Scotland in the East: Felixstowe Ferry GC

The Felixstowe Ferry Clubhouse and the 12th Green

Our friends north of the border would have described the wind that greeted me at Felixstowe Ferry as a mild breeze. But to me it was like a gale force wind the way it toyed with my ball and generally caused me countless problems. The course at Felixstowe is steeped in tradition and history. Built in 1880 it is the fifth oldest course in the UK and contains a couple of two hundred year old Martello towers. The fairways were in fantastic condition, most likely in my opinion because they are hit so infrequently. They are very tight especially on the brutal holes that hug the coastline.

You begin your links adventure with a downhill tee shot with a view out to sea to your right and a road, that divides the course, winding away to your left. The wind and a slight draw saw my first effort bouncing down the tarmac and my second into the long grass by the side of the road. In fact I don't think anyone in my four ball found the short grass.

Opening tee shot went left, waaaay left!

The stand out holes for me would be the 7th, with a stream that zig zags up the fairway, making you think carefully about which segment of the short grass to aim for. The 12th is an unusual hole hit uphill and over the road that clearly was not in existence when the course was first built. The netting to protect the road does not make the hum of oncoming traffic any less unnerving and the car park to the back right of the green usually affects club selection more than the bunkers to the front. My recommendation, take the extra club.

After the 13th you wind your way around the first tee, past the 18th green to the 13th tee box at the highest point of the course hitting down to a fairway that looks as thin as an emaciated stick insect. For me this offers the most spectacular view of the course and whether or not your tee shot finds it's target you can't help but silently applaud the majestic, yet brutal, beauty of it all.

You finish off with two tough uphill long par 4's the first of which is guarded by a Martello Tower that my errant approach shot smacked into. A thoroughly enjoyable, if challenging test of golf, and I will most definitely be revisiting our very own piece of God's Own Country in the future.