It is arguable that, from the 1920s to the mid 1980s, the beating heart of English golf wasn't the links courses of the coast, or the inland heathland gems but instead the unassuming suburban courses built on the edge of the late Victorian and early Edwardian towns and cities. Purley Downs is a perfect example - a course that has been going about its business for almost 130 years and doing it well.

I wasn't expecting to be the very first reviewer of any golf course on this site, so perhaps a different style of review may be needed. The course plays to 6281 yards of the back tees, 4 par threes, 12 par fours and 2 par fives. So it's not inherently long, but, given that the par 5s are short and none of the par threes is long, the par fours play over significant yardages, especially as the course has some decent climbs and some uphill shots.

The par threes start with the first - sharply downhill to a shelf green protected by bunkers. It's not an easy start, though definitely pretty especially as the scrub behind the green has been cleared to allow a sight of the rest of the course (and, I would presume, light to get to the green in winter). Two other par threes come on the front nine; the fourth - a real tiddler played across the grain and the eight which has recently been re-sited to stop balls going into gardens - a perennial hazard of the suburban golf course. The sole par three on the back nine also felt a bit like a filler, and length wise a repeat of the fourth.

I'll come to the par fours later, but first a word on the par 5s. The weakest part of the course; neither are long. The fifth is a decent short par five and certainly a summer eagle opportunity even for the shorter hitter as the second is firmly downhill. The twelfth is a potential card wrecker, though not really in a good way. It borders the East Grintsead Railway line with a steep slope down and out of bounds firmly towards that slope. I suspect in the summer keeping the ball in bounds may be quite an effort - the marker post being towards the trees tells you all you need to know.

The par fours are the strength of the course. A really nice mix of shape and length. The second plays uphill to a significantly raised green demanding a full carry on the second shot. The third is a sweeping uphill drive dogleg left with a long second generally played into the wind. The stroke index 1 6th is a similar shape, though even longer and, off the tee, more uphill. It's followed by the 7th which works the other way round the dog-leg, but downhill. It's here that the course has had to be played with to cope with modern technology - so cutting the corner brings with it internal out of bounds, something repeated on the 17th.

The back nine provides a couple of shorter par 4s - I suspect the 13th might be just short of driveable, given it's uphill - the 16th very much is for the longest hitters but the target is pretty small; I rather suspect most players will lay up carefully; and I mean carefully as the slope is fiercely left to right. Finally the 18th plays down into the valley, leaving a long shot in towards a green best approached from the front right and with bunkers front left and very nastily back left as well.