Well, I can confidently say Sunningdale Old lived up to all expectation. I had a bit of a preview marshalling for the Curtis Cup but you don’t quite appreciate the architecture as much as when you physically play the course.

Sadly, the weather left a lot to be desired. There was an immense amount of rain the night before which left a lot of standing water. Bittersweet, I was so happy to be there, it didn’t phase me in the slightest.

As with a lot of courses I’ve experienced this year, first holes generally tend to be gentle openers, I was off to a good start with a fairly easy par. While there’s nothing physically wrong with the second hole in my opinion it’s one of the weak ones but stood on the tee of the third, Sunningdale’s brilliance gets glamorous. 

Holes 3 to 12 are just incredible and I have decided that the seventh is without question my favourite golf hole of all time. This is rather unusual as I am not really a fan of blind shots yet stood on the seventh tee with a blind drive, it still manages to be picture perfect. When you come over the brow up past a huge heather-lined bunker, the intricate view down to the seventh green with the par 3 eighth and ninth tee in the background, it is indescribably beautiful.

A bit like the second, the thirteenth feels a bit weaker in design, only perhaps due to being a bit simpler in design but it’s no pushover. Immediately afterwards the final stretch of holes are exceedingly good. Heather lined Fairway bunkers on fourteen cross the entire fairway, each one is impeccable. Fifteen is a fantastic long par three with a huge heather carry and sixteen has a green complex completely surrounded by bunkers. Then there’s the familiar view of 17 and 18 where thousands of photos have been taken before, what an absolutely spectacular finish.

Sunningdale has everything, Some simple looking holes that play very well, Some very technical holes that really make you think and an awful lot of glamour. Tee boxes were faultless, bunkers very pretty and cross cut fairways really are the final flourish. In some respects I was glad the greens were a little slow. Some of the undulations would have made for some very testing putts. Spectating the Curtis Cup and watching the girls make putt after putt is humbling.