Leckford Old Golf Course Review

Former Ryder Cup player, Peter Dawson, who represented Great Britain & Ireland in 1977, continues his series of reviewing golf courses for Golfshake, this time visiting Leckford Golf Course in Hampshire.

Leckford Old Golf Course can be found close to the market town of Stockbridge, just a little north/east of Winchester. Designed by Harry Colt in 1929 it has been described by many as one of the finest nine-hole courses in the country. It features nine greens with 18 tees.

This is a step back in time! Arriving in the small car park of chalk and flint surface, glancing down to the clubhouse described as a pavilion, you get the feeling you might be in for something different. After changing your shoes in the car park, you visit the pavilion to pay the green fee into the honesty box/credit card machine.

You will find the pavilion in a clean and tidy condition and it is expected you leave it that way! After having a coffee from the machine you wash your own cup in the small kitchen and leave on the side to dry. Those in the know may have brought sandwiches, or possibly a bottle of beer with their names strategically written on them and placed in the fridge in preparation for their return.

On starting you alternate with people leaving the adjacent 9th green, no reserved tee times here.

At 6,280 yards long off the white tees, this is an ideal length for those of us of a certain age. 

The opening hole is a par five with a beautiful row of beech trees on the right. This hole is not too difficult a start but hang on a minute the green comes to its defence. The good thing about playing to the same greens twice is that the second time around you have a better understanding of the contours. 

The 2nd at 446 yards in length is theoretically a par 4 but due to its gradual climb this is no par 4, on the scorecard it is marked as a par 5 and 5 it plays! 

Playing this hole the second time around with a slightly advanced tee, the 11th measures 422 yards and plays deceptively long, very long! 

The 4th and 13th is an uphill dogleg right to left and is the toughest hole on the course, and has tested my physical fitness both times round. With a second shot on or near to the green you might think I have cracked it but oh no the green comes to its defence! 

What did the pro tell me to do when facing a shot with the ball above my feet? Oh yes too damned late but I will remember the next time round. Grip down the shaft a couple of centimetres and as with walking up a steep hill the weight favours the toes and needs to stay there throughout the swing.

After this the course flattens out to a gentle walk.

The 8th and 17th has a big wide fairway but at a 30-degree angle you can guarantee the ball will finish off in the semi rough close to those lovely beech trees on the right that separates this and the 1st fairway. Now faced with a second shot to a slightly elevated green protected by a bunker on the right side of the green. The 30-degree slope has continued all the way down to the green, any mishit approach or under clubbing the ball will undoubtedly finish in that bunker. This is not a hole for a golfer who is prone to slice the ball. 

Now what did the pro tell me when the ball was beneath my feet! Oh yes, hold the club to its maximum length and as when walking downhill the weight favours the heels and remains there throughout the shot. 

The 9th and 18th is a par 3 from an elevated tee to a green surrounded by five bunkers, with the pavilion in the background. Leaving the green for the second time, I wonder if anyone has pinched my salmon sandwiches and non-alcoholic beer whilst we have been on the course? No need to be worried, Leckford is not that sort of place! 

I imagine over the years the design of the course has not changed, just a couple of new tees and a bunker have been added. Interestingly of the courses I have played this summer, Leckford has the only scorecard marked in both metres and yards!

Having finished sitting on the small veranda in the peace and quiet of this rural setting, enjoying our sandwiches, this is a nice spot to reflect on the last three and a half hours. Looking left from the veranda up the 1st fairway I wonder who and why did someone plant that row of beech trees that leads to nowhere!      

May the John Lewis group (the proprietors) keep this little gem as is. It was the vision of Spedan Lewis the founder of the John Lewis group for his employees to relax and wind down.