What of the course? The 1st seems a gentle opener but into the wind, its no short iron approach and the bunker back right of the green will catch a few people out. It’s a perfect starting hole followed by the first of the precisional play holes on Lindrick links. You want to find the right hand side of the fairway at the corner of dog-leg to leave a pitch into a green with two section, the lower part guarded by a single bunker and the higher right half which has three lots of sand to snaffle up any pushed shot. You don't want to go left off the tee.

If you do miss left, this will be your first encounter with the two types of rough you will find on the perfectly kept heathland and moorland that is Lindrick. This version is like a magnified hair transplant, thick tall clumps of 'tough old' grass. If you ball comes to rest against or in front of one of these tufts, don't expect to move it very far.

Lindrick has had no single course architect since the original 9 holes was laid out in 1891and it shows. This is a natural golf course, where any proposed changes are referred to the present architect retained by the Club, Cameron Sinclair. The club does add and remove bunkers (there will be three new ones this Winter) but no change is made without proper thought - nothing is done on the whim of a 15 handicapper whose talents for design have no credibility. This true unmanufactured design ethic is more than evident in the first of the par 3s, the 3rd.

Like a number of the other par 3s on the course, this is an open area of land. It (and its sister holes) are examples of what to do for any modern architect presented with this sort of land to work with. The course has always had grass-faced bunkers and it takes playing the whole course before you realise that these are originals. You peer and look, trying to work out what has gone on - in this case nothing.

Taking away rivetting or flash faces neuters so many courses. Why this is done is beyond me and it seems nothing but creating more work rather than saving on maintenance - just creating work for a profession. The 3rd green is visible, its properly set into the land and its protected by the shadows of five bunkers. Hit your mid iron well and you will walk away with a par. Anything else you will have to work for a bogey.

In the yardage book, the 4th is cited as eccentric. From any good drive, you can work an approach onto the green of this short par five. It will take a few rounds before you will find the perfect line and make a four without too much trouble. The green site is picture postcard stuff.

From probably the easiest hole on the course, you are now going to play the most difficult. The 5th is a brute of a long par four. Its a blind tee shot and it looks as if the fairway will sweep your tee shot from right to left - its doesn't. The rough grows in for the landing area so hit straight and long, or play this hole as a par five. Its the only climb on the course, from the tee to the fairway, but save you energy for a good a fairway wood or long iron as you can manage if you want to make the green in two.

The next is a respite, a little pitch of a par three to a well-protected green. If you can draw your drive on the 7th, you can fade a run-up approach to the 7th with a long iron and be ideally situated on the longest par four on the course. A par is very possible and the 8th seems like another chance for a birdie. You can play short of the kink in the fairway and leave a wedge to a pretty sloping green, or you can try to draw the ball close to the green with your longest club - if you find the greenside bunkers its a long recovery but you might just run through one of the gaps and find the fringes of the green or the putting surface itself.

The key to the 9th is the tee shot. Inset into the driving area is a number of hollows whilst to the right is the second type of rough you will encounter at Lindrick - the thick stuff, the same as to the right of the landing area on the 5th. A long and very straight tee shot will leave a short or mid iron approach to a green that runs from front to back, gathering in to pin positions at the rear of the green. Find the fairway and its a par - find the rough ....

The back nine starts with a par 4 of under 400 yards but once again (like the 1st) this is no drive and pitch. A good drive will get past the right hand fairway bunkers - don't go anywhere near the rough or trees on the left. The pin can be hidden behind the bunker guarding the right half of the green or it can seem very approachable. What you cannot see is the swail that protects the whole of the left hand side of the green and the back. What might seem something to go for and you could leave yourself a very delicate chip or putt back up the slope.

Hole 11 is a longer par three of the style of the 3rd - an open expanse with the green set in its centre - anything blocked and you are in sand. You then cross the A57 for the last few holes.

The original 12th ran too close to the road on the clubhouse side of the course. The new 12th is still very much in the mould of Lindrick yet it has been much talked about. It’s a hole with an intimate feel, like playing through a garden of gorse, mountains of yellow flowers and prickly branches if your positional play is not good enough. The green slopes far more than it appears and you have to take care on even the shortest putts.

Fro an intimate feel, you then walk through to the grandest hole on the course. A slight dogleg to the left, you drive to the bottom of the hill up to the green - if you can get past the bunkers defining the corner of the hole. It’s a wide expanse of gorse and beautifully prepared fairway from where you play up to the substantial green where three putts is a definite possibility. Miss the green right and you will find one of the most fearsome bunkers on the course.

Hole 14 is a true par five which few reach in two. Finding the fairway is a must and you then either lay-up (avoiding the bunkers left and right) or try guiding your second through a small gap to leave a pitch or chip to a flat green. The 15th is a delight, a blind drive (left is not good with a hollow and lots of rough and OOB very close to the back of the green). Find the fairway and you can either fly your approach to the flag or try to negotiate running the ball up - it a very up and down front of the green.

You now turn for home with the 16th, a hole you can reach in two and a running second (or third) is probably the best sort of shot to try. This hole is all about the green - and the view back across the course (which is also wonderful from the 13th green). A number of the putting surfaces have lots of subtle (although very readable) breaks on them, the ball going this way then that. On the 16th, everything goes towards the back left of the green. Bee assured and you might walk away with a birdie.

17 is downhill and the fairway pushes the ball towards the left hand rough. the green is well protected and guarded by two bunkers, with bushes all the way across the back of the green protecting the hole from the road which you have to cross to play the 18th.

The last hole of the course is a mid to long iron to a green you must hit. Its is set into the little hill of the clubhouse and how you play it will surely be a reflection of your round. Have a good score on your card and you will be purposeful. Something that is OK and it could reward you with a two if you are up to impressing the Secretary sat in his office overlooking the green. If it’s not been your day, then the bunkers might entertain the members playing snooker - whatever, you want to come back.

We played Lindrick in mid May, the best time of the year for viewing the in bloom gorse. Leave your round a few weeks into June and you will meet Lindrick at its most fearsome with the rough high for the Club's scratch medal. At anytime of the year, the course is one of the most playable in England as underneath its fairways is ancient limestone. You are sure of a very warm welcome, the food is excellent, and having canvassed others as well as made our own observations, immaculate is the way the club likes to present itself month on month.

For 2s, 3's or smaller groups, you can ring the Pro Shop. Larger parties should apply to the Secretary Mr John Armitage - the club can take up to 70 visitors, the maximum numbers its dining Room can accommodate. Handicap certificates are required.

To summarise, this is one of Nature's golf courses, its a wonderful club with so much history and as a course, you will only really require all the power you have on the 5th. Every other hole is about shape or straight hitting and placement. Nothing is unfair and conditions should be excellent. Well worth a visit and Lindrick is around 2 hours from our region.

Secretary’s Office : 01909 475282

Professionals Shop : 01909 475820

Web site : www.lindrickgolfclub.co.uk