As I studied Google maps before writing this feature a month or so after my visit to Coulsdon Manor just south of Croydon, I was amazed at just how many courses there are in close proximity as greenery begins to give way fully to concrete, tarmac, bricks and mortar en route into the capital.
In addition to Coulsdon Manor, Cuddington and Farleigh featured here, you could throw a metaphorical - albeit admittedly larger than normal - blanket over a dozen or so courses to the south of Croydon: Croham Hurst, Woodcote Park, Chipstead, Purley Downs, Oaks Park, Surrey National, Kingswood, Surrey Downs, Shirley Park and the various courses in Addington, including The Addington.
Despite Coulsdon Manor being a Harry Colt course about 40 minutes from my Sussex home, and despite having played many of the best courses in golf-rich Surrey, and some 75 in total in the county one to the north of me, this one had somehow eluded me so I was pleased to get the chance to both stay and play there in summer 2024. My colleague, Rob Smith, who played much of his formative golf at the course, was able to join me for the round.
Colt’s layout eases you in with a gentle par 4 before hitting back hard with a much longer and more robust two-shotter. After the par-3 3rd at the far end you turn back towards the hotel, with the par-5 5th and par-3 6th, which play in different directions across the same dip, among the best holes both visually and strategically.
I got a little too familiar with a back-left pin on 6 after over-drawing it, but mercifully it stayed on top in the fringe, rather than bouncing down the steep bank, to leave a relatively straightforward up and down.
As you loop round the back of the hotel, position is vital on the shortish par-4 10th. Anything too far right will find a copse from where the extent of any forward progress will depend on exactly where your ball ends up. But in firmer conditions and with the right lie, you may still be able to bumble something down the slope and fairly close to the green.
To close out the round, strong tests at 15 and 16 are followed by a par 5 and shortish par 4 to a green close to the hotel terrace, which makes for a cracking spot to sit and watch the closing action over your tipple of choice.
The hotel itself makes for a well-located, inexpensive base for golf around the south of London, with the food in the Orangery great at both breakfast and dinner. I also particularly liked the colourful golf-themed art on the restaurant walls, although my wife was less keen, proving that beauty really does lie in eye of the beholder.
More of Colt’s handiwork
Six miles west and close to the busy A217 road, James Braid’s Banstead Downs and Colt’s Cuddington lie almost side by side. I used to play the latter fairly frequently when I worked for a golf club that also stocked its pro shop, but that was 30 years ago and much has changed here since then via tree clearance work, bunker improvements, new greens and more.
You have a chance to score from the off, with a couple of par 5s accommodating the odd early slight miscue before a brute of a par 4 at the start of two separate loops of three from 3 to 5 and then 7 to 9, the latter playing over a relatively slender plot across the Banstead Road.
The back nine starts with a downhill par 4 that some may choose to attack, then a beautiful little uphill par 3. The finish is strong with a 200-yarder at 16 then an uphill par 4 back to the clubhouse that will invariably play surprisingly longer than its yardage. The club will celebrate its centenary in 1929.
Something a little newer
Eight miles to the south-east of Coulsdon, the 27-hole club at Farleigh is an altogether more recent affair opening in 1997. The Blue, Red and Yellow loops were designed by John Jacobs and play over undulating downland with some fine holes along the way, most notably, for me, the opening trio on the Yellow layout
The par-5 1st sweeps down and round to the left, with the risk-reward 2nd tempting you into having a pop and the fine par-5 3rd turning right and gently up after crossing a stream. Inside the modern clubhouse, the food offering is excellent and the atmosphere strictly informal. The club has links with Foxhills, the 45-hole resort further round the M25 quite close to Wentworth.
Coulsdon Manor
Par 70, 6,014 yards
GF: £27.50-£35
Cuddington
Par 71, 6,603 yards
GF: £95 (Mon, Thurs and pm Tues)
Farleigh
Blue - par 36, 3,388 yards
Yellow - par 36, 3,181 yards=
Red – par 36, 3,223 yards
GF: £40-£65
Stay
Coulsdon Manor
Coulsdon, Surrey
W: bespokehotels.com/coulsdonmanorandgolf/
