The Course

The course, which sits in area of outstanding natural beauty, its fairways flanked by gorse, heather and trees, has managed to resist the potential advantage created by modern technology. At 6,587 yards in length off the white tees, the course should be at the mercy of golfers who are equipped with distance measuring devices and armed with finely-engineered clubs, that are capable of dispatching golf balls massive distances.

But surprisingly scores in the Berkhamsted Trophy over the past two decades remain unchanged. All of which goes to show that a course modest in length and bunker-free presents a substantial challenge to the very best amateurs, never mind the rest of us.

That the course is bunker-free also suggests it is favourable to some spectacular scoring but the grassy mounds that are in situ where one would expect to find sand traps present a different and tricky set of challenges. The absence of bunkers is in line with the club's policy of rejecting man-made hazards, but mother nature more than compensates.