Rye

The bunkering at the par three 14th is indicative of what Rye dishes up

The short par four 9th, showing off just how fast and firm the course plays in summer

The 5th hole is a one-shotter played from dune to dune

Course name: Rye
Location: Rye, East Sussex
Four World Course Review: Majestic holes along ridge

Well, it finally happened. Some mates have constantly told me I will have reached a new stage when I play terribly at a new course but can still appreciate it. At Rye, that happened. Despite hitting it sideways, doing little right and generally playing the sort of golf that would have had a lesser man thinking of taking up lawn bowls, Rye blew me away.

A bold, steep ridge that runs through the centre of the property dominates the design, with holes generally running along its base or threaded along the ridgetop as if they are walking a tightrope, but it's the holes that cross the ridge - the par fours 6th and 13th and 16th - and the par three 5th, which jumps from one dune to another across a low-lying no-man's-land, that stand out.

The par three are generally a highlight. There's some great natural ripples utilised to make the greenfronts difficult to judge, such as at the 2nd where a diagonal rise runs diagonally toward the tee from the front-left of the green and the 7th's deep and steep dunes that make the green loom terrifyingly. Rye's bunkers are probably the most penal I have encountered, deep on all sides, necessitating stairs into most of them.

They also use angled floors and deep sand that ensures most balls that enter don't settle on a flat lie. Instead, many balls stop on hanging or downhill lies, making escape even more difficult.

Of course Rye is not without weakness. The 10th and 11th are built on flat land devoid of few natural features and don't add much to the rest of the course, and that got me wondering if the very best courses are such because they have superior sites that gave their designer enough to work with for all 18 holes.

Lunch, a jacket and tie affair, in the clubhouse was an experience in itself, browsing the club's collection of golf books and the famed President's Putter.

Volumes of books in the lounge catalogue every membership application since the club's early days, and I am not joking when I say there are members of the Royal Family who have waited years to be accepted, to give an idea of just how exclusive Rye is.