After lunch on Friday I headed over to the Metropolitan Golf Club for an afternoon game with Andrew and his friend Jamie.  Metro, where Ben (who was at dinner on Wednesday evening) is manager is another of the sandbelt courses.  I had been told that the conditioning of the course at Metro would be as good as anything I saw in the sandbelt and that wasn’t far off the mark.  I don’t think Metro was in any better codition than Kingston Heath but a major professional event is being played at KH next week and it was in just about perfect condition.  Similarly it is difficult to imagine how the condition of Mtero could have been any better.

One particular feature of Metro which I really enjoyed was the transition from green to greenside bunker.  There simply isn’t one.  The bunkers eat into the greens and the greens are cut, as greens, right up to the edge of the bunkers.  A fantastic presentation which should be widely copied, I think.

The front 9 at Metro is very good indeed.  However, some holes were lost several years ago due to the building of a school at the back of the current 6th green and changes have been made as a result.  As we walked to the 12th tee I was met by the sight of cross bunkers which looked entirely different to anything I had seen on the previous 11 holes. It was as if we had, accidentally, walked onto the wrong golf course.  The hole is not a bad hole (indeed, looking at an aerial later, it is clear that it is a modern version of the famous Bottle hole template) but it just doesn’t belong on this golf course.  The 13th, a short par 3, is similarly alien to its surroundings.  After the game (I got up and down from the front left bunker at the last for par to snatch a tie with Andrew but Jamie took the honours – one thing that will result from this time in the sandbelt is a much improved sand game) Andrew showed me the massive tome that has been prepared by Crafter and Mogford, the firm of golf course architects hired by Metro to improve the course.

Whilst the back 9 does need a bit of work I do hope that not too much is doen and that what is done is consistent with the really good front 9.

The approach to the excellent par 5 6th

The swale in front of this green is a brilliant feature.  A short iron or wedge shot to a firm green.  Anything just short won’t run up, as the shots Andrew and I played demonstrate:

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