Hadley Wood - Hertfordshire - England

"Follow the cut of the fairway." I experienced a Homer Simpson 'doh' moment as Hadley Wood's general manager David Jackson pointed out the glaringly obvious in response to my question of the line to follow off the tee. It is early in my pilgrimage of England's top 100 courses and the first time I had experienced a split fairway of dark and light green with the meeting point showing the ideal line of drives. Happily, they informed me well enough to enable some confident and rewarding hitting. However, there were no such easy answers for the McKenzie-designed multi-layered greens which left me utterly bamboozled until the final knockings of a chastening round.

Usually, when I play badly, it tends to reflect on my opinion of the course - not so in the case of Hadley Wood. I was rapt by its beauty from the moment I walked towards the first tee. Frankly, previous lukewarm reviews have left me baffled.

The fairways were in tip-top shape, the greens were immaculate albeit very tricky (I heartily recommend 20 minutes practising because I didn't!) and the environment is dazzling from every angle.

David told us of the many changes he has made since becoming the youngest club manager in the country seven years ago and demonstrated his eye for detail both on the majestic track and in its surrounds. The care he and his team have taken has resulted in a course which was a total pleasure to play on a June evening.

Didn't live up to the hype for me but well kept and nice location, for the money there is much better in the area.

Hadley Wood is a lovely parkland course with some great strategic holes that epitomise the best elements of parkland golf.

The stretch of holes 4-7 is where the course gets going. 4 is a good dogleg left with a heavily guarded green. 5 and 6 are great tree-lined holes And the short par 3 7th is brilliant. 9 is a great risk-reward short par 4 and 10 is a lovely par 3. There are also some solid holes on the back 9 but my favourites are the final two. 17 is a great par 3 (again, surrounded by bunkers) and 18 is a tough par 4 back up the hill to the magnificent clubhouse, dogleg to the right with bunkers left and trees blocking your view if you go right. Just hit it down the middle and you’ll be fine...

Despite being a lovely course, It pains me to say I was a little underwhelmed when I visited (In the height of Summer) as some of the fairways were In terrible condition. I know that happens occasionally but it is unfortunate when it happens to a course that is usually applauded for its condition at a time of year when other courses were in great shape. Despite this little blip (I was assured it was just a temporary issue), this is a great old fashioned course that is definitely worth visiting. A great day out on one of the country’s premier parkland courses.

Hertfordshire, the county with some great courses, oh and a lot of money!

Driving up to Hadley Wood you can definitely tell. The road the club is on boasts an impressive array of houses with big metal gates and posh cars. A great 'surrey style' start. Some of the houses view able on the course wouldn't be out of place in the nicest parts of Portugal.

The course itself was a bit of a let down to me. Playing in a soggy March, the fairways were actually incredible for the amount of rain they had recently had. However the layout of the course did disappoint me. It felt like a lot of the holes were lacking something. I would do well to remember most of the holes today. The par 3's were pretty good however and the greens also in good condition given the weather.

However weird it sounds, I judge a course on it's locker rooms and walking in it stunk! It's most peoples first impression on a golf course, and it's the first thing I could chalk down as a negative of the course. You expect to play London prices here and it's a lovely traditional clubhouse. But for me there are better courses in Hertfordshire that you would find lower down in the rankings which would easily contend to this for a top 100 spot. If you placed this course in the countryside somewhere, I genuinely think it would be overlooked as so many are.

Hadley wood, I don't really know how to rate this course.

I really enjoyed the round, the course condition is FANTASTIC, clubhouse is grand, history of the place is amazing, but I just felt like I should have expected more where it is ranked? Maybe I'm being harsh as I did genuinely like almost everything about it, but for some reason was a bit underwhelmed by the layout. Again, some fantastic holes, but was surprised at how high it's ranked maybe. I played Brocket hall the week before and I thought the layout at Brocket was far superior, although the condition of Hadley wood was better than brocket at the same time of the year.

CLUBHOUSE - 9 - very old and great heritage on the walls and boards

FACILITIES 8 -

TEE BOXES 9

FAIRWAYS 9

ROUGH 8

GREEN CONDITION 9

GREEN SPEED fast!

BUNKERS - 9

LAYOUT - 7

VIEWS - 7

VALUE FOR MONEY - 7

OVERALL FEEL - 8.5

TIME OF THE YEAR PLAYED - SEPTEMBER

FAVOURITE HOLE - 5th hole

A well laid out, handsome course. Only one blind shot and a very fair test, at 70 off the yellows. However, I played in August after moderate rainfall the day before after a dry week. Unfortunately the course was very soft in places and the greens were slow (although true). There was standing water in several bunkers, at 3pm on a hot dry day. The course is well bunkered but they are hard and heavy and need digging out urgently. In short: Good, could be very good, but isn't, and not one to play in winter I fear.

No other county in England can boast such an impressive portfolio of high quality parkland golf courses than Hertfordshire.

