Hole By hole

This is a challenging par 3, particularly with an adverse wind. It plays its full yardage if you shoot directly for the green. A safer play is one club less, aimed to the slope just left of the green. The ball will feed down to the putting surface.

Pro Tip:The third hole is a tough par 5, normally into the wind. Keep your tee shot centre/left as there is a bunker to the right. A long lay-up second will put you to the corner of the dogleg right. Try to keep it under the hole due to the severe slope. Be grateful for a par and move on.

Pro Tip:A classic risk/reward hole. The conservative play is a 200 yard lay-up short of all the hazards, leaving a tricky mid-iron to a deep green that slopes left. The alternative is to blast away with a wood, avoiding the side hazards, to be left with only a simple pitch and a shot at birdie. Members love to par this hole.

Pro Tip:This is a great driving hole but don’t overdo the hook. The green is set up for an approach from the right side. You may wish to favour the right side of the green on your approach. Left is jail; to the right side is an easy chipping area. Fairway sloping and the elevated green make par a good score here.

Pro Tip:A green angling left makes this par 3 a challenge in club selection. Front right corner plays two clubs under stated yardage. Try to remember which way the wind was blowing on the first hole and refer to the map as a wind indicator.

Pro Tip:The par 4 seventh is another great driving hole. Keep the drive left and be rewarded on the approach. With a left pin there is a mound in the green to be negotiated. Don’t leave the green without a peek at the panorama of the islands off Chester.

Pro Tip:This pretty little short hole is made into whatever challenge the wind offers. If the pin is up front, try to leave yourself under the hole, as the slope here is quite dramatic. The eighth hole is a birdie opportunity.

Pro Tip:The ninth is a straightforward par 4, if you keep your tee shot anywhere in the narrow fairway. Right is a water hazard; left, you’ll risk being blocked out by the trees. Remember on your approach that this innocent looking green has more depth than it appears. Front to back is three clubs distance.

Pro Tip:First comes a tricky tee shot. If you can’t carry 210 yards, then you should aim left of the trap. A long iron second will find the wide but shallow green. Better on the left for an easy chip or short in the grass bunkers than long. Par is hard won here on this fine hole.

Pro Tip:The twelfth hole is a slightly uphill par 3, which plays one club longer than stated yardage. The green is a full three clubs in depth, so choose carefully. The tee points well to the right so align yourself accordingly. Accept a par on this one.

Pro Tip:Long hitters may avoid the right waste area by hugging the left side. A more conservative play is to tee up with a long iron/fairway wood, keeping short of the trouble. The approach to the well bunkered elevated green is tough. An option is to leave it short and chip close.

Pro Tip:This short par 4 is another risk/reward hole. It’s possible to drive this green, but you must carry the ditch at 215 yards. Another play is a lay-up followed by a short iron to a generous green. A birdie opportunity.

Pro Tip:The fifteenth is a double dogleg par 5. The tee shot can be a lay-up iron short of the hazards 200 yards out, or a driver threading between or over. The second shot should favour the right side to allow an open shot to a heavily bunkered plateau green with rolling slopes.

Pro Tip:This is the longest par 3 on the course. You can go with enough club to carry the front slope of the green and the two large bunkers, or land short of the slope and bounce it in. Par is a good score here.

Pro Tip:The seventeenth is a great, short par 4. Trees on the left block you out, and only right centre allows a shot up the length of the green. You can play off the tee with a long iron for position, or blast away with a driver. The green is firm and subtle. Another good par.

Pro Tip:The finishing hole provides drama, particularly from the back tee. The perfect tee shot calls for a fade off the trap to fit the dogleg right. The second is a short iron approach across the marsh to a green sloping sharply from back to front. This is a birdie opportunity.