THE trickiest drive facing visiting players at Lymm is probably the journey to the club entrance. On the face of it, nothing could be simpler - it's on the north side of Lymm village, beside the Manchester Ship Canal. In fact, the more eagle-eyed have probably spotted it. Drive south on the M6, over Thelwall Viaduct, and a quick glance left reveals the fifth and sixth holes in the distance. But, like the course itself, there are several hidden twists and turns before you finally hit the target. The simplest route is probably to leave the M6 at the first junction after Thelwall, take the first left to Lymm, then left again at the village, towards Warrington, and just before you reach Thelwall village turn right, into Warrington Road. The golf course is a couple of miles further on, by which time the road name has changed to Whitbarrow, with the long entrance drive to your left - at the apex of a very sharp, right angled turn. So I would strongly advise you to check out the map on the Lymm Golf Club website before setting out. All of which probably explains why I've met so few Merseyside golfers who have ever played Lymm. And that's a pity. Because this gem of a course is well worth the effort. By the time you walk off the 18th you will almost certainly have used every club in the bag, and every shot in your repertoire. The layout is well established parkland measuring 6,360 yards off the medal tees. Not long by modern standards. But with four of the last five holes measuring more than 430 yards, it feels a whole lot longer. The excitement is already building towards the club's centenary celebrations in 2007, but that is literally only half the story. For Lymm began life as a nine-hole course, and only moved up to the full distance in 1972. So it is greatly to the green staff's credit that, these days, you can barely see the join, as the newer holes develop the character and feel of their much older neighbours. The other major quirk of the Lymm course is that it boasts five par threes, four of which are as challenging as you'll find anywhere. The first tee is a short stroll from the car park, past that rarity among local courses - a proper practice ground. The first hole proper is a treelined par four of 361 yards, with a dog-leg left. Keep your drive down the right and pick out to a brand new and much improved, undulating green with a deep bunker guarding the left. Hole two is the first of those par threes, and the longest at more than 200 yards. It also used to have the added horror of a wall of enormously high trees to the front right of the tee. Mercifully they have now gone, to be replaced by a small pond. The green itself is two tiered, with a huge pond behind and back right of the green. A genuine monster of a short hole, fully deserving its stroke index of eight. The walk to the next tee takes you up a steep path to the higher ground on which holes three to ten sit, and the first of them is a beauty of a 400-yard par four. Although the fairway is generous, reaching it requires a shot over a virtual quarry cutting in from the left - which is actually the fairway below of the short 11th. The hole then doglegs slightly right, with a wicked fairway bunker to catch your absolute Sunday-best drive. You will still need a good mid iron to reach the dramatically raised green, which is well bunkered to catch anything slightly short. After that, hole four comes as a welcome relief - a short, straight par four of 300 yards requiring no more than a mid-iron and a wedge, and as close to a gimme hole as Lymm offers. Next up is one of life's great mysteries. A 170-yard par three, playing towards a dramatic backdrop of the Thelwall Viaduct, often into such a fierce wind that I' ve seen good players launch a full-on driver at it - yet incredibly on the card at stroke index 17! A card-wrecker if ever I've seen one. Then over to the signature hole six, a wonderful par five of 512 yards with the Manchester Ship Canal running all along the left to devour a hooked tee shot or wayward second. And, like virtually every hole at Lymm, lined by a quite breathtaking mixture of mature trees. There is no respite on holes seven and eight - both strong, tree-lined par fours measuring 400 yards-plus. The front half ends with a par three of 162 yards, with out of bounds down the left, a pot bunker in mid fairway short of the hole, and conventional bunkers left and right of the surprisingly large green. Standing on the tee, Hole 10 looks innocuous enough - a 350-yard par four. But the internal out of bounds down the left, to protect