Routed over gently rolling terrain – once a deer park and part of the Ancient Manor of Enfield - a round at Hadley Wood serves up a delicious treat of golf that fits well in this company.

There isn’t a great deal to write home about in the first four holes although the downhill par-three third is an attractive one-shotter to a green that falls away from you slightly.

Things start to get tasty at the fifth with a truly wonderful green site benched into the hillside whilst the short seventh is simply stunning. At just 141 downhill yards you play to a narrow reversed, three-tiered green which is heavily defended by sand and framed with a lovely backdrop of water and wildlife. The flag was located on the front tier on my visit and trying to land your ball on this tiny section into the wind felt like an impossible task; of course one could play sensibly for the fat of the green and face a testing putt.

The ninth is just too long to be driveable but is a nice short par-four measuring 338-yards to end the front side.

I’m not sure if the routing has been altered over the years but I’m almost certain that MacKenzie wouldn’t have made the golfer trek from the ninth green across the second fairway to the 10th tee. However, once we get there we are greeted with another fine par-three, this time over water, to an angled green with a bail-out area to the left. Once again there are several bunkers to dodge.

Presentation was first-class on my visit in mid-August although the greens must have been hollow-tined in the previous fortnight with dents still present and this did take a slight shine off putting. That said, the main defence of the course is the contoured and sloping greens. Even on my visit getting the wrong side, and leaving yourself above the hole, immediately placed you in three-putt territory.

Ed is the founder of Golf Empire – click the link to read his full review.

Hadley Wood Golf Club is a gem of a golf club to the north of London near Barnet. The course was designed by the legendary golf architect Alister MacKenzie (he of Augusta National Golf Club fame), and for me really offers a pure test of one’s golf game. I have been fortunate enough to play here a couple of times in the PGA East Pro-Am event they hold each May, thanks to my Golf pro Adam Trett, and each time I have played I come away loving this course more.

It is not a ‘long’ golf course by any imagination, playing 6517 yards from the white tees, but I bet if you asked any golfer who had just finished a round how long it played, they would add at least another 500 yards. This is in part due to the contours and up and down nature of some of the course, but also because there are no ‘gimme’ holes on this course. Even the short par 4s (4th and 15th holes) which barely measure over 300 yards make you think strategically on the tee box about what shot to play. If you are not accurate off the tee box, then that makes your approach shot to the green that much more difficult, which ultimately leaves you with some ‘funky’ putts to try and get your pars ...

Everyone has different ways of defining what makes a course great: often it can be how well it scored; the picturesque nature of a course; the history and tradition; etc. My barometer has always be, what are the signature holes and will I still be able to remember them if I do not play the course again. This is where Hadley Wood scores very highly for me. The par 3s of the 7th and 10th holes are as pretty as can be. The 7th is a short downhill 130 yard par 3 which has plenty of danger: bunkers protecting anything short or left; green sloping front to back; tricky green contours; and if you really airmail your tee shot, you have a lake/pond behind it! The 10th is a longer test at 185 yards with a long carry over a lake and again well protected by not only bunkers short, left and right, but a subtly contoured green that requires your full attention.

The main thing I like about this course is that it rewards you for having hit good shots, and if you have not done so, you had better take your medicine or otherwise you will making double/triple/quadruple bogeys in a hurry! When you make par (or better if you are fortunate enough to do so) it is because you played an excellent golf hole. Seldom can you ‘get away’ with a slightly tee drive or approach shot.

I have a few of bits of advice for anyone looking to play this course. Firstly, make sure you practice on the putting green before you play. Whilst the putting green looks insane, it will give you a good representation of the speed and some of the slopes you will see when you play the course itself (please note: downhill putts are very, very quick; but those uphill putts need to be hit hard!). Secondly, do not default to driver every time you see a par 4 or par 5, often this is not the best play. Thirdly, if you are out of position off the tee, take your medicine and chip out or lay up, as it will give you the best chance of getting a score. Finally, enjoy the round - it’s a gorgeous looking course, that plays well all year round and what I love about the club is that it is steeped in tradition, but yet is brought up to the 21st century under the guidance of its GM David Jackson.

This is a great English course, and I would heartily recommend anyone to come and play here. A fantastic test of golf, designed by a legendary golf architect, and within a stone’s throw of London. I am already looking forward to the next time ...

I have played Hadley Wood many times over the years. It is a parkland course set in a rural location. Although it is close to the town it feels like the course is in the countryside. The clubhouse and practice facilities are good.

The course has been improved over the years and the greens are now better so they are both quicker and truer.

The main drawbacks are that the course sits on ground which gets very hard in summer and boggy in winter and this continues to be an issue.

Hadley Wood is a very enjoyable and easy going course. I was very impressed by the quality of the greens and how nicely they rolled. I would say my favourite holes were the 5th, a 440 yard par 4 which requires a very well placed second shot to reach the green, and the 10th which is a 180 yard par 3 over water.

If your looking for a course which is relaxed and is not very penal, I would definitely give Hadley Wood a try.