Back Creek

Back in the mid-1990s, when Back Creek Golf Club owner Allen Liddicoat dreamed of designing his own course, he hired veteran architect David Horne to help him do just that, transforming an unremarkable parcel of farmland in Middleton into a rather links-like golf layout.

Delaware’s first governor, Joshua Clayton, once owned the property but these days it’s a residential development that uses the golf course as a sporting amenity to market the housing that’s built around the perimeter of the layout.

Interestingly, when back yards border a fairway, they’re treated as a hazard, rather than out of bounds and this generous concession of a one stroke penalty (rather than a stroke and distance penalty) goes a long way to maintaining a decent pace of play at this public facility.

Water hazards come into play at half a dozen holes, eighty bunkers are dotted around the layout and the putting surfaces are large and heavily contoured – though one or two greens (like the one at the par four 3rd) have slopes that are maybe just a little too severe for some.

Stand out holes include the short par four 6th (which doglegs left to the target), the 433-yard 7th (with a most intimidating tee shot) and the par four 15th (where a pond cuts into the fairway on the left).