Hankley Common Golf Club

I have an internal debate with myself often (sad, isn't it?) about which area of the world has the best golf mile for mile. Long Island is surely in the discussion, and probably wins if I'm honest, although Scotland could also win the race. However, when you analyze all the fantastic golf within 90 minutes of Buckingham Palace, a very strong case can be made that greater London, on the strength of golf in Surrey, is the winner. Gems such as Sunningdale, St. George's Hill, Swinley Forest, Walton Heath, and Wentworth form quite a cluster. I am trying to slowly tick off as many courses as I can while my health (and wallet) holds up.  Other courses on my bucket list are the Berkshire Red and Blue, New Zealand Golf Club, and the three W's: Woking, Worplesdon, and West Hill. Today's visit is to Hankley Common in Surrey. 

Life is so rich and golf is so rewarding!

Anyway, to the golf course in a minute. First, I feel compelled to write about how much I love London. I had forgotten how extraordinary a city it is. As someone who has spent a lifetime working in New York City I had become deluded, like many New Yorkers do, that it is the greatest city in the world. Wrong. London is far better. I still love New York, but the frenetic activity, noise, dirt, pollution, and density are too much. London is so much greener with pocket parks scattered throughout the city in every nook and cranny. It is also greener from an environmental point of view with electric vehicles and buses greatly cutting down on pollution. And it is so much quieter than any American city. Brits, even taxi drivers, don't lean on their horns. People are more patient, polite, and quieter. The city is cleaner, more civilized and more genial than any American city I am familiar with. I spent thirty plus years traveling extensively to almost every city in the States and the quality of life in London is superior in my view.

On the down side, it is an expensive city to live in. The cost of living is through the roof. I also have fantasy agendas when I go the Britain, visiting all the posh places and sampling the best the city has to offer. On this trip I stayed off the Kings Road in Chelsea near Sloane Square. It is a delightful neighborhood. The other thing that jumped out at me again is how dog crazed the English are. There were scores and scores of people in Central London walking and pampering their dogs. 

Hankley Common began as a nine hole course laid out by James Braid in 1897 on Surrey's natural heathlands. Braid advised on the addition of nine more holes in 1922, then H. S. Colt remodeled the course in 1936, so the pedigree is about as good as can be. I drove the ball very well at Hankley but pulled a lot of my approach shots. It made for a long day for one reason and one reason only: heather. Heather makes the course a pleasure to look at but it serves as a very effective hazard, causing the loss of at least one stroke if you end up in it.

The first green at Hankley Common

The course starts gently enough with an easy par four that plays on flat ground. The blind green is set down in a hollow and doesn't present too much of a challenge to hit with a good approach shot.

The par-3 second hole at Hankley

The par three second hole also isn't overly taxing, requiring a mid iron shot to a receptive green. The course starts to show its natural beauty on the par three second, with a green perfectly situated in a corner of the property.

Hankley's third green framed by gorse bushes on the left side

The third hole is a par four of 347 yards and offers a generous fairway, as do most holes. The trick here is to be on the right side of the fairway to avoid a semi-blind shot into the two tiered green.

The fourth hole shouldn't be that hard, but it is. The green sits near the clubhouse and we watched golfers trying to hit the green as we had lunch before our round. I thought to myself, why is everyone approaching from the left side and missing the green? Well, I know the answer now. I did the same thing and hit left off the tee, which sets you up that way because the fairway is so narrow. It is simply the wrong angle to approach the oblong green from, particularly if you end up in the heather like a knucklehead, as I did. What a great design for a 327 yard hole. 

The fifth hole at Hankley as seen from the tee

The fifth hole, a par four of 381 yards, is the most difficult hole on the front. The hole bends to the left around strategically placed bunkers, seen in the distance to the left. I landed in the heather on the left, which is sub-optimal to say the least. Being on the right side of the fairway is essential to properly approach this very tricky, narrow green, seen below:

The tricky fifth green at Hankley Common

 

The world-class par three 7th hole at Hankley with foreboding skies above

The difficult par three seventh hole is one of the best on the course and one of the best par threes in the Surrey region, which is saying something given the quality of golf here. It plays 183 yards on the card, but as you can see, the green is perched on top of a hill. The day we played there was roughly a two club wind. It must be something quirky about where the hole is situated with the green on the apex of a hill, but it was far windier on this corner of the course, making it an even greater challenge.

The unfortunate golfer (moi) that hits their tee shot to the right side of the seventh green will face this daunting blind shot to a tough green

The vista of the appealing eighth hole from the tee box

The eighth hole, a par five, plays from the top of the same hill that the seventh green is on and it offers the best vista of the day, showing off the handsome nature of Hankley with its heather and Scots Pine trees.

My preference is to walk a golf course if I can. Due to a deteriorating chronic lung condition as a result of my transplant, I can't walk up hills or steep inclines anymore so I took a cart at Hankley, and I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have been able to traverse the terrain the course is artfully routed over. 

The club owns a staggering 850 acres, offering panoramic views throughout the day. Let's pause for a minute and think about 850 acres. Not a small amount of land anywhere, but in Surrey! Not bad, especially considering that they paid £800 to buy it from the estate owner in 1942. As in classic English fashion, this club is probably quite well off, but is equally understated. The golf course itself only occupies 164 acres; the club leases a good chunk of the land the British Ministry of Defense which uses it as a training ground for their armed forces. Troops built an Atlantic Wall here during the Second World War and practiced their D-Day invasion. Three James Bond movies have also used parts of Hankley Common, (the broader Common, not the golf course) for their films.

Holes ten, eleven, and twelve are known as Colt's Corner since they are the holes he designed. Since I spent most of the time looking for my ball in the heather during that stretch I didn't get any pictures of them.

The cracking finishing hole at Hankley Common

The finishing hole at Hankley is one of the most interesting I have seen in all my travels. The tee shot on this 432 yard hole is a forced carry over heather. The unsuspecting golfer has no idea what is coming. As you walk (or ride, as I did) the crest of a gentle hill you see the challenge to come. There is a treacherous gully protecting the green.

The 18th hole at Hankley Common seen looking backward from the green shows the tricky nature of the hole

The fairway bends slightly to the right after you crest the hill, and if you smash your drive you are left with a downhill lie that requires a long iron or hybrid club over the gully to the green. Bon chance. I was forced to lay up because, shockingly, my tee shot landed in the heather. 

A close up of the grass bunker/hazard/ditch short left of the last green at Hankley

A view of the menacing 18th hole up close shows the hazards you have to carry to land on the relatively small green

As I mentioned in the opening, the course has a gentle start, with easy holes over the opening stretch. It more than makes up for that on the finish. I liken it to the last at Pine Valley, which also challenges the golfer with a shot from a downhill lie over a demanding hazard (in the case of Pine Valley, water) to a testing green.

Tom Doak gives the course a 5 in his Confidential Guide and says, "there is the nagging suspicion that there are a few too many holes where the fairway runs too straight and too long without any bunkers to liven up the proceedings. A few diagonal cross hazards would do wonders here." He knows a lot more about architecture than I do and it is a fair observation.

Hankley Common is the most dog friend course I have ever been to. When you walk up to the door of the clubhouse there is a water bowl for dogs. Same thing on the back porch, where we had lunch: water bowls for man's four legged friends. I would say at least half the members who were out playing had their canine pals with them. On one hole there were two golfers teeing off and each had a dog. The dogs sat about 30 yards ahead of the golfers perfectly positioned facing the tee box to see their masters hit their drives. What a country. Woof!