The Berkshire (Blue)

The 9th is one of the best short par fours on a property full of good ones

The rugged 13th has some of the best bunkering on the course

The home hole sums up the stern test of The Blue

Course name: The Berkshire (Blue)
Location: Ascot, Berkshire, England
Four Word Course Review: Inconsistency sets it back

The Blue course is the "lesser" course at The Berkshire in much the same way that Mark was the lesser Waugh twin or George Harrison was The Beatles' lesser songwriter: The greatness is undoubtedly there, but when all is said and done they don't quite measure up to the magnitude or consistency of some pretty magnificent competition.

In truth, the two or three best holes at The Berkshire might be on The Blue. But so too are the two or three most plain holes. The cohesion just isn't there, with flat spots at 3, 8 and 10.

Despite the last of those three starting the run home, the back nine of The Blue is probably the best nine on the property, with the 11th a brilliant flat ground par five and 12-14 making brilliant use of a large ridge, the first of the three with a stunning two-tier green that's higher at the front, before a sidehill par three reminiscent of a couple at Royal Wimbledon and a short par four with a blind drive. Two of The Berkshire's oft seen "downhill teeshot, uphill approach" par fours stand out at the end of the round, the 16th and 18th.

Getting you to that golden run are some very good holes on the front nine, including a difficult par three opener over a sea of heather, the downhill 344-yard 2nd with a tricky front-to-back green, classic heathland one-shot 4th and brilliant 310-yard 9th - yet another great short par four, of which The Berkshire has many across its 36 holes.

What's great about The Blue is the way it differs from The Red, playing tighter on the drive and featuring some more dramatic shots and greens. It is also a tougher test, featuring many stern par fours on the way home to test your ballstriking. Both courses have their own character and when it comes to 36-hole clubs, that's essential to avoid one course being a poor man's version of the other.

The Berkshire also deserves a shout out for its lunch and showers - both among the best I have experienced in my travels!

The Berkshire (Red)

After playing to the eye-catching par three 2nd, you arrive at its green to see this vista of the 3rd rolling out ahead of you

The approach to the 8th hole, with some brilliant heathland bunkering standing guard at the green

The 10th is probably the most intimidating hole on the course, the green 188 yards away over heather

Yet another beautiful view, this one from the 11th tee

A strong drive that crosses the gravel path at the 13th can use this rolling land to steal an extra 20-30 yards and earn a mid iron approach to the green

The amazing 221-yard 16th hole has a tough green and two fantastic bunkers protecting par

Course name: The Berkshire (Red)
Location: Ascot, Berkshire, England
Four Word Course Review: Never a dull moment

The more highly-regarded of The Berkshire's two courses, The Red is generally known for its uncommon  combination of six holes of each par.

With the likes of Wentworth, Sunningdale and Swinley Forest within a mile or so, that combination of holes is what gives The Red a point of difference, but beyond their par they are worthy of attention for just how good they are.

Many of the par fives are reachable in two shots for most golfers. From the back tees they measure 517, 480, 488, 486, 477 and 532 yards and four of them play downhill, but they occupy some great land.

Most fascinating among them for me were the 3rd, which has a tee shot that just screams "let's play golf", and the 13th, cascading downhill over wild land at the far reaches of the driving zone.

The par threes are more varied, playing uphill and downhill and ranging from under 150 yards to more than 220. They also present two of the most appetising shots on the course at the 10th and 16th - the first a terrifying shot of almost 200 yards over a heather-filled valley and the latter a 221-yard journey to a fearsomely sloped (but amazingly beautiful) green slightly reminiscent of the 17th across the fence at Swinley.

The two-shotters are all played between the 4th and 14th (it's 5, 3, 5 to start and 5, 3, 5, 3 to finish) and perhaps wisely given a few of the par fives will play as long two-shot holes and the 8th and 14th measure 428 and 434 yards, there is some respite in length, but not challenge at the 6th, 11th and 12th, which are all driveable holes that can still extract their pound of flesh through a risky drive (the 6th and 12th) or a well-protected green (11th and 12th).

The Red is quite a wide course, with generous driving zones but distict angles from which the greens must be approached. But miss those fairways and the heather and rough are some of the most militant I have seen on the heathland.

The uphill approach shots might get slightly repetitive, particularly toward the end of the round, but several of those shots are among the ones that linger in the memory: the par three 2nd, the approach to the 8th, the short second shot to the 328-yard 12th and the sidehill second or third shot at the 15th.

Above the individual highlights, the lasting memory I have of The Red is the continuity of the holes, despite some significent variety. While many of the hole shapes are similar, the shots required from hole to hole differ greatly. It seems to me that ties the holes in together while avoiding much feeling of repetition.

