65 finished, will be around 150 yards wide; the famous par-three thirteenth, which Henry Longhurst called, apart from the fifth at Pine Valley (which was designed by Colt within weeks of The Addington being planned) the greatest inland one-shot hole in the world; and the stunning downhill parfive sixteenth, which was formerly a double dogleg because of trees but now offers a much clearer view. The Addington, on the highest ground in the area, has always been a course of long views, but now it is very obvious; the ideal aiming point on the fourteenth is the Shard skyscraper in central London. There is one other tree removal point we should make. Clearance to the left of the twelfth hole has revealed a lost green site, behind and to the right of the existing ninth hole’s putting surface, that must have been taken out of play quite shortly after the course opened. Next year, Mike DeVries will come to London to put this green back, and it will provide exciting options for Ryan Noades; it would most probably be played as a par three from near the ninth green and could be used as a bye hole, or as a spare hole should maintenance mean taking one out of play. Enormous amounts of green surface have been lost over the years and are starting to be recaptured. Most dramatic is the par-three seventh, where the green originally extended perhaps 20 yards further back, creating a spectacular ‘double punchbowl’, and at the seventeenth, where, several yards to the right of where the green now ends are to be found a range of obviously man made mounds that must have been intended to protect a pin position; when the green is extended back to its original size, the hole will be transformed. The reconstruction of the course’s bunkers has already begun, and will have a very dramatic impact on how it both looks and plays. In short, The Addington is being transformed. Ryan Noades is careful when asked about his hopes for his golf course, but it isn’t hard to see his excitement. In the 1920s, Addington was the place where London’s elite played their golf, with the car park populated almost entirely by Rolls-Royces. Perhaps those days may never return, but in a few years time, I think The Addington will once again be spoken of as one of Britain’s very finest inland courses. GCA THE ADD I NGTON “ Enormous amounts of green surface have been lost over the years and are starting to be recaptured” Reconstruction of the course’s bunkers has begun, as seen here on the closing hole Photo: David Cannon
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=