Andy Mortimer heads for the seaside to conduct this month’s golf course review . . .

Andy takes a swing on the 14th tee, with a perfect view of the white chalk cliffs of Flamborough

Golf fans among you will be aware big things are happening at Bridlington Links. The east coast course, which is still only 16-years-old, is now under new ownership and is the project of multi-millionaire golf course and leisure park developer John Morphet.

As revealed in The Journal in June, John – who also owns the 750-acre Royal Westmoreland Golf and Leisure Resort in Barbados – plans to inject up to £4 million into Brid Links over the coming years. After taking over last December, he has already installed a new gym and Tarmac roads and brought in his head greenkeeper from Barbados (I know where I would rather work) to head up course improvements over the summer.

In time, great things will develop but how does the course, today, compare to the rest in Hull and the East Riding? It may very well have an ambitious owner and lots of money for the future, but is it really one to play this summer?

To find out, I popped over for a round with general manger and former owner, Phil Hancock (62). Phil has been at the club since it first opened and has held various roles over the years.

He chatted to me on the clubhouse balcony, overlooking the 18th green and the beautiful, blue North Sea – a view unrivalled on any course I’ve played this year.

“I was brought in by the first owners as house manager to look after the bar and catering,” he said.

“The first directors lasted just a couple of years and I became general manager under the second owner group, Play Golf – a company that owned more than 40 courses across the UK at the time. When they decided to sell in 1999, I took over.

“My background was running pubs, clubs and bars in Cleethorpes but I believed I could make money out of Bridlington Links and make it work.”

What Phil did, as well as improve the golfing experience, was build up the facilities around the club. Timber lodges were constructed and sold by the course and the club soon became its own self-serving leisure facility.

And John, Phil believes, will take it to the next level.

He said: “I had no hesitation in selling to John once I knew what he wanted to do.

“The course is in a wonderful location and once you get out on the back nine you will see just how great the views are. All golf courses are struggling to get new members but by creating a first-class leisure facility like we have, we are going in the right direction.”

The Brid Links clubhouse

The sun was high and very hot in the sky as we teed off on the first hole. Facing away from the cliff edge and back towards Flamborough Road, the first nine holes have little in the way of sea views. In fact, they are an entity in themselves on a course with a strange mix of links and parkland characteristics.

Off the men’s tees, the first is fairly straight with a couple of fairway bunkers keeping your tee shot down the middle and a sand trap or two around the green. I particularly liked the way the hole was sculpted, with the short fairway grass meandering in and out of the semi-rough all the way to the green.

As we teed off, both fairly straight, Phil introduced me to two of the most standout factors that would affect my score that day – the bunkers and the rough.

“The bunkers are horrid, but they are meant to be,” he said. “The sand is nice and fluffy (meaning you can plug the ball easily) but they are also deep. There are a few pot bunkers near the greens that are hard to get out of, but you just have to find your own technique.

“The rough, on the other hand, is almost impossible to get out of. We have a generous cut of semi-rough that protects your ball from running into it from the fairway but if you land in it, it’s game over.

“It’s long and thick and easy for your ball to settle at the bottom and not be found again. You can’t come here and blast your way around – you have to think about every shot. All good courses should make you do that.”

Thankfully, there was little for me to think about on the first hole. A good three-wood had left me with an easy six-iron to the green. I landed that 20ft away and two-putted for par. Phil was playing his first round of golf in six months – “I work here but I never get the chance to play” – and shot a seven.

A fairly short par-four dog-leg comes at hole two before the course’s signature hole, the 464-yard, par-five third. Looking down from the tee, there is water on the left just within driving distance, bunkers left and right of the fairway, a dog-leg over the water, long bunkers surrounding the green and – lo and behold – more water in front of them. The idea is to shoot to the right of the first pond from the tee, leaving you a long wood to the green or a lay-up before the second pond and a pitch on. Like I say, that’s what you are meant to do . . .

