Hole 4 "The Haughs"

A short walk, with Lumley Beck on the left, soon brings the Haughs into view, the second distinct area of the course. Opened only in 1995, the landscape appears remarkably mature; trees and tall bushes replacing what was originally featureless farm land, although its prior use as the repository for much of the town's sewerage may have contributed to the richness of the soil. The fourth, the first of two par fives, dog-legs slightly right, dense woodland of the Lumley estate providing a threatening out-of-bounds the length of the hole. Standing on the tee, the green barely visible 500 yards away, it is difficult to imagine that Bob Stephenson, then 76, holed his second shot during a 2007 Seniors event for that rarest of birds, an albatross - the only one ever recorded in the club's history. More normally, the hole requires a drive avoiding three bunkers to the left, a second shot short of the narrow ditch crossing the fairway 80 yards from the green, a third and two putts. But be cautious if the pin is positioned directly behind the deep bunker at the front right of the green.