Hessle - Yorkshire - England

Hessle is one of the better parkland golf courses in Yorkshire. The gently undulating property lends itself to some lovely holes, particularly the two-shotters.

The greens also have some superb movement in them (more on that later) and I can safely say that I very much enjoy my annual visit here for the 36-Hole Raywell Classic Scratch Open.

The Club dates back to 1898 but only moved to its current site at Raywell in 1975 when Allis, Thomas and Partner were retained to design and construct the new course.

The par fours definitely highlight the best bits of the layout with the first, sixth, seventh, 13th, 15th and 17th arguably being the best half-a-dozen holes on the course. Some are flat, some are uphill, some are downhill and others play across the terrain resulting in a variety of approach shots required. Some of the holes ask you to work it left-to-right from the tee whilst others require you to shape it the other way.

There are four par fives on the course and whilst none of them are overly long (the longest is 516 yards) there are plenty of sand traps along the way to contend with and tricky greens at the end. Meanwhile the quartet of short holes also present a nice mix ranging from 146 to 203 yards.

Virtually all of the greens on the course are well defended by bunkers and although the fairways are relatively generous the tree-lined nature of the course means that you can’t venture too far offline. All-in-all Hessle is a good test of golf from start to finish.

Arguably the best feature of Hessle is the putting surfaces… Hessle is a course that is well worth a visit and very accessible just off the M62 near Hull.

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

Yorkshire is a big county in terms of size and the number of courses (close to 200 now) and I would recommend Hessle to play but would have to say that this is certainly in the second tier in the county. The big names of Alwoodley, Ganton, Lindrick and Moortown etc. are in a different league but in saying that, Hessle can sit comfortably in the middle of a county Top 50 in my opinion. It is a parkland course with plenty of variety and has a great team on and off the course with plenty of desire and skill to make the absolute best of the course and club. First impression for me was that everything is really close together, car-park, clubhouse, range, 1st tee, 10th tee and both the 9th and 18th greens, which is no problem at all… The 3rd is a nice tree-lined par-5, pretty straight with an uphill drive and then a few dips before the green. The 6th is a par-4 dog-legging to the right with a water hazard on the elbow; this hole has an interesting name too, “Old Wife Pit” – not sure what they do with their women up here in Hull? The right to left par-4 10th is a nice start to the back nine, favour the right-side for a clear view of the green. The par-3 16th is the pick of the short holes but choose your tee wisely (203 yards from the back and 125 yards at the front) – the biggest concern here is the pond that starts 70 yards short of the green as is very much in play. The final hole, a par-5 like the 9th both running back to the clubhouse and are a little similar if I am honest – I think the 18th has a better green-site though. I think that if the club can concentrate on making the best of the course in terms of conditioning and definition, then I am would think that visitors are likely to return …

We recently visited Hessle Golf Club and must say that even with all the weather issues that most courses have been struggling with Hessle was in top condition for the time of Year. Always a friendly and inviting club with a nice club house serving good food at very reasonable prices. The practice range has both external and covered bays which is always good and has a short game area to practice for those tricky shots required on the course. The course was in great condition and always offers up a test of your skills,Hitting straight drives is key here and dealing with the very undulating greens. the course has some great holes that test every level of golfer, the 16th par 3 always makes you nervous as its a long par 3 over a pond and if the wind is blowing into your face you better get the 3 wood out!.all in all a great course that i always enjoy visiting and would highly recomend any golfer head across and try it out, you wont be disappointed

Just visited this course after hearing they have a new green keeper and they are planning a number of improvements. It's a nice parkland set up with generous fairways and not a lot of rough, although there are plenty of trees that need to be avoided. I really liked the lay out - it has a number of interesting holes especially 5 and 6 where a small lake comes into play from both tees. Best hole is the 16th - a long par three which needs a big carry over the only other lake on the course. The 18th is also special, a par five that I found almost reachable in two, but the green is perched on a plateau making it tantalisingly out of reach. I'd like to play this in the summer when the greens have come on. A very nice day out.