Played by NCG: Bingley St Ives Golf Club

Reason for a Bingley St Ives Golf Club review

Always love playing new courses and had heard Bingley St Ives is a good test, designed by James Braid.

Where is Bingley St Ives?:

Bingley St Ives, or St Ives Estate is a 550-acre country park and former estate between Bingley and Harden in West Yorkshire, 16 miles from Leeds.

What to expect:

It ticks a lot of the boxes; an easy start with birdie chances and wide landing areas for the driver in a parkland-style layout. Then on the 4th you move in to the woodland part of the course with a pretty par 3’s and tight tree-lined holes requiring straight drives.

You reach the 10th hole at the top of the course and it opens out into heathland, and in my opinion, the best stretch of holes 11-15. These holes are as good as they come and wouldn’t look out of place at Alwoodley or Moortown as they require ball-striking of precision and length.

Coming off the drivable 15th you come back out of the woodland to play the final parkland holes closing with a par-3 downhill outside the clubhouse.

My best bit:

Walking down the fairway on 11 and looking across to your left at a striking landscape of 3 heathland holes bordered by woodland.

What to look out for:

Although drivable, be wary of the out of bounds right on the first, as all the fairway kicks your ball right to the danger.

When I go back:

One of the best tee shots is the Woburn-esq tree-lined 8th hole. The tee pushes you down the left half but in fact the fairway opens up more than you think to the right.

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