Beautiful setting for some fabulous golf
It’s taken him a year to get there but Andy Mortimer finally visits the beautiful Cave Castle Golf Club, in South Cave for his 12th course review. And is he impressed? You bet he is . . .
Cave Castle is one of the most recognisable venues in the region and the perfect setting for golf
I was always taught as a young writer to pace my work and not peak too soon. “Tease the reader,” I would be told and “keep back some juicy bits for later on in the story”. But I’m going to go against the grain here and say it straight away – go and play Cave Castle Golf Club. There, over and done with . . . Now let me explain why.
The golf club is located in the grounds of the beautiful Cave Castle Hotel at South Cave. Laid out over 150 acres of rolling countryside, the 6,200-yard, par-72, course just breathes professionalism and beauty from the off.
First off, entrances don’t come much better than this . . . through the impressive and much-photographed archway that leads to the meandering drive, past the lake and up to the turreted “Castle” itself. From here, it’s a very pleasant, short, walk past the snug pro shop to the first tee – all helped, in my case, by some beautiful spring sunshine.
And then, of course, there’s the course itself . . .
To talk and walk me through this during my round was club professional Steve MacKinder. Born a miner’s son in Mexborough, near Sheffield, he has certainly “done the rounds” in terms of the club professional’s role. He has been pro or assistant pro at five clubs in his career, but it is at Cave Castle where he is most at home.
“I moved here from Leeshall, in Norton, Sheffield, in 1998 when it was a very young course (it only opened in 1989). I am, of course, biased, but it is a beautiful course and, after watching it mature for the past 11 years, it has improved a lot,” he told me.
“All the feedback we get from pay-and-play golfers and members is that it is improving all the time.”
Steve and I kicked off our rounds in relative warmth on the 274-yard, par-four, first. A dog-leg left, there are short trees either side of a tight fairway and a bunker just in front of the green. Typically concerned at my first golf shot in four weeks, I took my Titelist five-iron out of my bag and shot, punching it rather low to the rough on the right.
Steve, telling me to calm down, shot as gracefully as you like down the middle of the fairway with his wood. First honours to Steve then, and worse was to come for
me . . .
A month away from the game is never great preparation for a round at a new course – I had lost a bit of touch and was swinging a little quickly. My approach to the green from the light and fluffy rough I was soon to be calling home, was good enough, but I was not prepared for what I was to find on the greens – pure, unadulterated speed!
I’ll let Steve explain . . . “The greens are tricky to say the least,” he told me. “There are a lot of undulations – some easier to spot than others – and they are very quick. We had a group of golfers visit the course for the first time last week and they all commented on how difficult they were. You will have to get used to them to score well.”
Needless to say, I didn’t!
Andy escaping from yet another bunker
My chip from the rough ran some 30ft past, my first putt 15 and my second five. I was happy in the end to leave with a six – not quite what I had in mind when I saw a 274-yard, par-four in front of me on the tee!
Moving on from the first and Cave Castle really comes into its own. Two par-fives and a long par-four follow the opening hole and by the time I got to the 187-yard fifth I was in a hell of a mood and barely even noticing the quality of the course. My driver was erratic, my irons often scuffed and my putting was awful on the fastest greens I’d played on in this year. And then something clicked – courtesy of probably the most patient professional golfer I know.
“A bad day of golf is better than a good day in the office,” were Steve’s wise words as I crept down the bank of the pond left of the fifth green to retrieve two lost tee shots. “I have to admit I am obsessed by sport but golf in particular and I love my job,” he said. “I work six days a week, from 6.30am to 7pm on weekends and I wouldn’t swap it for all the tea in China. And being at Cave Castle is a privilege no matter how you are playing.”
My sharp intake of breath game me chance to refocus and, as my game recovered, I began to truly appreciate the course for what it was. The last four holes of the first nine were simply beautiful. They may all be par-fours and may all come in at about 400-yards long, but thanks to the very open nature of the course the wind was altering club selections all the time and it didn’t seem boring at all.
One of the best was the seventh which has one of the great golfing greens in the East Riding. While it looked as flat as a pancake to me, Steve knew something I didn’t . . .
As he lined up his putt some 15ft right of the hole he said: “There is more borrow on this green than any other and when I’m giving putting lessons I often do it on this green.
“Where I’m aiming now is quite wide, but during the summer if you are putting uphill with a sideways slope, a lot of golfers aim past the flag, shoot it too hard on purpose and let it roll backwards towards the hole,” he said.
I scoffed until I saw Steve’s ball miss the hole by a whisker and mine do the same when I allowed even more borrow. The greens were making quite an impression and it was a good one (if not for my scorecard).
Moving on to the back nine and the par-fours continued coming, which to me was a little tiresome as much as I was liking the course. Three more holes between 350 and 450 yards follow from hole 10, but while the design was not always to my liking the greens were proving as much of a challenge as the bunkers and ponds.
The 10th was a particular favourite. At 453-yards long, it’s a mini par-five into the wind, but when you reach the green you realise the challenge is only just beginning, for it’s on raised ground some 10ft or so above the fairway. Suffice to say, this “mountainous” prospect scared me to death.
The bridge over the pond by the 18th green
Both Steve and I had about 40-yard pitch shots ahead of us and it was, in the club professional’s own words, “in the lap of the gods” where our balls would end. “The best thing to do here and throughout much of Cave Castle when the ground and greens are hard, is to play it like a links course, chipping half-way to the green and letting it run on,” he said.
Following his own advice he went first, bumping his shot into the bank and watching it shoot up to about 15ft from the hole while I did the same to a little less success, finishing 20ft or so away. Three putts (again) and the hole was over – partly to my delight, but partly with a touch of sadness at the end of a great hole.
Steve said: “The course at Cave Castle reflects the hotel in my mind. It is very professional and well-kept, but it is also very challenging – I love it here.”
Later holes to catch my eye in the round were all in an area called “the paddock” – from hole 15 to 17 – where the wind died down and you had the chance to play some nice parkland golf, lobbing wedges high in the air and powering drives down the fairway without the threat of a prevailing wind pushing your ball into a bunker.
The 17th was especially good fun, a 136-yard, par-three tight to the right with trees and a typically small but fast green. Steve explained how the course would grow over the summer months. “When the summer starts for real the trees will grow and overhang into the fairways making them harder. The course will look fantastic but the fairways will be much tighter and harder to hit. It’s quite a challenge once the season starts.”
I can bear testimony to that. While not a perfect course, it is a great one to play to improve your putting, and to gain experience of playing in the wind and, therefore, improve your accuracy. It’s certainly one of the best young courses in the region and give it another 10 years I’m sure it will be one of the best, full stop.
A quick tip, though – try to play it after a shower of rain. The greens are fast!
Verdict: A fearsome course if you struggle for length off the tee or hate fast greens, but enjoyable nonetheless. Standout holes are the seventh, with its deceptively undulating green, and the beautiful-looking long par-five 13th. Also check out the view from the green on the 18th – one of the best in golf . . .
Comments