The Belfry - The Brabazon

Walking onto the first tee of the Brabazon feels a bit like stepping onto a film set. You’ve seen these fairways on the telly for decades, and suddenly, you’re the one tasked with not thinning it into the lake in front of the clubhouse. The conditioning on my visit was top-tier, especially with it being still the earlier part of the season. The practice green gave us an insight for the day ahead… “don’t leave it above the hole today boys” was the last words we heard from the starters hut…

You start the round with a photo in front of the famous Brabazon sign before stepping up to the first tee box where the gaze of those on the practice green and the clubhouse settle on you - just a small taste of what the Ryder Cup heroes would have gone through. Once you move past those nerves, the 1st fairway stares back at you, asking the same question you’ll get asked on the majority of holes… are you feeling brave today? There’s a few bunkers to navigate halfway down the fairway, and if successful, just a few more surrounding the 1st green.

I found the front-nine more of a challenge than the back. I wasn’t the straightest of the tee, which can cause problems as there’s water littered around each hole. A plotters front-nine, but a lovely front-nine. Watching your ball fly 150 yards over the water on hole 3 and settle on the horizontal green, you feel invincible. The course challenges you, but with that comes great rewards.

Everyone is waiting to get to 10th hole, the famous 295 yard drivable par 4, but challenges await before that. The 9th hole in particular. An unassuming tee shot turns into a terrifying approach shot - water protecting the front of the green, high rough on a steep bank at the back. Time to do your best Seve impression. You can always bail out to the left and play it safe, but by this point you’ve had a taste of glory and you can’t resist going for it.

After safely making it to the 10th tee, you’ve got a new challenge… taking on the monstrous Belfry sausage roll!. With a pork-to-pastry ratio of 8-to-1, its possibly the best halfway-hut sausage roll in the country. So good in fact, I got 2 of them!

The 10th is as fun as you’d expect - not a single person I saw laid up. Why travel so far and not give it a shot. My ball found the trees down the left side - maybe I wasn’t committed enough? A punch out of the trees, chip over the brook, and a 2 putt meant walking back over the union jack bridge with a bogey. Not the best, but definitely not the worst in our group.

The back-nine starts to stretch you more. Less water and more room to go awry, I found you relax more, take a breather and build yourself back up for the famous 18th hole that you can see in the distance. A standout hole that follows the risk/reward theme of this course. A long tee shot required that needs to cover water and hit a generous landing area, only to find yourself with a 170 yard shot into a 2 tiered green covered in spectators - the halfway hut a mere 40 yards away, the clubhouse staring right back at you. I make it sound intimidating, and it was, but I absolutely loved it. Nothing better than trying to hit the hero shot into that green, the same way past Ryder Cup champions have done.