ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY

Rob Smith enjoys a return to the New Forest and its bucolic, peaceful and varied charms…

- Rob Smith

The New Forest is a beautiful and largely unspoiled area of woodland, heathland and open pasture that covers the south-west of Hampshire and eastern edge of Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror and features in the Domesday Book. Designated as a national park in 2005, it makes for an excellent destination for nature lovers and golfers. Entering the New Forest just west of Southampton, you will find the charming village of Bramshaw, at the heart of which is its golf club. Nearby, in the hamlet of Brook, lies the Bell Inn.

The Forest course

The Forest course at Bramshaw Golf Club is believed to be the oldest in the county. While still a nine-holer in the 1890s, an alliance was formed with a similar layout at Lyndhurst. This effectively created an 18-hole course, but with the two nines actually five miles apart! The Forest course was extended to a full 18 during the following decade, and as you play it now, it would be very easy to believe that nothing significant has changed since.

It starts with a tough par 4 that calls for an elevated approach over one of the abundant life-giving and ball-taking streams. Next comes a longish par 3, all carry to a green that slopes upwards away from you. As you head out into the furthest wilds, there is a blind approach down to the stream-protected green at the par-5 6th. This is reachable in two for some but full of risk. The front nine climaxes with an absolutely cracking short par 4 – a hybrid up the middle, hopefully, before a short-iron into the green. The King’s Garn stream is more in play here than anywhere else.