It's a perfect piece of land for golf and, as he did at Walton Heath, Herbert Fowler used the best features of the ground in combination with some well-placed bunkers to make this a fascinating course to play.

Crowborough Beacon

Great use of the natural contours at the 2nd, where a gouge in the land is used to protect the green from a running approach on the downhill approach shot

The brawny and brave can go straight at the 6th green, almost 200 yards away, but it's far wiser to use the slope of the land to run your ball onto the green

The par five 10th is one of a few off-camber doglegs, a sole bunker short left of the green providing sufficient strategy

The final hole has perhaps the strongest healthland link on the entire course

The club's most famous former member served a year as captain in 1910

Course name: Crowborough Beacon
Location: Crowborough, East Sussex, England
Four Word Course Review: The perfect village club

It's astounding just how many golf courses there are in England - many hiding in country towns and next door to the big names - that you've never heard of but upon which you would gladly play out your days.

Crowborough Beacon is one such course. It makes great use of a steep site, reminding you of Walton Heath at its best, though some holes are built on land that's just too steep for golf. That said, the good moments far outweigh the bad and are the holes that stick in the memory.

Holes such as the par three 6th across a gorge, narrow par five 10th, long par four 12th interrupted by heather-filled broken ground in the driving zone, off-camber dogleg left 16th and gently uphill final hole are worth the journey to the South Downs alone.

Crowborough Beacon Golf Club may not be famous, but the same cannot be said for a certain local resident and longtime member who captained the club in 1910: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the book and film character Sherlock Holmes.

A corner of the clubhouse celebrates the star attraction, and I thank this year's captain - filling the role 100 years after Doyle - who generously showed us around the club after our round, continuing the great welcome given by the professional when we arrived.

One regular feature of a club like Crowborough Beacon is quirk. Here, it's the roads. Not only are they a feature on three or four holes, with six crossings in total, but they are integral parts of the course, so if somehow your ball comes to rest in the middle, you better hope for a break in the traffic!

And any golfer knows that if he chooses to play a course from the back markers he is taking on extra risk, but walking back to the medal tee on the first hole you're shocked by just how close the road is to the tee box. Passing traffic is no more than 10 or 12 feet behind you as you make your first swing of the day. All the more reason to play forward, I think!

Fun golf, a warm welcome, gorgeous views and the kind of clubhouse balcony you can all too easily spend six hours on with mates. Yep, I could easily spend my remaining golfing days atop Crowborough Beacon.

Casa Serena

The second to the 4th is one of the most eye-catching shots I have seen in my travels

The 9th has some great Redan qualities, with a long, hard-to-read green

Taking a risk and taking on the fairway bunkers at the 12th earns you this look at the green

The historic well short of the 17th green was discovered during construction and became a feature of the hole, which features a strong slope that will reject anything underclubbed

Course name: Casa Serena
Location: Roztez, Czech Republic
Four Word Course Review: The ultimate private escape

Casa Serena is an entirely private playground for the owner and executives of one of the world's biggest electronics companies, but I managed to spend a couple of days playing the course, with a few nights spent in the incredible Chateau Roztez next door.

The course was built from scratch on rolling Czech countryside by EGD's Robin Hiseman, opening in late 2008 to host a European Senior Tour event, won by Bernhard Langer.

It's a wonderfully strategic layout calling for more than a few heroic decisions, none more so than choosing to take dead aim over the fairway bunker on the long, downhill par four 4th, trying to find the kick pad that will send your ball to within wedge range.

Similarly, the reachable 5th, cascading 8th, tightrope 11th, gorgeous 12th and deceptive 15th all pose strong risk/reward choices on the tee. That's a lot of adjectives for one sentence, but Casa Serena is that kind of place: memorable holes with great aesthetics that reward smart placement in an amazingly relaxing location.

The par threes all hold some venom for the golfer who overestimates his strangth, with false fronts at the 13th and 17th, a deep bunker on the uphill 2nd and a tough lag putt if you find yourself a long way from the flag on the Redan-ish 9th.

But for all those strengths, let's not leave out the par fives: choices galore on the seond shot at the 6th with the ideal layup changing with the pin position, fantastic long undulations at the 14th and a monstrous cross bunker to be encountered on the second shot at the home hole. They are all thinkers' holes that can be reached in two shots, but not by brute force alone.

The earth has been moved in many places to create land that is good for golf, but the way single landforms have been formed to extend across several holes makes what's there look amazingly natural - no chocolate drops placed equidistant down the side of each fairway here!

Utopia awaits if they ever decide to shave down the runoffs around many of the greens, which would create a short game paradise like few I have ever seen.

With even a passable golf course built in this idyllic countryside in the shadow of Chateau Roztez, this would have been a wonderful place for R&R, but with such a wonderful, challenging and engaging - not to mention FUN - course it's one to dream of.