Yorkshire’s finest

Elliott Heath travels to God’s Own Country to sample a quartet of historic and highly rated courses... Mackenzie’s first

When you think about the greatest golf course designers in history, Dr Alister Mackenzie should be at the forefront of your mind. And when you think about the greatest golf courses on the planet, Augusta National should be right up there, too.

Mackenzie was the man behind Augusta and many other worldfamous layouts like Royal Melbourne, Cypress Point and Lahinch, 32nd in the new Golf Monthly Top 100 UK & Ireland Courses rankings. However, it is in Mackenzie’s native county of Yorkshire where you’ll find his original courses, including his first-ever layout – Alwoodley.

Mackenzie was a founding member at the north Leeds club and laid out the 18-hole course which remains largely the same 111 years on. Recent work from Ken Moodie has seen the majority of bunkers restored to Mackenzie’s original designs, too. They’re striking and very well placed.

The course now has new championship tees, which takes

Alwoodley is a heathland haven, lined with heather, pines, gorse, bracken and all the flora and fauna you’d expect to find on such a course. It ranks 50th in our 2019/20 Top 100.

The sweeping dogleg-left par-5 13th at Augusta is one of the best and most famous holes on the planet, but Alwoodley actually has the original. The 10th inspired the final hole of Amen Corner and playing it does feel like your own little slice of Augusta.

Like Augusta, it doglegs around the driving zone straight left. But then, unlike its Georgian counterpart, the third shot is played steeply downhill to the green for most amateurs. It’s in the very far corner of the course, and you’ll experience countryside views for the first and only time during the round.

The next, the par-3 11th, is then a charming but tough hole which, as described by the club, has “more than a touch of Augusta about it”. Perhaps it should be said that Augusta actually has more than a touch of Alwoodley about it, for it is known as the ‘Original Mackenzie’.

It isn’t just the Augusta links that Alwoodley should be known for, as it has a stunning set of par 3s as well. They’re all beautiful but equally challenging, even the 141-yard 7th, which has a very long green and no less than five bunkers protecting it.

The 9th is the stand-out short hole for me. Playing 235 yards when fully stretched and 191 yards from the whites, it’s downhill with a vista of the cracking par-5 8th beyond. You also know you’re about to turn back up the hill and play the famous 10th.

As someone who has grown up and played a lot in and around Surrey, Alwoodley resembles the golf you’d find at places like Sunningdale, the three Ws and Hankley Common. Like Hankley, it is fairly open in places with swathes of purple heather, but there are also more confined holes which are flanked by woodland.

The fairways are springy and the greens exceptionally pure – exactly what you’d expect from a course ranked so highly, although I do feel it may well be underrated as it’s that good. The opening and closing two holes play side by side, with the rest of the course across the road. The 1st is a simple par 4, while the 18th is as tough

as they come – 450 yards into the prevailing wind with bunkers everywhere. The view from the 18th tee is rather special, too.

Alwoodley is a lovely course but it’s seriously demanding, especially the closing stretch. Long par 4s see you home and they usually play into the prevailing wind that sweeps off the Yorkshire Dales. Much like many famous links courses, at Alwoodley you need to earn your score on the first 11 or 12 holes and then hang on for dear life heading home. The club is simply a must-visit for anybody who appreciates great inland golf. Literally across the road you’ll find Moortown GC, host venue for the 1929 Ryder Cup, the first to be staged in Britain. George Duncan’s GB team defeated the great Walter Hagen’s USA 7-5. It was only the second ever Ryder Cup and the result levelled the overall record after USA won 9.5-2.5 two years prior.

Moortown has one of the greatest and most historic clubhouses you’ll find on these shores. The smoke room, the snooker room, the lounge – known as the Ryder Cup room – and the locker room are special, and the building almost feels like a museum. It also offers a fantastic view down the tough finishing hole.

This is another of Mackenzie’s early designs and, along with Alwoodley, it is part of a 15-club Mackenzie society which holds a two-day tournament each year at one of the clubs on a rotating basis. Moortown has been home to numerous other professional events down the years, including the Yorkshire Evening News tournament between 1925-1962, which produced winners like Peter Thomson, Dai Rees, Henry Cotton and Bobby Locke.

It also hosted the 1980 Haig Whiskey Tournament Players Championship, which attracted a field including Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Bernhard Langer and winner Bernard Gallacher. There is a story you’ll hear if you come to Moortown of Seve flying the 18th green and landing his ball on the practice putting green… trust me, that is a serious miss-club!

