Wimbledon Common

The 3rd is driveable, but anything hit left leaves a tough second to a green angled to the right

Course name: Wimbledon Common
Location: Wimbledon, London
Four Word Course Review: Repetition gets old fast

I haven't been hitting my irons that well of late. Quite frustrating. I've been driving, chipping and putting well, but I couldn't hit a house with my irons.

What has this got to do with Wimbledon Common? Well, it turns out Wimbledon Common is the perfect place for someone in that kind of form to play. Why? In 18 holes I hit a grand total of eight iron shots.

Granted the ground couldn't really be moved to build the course, laid out as it is over Common land, but surely there are better holes out there than 11 that play between 200 and 300 metres, largely dead straight and with a green recessed a few feet lower than the height of the fairway.

Whether a par three or four, too many holes were of a distance that called for a driver or hybrid, then a chip or pitch of between 5 and 30m.

The 2nd (a long par four with great green undulations) and 3rd (a driveable par four with a grove short left of the green that blocks any approach from that side) are among the best holes on the course, with little else to interest you until you reach the par four 15th.

While plentiful rain before and during my round rendered some greens unputtable and the rest borderline waterlogged, I was unlucky. They are usually in fantastic condition.

Interestingly, all players have to wear a bright red shirt so those walking on the common (who have right of way) can see them, and the course plays host to two clubs, situated at either end of the course (Wimbledon Common GC and London Scottish GC).

Because the holes are played at different points in the round depending on which club you're with, they have only names, not numbers (though I have referred to hole numbers based on where they come in the WCGC round).

Using the Wimbledon Common GC hole numbers, London Scottish starts at the 8th and finishes with the 7th.