Hollinwell

“After being too long away I lately went back to Hollinwell, which, as all the golfing world knows, or ought to know, is the course of the Notts Golf Club,” wrote Bernard Darwin in an article for Country Life. “On one side of it, there runs a pleasant wooded path by a series of lakes, and by this path Byron used to walk from Newstead to see Mary Chaworth at Annesley. Behind the course stands a hill covered with bracken from which Robin Hood used to watch for signals at Nottingham warning him that the Sheriff was setting out in pursuit. These are romantic circumstances, and I thrilled as I was told of them.”

Hollinwell is so called because there is a holy well located amongst the trees close to the 8th fairway. Water from the well is said to lend much needed strength to the golfer, especially during the heat of summer.

Notts Golf Club was founded in 1887, moving to its current site at Hollinwell in 1901, where Willie Park Junior had laid out a course for the members. Modifications (primarily to bunkering) were later made by club professional Tom Williamson and John H Taylor, to whom the club paid the princely sum of five guineas for his services. Tom Williamson built three new holes when further land became available in 1910.

The bunkers at Notts are relatively shallow, unlike some of the cavernous bunkers found at Woodhall Spa or Ganton but the Hollinwell course plays across wonderfully undulating ground where some of the fairways sweep through wooded hillsides and where others run through heather, fern and gorse clad valleys. Unusually, there are a number of varieties of gorse at Notts, and even in the depths of winter, you will find some in flower.

The course feels very much like heathland (the soil is sandy and the turf is firm), but it also has a moorland flavour and a touch of woodland. Despite the varied landscape, this attractive course comes together really well and actually gets better and better as you progress from hole to hole. It is also worth mentioning that a great deal of effort is being put in to encourage the heather to return to its former glory.

Over the years, Hollinwell has hosted a number of professional and amateur events. The 1970 John Player Classic (won by Christy O’Connor Senior) was probably the most notable, with a world record first prize of £25,000. Notts is a monster of a course (at more than 7,000 yards long) and it is probably capable of hosting a modern tournament.

Keep an eye out for the fabulous 13th hole; six bunkers surround the green. It’s a downhill par three (228 yards from the back tees) with stunning views.

Since 2011, the club has been involved in a long-term project to restore the course to its original heathland characteristics (through selective tree removal, heather regeneration and gorse management, along with the promotion of fine grasses) and this strategy is continuously reviewed with the assistance of specialist agronomy advisers.