Although Huddersfield Golf Club is perhaps less well known outside the area, its inclusion in the Golf Monthly Next 100 is more than justified…
Huddersfield Golf Club Course Review
One of golf’s real joys, as discussed in the recent article on Hidden Gems, is encountering a course about which you knew little but which turns out to be an absolute delight. One such design, now a part of the Golf Monthly Next 100, is the beautiful course at Huddersfield Golf Club, known to its friends as Fixby Hall.
With a par of 71 and five lovely short holes, there is great variety throughout the course which has benefitted over many years from the creativity of Herbert Fowler and Alister MacKenzie among others and was one of several I played on a trip to the area last Summer.
It opens with a long but downhill par 4 where there is plenty of opportunity to open the shoulders from the start.
The inviting approach at the opening hole
The next pair come back up and down the hill before a pretty par 3 at the 4th, and you then climb again to the highest point via a dogleg par 5 which is SI one and the par-4 6th.
Looking back over the valley from the sixth green
The 7th is an pretty par 4 that runs gently from right to left, and this is followed by a well-bunkered short hole.
The green at the seventh hole, Orangery
You then head back down the hill via the 456-yard par-4 9th, which rather oddly crosses the fairway of the opening hole and so demands that you keep your eyes open for traffic approaching from the right.
A long par 4 completes the front nine
The back nine starts with a climb up the hill on the other side of the very impressive clubhouse, and then a very pretty par 3.
The eleventh is a lovely short hole over the valley
The next two are absolute corkers with the 12th a sweeping par 4 along the side of the hill to a green that you mustn’t miss left. Indeed, it is safest to play up to the right as the slope should bring it back down.
The side-hill twelfth is as tough as it is attractive
The short 13th is another beauty, played from an elevated tee down over all manner of jungle to a slanting green. This time it is better to miss left!
The view from behind the thirteenth green
The next four are all quite varied with some lovely views, the best of which is the long par 4 at sixteen. It is then time to launch one up to the brow of the hill at the closing hole where a good drive will offer hopes of getting home in two.
The approach to the closing hole from the top of the hill
Once at the green, and indeed afterwards on the sunny patio, you can look back on a course that has great charm and style, which will offer something new on every visit, and which is kept in great condition.
The eighteenth green with the clubhouse beyond
I am lucky enough to play new courses very regularly, but it is rare to be so surprised and so impressed as I was at Huddersfield last June.
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