a double bogey. When I hit the green I wondered why I felt it was so long. The design fooled me. Clever.
The back nine
Despite the dodgy end to the back nine, I’m happy. I’ve always loved watching this back nine. Now I’m excited to play it.
I start with an up-and-down for par at the short 10th and then enjoy the fun 11th. It swings around a corner (another right-to-left shape) and rises to a heather-protected green. Beautiful and testing. I card a bogey.
The tee shot at the par-5 12th feels a little like attempting a conversion in rugby. It’s not posts you’re kicking through, though, it’s two huge trees you’re hitting between. I catch a good one, crack a nice approach and make my par.
I enjoyed the 11th so much I wanted to play it again and the 13th isn’t a bad alternative because it’s not only similar, it’s probably a little bit better. Another smile on my face when a tricky bogey putt drops.
The par-3 14th looms. The green is high on the hill. It needs a strong mind and a clean hit. I’m a bit frazzled and I scuff it. But a decent chip sets up a bogey.
The 15th always makes me think of Seve. As I walk towards my tee shot I practically feel as if I’m walking down there with the great Spaniard. Or maybe Nick Faldo. Or Sandy Lyle. Or Woosie. The vibes are strong. I also know the green so well from TV. Hit the right side and let the slope feed it down to the hole. Job done. Bogey.
The 16th is probably the weakest hole on the back nine but it’s still fun. We break into conversation about the stars who used to live on the Wentworth Estate: Bruce Forsyth, Jimmy Tarbuck, Ronnie Corbett, Russ Abbott. Apparently Ernie Els still lives there and Harry Kane has just bought a place that he is doing up. Distracted by my own nonsense, I make another bogey.
The real perils of the famous par-5 17th are not really apparent to golfer of my calibre. The threat is the 280-yard landing area of the drive – the out of bounds to the left and the nasty nature of the camber that kicks balls to the right. My drive is good, but short of that danger. I bang a fairway wood around the dogleg, hit a nice approach that takes a bad kick, and make a bogey-6. I miss the old green. The new one looks tiny.
On to the last. We’ve got a prize up for grabs: nearest the pin in three. I always take a grim view of such baubles, assuming I’m never going to win so don’t bother trying. My playing partner is more ambitious and competitive. He cracks a great drive then umms and ahhs about going for the green. We egg him on. His blow cracks into a tree and hurtles towards the ditch. He doesn’t quit though. He takes aim with an 8-iron and hits a sensational shot to 4 feet to win the prize.
I don’t better that but I’m very happy with my own effort: middle of the fairway, mid-iron short of the water, wedge to 20 feet, two putt par. No grandstands, no galleries, but I might give them a little wave in my head.
Conclusion
The field of dreams notion is strong. Playing Wentworth is special. You really do follow in the foot steps of legends. It’s also tough. The approach shots, especially, never let up. You’re hitting across valleys and up hills. You often feel as is the targets are smaller than they are in reality. It’s demanding but it is also fun.
The front nine really found me out and I played it in 12-over but I rose to the challenge of the back nine and got back in 6-over. I didn’t play to my handicap of 14 but the golf after the turn is what I’ll remember.
READ MORE: Royal County Down: what would a 14 handicapper score on the world’s number one course?
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