A gorgeous setting

I’ve been here many times and am always surprised this amazing course doesn’t make it into more top ten lists. A big, rolling test with huge fairways winding through mature woodland, and views of the Black Mountains in the distance, its appearance is made even more stunning by the backdrop on many holes of The Hendre, the huge gothic pile which was once the home of Charles Stuart Rolls, one of the founders of Rolls Royce.

The holes, meanwhile, are championship standard; wide fairways which will suit big hitters, natural and man-made hazards throughout to keep you focussed and impeccable greens - most of them large and rolling.

My personal Amen Corner is the fifth, sixth and seventh - a tough par 5 4 5 sequence around and over some of the biggest hills on the course, ending in some testing water challenges. The course has four watery par threes which are all justly celebrated, none more so than the 18th, which has water front and right of the green and a bunker you could hide a campervan in.

I’ve played there many times but remember especially a society day a few years ago. I was paired with a guy who was in the hunt for the trophy. He was quiet and grimly focussed and had hardly said a word all day. As we stood on the tenth tee, the sun starting to dip to the west and the shadows lengthening, I turned round and gazed at the marvellous site of the Hendre, the ninth and 18th greens nestling in its shadow. “Nice here isn’t it?” I asked, of no one in particular. Mr Trophy spoke for the first time that day. “It’s paradise.”