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ESKHOLME... THE ULTIMATE HIDDEN GEMTucked away, deep in the heart of the English Lake District, is a hidden gem with an unusual history. Eskholme is the brainchild of the late Philip Jacobs, who dreamed of owning his own personal golf course. It was designed by golf professional John Goodwin following consultations with the late Sir Henry Cotton, who was a great friend of the owner.Nestling under the brooding mass of Scafell Pike, and just a short drive from the narrow gauge railway which winds its way up picturesque Eskdale, the course is totally private, with no members. Imagine treating your family or friends to their own tournament where your group is the only one on the course! After 18 holes you can repair to the award-winning barn conversion, which sleeps eight in Long Island comfort, and if the legs are flagging for the afternoon round there are three buggies at your disposal for nominal cost. There are only two other dwellings on the site - one is the owners' holiday home, and the other is a cottage occupied by John and Joan Goodwin, who now manage the estate. Breakfast and a light lunch are routinely provided and dinner can be prepared for you by an excellent local chef - or you can sample a variety of welcoming nearby inns. But with a well-stocked bar and fridge, log fires for a chilly evening and wonderful views of the surrounding hills you may prefer to stay in. For the long summer evenings there is a deck for sun-downers with sumptuous views. The course itself is a parkland layout in breath-taking scenery with generous tree-lined fairways and small, testing greens. The signature 14th hole, 'Goodwin's Revenge', invites a carry across water to an island green with no bale-out options whatsoever. The view from the tee is picture-postcard material. And the finish is fun, with further par 3s at the sixteenth and eighteenth and testing par 4s on either side. The fact that one or two fairways cross may raise eyebrows for purists but it hardly matters when there are only a couple of fourballs on the course. You will leave reluctantly, with batteries recharged, ready for the sterner tests which lie ahead, but replete with affectionate memories of a charming golfing oasis, known only to the privileged few. Speaking of sterner tests, if you care to spend a few days at Eskholme, you can try Seascale and Silloth, two marvellous championship links on the Cumbrian coast. Silloth was the home of the famous Leitch family, which produced five golfing sisters of whom Cecil was the best. She went on to become the greatest woman player of her day, winning the British Ladies' Amateur four times, the French Championship five times and the Canadian Open once. In that 1921 event she went in to lunch after 18 holes of the final fourteen up, then took the first three holes in the afternoon to win by the record margin of 17 and 15! Her home course is a classic - superb springy turf, bracing sea air, highly individual holes routed through narrow valleys in the dunes with far-reaching views, south to the Lake District fells and north across the Solway Firth to the rolling hills of Dumfries and Galloway. The greens are excellent and so are the narrow fairways, but hitting either can be difficult in the stiff sea breezes that normally accompany play. The course was designed by Willie Park Jr, with the help of Dr Leitch himself, and the club was founded in 1892. There are no really long holes - only one of the par 4s exceeds 400 yards and all the par 5s are under 500 yards. There are testing par 4s and excellent par 3s in abundance, however, and possibly the best of the par 5s comes at the 13th hole. It's the best hole on the course and claimed by some to be the best hole in the north of England! The tee shot is played down a flat fairway which narrows towards giant, heather-clad sandhills on either side. Through the gap between the hills you can see a small green high above. But the fairway falls away to either side and the slope increases markedly as you approach this green, so to reach in either two or three shots is invariably a satisfying achievement. Seascale, close to Eskholme, is another gem but less well-known than Silloth, partly because it is also less accessible. Although a true links a couple of the holes at the northern end have a moorland feel with the nuclear plant of Sellafield providing an eerie backdrop at the turn. Suited figures and mini-rail cars suggest scenes from an old James Bond film, but the moment is transient and the seascapes and sweeping fell views return on the homeward holes. Some cracking par 3s are sprinkled around and the finish is memorable, with blind carries a feature and the 18th green a quite unique construction. It is a narrow raised plateau, bounded on one side by the road and car park, and falling away steeply on the other side past a bunker to the fairway below. Founded in 1893 the club is of similar vintage to Silloth and also has a convivial and well-appointed clubhouse in which to relax after the round. Further down the coast are more golfing gems. Silecroft has only nine holes but eighteen tees lend variety and character, Ulverston bears the signature of Harry Colt, Furness is a testing links course at Barrow and Grange-over-Sands is a lovely parkland layout in a gracious resort. |
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