I’m lost for words. I can’t find any that will do Hillside justice. I’m quite happy with the photographs but they still don’t capture Hillside completely. 

The first tee is very close to the clubhouse. You have an audience, you need to be comfortable with first tee nerves.  There’s a clock on the wall,  be on time. 

The first hole seems simple in it’s design, the clubhouse behind you, railway line on the left. It’s a straight hole but the fairway bunkers are in a dangerous position. Off to a good start with an up-and-down par.

When you walk from the first green to the second tee, the glorious grass pathways begin. There are tufts of fescue in clumps, deliberately positioned and precisely trimmed. In front of the third tee and alongside the second green, there’s a network of them, eye-catching. They’re just way of getting from A to B but they are a delightful feature in themselves. The approach to the third green requires a mid-iron over a small stream there are impeccable details everywhere.

There are more fine details on the par 3 4th, sand scrapes around the back and on the sides of the hole makes for fantastic photographic composition. When you arrive at the seventh, a par three with a backdrop of pine trees. There’s a greenkeeping building on the right hand side painted white with a red oxide roof, views like a picture postcard painting.

The back nine starts with an absolute stunner of a short par three. The tiered green is set into a dune, elevated from the tee and protected short by deep riveted bunkers. Tall pine trees flank the hole and frame it perfectly.  Leading you up to the green, a pathway winds through some pine trees, it’s just world class.

The back nine goes on, it’s even better than the front. Many people say the back nine is much better than the front, but don’t discredit the front nine it is good. The back is just so picturesque.

The front nine is fairly open and the back nine is set among the dunes. Many of the holes on the back nine are completely isolated from each other, the dunes silence the outside world, each hole is intimate. 

You are left wanting for nothing there are elevated tees, elevated greens, greens and tees nestled among the dunes, and sitting on top of dunes. Strategic revetted bunkers, carefully placed plumps of grass. Towering pine trees. Coastal views. I cannot describe how good it is. 

I stand corrected, the only thing you are left wanting for is to go again!