Old Fold Manor - Hertfordshire - England

As a former (Junior) member this course was my first as a member and will always hold strong memories. The 17th and 18th form a tough finish (inthe 70s the 17th used to be a short par 5 and was shortened to a long par 4). Since those days there have been many changes to the course including speeding up the greesns and reducing their size and (re-)introducing bunkering which went through a phase of elimination as a cost cutting measure. There is a gently undulating (not hilly) topography that maintains the interest and offers a fair challenge.

It is nice to see Old Fold Manor appear on the site as a recent GEM addition; the course has got plenty about it to like. I have been checking my own history book and I first played OFM in 1980...thirty years later I re-visited with very faded memories of the holes to be honest. The front nine opens up with six par-4's with five of them around the 340-360 yards, so club selection approaching these holes is a little predictable but in saying that, this front third of the course is very enjoyable - with the 5th my pick of these mainly due to the very tricky green. The front nine ends with one of only two par-5's amongst the whole eighteen and then the back nine starts with my favourite par-3; only about 125 yards and just a flick really but a tricky downhill putt awaits for anything beyond the flag. There are a further six par 4's on the second nine, which makes thirteen in total and that really is my only criticism of the course; with the greens and tees being fairly close it will not be easy to squeeze any extra length - maybe the 17th hole could be lengthened to be a short par-5 at a push? I really like the last hole ... around 440 yards but with water in front of the green; there will only be a few golfers hitting this in two and making a par at the last will probably go to those with a tidy short game. Overall Old Fold Manor competes well against other North London/Hertfordshire border courses with greens well above average and a great clubhouse atmosphere and I would imagine that it is quite nice to be a member here. The course has been used for regional Open qualifying since 2006 which is an endorsement that cannot be ignored either, out of around a 100 players for the 2010 event only seven were under-par, so another small victory for the older shorter courses against the newer tougher beasts that have to be 7500 yards to be noticed - short does not mean easy...