Woodhall Spa, The Hotchkin

Colonel Stafford Vere Hotchkin came home from the First World War, took over the club, and spent the 1920s rebuilding the course himself. He was an architect in his own right, and he laid seventeen new greens, keeping only the sixth. He had given the club its land in the first place: in 1902 he handed over ground off Horncastle Road so it could have a full eighteen. Harry Vardon designed that course, and it opened on 30 June 1905 with an exhibition match between Vardon, James Braid and J.H. Taylor. Harry Colt redesigned it between 1911 and 1914. Golf had started here in 1890 on nine holes, and the club followed the year after. His son sold the club to the English Golf Union in 1995.

The Hotchkin is heathland on sand — heather, birch, pine — and Natural England has designated it a Site of Special Scientific Interest. What players remember is the bunkering. The pits guarding the fourth and twelfth greens are deep enough that the way out is often sideways. Tom Weiskopf, brought here by Tony Jacklin, said he still borrows from the place when he designs: the fold of the land, the bunkers, the way you can always see the top of the flagstick. Tom Doak completed a renovation in 2019. From the blue tees the course is 7,024 yards, par 73, slope 152. Jacklin never broke 70 on it.