66 too, but the Manor is a short nine holer), and it has been in Golf World magazine’s list of the top 100 courses in England. The popular website Top 100 Golf Courses lists Longcross as the 28th best course in Surrey; not obviously that great a ranking, but then we come back to the strength of Surrey golf. The resort, a rather high-end place as befits its setting, is obviously keen to enhance the golf offering, and is working with architect Gary Johnston of European Golf Design, on a long-term improvement project. The first fruits of that, the renovation of holes thirteen to sixteen of Longcross, has recently been completed. It is mostly subtle work – green expansions, extensive drainage additions, new irrigation, and a bunker refresh, including lining them with EcoBunker’s EcoTec product. The most obvious change is the reconstruction of the par-three sixteenth, pushing the pond up to the greenside to create a dramatic – and demanding – downhill water hole. For many players the hole will, especially into any kind of wind, require a wooden club, or at least a hybrid, and it will be a tough one. “When the courses were built in the seventies fairway irrigation wasn’t as common, instead fairways tended to be capped with soil that helped retain water and stop them drying out,” says architect Johnston. “Similarly the greens were all soil based push up Gary Johnston’s work will include rebuilding bunkers FOXHILLS
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