I, instead, chose a different option. I hooked the ball to the left, hacked into the heavy rough on the right (losing my ball) and rode my luck, blasting a seven-iron over the green before chipping and putting for a six. It’s not the most relaxing way to play the hole, believe me.

Andy Mortimer (left) lines up his putt with Phil Hancock at the 14th

A beautiful little par-three follows this, followed by a par-four, five, three and four again. Every hole offers up completely different challenges with trees, heavy rough, bunkers and the occasional steep slope all contributing to a difficult test. “The greens are pretty flat and not that undulating,” said Phil, as we rolled in for par on the eighth. “Our test comes before the greens. We are very long and it’s difficult to get to the hole, particularly if the wind is blowing, which it often is during the winter.”

But, regardless of the difficulty, I was scoring as well as I ever have. Despite knocking my second shot into the ninth green into the pond, I actually finished the first nine in 40 – a record score for me. I was about to happily trot to the 10th when a warning bolt came across my bow from Phil.

“That was the ugly and the easy nine,” he laughed. “Okay, I exaggerate because it wasn’t ugly at all but on the back nine most of the holes have a sea view and they are longer, tighter and more difficult to score on.

“On the 10th, for instance, you have 399 yards to carry to the green, through a gap in the trees and some nasty bunkers. And it’s much easier than the 18th just right of here because that’s very, very tight.”

Regardless, Phil said these were also his favourites holes. “I really like the sea view run of holes from 11 through to 16. On the 14th green and 15th tee you can see Flamborough cliff to your left and Bridlington’s North Beach to your right. I can also see my house on the bay. It’s a wonderful view.”

I continued the back nine in much the same way as the first, paring the 10th and 11th holes. But even in my good run of form, I could see the holes were getting harder. The fairways seemed tighter and there were increasing numbers of bunkers that also looked to be getting deeper by the hole.

The holes were also getting longer with the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th measuring in at 399, 548, 432 and 483-yards respectively off the yellow tees. Off the competition tees, they were a good 40 yards longer each and, by now, I was really feeling the strain. I was swinging faster and, instead of hitting seven irons into the green, I was hitting five irons.

As such, I was more wayward and despite the stroke of my life on the 11th, where I shot to within five feet of the hole from 150 yards, my game was slowly coming apart, mainly thanks to the difficulty of the course.

When I hit my first bunker on the 16th, the floodgates opened for real.

I had flirted with three fairway bunkers off the tee, slicing to the right of the sculptured fairway. But it was on my approach to the green that I found the sand, nestling up to the front of a pot bunker. I took four attempts to get out and when I did I was looking back on an eight. I followed this with another eight on the 18th, as I hit the trees off the tee and then numerous bunkers and slopes down the fairway. I have to agree with Phil there – it might look just like the 10th but it’s the 10th’s older, more sadistic brother.

Nevertheless, as I looked back on my round, all I could remember were the good bits. The views were spectacular, the fairways lovely and, while the greens were a bit flat and the grass on them rather long, they were good enough for me.

Brid Links might be a club for tomorrow but, if it’s a sunny day and you want a challenge, it’s also a course for today.

VERDICT: Go and play Brid Links while the weather is still nice and you can enjoy it. I wouldn’t particularly want to play with the wind howling and the rain pouring in the middle of winter, but if you catch it on a good day, it’s as good a course as any in the region. Look out for the 3rd, 15th and 16th – great golfing holes and wonderful scenic views. A must-play golf course!

Bridlington Links Golf & Leisure Estate is on Flamborough Road, Marton, Bridlington, Y015 1DW.

For more information, call: (01262) 401584 or visit: www.bridlington-links.co.uk

In addition to the 18th hole, there is also a driving range and nine-hole course.

Membership: £425 for full membership; five day and country, £375; senior, £175; student, £210, junior aged over 12, £80 and junior aged under 12, £50.

Green fees, 18-hole course: Mid-week – £25 per day; £20 per round; £10 per half round. Weekend/Bank Holiday – £30 per day; £25 per round; £12.50 per half round.

Green fees, nine-hole course: £5 per round.