It’s a pity such an ideal championship venue hasn’t seen more action in recent years, but pro golf’s loss is the Terrey Hillsmembers’ gain. The past four years have seen the club fortify its golf course, bringing the layout into the 21st century with modern length to stretch it within a pace of 6,500 metres from the back markers or 6,621 metres when five new ‘Tiger’ tees are in play at holes 2, 5, 10, 11 and 17. The club resurfaced all greens and green surrounds three winters ago, changing the putting surfaces from the original 1020 series bentgrass to an A1/A4 blend and the surrounds to Santa Ana couch. Prior to that the greenside bunkers were reshaped and rebuilt, returning them to the original design by removing the turf faces and instead using the sandy faces to heighten the visual impact. A similar renovation of all the fairway bunkers is next on the club’s golf course upgrade agenda.

The layout enjoys great balance. Its green complexes are familiar yet there’s an appropriate mix of bunkers, greenside water, humps, hollows and other pitfalls. The front nine is less open than the back but otherwise there is no sense of either side being longer, tougher or overtly different from the other. The best holes are also shared between the two halves.