Woodhall Spa Golf Club was originally formed in 1891, and utilised two sites prior to where it is located now. In 1902 it was decided that the club needed to move to the land provided by local land owner, and member, S.V. Hotchkin.
Harry Vardon was employed to design the course, and it opened for play in 1905, after JH Taylor had advised the location of the bunkers.
The bunkering here at Woodhall Spa is one of the great features of the course. They all make Big Bertha look tiny. This one here is a fairway bunker on the left of the 2nd hole.
Harry Colt redesigned the course in 1911, with the works being completed in 1914. The club struggled financially through the first world war, and SV Hotchkin took over the finances of the club in 1919. Hotchkin had taken a great interest in golf architecture, and set about remodelling the course through the 1930's. His financial input kept the course open during the second world war.
Gary Jones successfully negotiates his way out of the fairway bunker on the par four 3rd hole. Behind the green stands the "Tower on the Moor". This tower is the main feature of the club logo.
The tower is what remains as the ruins of a larger hunting lodge, or lookout, built by Lord Cromwell in the 1440's.
Again the heather is in abundance around the course, but it is today that we see the signs of gorse. This is the par three 5th hole.
As mentioned, the bunkers are a real feature here. Not only are they cavernous, but they are mostly surrounded by thick heather and gorse, just in case they are not hard enough already!
The fairway conditioning was certainly the best we have seen, and the layout is quite brilliant.
SV Hotchkin's son, Neil, continued his father's legacy at Woodhall Spa after his death in 1953. In order to safeguard the future of the club, Neil, a huge supporter of English amateur golf, sold the club to the English Golf Union in 1995.
At this time, the EGU also secured extra land, and were able to construct a second course and practice facilities. The original course was renamed the Hotchkin course, in honour of SV Hotchkin at this time.
Gary Jones pinched my camera today, and caught me trying to extract my TaylorMade TP5 from the heather and gorse on the steep wall of this fairway bunker. It took me quite a few attempts just to be able to stand up, and my truncated swipe at the ball produced only a downward movement of an inch. Great success! At least I didn't fall into the bunker!
I think i might have mentioned that the bunkers truly are incredible here.
We very also very fortunate with the weather. It rained for the first five holes, and I thought that there would not be many photos taken to share. After that the rain stopped, and although overcast, we managed to stay dry for the rest of the day.
Tom Doak was recently engaged to provide direction on the latest reincarnation of the course. A plan of tree clearance, and removing clutter to allow the bunkering to dominate the views was commenced in 2016.
At this stage, a lot of this work has occurred on holes 7 - 13, where bunkers have been reinstated and restored. The heathland feel is being returned, and vistas opened up slightly. From what I can tell, this has been very successful on those holes, and they have a greater feel than the final few holes do.
I really enjoyed the course, and was amazed by the bunkering and it's enormity.
Woodhall Spa certainly deserved it's place on any top 100 list, and was great fun to play. It is not an easy course, and any score in the 30 plus point area was quite impressive. Our winner today was Sue Nicholson, with a fine hole out 3 for 5 points on the 3rd hole, helping her to victory.
The next stop is another highly rated venue, and former Ryder Cup host, Ganton.
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