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The Dartmouth course hosted both the '98 & '99 MIGC
Open Championships. There is
not enough room on the www to tell you everything about
the place, or what went on there, I'll just tell you
some of the things that happened to us.....
Shack took a 21 on the 14th! (but still didn't come
last!)
Remember
we play to the strictest rules. Many of you will hit
a couple of balls out of bounds and then think "bugger
this, I'm not losing any more!" and drop one up
on the fairway or something.
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Group
photo taken outside the
cottages. Click to enlarge
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We can't do that. We have to
stand there hitting balls until the rest of the group
agree it will be, or that there is a good chance it
will be, found.
Shacky hit 8 balls of the 14th tee that day. Looking
back it is one of the funny moments of migc history,
but at the time it it took some dealing with. Golf is
a hard enough game at any time, but under those circumstances
(take into account the wind & rain were wild and
most of us got seven's and eight's) and when you so
want to do well, to win even, and to see it all just
go on one hole and know that you are going to spend
the rest of the week fighting not to finish last, is
tough. (It's meant to be a holiday)
As a group we struggled round Dartmouth. It really is
the most fantastic of courses and we will be back, (be
warned) but if you catch it when the weather is anything
but perfect, for the average golfer it can be almost
unplayable.
It was built 10 or so years ago by none other than Nigel
Mansell, and it shows in it's outstanding quality. It's
obvious that little expense was spared in designing
and building the course and complex. He (Mansell) fell
out with the other partners or something and quit the
club not long after it opened and since then it has
been run as a commercial, rather than traditional club.
Rumour has it that his good friend
Greg Norman stayed on site with him now and then in
the early days.
The first year we visited the club we stayed on site
in the 'cottages'. It was amazing. The cottages are
situated about 50 yards from both 1st tees. Oh yes,
as well as the championship 18 hole course, there is
a nine hole course too. And we were staying on the first
tees! We had unlimited access to the courses and as
we visited in June, some of us were on the (empty) course
until 9/10pm. It's high up in the Devon hills and the
sunsets are something to behold.
Before you think we are all loaded, the whole week including
food, golf and accommodation was no more than £300
per person.
Oh and there's a pool, gym, driving range..
There's only room for about 20 to stay in the three
cottages, and there is no more accommodation within
the entire complex, so, as you might imagine, we took
over the whole place.
We had our own private buggies which we used to get
from the bar to the cottages, (100 yds!) and were able
to host such events as the "two club challenge"
on the nine hole course in the evenings.
I haven't said much about the course in my rambling,
probably because, and I should own up now, I, your roaming
reporter, despite taking no more than 10 at any one
time on the 14th, came last that year...
Off my average handicap of 17, I managed to finish the
competition 106 over par. That's the equivalent of,
an average of, 115.5 per round. Terrible I know, but
it happened, and I'm over it now.
If you start really well, it's not impossible to get
fours at the opening two holes. You would have to play
them well and any mistake will cost you, but it is possible
to par them both.
The third is a different story. If you play this hole
badly, your round could be over. If you have a bad,
bad hole early on in a competition many of us never
recover. That's a fact.
It's a par 3, over water to a green cut out of the side
of a hill. If you miss it short or right you are in
trouble and left isn't good. The green is multi-sloping,
so even if you hit it there are no guarantees you won't
four putt it. If you get off here with a four, you will
not be disappointed.
And then it's the fourth...
I still wake up a night thinking about this hole...
The picture, right, is taken from behind the third green.
The 4th tee is a little further bottom left than the
bottom left of the picture. (If you know what I mean)
The first arrow shows the ideal landing area off the
tee. Miss it almost anywhere and it's in water, or lost.
The second arrow is pointing towards the green. As you
see, your second shot needs to be laid up about where
the arrow is, leaving as little as a wedge to the green.
But again there is water and nasty stuff everywhere.
The green is guarded by a bunker and a small pond and
some rocks... it goes on. The putting surface itself
is not as daunting as many of the greens on the course.
It's the getting there.
The 5th is a short par three with water all around,
the 6th a tricky, uphill par four, and the 7th another
par three, this time 200 yds, over water, through a
gap in the trees, forget it!
The 8th and 9th are both par 5's, which under normal
circumstances would probably not be as tough as some
of the holes, but if you have had anything of a rough
time over the early holes, these can seem like monsters.
It's a long walk to the 10th tee....
I don't want to talk about the 10th. If you hit the
ball just the slightest bit from left to right, you're
out of bounds. If you get an unlucky bounce right off
the fairway, you're out of bounds. Enough said.
I
actually got a birdie three on the 11th that week, but
down wind it was probably one of the easier holes.
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Looking
down towards the green from the 18th tee.
Click to enlarge
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The 12th & 13th are a bit
like the 10th, very scary, very slopey, very hard.
The 14th, well the 14th is Shacky's hole. A long par
four. A 180 yard carry over water off the tee and out
of bounds all the way down the right. If that is not
tough enough then nothing is.
The 15th is another long and difficult par four with
more water in play and 16 and 17, again par fours, need
full concentration.
Finally the 18th...
If you reach this tee as beaten up as I regularly did,
then it really is the last thing you need. Par three,
elevated tee, 200 yards to carry over a lake, usually
into the breeze/gale, and just a nightmare for the average
player.
During my notorious week, I didn't manage to clear the
lake in four attempts.
I really cannot recommend Dartmouth enough. Stay on
the course in the excellent cottages and you will long
remember your visit.
And don't feel bad if like me you don't conquer the
course.
Not many will.
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