Brocton Hall Golf Club Course Review

Brocton Hall Golf Club Course Review

GF Round: £60wd, £70we
Par 69, 6,064 yards
Slope 128
GM Verdict – A very pretty but relatively short parkland layout where an absence of par 5s and six par 4s over 400 yards ensure a good all-round test.
Favourite Hole – The 187-yard par-3 9th is testing but beautifully framed, with water to ponder on the left and a bunker on the right if you bail out too far.

While any list of the best golf courses in Staffordshire will always include the likes of Little Aston and Enville, Brocton Hall, which was founded in 1894 and relocated to the edge of Cannock Chase in 1923, will generally feature a little further down. This makes it the perfect hidden gem, for it enjoys a delightful parkland setting, with water, rhododendrons and mature trees framing the holes. These features gave Harry Vardon a perfect canvas on which to create a wonderful variety of holes… but no par 5s, so nearly every birdie will need to be gained the hard way.

Early on, the 2nd is a strong and very attractive par 4 playing down and up to a green that slopes towards you, while the 3rd is a short, but well-protected downhill par 3 with a ring of bunkers awaiting anything mis-struck or misdirected. The short par-4 4th may then present a chance to try and force something, but it asks how aggressive you dare be on its tight drive. To close out the front nine, the 9th is a very pretty hole indeed, a decent-length par 3 with water and rhododendrons to the left.

The 6th and 12th rank among the tougher par 4s, with the former a brute of a two-shotter at 474 yards, though it is immediately followed by the course’s shortest par 4 at 291 yards, so there is perhaps a bit of give and take there… or more likely, take and give! The 12th is another down and up hole that stretches to 457 yards and plays up to a green that’s a bit of an upturned saucer.

More good-looking holes follow in the middle of the back nine where you get to fully appreciate just how well-tended and presented the course is. Brocton Hall closes with an inviting short par 4 back to the grand 18th-century hall that serves as the clubhouse, though the green is well-protected by sand and a narrow entrance so discretion may prove the better part of valour if you have a score going.