The Course
The open farmland the course was built on has been subjected to extensive planting with trees and bushes providing the holes with definition and character. The fact that Blue Mountain has in its short life become one of the most popular courses in Berkshire is a testament to the intrinsic quality of its design and maintenance.

The challenging, undulating par-70, 18-hole parkland course brings water into play on more than one occasion. Blue Mountain’s 6,097 yards may seem relatively tame by modern standards, but it feels a lot longer when you play it.

Some great design employing the best in risk-reward strategy ensures that you can’t gobble up the yards with big drives at every hole. For instance, the 2nd is a par-5 of 492 yards. The big hitters will fancy their chances of getting on in two but they will have to cut a corner on the left to do it. Far better to play safe and go for the green in three shots.

There are also a number of very demanding par threes that will challenge your score. The 4th is a great short hole at 219 yards. The green is guarded by water left and a bunker at the front.

The real gems of the course are arguably the 15th and 16th holes. They help provide a tough finishing stretch and both are potential card wreckers.

The monster 15th is a man-size challenge which ever way you look at it. First, you hit into a fairway that’s rising at driving distance, so you get very little roll off your drive regardless of its trajectory. Then it’s a massive second shot, usually with a 3-wood for most of us, to a generous green that is raised and fronted by a fairway bunker on the left guarding the ideal line.

You get no time to recover from this leviathan either because the 16th provides another sharp- intake-of-breath moment.

At 194 yards over water, it already sets a pretty daunting challenge, but to make matters worse it also has a pear-shaped green, where the narrowest portion is furthest away from you. If the pin is at the back it becomes as hard a hole as you’ll find anywhere because there is a prominent tier fronting this narrow part of the green. The consequence is that you’ll have to fly your ball around 180 yards to a small target to finish anywhere near the pin.

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