Blackmoor Golf Club Review

Peter Dawson, the first left-hander to play in the Ryder Cup, gives his verdict on Blackmoor Golf Club, a golf course offering something special for all golfers and having recently gone through an extensive course improvement project.

This article is part of a series of reviews from Peter Dawson as he travels around looking for the perfect course for golfers looking for the ideal balance of course design, presentation, challenge and all-round enjoyment but without needing the fitness levels ready to compete in the modern day Olympics.

Blackmoor Golf Club, Par 69, 6,170 yards, Green fee £110, County card £70

OVER the years I have played Blackmoor on average once a year and it gets better each time. This gem is for the senior golfer, 6,170 yards in length off the whites, flat and in fantastic condition! Rarely, at the end of the day, can you reflect and not find fault big or small of a golf course but here we could not! A fantastic afternoon!

Image Credit: Kevin Murray Photography

Standing in the lounge, coffee in hand you can see the opening drive, which whets the appetite for what is to come and hopefully make a better hash of it than that fourball you have just witnessed.

The first three are just pleasant opening holes.

Not that it will bother us but there is internal OB on the fourth, as there is on the 10th, both are for safety reasons.

The fifth hole, the tee shot feels out of character but the second shot quickly returns to the high standards of Harry Colt’s design.

The sixth is the first of the par threes. 196 yards with a big putting surface, only problem is it is an upturned saucer! It plays all its length, a shot fractionally short of the top tier the ball will run back off the green, which is not a bad result, better there than right or left.

Onto the ninth, a lovely 145-yard short hole, bunkers on the right protecting this undulating green.

To the left of the green we can find a halfway house, small but very efficiently manned. Sitting here over a coffee and bacon sandwich I reflect on the nine holes just completed and how poorly I have struck the ball. My mind wanders, you never hear of these top coaches working with 70-year-olds, only those highly talented, super fit ones in their 20s and 30s. This is another game when you are 70+! My last mouthful of coffee a eureka moment - I will try that technique on the back nine.      

After the tee shot off the tenth I can walk down and appreciate the rubberized pathway the club have installed. A pleasure to walk on and saving those arthritic joints, there are many similar walkways and more is to follow I am told.

The tenth the longest of the par fours at 448 yards in length, OB down the length with two cross bunkers some 40 yards short of this elevated green.

Image Credit: Kevin Murray Photography

Moving on to the shortest of the par threes the 12th some 129 yards in length, again a lovely hole. Just because it is the shortest it is not always the easiest. A slightly wayward tee shot we will be faced with a difficult approach putt.

The 15th hole is 198 yards into the breeze. Like the fifth, it is played to an upturned saucer of a green, only this time it is an upturned table spoon! I am not sure about this green and the surrounds. A tee shot finishing on line a little short is a good result. Anything flag high either side of the green will leave a near impossible chip, a possible card wrecker this hole! I wonder between its conception 111 years ago and today has it been lengthened?

The 18th is 400 yards, slightly uphill with a devilish second shot. A deep pit just off the green on the right, with a severely sloping green from left to right, and  just to make it more interesting there are all the professionals on the terrace watching! In a few minutes we shall add to that number!

Mr Colt made a great job designing this course 111 years ago. Blackmoor, has been described as a hidden gem, I do not think it is all that hidden. I look forward to my return to playing this wonderful course and try to make the young barman say please or thank you, with a smile

Coincidentally, Blackmoor Golf Club has just completed an extensive, three-year course improvement project. The work has been carried out to upgrade bunkers and to improve drainage, the fairways have been reshaped and ancillary work such as new pathways and heather planting have been added.

The £500,000 project has been implemented in three phases and designed by renowned golf course architects, LOBB & Partners who were appointed by Blackmoor Golf Club to formulate a work strategy that would restore and enhance the course.

Reinstating some of Harry Colt’s artistry first laid out by the course architect in 1913 and employing modern techniques that support ongoing course maintenance, Blackmoor has been able to futureproof the Club and strengthen its reputation as one of the finest heathland courses in Britain.

Tim Lobb, Principal Architect at LOBB & Partners, said: “Over the past three winters we have worked with Blackmoor Golf Club to implement our Colt-inspired bunker and heathland restoration project to the course. The Club’s dedication to continual improvement of the course and environment is no more evident than in the final product that is seen today after these works.”

“We were thrilled to be part of this team and oversee the design elements with construction by contractors Profusion Environmental. Congratulations to the Club and to Course Manager James Norris and all the greenkeeping team for delivering an exceptional course that will grow into the construction works and for first class playing conditions.

Work has also been carried out by Blackmoor’s greenkeeping team to relocate more than 3000 m2 of heather turf to enhance the new bunkers and surrounding areas. Changes have been made to the 1st hole fairway, filling in half of the cross ditch to reinstate fairway, and the green surrounds on the 9th and 17th holes, two of the course’s notable par 3’s have been remodelled.

The project was overseen by Course Manager James Norris, who said: “We are fortunate that Blackmoor sits on sandy subsoil which helps alleviate flooding and support course drainage, however, overtime the bunkers had changed shape and the sand mix had become inconsistent. Upgrading was necessary and new liners and drainage were installed to every bunker as well as heather planting added to improve course aesthetics.

"Although the major works are now complete, the course will continue to improve with our programme of maintenance and as the enhancements bed in. We have laid rubber pathways to six holes already and have plans to install pathways to the remaining 12 holes over the next four years."

To find out more about Blackmoor Golf Club visit www.blackmoorgolf.co.uk