» Singing Hills Golf Course
Daniel Frickelton’s guide to the finest golf courses in Sussex. This month Singing Hills Golf Course
It would be great fun to run a competition for the best rhyming slang name for Singing Hills Golf Club. Those of us who have played this course would have a few suggestions of our own. For instance, ‘Stinging Hills’ would best describe the course on which I sacrificed three golf balls to the hazard gods last autumn and posted what can only be described as an unimpressive score.
“The South Downs form a spectacular backdrop to the gently undulating fairways, lakes and copious wildlife; but Singing Hills is far more than mere eye candy”
‘Whingeing Hills’, on the other hand, would be the course where the ‘golf goddess’ failed at three attempts to put a tee shot on the green at the short par three second hole of the Lake Course. This is the loved and loathed ‘Island Green’, certainly not the infamous 17th at Sawgrass, but presenting the same sort of psychological test on a smaller scale. If you know how far you hit your shortest irons it should be a simple matter to select the right one, take a normal swing and putt out for a birdie or a par, right? However, the hundreds of balls winking at you from the bottom of the surrounding waters are silent witnesses to the fact that this hole is far from simple. It is a mind game.
On this particular day just before Christmas, the course we played might aptly be called ‘Chills and Thrills’. Looking out over the first tee of the River Course from the warmth and comfort of the well stocked pro shop, I was reminded of our first view of Arizona’s Grand Canyon; glimpses of shapes and contours fading and re-emerging from the thick fog. Visibility ranged between 50-100 yards at best throughout our round, unsettling at first as most shots had to be made with little or no visual reference.
Happily, we were expertly guided by club member Gill, aka ‘The Beacon’, who was able to give us line and distance from memory with devastating accuracy. This was so true that we posted two of our best scores ever at Chills and Thrills despite never seeing a target all day until we were within 50 yards of it. So thick was the mist that we were only able to see where our driver shots landed when someone hit what The Beacon calls a GA shot (Giraffe’s Arse: very high, very smelly). You know the type, addicts – 50 yards up, 50 yards out.
As if the fog was not enough, we had to cope with fits of laughter brought on by our guide. When one of us left a long putt a good distance from the hole, The Beacon said: “That looks like a FIMA to me!” This is local dialect for “Flip! It’s Me Again!” Or words to that effect. Playing in the fog was turning out to be great fun.
Singing Hills comprises three nine hole courses, two of which – River and Lake – we had played before. This was our first experience of Valley Course, and we are now keen to see what it actually looks like when the fog lifts. All three courses are of moderate length (5834 to 6330 yards, depending on which combination you play), are difficult enough as to be unsuitable for complete beginners and sufficiently challenging to keep mid and lower handicappers coming back for more chills and thrills. People are very friendly here, and there will be holes to fascinate or aggravate every golfer. The ninth on either the River or Lake courses are prime examples. River Course ends with a par three that is reachable from the men’s tees with a longish iron or hybrid. All you have to do is negotiate the huge tree and the stream protecting the green, refrain from going left into the lake or right into the out of bounds parking area. A par here feels better than at any of the par 5’s on the course.
The South Downs form a spectacular backdrop to the gently undulating fairways, lakes and copious wildlife; but Singing Hills is far more than mere eye candy and technically rewarding golf. Among the high quality facilities available here are a friendly and well stocked pro shop, a decent restaurant, excellent changing rooms, a 15 bay driving range, putting green and conference facilities.
Chills and Thrills, Whingeing Hills, Stinging Hills… there’s a Singing Hills golf course for every addict. Get out there and find your own, and let us know which one you played.
Singing Hills Golf Course
Off B2117, Albourne, West Sussex, BN6 9EB | Map
Phone: 01273 -835353
www.singinghills.co.uk
