Reigate Hill GC is a parkland style course on the outskirts of Reigate, Surrey. It is very close to the M25!
It is a members club!
The course is a par 72 from all tees, ie white, yellow and red! The yardages are 6,246, 5,993 and 5,676 respectively!
All tees play to the same indexes! The SSSs are 71,70 and 73 respectively!
There are 4 par 3s, 10 par 4s and 4 par 5s, the usual construct for a par 72!
The course was designed by David Williams!
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The course is a scenic undulating course!
Assessing it as though I started from the 1st, not the 14th, it opens with a sweeping downhill par 4, a significant change of elevation up to the 2nd tee and a steep uphill tee shot to a blind green; then meanders away from and around back to the 9th green in front of the clubhouse!
Part of the front 9 runs within sight and sound of the M25!
There is then a steep elevation change from the clubhouse through the car park up to the 10th tee! The holes then work around to the 13th green at the back of the clubhouse and then play away from the 14th tee to the side of the clubhouse and back to the 18th green below the clubhouse!
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The greens are generally large, some very large, with many changes in elevation and tricky putts! As we were playing a competition, many of the pin placements were in the most difficult spots on the greens!
My outturn putting stats were 30 putts, ie 8 singles, 8 x 2 putts and 2 x 3 putts! Only my birdie putt on the 2nd was of any length!
A very good outcome!
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The Par 3s
The four par 3s are a variety of challenges!
#2: a 140 yards uphill tee shot to a blind green! There is a row of 4 pot bunkers running below the front of the green! However there is an apron front left and I avoided the risk of the bunkers by running the tee shot in from the left! I managed to hole my 15 foot birdie putt!
#8: a 148 yards downhill tee shot to a multi level green! One pot bunker front left and 5 pot bunkers behind the green!
#12: a 206 yards downhill tee shot to an undulating sloping green! There are bunkers wide right and left!
#15: a level 144 yards tee shot to dogleg triple tiered green which runs around the lake which runs most of the left hand side of the green! There are 2 pot bunkers long of the green! A no shot hole for me!
My outturn par 3s stats were +1, ie a par, 1 birdie offsetting 2 bogeys! A 3 putts on the difficult 18th green (albeit wrongly ranked index 18), largely accountable! A better outturn on par 3s than I usually get!
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The Par 4s
#1: 335 yards, index 12, this is a short left to right sloping downhill tee shot, grassy hollows on the right hand side of the fairway! A water filled ditch runs across the fairway about 50 yards from the green! There are 2 bunkers front left and 1 bunker on the right of the green!
#4: 384 yards, index 2, a very difficult dogleg right, from a high teebox to a ridge, protected by 2 pot bunkers right of the fairway, followed by a blind downhill approach to a tricky slopey green, guarded by 2 left hand bunkers! A bogey is a great score here!
#5:
#6: 366 yards, index 8! An uphill tee shot up the right hand side of the fairway, to run it down to the centre/left of the fairway! There are 3 pot bunkers front left of a long slopey right to left green! A pushed drive into the rough, followed by a lay-up into a bunker, led to a quadruple bogey, my worst hole of the day! Inexplicable play! A bogey is a great score on this hole!
#9:
#10:
#13:
#16:
#17:
#18:
My outturn par 4s stats were +11, or +4 above my shots for the par 4s! Most of the 'excess' par 4 shots were due to a quadruple bogey on the 8th hole, a shot hole, ie my intended lay up shot over a tall tree found a bunker short of the green but a long way from the pin! My approach from off the green didn't make it up to the upper level and I ended up off the green about 50 feet below left of the pin! A blip in the overall context of the round!
The most positive aspect was my putting stats which were 16 putts, ie 5 single and 5 two putts!
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The Par 5s
The par 5s are the 3rd, 7th, 11th and 14th. They are indexes 6, 4, 3 and 1 respectively, reflecting their difficulty!
#3: 540 yards, index 6, an uphill tee shot to a plateau, avoiding a blind right side bunker, a lay up short of a pair of pot bunkers on the left, and an approach into a 'sunken' multi tier green with a bank on the left assisting with running on! Longer hitters can reach in two!
#7: 502 yards, index 4, a hole with a choice of two fairways to play to either side of a row of trees in the centre of the hole! I chose to play to the left hand fairway, reached in regulation, got a 2 putt par, missing a 15 foot birdie opportunity! The bigger hitters generally go down the right hand fairway but this seemed to be the riskier line! A lovely hole!
#11: 548 yards, index 3. An uphill drive up towards the access road entering the course, severe slope right to left down to 3 pot bunkers left, followed by a lay up and approach to a raised green with a severe fall off the left of the green to either a pot bunker or grassy hollow! While attempting to run my 2nd shot down the right side of the fairway I found the only bunker (blind) between the road and the green! My fault for not checking my course planner before making my shot! A bogey was a good outcome due to a very good up and down!
#14: 519 yards, index 1, comprises a tee shot from high down to a fairway which runs alongside and around a lake on the left! OOB awaits a pushed drive right, plus a pot bunker, and OOB also awaits a hooked/pulled drive left! The green is 32 yards wide and between 13 and 19 yards deep! The degree of difficulty depends on the pin placement! There is a bail out area to the right of the green! I was left with an approach shot across the corner of the lake! Given that it was only my 3rd shot of the day, the fairway was wet and the atmosphere heavy, I took more club to ensure that I carried the water! Unfortunately I hit it long and it kicked off the back bank into the bunker! Too cautious! A bogey would have been a great score but a double bogey was OK!
My outturn par 5s stats were +5, a par, bogey and 2 double bogeys!
All of the par 5s are shot holes so I was effectively +1 too many! This was due to taking 2 shots to get out of the wet 14th bunker, my first hole of the day! I hit too much club into the green to make sure I carried the water!
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Visitors Green Fees
Midweek green fees during the summer months are £29.00.
I entered their annual Seniors Pairs open competition! The entry fee was £39.50, which included coffee, 18 holes, a two course meal, coffee and prizes! Pretty good vfm!
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The competition was a betterball Stableford pairs! Shotgun start! We started from the 14th tee!
My partner Ken Richardson and I scored 42pts! Only just outside of the prizes!
However Ken arrived late and missed the first two holes! I only managed to get 3 points for our opening so our teams potential to gain one or two more points was missed!
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The welcome and hospitality provided by the pro staff, the bar and catering staff and especially the members was excellent!
Each of the 4 balls had one pair which included a Reigate Hill member, which was a great help navigating the course for the first time!
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My overall assessment is that this is a very enjoyable challenge and a very good venue for a society get together! However I would very much prefer to play it starting from the 1st tee next time to get a better feel of the rhythm of the course! Also the 1st is an easier starting hole than the index 1 par 5 14th with its approach over water to the green!
Date Monday, 09, September 2019
