231 - Hunstanton Golf Club

Location: Hunstanton, England

Rating: 8.1

Wow, I think we got to play Hunstanton in some of the toughest conditions possible. Upon arrival things were calm but that slowly changed as we tucked into our lunch in what is a beautiful, old fashioned, traditional clubhouse, sat behind the 18th green and 1st tee boxes.

Following lunch and a quick meander around the pro shop (one of the cleanest and well presented I have seen) we headed to the range. With the wind howling from left to right and Hunstanton being an out and back in type links course we could only imagine how tough this was going to be and it did not disappoint. The sadists in us actually quite enjoyed being put to the test.

The first hole was a pretty daunting start, as someone who owns a fade rather than a draw and with the wind pumping straight across from left to right the fear of hitting it onto the driving range was real. Thankfully the rough was cut really short and so I duly bailed out way left. The entire front 9 was a similar theme, luckily I was able to avoid the hazardous deep bunkers well placed throughout. The 6th hole turns back directly into the wind, a challenging par 4 whilst not playing very long at 280 meters but with a steep rise to the green and surrounded by bunkers your approach needs to be pinpoint. The 7th is just pure evil, a par 3 over a dip with a bunker at the foot of the green, anything slightly short funnels straight back into it.

Thankfully the back 9 was more with the wind in our favour which made it a very pleasurable end to the round. The 12th hole is another tricky one, a short-ish par 4 but with a flurry of mounds short of the green it makes for a somewhat blind approach shot. Culminating in front of the clubhouse the course is a unique links experience.

Much like the other courses in the area, unfortunately the condition of the fairways wasn’t as lush as you would expect for the £170 green fee but definitely a fun experience and with it being another 2 ball course it made for a quick round.