- A good opening hole with trees and thick rough on the right. A good tee-shot will leave a straight forward approach to a severely slopping green. Don't be above the hole.
- A picturesque par-3 which is well guarded by bunkers, also out-of-bounds lurks close to the right side. A tee-shot must find the gap between the bunkers left and right or clear the right one to find the putting surface.
- A straight hole with out-of-bounds tight on the left. The fairway narrows for the longer hitters and be aware of the hollow which throws the ball left towards the trees and out-of-bounds. The green is quite shallow with a deep bunker guarding on the right.
- A tough tee-shot for you faders, take a risk to find the left centre of the fairway by hugging the tree line. This will leave a short approach to the green. A birdie chance.
- The easiest hole on the course is a short one. Finding the green is easy enough, but don't let your guard down once you have found the putting surface, as fierce slopes await with a 3 putt a real possibility.
- Trees await left and right, so a good tee-shot is essential. A slight draw will help to find the fairway as that's the shape of the hole. Avoid the right bunker with your approach as the chances are, it will plug.
- This long par 5 can be reached in two, but only by the most powerful of ball strikers. A large bunker with a steep face covers the majority of the fairway and entrance to the green 50 yards short. Find this bunker and your chances of a birdie are virtually wiped out.
- A strong par 3 measuring over 200 yards. Find the right half of the green and be contented. Go left and be faced with a difficult shot as the green slopes away from you.
- A dog-leg right with a large tree in the centre of the fairway. This tree must be avoided to leave a shot over a ditch to a shallow green, which is guarded by a large mound and also obscures your view of the green.
- Stroke Index 1 has out-of-bounds on the right for the entire hole. For the shortest route on this dog-leg, you must drive down the tree line close to the out-of-bounds (risky).
- Don't hold back on this long par 4, as the green is quite small for the length of the hole. There are also two well positioned bunkers awaiting the smallest of errant shots, normally with a long iron or even a fairway wood.
- This great par 4 requires an extremely accurate drive to find the left half of the fairway. This will give you a view of the green (the only place you can see the green from). Make sure you have enough club as your approach is longer than it looks.
- Another tight tee-shot confronts you on this short but tricky par 4. To find the fairway you must hug the trees on the right as the camber through the ball towards the trees and out-of-bounds on the left.
- A right to left tee-shot would be the most advantageous, as this would follow the shape and camber of the hole. Don't over do this with trees, thick rough and out-of-bounds awaiting. All shots will tend to go left with the slope. You can't afford to miss the green left as you will face a near impossible up and down.
- A tent risk reward hole on this reachable par 4. Trouble waits for any errant shot, especially if you find the bomb hole! (Go have a look). Find the green and you're still not certain of a birdie with this severe putting surface.
- This hole is well guarded by bunkers, humps and hollows. Only a high towering shot will be able to hold this green, as it slopes severely from right to left. A great putting surface though.
- One of the longest par 4's in Cheshire. This hole requires a long drive to get over the ditch that crossed the fairway 240 yards from the tee. Once there, you are still left with an uphill approach with a long iron or fairway wood. That's if you can reach. The lay-up is not easy with a pond that's well positioned.
- The last is the shortest and requires an accurate shot to find the correct portion of the green. To do this you must control the flight and spin of the ball to hold the right tier. If you find the wrong tier you are always faced with a tricky putt.
You must be very accurate off the tee on this course and to do this you must be able to shape your shots both ways. Failure to do this will result in finding the trees and you will probably have to chip out, with them being so dense. Finding the fairway is imperative, so driver might not be the best course of action. In turn, this makes the course play longer than its yardage and especially only being a par-69. Find the fairways and you should be left with some straight forward approaches to some quite small targets. These greens vary quite considerably, from the severe slopes of the 1st, to the seemingly billiard-table-like of the 6th. Be wary of these flat greens as they have subtle breaks that are difficult to spot.
I'm sure you will enjoy the course with all aspects of your game being tested, especially course management (a neglected part of the game by most amateurs). Don't do that here, as you will see the result on your scorecard.
Hope you and your friends come and visit us here at Runcorn Golf Club and sample the tree lined fairways, superb greens and the welcoming atmosphere in our traditional Club House.
Kevin Hartley
PGA Gold Professional