When I lived in England in the 1990’s, Wisley was considered one of the best courses in the greater London area which was likely a reflection of two factors.  First, the course is very different to probably 99% of courses in England as it is American-like in its design and build.  Second, it has an exclusive aura about it due to the ground it is built on and it’s membership.

The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.  It reminded me of courses in south Florida because it is on flat land; in fact it is one of the flattest courses I have ever played.  As such it is not visually striking as it lacks interesting land features.  It also features a lot of water in play which is unusual for a course in the UK.   It reminded my playing partner of one of his clubs in Bryan, Texas named Miramont which is also designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.  I recall ten times my playing partner said that a hole we were playing was exactly the same as a hole at Miramont.

A huge positive for the course is its conditioning which is very good, particularly since it lays in an area that is prone to get wet and retain water.

A second positive for the course is the bunkering and the movement in the greens, both of which are very good.

I do not think there are any standout holes on the golf course: instead they are all solid golf holes, flowing effortlessly from one to another.

The Church/Garden routing is 6828 yards from the blue tees going to 6282 yards from the yellow tees.  However there are various combination tees resulting in seven sets of tees.  It is a par 72 rated 74.7/143 and 72.0/138 with the elevated ratings likely due to the presence of water on many holes. I found the ratings to be too high as the fairways have adequate width and the greens are not overly difficult to two putt within 40 feet.

I liked holes 3-6 on The Garden which are a par 3,4, 5 and 4.  The third is a forced carry of 177/154 yards to a green angled slightly to the left with mounding behind it in addition to a central bunker front and rear and one on the left.  The fourth is 459/439 yards with lower ground off the right falling towards a creek.  The fifth is short at 503/477 but it has a nicely shaped green with a long bunker off the front left and one at the rear.  The par 4 sixth is perhaps the most defensively bunkered hole on the Garden and has an angled, shallow green.

The Church’s best holes are 11-14 which features a difficult par 5 eleventh due to a shallow green pressed against a pond with bunkers behind the green placed into a man-made slope. Adding to the complexity of the holes is that the green is at the end of a sharp arc to the right. The par 3 twelfth plays over a pond at 181/152 yards with a front pin wedged between bunkers.  The par 5 thirteenth weaves right, left and right again with the right side of the green defended by three fronting bunkers.  The fairway bunkers are placed perfectly on one side then the other.  The par 4 fourteenth at 439/395 yards plays over a stream with a narrow stream running down the right that pinches the fairway by two-thirds before crossing on a diagonal from left to right with it ending nesrly at the front of the right side of the green.   The green is raised and one of the best contoured on the course.