If the measure of a golf course can be summarised by how keen you are to play the course again, Lonsdale Links has hit the mark. Walking off the 18th tee I wanted to start straight back on the 1st.

The strongest feature of Lonsdale is its point of difference in area rich with golf. The course is short, the ground hard, the routing interesting and the greens ridiculously severe. This makes Lonsdale unlike the courses that surround it. The greens are worth special mention; they are something to behold. Getting in the wrong position on the greens can make a three putt a sensational outcome. Such unplayability generally frustrates me, but not at Lonsdale, for it is clearly different. Lonsdale is not trying to be a championship course. It’s trying to be fun and weird, akin to your likeable aunt who drinks too much and farts at the dinner table. I think it has succeeded.

Time will tell if this short, quirky course finds a permanent home in golfers hearts. The conditioning of the course will surely be a factor, as Lonsdale makes sense when the ground is firm. Should this be slowly diluted with time, Lonsdale could easily fade into nothing. Yet as it stands it is outstanding. It is a beacon for the different. While Championship courses and tests of golf have their place, so do interesting and left field routings.