Manchester Golf Club at Hopwood Park, presents a very pleasant mix of parkland and moorland golf, set in some 240 acres of rolling countryside between Manchester and Rochdale. It presents a thorough challenge to the low handicap golfer, yet the yellow course, at 6,235 yards, also offers a choice to suit golfers of all handicap levels. The layout occupies a ridge of wild and rugged moorland, the sort of environment one expects to find in the Lake District or Yorkshire Dales, rather than a few miles from the Cotton capital of England. The rolling plateau, broken up by woods of sycamore and birch, and crossed by a wide irregular ravine with a brook winding through the bottom of it, makes for scenic and testing golfing terrain. Many smaller gullies and other features contribute to the adventurous quality of some of the holes. The wild hitter will often discover some real 'tiger country', with long grassy rough, bracken and bushes all potentially in play. Three holes of around 500 yards and three more of 450-470 yards should be enough to satisfy most big hitters, but big hitting by itself will not earn low scores at Manchester. On this often boldly undulating layout, course management and careful shot placement is also at a premium.