Pyecombe Golf Club Course Review

Pyecombe Golf Club Course Review

GF Round: £30-£40wd, £30-£35we (pm only)
Par 71, 6,296 yards
Slope 119
GM Verdict – Even if you don't play well you can’t fail to enjoy your round here in fine weather because of its fabulous setting on the South Downs.
Favourite Hole – The par-4 3rd is one of the toughest two-shotters in Sussex playing down and then steeply up to a relatively small green.

The best golf courses in Sussex offer up tremendous variety from heathland to links and parkland to clifftop. However, golfers in the county are particularly blessed in the downland department, with a string of excellent Sussex Downs courses stretching from Eastbourne in the east to Chichester in the west. Everyone has their favourites and Pyecombe is right up there for the golfing test it offers, the feel of the place, and the sheer splendour of the views on those days when your golf game offers little to lift the spirits. In its splendid 3rd hole, it boasts one of the finest par 4s on the Sussex Downs. The hole plunges down before climbing equally dramatically to a green a touch smaller than you would like for the severity of the shot required to find it!

It can certainly be tempting to then have a go at the short par-4 4th, but it’s christened Funnel for good reason and you will need to be unerringly straight if you do decide to have a pop. Other front nine highlights include the mid-length par-3 8th that traverses the valley that you then play up on the 9th and 10th. Its shallow green can be tough to find if any kind of wind is sweeping up or down that valley. The 11th takes you back up to the higher ground while the approach on the short 12th can be a nervy affair with the South Downs Way footpath and out of bounds lurking close on the right.

At 224 yards, the par 3 that follows can be out of range some days, and there’s no doubt that par here will see you making up ground on the field any day. The long par-5 14th then sets up beautifully from the tee and you’ll get good distance here in the summer if you can turn it over slightly and take advantage of the slope. When it’s all over, the bar is a friendly place to retire to. Don’t forget to take a look at the Henry Longhurst putter mounted above the bar. Longhurst was a long-time club member and president in the mid-1970s, and the members still play an annual cross-country team event for his putter.