Over the years the course has witnessed a number of milestones: in 1959, for instance, Jack Nicklaus won his first event in England here, the St George's Challenge Cup. It was here, too, that Nicklaus was defeated at the quarter-final stage of the English Amateur on the occasion of his only visit to that tournament. And it was here that Nicklaus set a post war Open Championship record for the greatest variation in scores between two rounds, carding 83 in his opening round of the 1981 championship and 66 in his second round. To be fair to Jack, we should record that his first round was played under a cloud: one of his sons had been involved in a car crash and was in critical care with the outcome uncertain. By the second day, the prognosis had improved considerably and Jack was able to give the golf his full attention, with more familiar results.

Laidlaw Purves is credited with the original design of the course, which was improved much later by Frank Pennink to make it more suitable as an Open venue. It is sometimes called the St Andrews of the south, but it's a harder course than the Old Course, with none of the short and relatively easy par 4's to be found around 'the loop'.

The first sets the tone: a tough par 4, which is frequently unreachable in wind. The 2nd is a shorter par 4, but the first par 3, at the 3rd, will be a wooden club for many players.

If you reach the 7th unscathed you face a monster par 4 of 475 yards, with bunkers expertly placed to catch both drive and second shot, if either should stray off-line. For once, the pros have it easy: off the championship tees the hole measures 530 yards and plays as a comfortable par 5.

The 11th is another long and daunting par 3, while the ridged fairway at the 12th tends to kick even straight drives into waiting bunkers. The 13th and 14th are tough, but not as difficult as the 15th, which requires a long carry to the fairway and a well-directed second to a small, contoured green, protected by deep cross bunkers.

The 16th, an attractive short hole of 165 yards, witnessed the first televised hole-in-one, by Tony Jacklin at the 1967 Dunlop Masters. Eight bunkers guard the large and undulating green. The 17th, among the humps and bumps, has a plateau green with a kindly slope at the rear, but the 18th is one of the best finishing holes in golf. A big drive down the left side is mandatory to leave the chance of a raking long iron to the green, which looks uncommonly small from the fairway once the stands have been erected for a championship! Miss it left and you have Sandy Lyle's 1985 predicament. Fortunately, Sandy could afford to take three shots and still win - let's hope you can, too!

We have limited accommodations close to the course, but early contact is advised if you wish to avail yourselves of these.