Highlights of the course – a moorland/heathland hybrid ranked 63rd in our Top 100 – include the tough par-4 2nd, which plays slightly uphill on the approach after a relatively benign par-5 opener, the charming par-3 4th and the short dogleg-left par-4 5th.

The 10th, named ‘Gibraltar’, is an uphill par 3 flanked by bunkers and one of the best short holes in the country. Many feel it ranks in the top 20 Mackenzie-designed holes in the world. Gibraltar is followed by four holes running up and down across a plateau known as Black Moor – a stretch where the course really comes into its own. For me, these four holes, plus the 10th, were the most memorable – and I didn’t even play them well!

The 12th is the longest hole on the course at over 550 yards, and Archie Compston is said to have holed a ‘brassie’ shot for the only albatross ever recorded here. The 14th is an excellent short par 4, where the second shot is played from atop the hill down to a small green area that is well guarded by three bunkers. The closing par 4 plays slightly uphill and to the right, and most amateurs will be happy to make a bogey and get into the house. If you’re in the area, a trip to Headingley is also well worth it. It’s another of Mackenzie’s designs and is located around five miles west of Alwoodley and Moortown. Stay in the Weetwood Hotel on the Alwoodley/moortown stay-andplay deal and add it on as it’s a mere two-minute drive from there.

Headingley is Leeds’ oldest golf club and, in contrast to Moortown and Alwoodley, is undulating with beautiful views of the north Leeds countryside. Stand-out holes include the 1st, which must surely

be the best opening hole in Leeds. You drive to the top of the hill before an approach all the way down it and over a stream.

The 9th is a beauty with the approach also playing over a stream, before the testing par-3 10th. The par-3 13th is then like nothing you’ll find anywhere else, essentially playing up a mountain to a well-guarded green.

The 17th is another fantastic short hole and comes before the unique 18th, where you drive downhill and over shrubbery and climb your way back up a steep hill to the final green.

Headingley is a brilliant, historic and welcoming club that offers great value for money. For even more history and topquality championship golf, we headed an hour or so east via York to Ganton, which is undoubtedly one of the UK’S greatest clubs. Formed in 1891, it had six-time Open Champion Harry Vardon as professional from 1896 to 1903.

It is perhaps the most historic non-seaside course on our shores and, like Moortown, has hosted the Ryder Cup. The event came here in 1949, when Ben Hogan’s USA beat Charles Whitcombe’s Great Britain 7-5. As well as the Ryder Cup, the club has also staged the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup and the Amateur Championship.

One of the greatest performances at Ganton came from Sir Michael Bonallack, widely regarded as Britain’s greatest ever amateur, who beat David Kelley 12&11 in the 36-hole final of the 1968 English Amateur Championship. He shot 61 in the morning and 89 for the 25 completed holes.

The course is a heathland/links hybrid with incredible views across the Vale of Pickering. It’s lined with gorse, which decorates the course in a gorgeous yellow colour in the early summer months. It really is unique, with glorious views, heathland-esque holes and gorse-lined ones with links characteristics.

It may sound like a strange mix, but couple that with eye-catching bunkering and perfect firm-andfast playing conditions and you’ve got a whirlwind ride that is seriously enjoyable.

Ganton is a very testing course and the depth of its bunkers can only be rivalled by Woodhall Spa… you could literally fit a London bus in the one just short of the 16th fairway.

The 16th is one of the best holes on the course, playing 450 yards and lined with pine trees down the right. It’s a delight to play but testing when the wind gets up, especially when you consider that almost every hole plays in a completely different direction to the previous one.

It’s hard to pick out highlights due to the overall strength of the course, which has been worked on by the likes of Harry Colt, James Braid, JH Taylor and Mackenzie through the years.

But the par-4 4th is great fun, as it plays over a shallow ravine to a raised green. The first short hole at 5 is then a beauty playing over a sea of gorse. The 10th is another delightful one-shotter, while the long and testing par-3 17th plays out and over the entrance road before the dogleg-left 18th sees you play back over it.

Ganton is the highest-placed Yorkshire course in our UK and Ireland rankings at number 28. It really is unique, with its heathland and links characteristics coupled with excellent views of the Yorkshire countryside. If you’re planning a golf break in the UK, Yorkshire’s Top 100 trio at Alwoodley, Moortown and Ganton simply cannot be missed.