Hole 17 "Riggs"

The final two holes head directly back towards the club-house, both helped whenever the wind is anywhere near southerly. The first of these, the seventeenth, is a flat, comparatively straightforward par four; its name relating to a series of regular undulations (probably dating back to when the land was farmed) running at right angles to the direction of play. As a consequence, the length of a drive can be highly dependant on the chance of the landing, though a forward bounce rarely proves long enough to reach the small ditch that eats into the left hand edge of the fairway ninety yards from the green. But that remains the favoured side. There is space, if not fairway, before the undergrowth guarding the practice ground intrudes. In contrast, any shot from out right - even on the edge of the fairway - must contend with strategically positioned trees. The shot to the green needs to avoid front bunkers on either side, although the opening is wide enough, but better to aim left for an up-hill putt, away from the river.