Thetford Golf Club

Thetford Golf Club: this classic tree-lined heathland course is quietly tucked-away on the edge of Thetford Forest. Expansively laid out through Scots pine, oak and birch, here you'll find a testing and enjoyable course, which can stretch to 6,800 yards from the tips.

With a layout crafted onto a sandy sub-soil base by James Braid and Philip Mackenzie Ross, the course stays playable throughout the year. Comprising three loops that play out-and-back from the clubhouse area (1 thru' 5, 6 thru' 13, and 14 thru' 18) the layout includes an absorbing mix of straightaway and doglegging holes, some with elevation change, others flatter.

Plenty of fairway-lining heather and gorse underscores Thetford's heathland credentials. Crisp, firm and dry playing conditions are what you can typically expect from this highly-regarded and excellently presented East Anglian gem.

The downhill par-3 1st gives notice that the pleasantly undulating terrain contains plenty of elevation changes, though the course is not tiring to walk. Recently refurbished sharp-edged bunkering lies in wait along the good-width fairways and especially around the greens. And beware the putting surfaces. They might look friendly enough, but contain a wealth of "hidden" slopes and borrows that will take your ball in directions hard to imagine.

Pick of the holes: the par-3 16th is hard to forget ... fronting the green is a "half-doughnut" bunker, which must be cleared to find the safety of the green.