Having the option to play nine holes has become increasingly popular among experienced players with limited time and those just starting out. Here are three courses which have a lot to offer golfers of all ages and abilities…
South Bradford
Founded in 1906, today South Bradford Golf Club is located on the outskirts of the city, just a stone’s throw from Odsal Stadium – home of the Bradford Bulls.
Golf has been played at the current layout since 1917 and the picturesque setting on the hillside with its tree-lined fairways will challenge players of all abilities. Today the layout measures 3,038 yards from the back tees and it is no pushover with the terrain, penal bunkers and trees all working together to challenges players from tee to green. While the yellow tee layout offers nine tee boxes, and the white tee layout has 11 tees (two on holes five and nine), the red and blue tee layout (5,449 yards) offers different teeing grounds for the first and second nines. The tight greens are the primary challenge here, while each par three is a delight to play.
Scalm Park Leisure
You’ll find far more to enjoy than just the golf course and 16-bay floodlit driving range at Scalm Park, just west of Selby on a sprawling 50-hectare site adjacent to Forestry England’s Bishop Wood.
Like many modern golf courses and clubs in Yorkshire, Scalm Park’s roots go back to the 1990s agricultural revolution – when working farmers were incentivised to broaden how they used their land.
The Lamb farming family first experimented with a driving range, then developed the first nine-hole golf course here. They subsequently expanded and created a second nine – giving golfers the opportunity to play one or both loops when they visit and take on the mix of fun short holes and challenging, tree-lined par fours and par fives. The golf offering sits comfortably within a full-scope leisure facility – with three coarse fishing lakes in and around the fairways as well as a foot golf course and friendly clubhouse. The Lambs, who still run a working farm, also offer a range of opportunities to stay at Scalm Park – from holiday homes which are open 12 months of the year to seasonal pitches and glamping pods.
Midgley Lodge
Set in a picturesque rural landscape just south of Wakefield, Midgley Lodge Motel and Golf Course is a perfect place to stop for nine holes given its location – just five minutes from junctions 38 and 39 of the M1, 15 minutes from Leeds or Huddersfield, and 10 minutes from Wakefield or Barnsley.
Opened in May 2006 as a purpose-built nine-hole course attached to the four-star motel and Fairways Bar, the layout has six par fours – one of which stretches to more than 420 yards – and three par threes. It measures 2,659 yards from the white tees and is sure to test players of all abilities with its mix of fun wedge shots and tricky long approaches, including at the long par four fifth and ninth holes. Off the course, you’ll find a warm welcome here every time you visit. For those staying over, the guest rooms are spacious and equipped with complimentary wifi, satellite TV, and private bathrooms.
