18 Hole Course
Plan ahead for your visit to Flackwell Heath. For a more detailed look at any hole or the course layout just click on the relevant diagram.
Hole 1: Carrington
If the sight of people watching from the clubhouse window holds no fear for you, the first drive is a gentle opener. A copse front left of the tee then two bunkers and more trouble await a pulled drive. A straight drive should leave a medium short iron approach to a generous, receptive green guarded at the front by two bunkers. The green slopes back to front.
Hole 2: Gorse
A tough drive from the back tee which favours a fade to avoid a kick from the right to left sloping fairway. Anything missing the fairway will find you in the trees, which rarely gives you a shot. There is a narrow entrance to the green, well-guarded by two front bunkers. Once found, the green has gentle slopes.
Hole 3: Punch Bowl
A pretty hole that can have a sting in its tail. The long green, sloping severely from back to front, makes club selection important. The safe shot is to the left side of the green as the slopes usually give a kind of bounce - but not if pulled too far left. Right is to be avoided, with slopes leading rapidly to trees and bushes.
Hole 4: Spion Kop
A tempting drive across the valley for big hitters to go at the green but much rough awaits an errant drive. A safe drive onto the upslope of the fairway will leave a short iron, uphill approach. Club selection is crucial to avoid the front bunkers or a shot that skips through the back of the green. The slope of the green is from back to front making the putting tricky.
Hole 5: World's End
Standing on the tee, the hole lies will below you, the view is excellent but a well struck blow is essential to make this par 3 green. Rough hillocks and bunkers may stop the ball bouncing back from the right side of the natural slopes but left side will always bounce away from the green. The green when you get there is relatively flat.
Hole 6: Barley Mow
The first of the so-called "Railway holes", the railway was removed years ago, needs a well struck tee shot down the left side as the slope will sweep the ball down to the right. The second shot should also favour the left as the contours will take the ball to the right, but be careful, the bank on the left can hold your ball leaving a tough hanging lie. The green generally slopes from back to front, with a number of testing contours.
Hole 7: Railway
The second "Railway hole", a long tough par 5 sloping left the right all the way. The first and second shots should be kept left to use the slopes. The safer approach to the elevated green should also favour the left. The left to right sloping green takes skill to judge.
Hole 8: Eagles Nest
The uphill par 3 is daunting target to hit from the back tee. Anything left will need luck to be playable but the bail out right has enought bushes and trees to be feared. An ideal shot is right side of the green where the bounce will be helpful. One of the toughest greens, sloping right to left and off the front. Any 3 here is always welcome.
Hole 9: Plantation
A tee shot to the right side is ideal as the slope right to left will sweep the ball to the left rough. A slightly uphill second with the ball a little above your feet to a generous green. Club selection is important to this gently sloping green.
Hole 10: Twins
The back tee here with its corridor of trees to contend with can put fear into the heart of slicers. A well struck drive avoiding the right side and its slopes is required to set up the approach to this green which is well guarded at the front by bunkers left and right. The wind can often play a role in the club selection into this subtly contoured green.
Hole 11: Chalk Pit
The long hitters can have a go at clearing the pit on the right to leave a level, visible short-iron approach. The alternative is to lay up short of the pit avoiding the risk, leaving a longer, blind uphill approach. Apart from the front the green is quite flat.
Hole 12: Clubhouse
This par 3 is a natural amphitheatre for the clubhouse and surrounds. Five bunkers surround the green to catch anything offline. Judgement of the distance is essential and the wind can play its part here. The green slopes from back to front. The path beyond the first tee is out of bounds.
Hole 13: Minchins
Miss the fairway either side and you will be blocked from going directly for the green with your second. From the fairway the approach shot is straightforward but the green has humps and hollows surrounding it that catch anything offline. The green slopes from back to front
Hole 14: Big Slam
The big hitters have every chance of making this green with two good straight hits but with trees left and out of bounds looming all the way down the right it is no pushover. The first challenge is to clear the humps off the tee. The second shot has two well placed fairway bunkers to negotiate and ther is a well hidden bunker off the right hand side of the fairway at about 175 yards from the green. Two more greenside bunkers guard the front making the approach tighter. The green slopes gently from back to front.
Hole 15: Juniper
The fairway is generous on this slight dog-leg left but a well struck drive is essential if the green is to be attempted in two. The second shot over the valley to the raised green must be judged well for both direction and length. The green is guarded by a bunker left and out of bounds to the right. The green slopes from back to front and off the right making putting a tough test. Take any 4 and run!
Hole 16: Home Turn
The run home starts here with a short par 4. A cleverly positioned fairway bunker and a slope leading to bushes can catch any tee shot down the right, making the left half favourable off the tee. Just a short-iron approach, but three bunkers surround this green making it a small target. The green is bowl shaped giving some testing putts. A real opportunity for a birdie.
Hole 17: Hard to Find
Only the longest hitters can reach the green in two on this good par 5. A generous fairway to hit but trees await either side to catch those offline. A safe second, avoiding the two fairway bunkers, should set up a comfortable approach shot. Two bunkers front side of the green make this a narrow entrance and can catch a weak approach as easily as catching the big hitters’ second. The green slopes from right to left.
Hole 18: Hedley
The final drive must first clear the humps to make the fairway. The inevitable trees left and right make accuracy crucial in order to leave a straightforward approach. Correct club selection into this generous green is required. Anything long can disappear out of bounds into the car park. The green slopes off the front and back left.
Flackwell Heath Golf Club,
Treadaway Road, Flackwell Heath,
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9PE
Tel: 01628 520929 / Pro Shop 01628 523017
Email: enquiries@fhgc.co.uk