Market Rasen Golf Club Course Review

Market Rasen Golf Club Course Review

GF Round: £26-£45wd; £30-£50we
Par 71, 6,249 yards
Slope 140
GM Verdict – Lincolnshire gem with a mix of heathland and tree-lined holes plus a lovely secluded setting a little way out of town.
Favourite Hole – The par-4 10th, a dogleg left where your approach is played over the River Rase, which crosses the fairway after hugging the left side early on.

Every so often you stumble across an unexpected golfing treasure in this line of work, and the lovely course just outside the famous horse-racing town of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire is a prime example. It’s a gem of a course, essentially heathland in nature with the trees that line many fairways making it a very secluded and peaceful spot for a round. It ranks among the best golf courses in Lincolnshire and deserves to be more widely known.

The diverse selection of evergreen and deciduous specimens also means it will test your game, with accuracy from the tee of paramount importance. The River Rase also makes its presence felt from time to time as it meanders through the course. The club began life as a nine-holer to the west of town in 1912 before moving to its present site at Warren Farm south-east of town in 1922.

The dauntingly long par-4 opener is a bit of an early shock to the system straight out of the car, and it may well signal an instant dropped shot. But don’t despair. A glance at the card will fill you with renewed hope, for among the scores of very pretty holes you’ll encounter before the turn, the six remaining front-nine par-4s all start with a ‘3’.

They must still be treated with respect, though, as you’re invariably in among the trees and heather – nowhere more so than the almost single-file 7th, where only position ‘A’ off the tee will give you a clear sight of the green. Eventually you find more open terrain on the 9th, and after the excellent dogleg-left 10th, you head out into a trio of fine new holes that opened for play in 2001 to replace three closer to the racecourse.

After rejoining the original holes, the 15th is a magnificent sprawling par 5, where working out just where to lay up is no pushover. The final hole is a long par 3 where the green, close to the clubhouse terrace, is partially obscured by trees from the tee, especially if the pin is on the right.