players on the next tee below, has had a fatal, magnetic attraction for my golf ball over the years, and spoiled an otherwise good score card this time around, too. Then it's back down the path to the lower section - and a bit of history. My pal Chris, the Lymm member with whom I played the course, assures me the next hole runs along the old bed of the River Mersey that was diverted for the ship canal. The card tells you it is just 270 yards. Experience tells you it can be a nightmare, as the tee shot has to be threaded through the narrowest gap between trees. Get it right and you are in a generous bowl of a fairway, with a wedge to the flattest green on the course. Hole 12 is the longest, at 545 yards, with a small pond immediately in front of the raised tee, then on to a glorious, tree-lined fairway that sweeps off to the right just beyond driving distance. Negotiate the corner successfully and you'll leave yourself a short to mid iron to a recently remodelled green that has created one of the best tests on the course. You now cross over the entrance driveway, and the 18th fairway, on a 300-yard walk to the 13th tee. It looks a gimme at 145 yards. But what you don't see is the waterway that runs behind the long, thin green, making for a very scary shot when the pin is at the back. And so to the main course, those four 400-yard plus monsters in the final five holes, and only two of them allowing you five hits. First up is the 14th, with a cruel, mounded bunker to catch a good drive down the left, and a surprisingly small green guarded by more sand at the end. Then drag yourself up the hill to the raised tee of the 15th, a seemingly short par five at 462 yards, but with a nasty sting. The problem is the two water-filled gulleys that run across the fairway, the second at what is driving distance for most mortals. So do you take out the driver and pray for a tail wind, or hope to land a long iron between the two hazards? There's also a bunker 200 yards short of the green, and another left of the green itself. All of which sets you up nicely for hole 16, which runs precisely parallel to 15. A 430-yard par four that thinks it's a par five - and certainly plays like one, because of those same two gulleys. This time you face the problem in reverse. Hit a drive right out of the screws and down the middle, and you've probably still got 200 yards or so to reach the dramatically raised green. Can you get there? Can you even get over the second gully? So you reach for a mid-iron, try to land your ball on the no-man's land again and take a wedge up the hill to the short stuff. Index one? You bet! The penultimate hole is a seriously scary par three with out of bounds down the left and a green way out of sight in a deep hollow 180 yards away. Aim a mid to long iron well right, hope for a favourable bounce off the steep banking, and the sight of your ball on the green as you crest the hill solicits a grin as wide as that ship canal. But with a fall from back to front of the green as steep as any I know, do not hit it too long - or you'll be left with a real staircase of a putt. And so to the home hole, again from a raised tee, and again with the dilemma you faced on 15 and 16, thanks to those two gulleys - but with the added spice of white out of bounds posts on the left. Negotiate that, and follow it with a strong second to the apex of the dog leg, and the home green comes into view to your right, well bunkered on both sides. Read the undulating green accurately, and you're in the perfect frame of mind for a pint and a buttie in the bar. FINAL VERDICT One of Cheshire's genuine hidden gems. If your idea of good fun on a golf course is blasting your driver at every opportunity, it may not be for you. But if you enjoy thinking your way around and believe variety really is the spice of golfing life, give Lymm a visit. FACT FILE Address: Whitbarrow Road, Lymm, WA13 9AN SSS: 70 (Out: 35 In: 35) Yards: 6,360 Ladies: 5,636 Course record: Pro 65 Am 66 Description: Challenging parkland course. Contact Details: Telephone 01925 755020 Pro shop 01925 755054 Club secretary: Mrs S Nash Professional: Steve McCarthy Visitors: Welcome WD; Thursday ladies day no visitors before 2.30pm; with members at WE Cost: Weekday - £26. Societies: Welcome usually on Wednesday. Winter Packages Catering: Full meals facilities Dress code: No tracksuit bottoms or jeans; shirt with collar and sleeves; proper golf shoes. Website: www.lymm-golf-club.co.uk E-mail address: mail@lymmgolfclub.fsnet.co.uk * Details correct at the time of going to press. | 
