Hunstanton Golf Club

Played on a calm day after a gap of 5 years. The recent changes have improved the course (no easy bale out on the 1st anymore)and it is looking great again. If they can get the greens back to the speed they were 20 years ago i.e. like lino only quicker, it will be even more daunting. Simply a great links worth the journey.

Played on 18/9/11 in unusually benign conditions. This made the course less difficult than usual and strangely, less interesting than I remember it from the last time I played here in 2005. There are still many very good holes though and I particularly liked the 6th, 7th, and the four finishing holes. Sadly all the greens were poor as they had recently been scarified, and the rutted surfaces were both slow and bumpy. Still enjoyed it though. PS The traffic light system at the blind 13th is rubbish. Most courses seem to seem to find a bell does the job adequately.

£95 per player with no reductions looks pricey but after 2pm, at £60 per person it was worth every penny. The Pro Shop could not have been more welcoming, but after that it was us against the course and the ever present wind. This helped us through the narrow but benign start, onto the quirky 300 yard par 4 6th, with its green as unwelcoming as an upturned pudding bowl, followed by a terrifying par 3 where a 6ft wall of sleepers needs to be carried to reach the tiny green. The back 9 naturally heads into the wind. The pro's advice was very good, warning us about the "easy" 220 yard par 3 13th and the "impossible" 350 yard par 4 14th. The duned shelter of the long 15th only prepares you for a windy par 3 and a testing, long, exposed 17. These were a pleasure to play well. A good drive on 18 is needed to impress the clubhouse with a long iron to another hostile green. Not for the faint hearted, but great golf.

Played here on a lovely sunny if breezy day which made the course more tricky,a typical links. It was a great experience with quick true greens. As previous reports some of the greens are almost impossible to hit due to their elevation, miss and they have severe run offs. Make the trip to north norfolk there are some first class courses in this neck of the woods

Played here at the start of November - round plus two course lunch for £55 was great value. Fortunately got a day when the wind didn't blow too much, so it was possible to score well. A genuine links course with some beautiful, rugged scenery. I agree with other writers that the par 3 holes stand out the most. The 7th is a great hole with a very deep, intimidating bunker right in front of the green to swallow up anything short. The 16th is another highlight with bunkers completely surrounding the green. The welcome we got in the clubhouse was very friendly and the food afterwards was fantastic.

Played Hunstanton last week. The place has a certain aura about it and you fear that as visitors you are not going to be welcome. The reality is different. The greens are quick regardless of the comments. Fortunately they are true as well. For me the stand out holes are the par 3's especially 7 and 14. Listen carefully when they explain the traffic light system to you though - the advice is essential!

One of the courses which has been on my 'must play' list for a while - and boy am I glad I managed to! The 1st isn't the toughest of holes but with a massive sleeper-faced bunker looming large in front of you, it's best to just make sure you clear it, take a nett par and move on. The back nine is the real test. Not impossible but tough all the same. The wind makes all the difference - if it's at your back coming in, there are much better opportunities for scoring. Standout holes were 14 (par 3 over a hump, with the tee shot to a blind green) and the final two, 17 and 18. Typical links, with the sound of the sea and the glorious sight of multicoloured beach huts to the right hand side. The clubhouse itself is very traditional but friendly all the same. Food was great and the range of drinks was also extensive. The locker rooms probably need updating but then again you don't choose a golf course because of the excellence of its locker rooms do you! What sums up this club's popularity best is the number of members they have from outside the area. We met a couple from Northampton who travel every weekend for a game their - it is their 'home' club and they wouldn't want it any other way. Just shows what an excellent venue this is - first class!

Without doubt the slowest greens encountered during my 20 years of playing the game. Well (based on the review below) a lot can change in seven years! Just to qualify that opening statement, they were without doubt the slowest links greens I've played – which was a shame because everything else here is set up for a great day’s golf. To be fair to the club, the pro did mention in advance that they usually try to "brown them off" but hadn't been able to – which pinpointed the problem exactly: the absence of that round yellow thing known as a sun, which has gone AWOL in this shocking excuse of a 'summer' we've all had to endure. As I mentioned, apart from the current condition of the greens, the experience at Hunstanton is a good one. There's a great friendly vibe from both staff and members, it represents value for money for a 'Top 100' course and the layout is a more than decent test. The first five holes aren't anything particularly remarkable but things really kick off at the short par 4 6th, which has an outrageously elevated green with calamitous fall-offs to either side that makes the 2nd at Royal Dornoch - said by Tom Watson to have the hardest second shot in the world with its own severely raised green - seem like child's play in comparison (OK that hole is a par 3 but the principle still holds). The other stand-out holes for me were the par 3 7th (with the famous sleepered bunker in front), the wonderful back-to-back, medium-length, semi-blind par 4 12th and 13th holes and the exquisite par 3 16th with a beautiful vista and heavily bunkered green. Lee Westwood has previously said: "As a kid I went to Hunstanton and it is still the only place in the world where I have missed the green twice with a putter. They were the fastest things I've ever seen." Well I can guarantee it's not remotely like that at the moment – but everything else here should still convince you to make the journey. 9.1/10 'Young P' (h/c 9)

WITHOUT DOUBT THE QUICKEST GREENS ENCOUNTERED DURING MY 20 YEARS OF PLAYING THE GAME, MANY BLIND SHOTS, A REAL TOUGH TEST OF GOLF (AND THE WIND WAS ONLY GENTLE) IN THE WIND PROBABLY UNPLAYABLE FOR US MERE MID HANDICAPPERS !!!!

With my new rifel shafts from Calloway and thanks to Titlists faboulous new pro v 1 golf balls I turned this course in to a sea side pitch and putt.

The seventeenth is an awesome par four golf hole and not one I will forget. At 445 yards you've got to be thinking distance off the tee. I unleashed a driver aimed left to take advantage of the sloping fairway. This left about 162 to the front - perfect for a gentle six iron up the slope. Aimed a bit left, it pitched and got some counter spin to leave a gimme putt.

Played my A game - was thinking about red figures all the way round.

Played on Peto's Pro Tour and took him apart. He will need his AA game to compete here tomorrow.