Cleeve Hill

There was little heed paid to eliminating blind shots, but this is likely a product of minimal construction rather than a purposeful design element. There are perhaps eight blind tee shots, surely too many for any course, however, these are not overly hampered with harsh penalties for inexactitude. So, we have quarries, blind tee shots and a knowledge that things come in threes. It may sound very strange for a common land course to exhibit anything of an exceptional nature, but true it is. On several occasions it is nothing less than dreamy after cresting a brow; for the green sites are one after another, exquisitely placed. Critics write of second shot courses with great frequency, but in the case of Cleeve Cloud it is nearly as perfect a description of a course as there can be.

Whilst delving into the provenance of the course at Cleeve Hill, we enlisted the help of Melvyn Morrow Hunter, the great great grandson of Old Tom Morris, who provided a newspaper clip from the Cheltenham Chronicle dated 11th July 1891 which stated: “the course was laid out by that veteran of St Andrews, Tom Morris, who was himself enraptured with it, declaring that few golf links in the kingdom are equal to those on Cleeve Common. From the point of view of a golfer such as Mr Morris, the links ‘offer plenty of variety, and a sufficiency of difficulties and dangers’.”

David Brown, designer of another Cotswold beauty, Painswick, was engaged in 1891 to "arrange for the preparation and keeping of the greens”. Mr Brown was famous as the teacher of Queen Victoria and for winning The Open at Musselburgh, his home green, in 1886. He later became the professional for Cheltenham GC (wound up in 1935) before his departure to the United States. He would finish second in the 1903 US Open. Sadly, David Brown went bankrupt in the Wall Street crash and was deported back to Scotland where he died penniless.

The course must have been a bit rough and ready for Braid's comments after losing a match to Harry Vardon over the Cleeve Hill design in 1902 were short and sharp; "You get a great view of Cheltenham." Additional big matches were held in 1905 and 1924. The international match in 1905 featured Vardon and Taylor against Braid and Herd; all three members of The Great Triumvirate and the much loved would be fourth member, Sandy Herd. In 1924 two well-known British professionals, Abe Mitchell and George Duncan (recent winner of The Open in 1920) played a match to celebrate the opening of the newly extended course. As it happens, the 18-year-old Alf Padgham was recently hired as the Assistant Professional. Of course, Mr Padgham went on to become a premier British player, winning The Open at Royal Liverpool in 1936.

The card of the course can be deceiving due to its 6,083 total yards from the yellow tees, however, upon closer inspection we note there is only one par five, resulting in a course par of 69. Like Woodhall Spa, Cleeve Hill is a rarity among courses in that it is easier to play to one’s handicap by stepping back to the medal tees which measure 6,400 yards with a par of 71.

After two back and forth holes sharing a sloped fairway and the uphill 3rd, the world opens up on #4. Despite appearances of being wide open, this is a very testing hole with a good wind off the left. The green is severely sloped from back to front making it difficult to accurately judge the approach. It is thought The Good Doctor re-designed this hole (along with #s 5, 7 & 9) previous to WWI. There does seem to be an added touch about these greens which indicate the work of an experienced designer. The 5th introduces the golfer to the first run of quarry holes. This hole too is deceptive in how much space there is for the drive, but the aggressive play must be accurate. The sixth takes play directly over a quarry for an excellent short hole. The long and testing seventh also utilizes a quarry for its green.

Despite the many fine holes on the front nine, it in no way outshines the returning nine holes. The gently rising two-shot 12th is stern yet not as demanding as the following hole. Once again the drive is wide open and uphill. A few sand-free hollows short of the hillcrest give the golfer an indication of the line, but not what follows! Coming over the hill the entire town of Cheltenham lies in waiting. Once the spectacle of this view diminishes the ordeal of the second shot comes sharply into focus. The green rests in an iron age ring known as the Camp which runs toward Cheltenham at such a slope that success in holding this green can only be achieved with a great deal of luck.

The 14th is yet another fine hole, but we now hit a trio of holes which are of such excellence that it is a wonder Cleeve Cloud isn’t much better known. Back to back par threes, fifteen plays over a quarry and uphill sixteenth runs through a gap. A total of six strokes on these two holes will do any golfer. Not to be outdone by any of the previous quarry holes, the penultimate hole is both fascinating and perplexing. Yes, the drive is blind, nothing new there. The fairway is more an up-side-down V than a humpback. The drop down toward the mother of all quarries is sharp and without mercy. On the other hand, this downhill par four can be driven if one finds the slot and is long enough.

The 18th is a tad disappointing, but that is no slight on Cleeve Cloud. If one likes adventurous golf with lovely views, yet plenty of space to play the game, Cleeve Cloud is a must play.

Above article by Sean Arble.

Tom Doak made a point of playing Cleeve Hill in 2016 and awarded the course a rating of seven out of ten. He commented as follows in his Christmas 2017 Confidential Guide update:

“I do not often use the word “unique” in my reviews of golf courses, but Cleeve Cloud fits the bill. Laid out over the commons on top of Cleeve Hill, a thousand feet above Cheltenham, it is England’s answer to Gullane but the scale is ever more vast because there are only 18 holes to wander over it, and you are much higher up. The fairways are grazed by sheep and cattle, so you should not wear your best golf shoes [or trousers!], and undoubtedly some people will be put off by that -- or by the difficult climb at the par-4 3rd, or by the several funky blind tee shots where it hardly seems to matter where you wind up. [You would be in good company: James Braid, who played a match here against Harry Vardon in 1902, would only say afterward that “You get a great view of Cheltenham.”] But it would be a shame not to see the wonderful green sites of the 5th and 7th holes, the wild [if not very playable] 13th green which sits in between the mounded rings of an Iron Age fort, the back-to-back par-3 15th and 16th with their intimidating tee shots across ancient quarry works, or the sprawling vista from the crest of the fairway at the penultimate hole, with its green tucked in a bowl far below.

Above all, here is a chance to appreciate golf as you may never have understood it – an energizing walk over glorious open countryside, with some unique hazards to overcome along the way. And the scruffy “natural” maintenance also means that it’s incredibly cheap to play. Indeed, there are few courses remaining today that present the sport as it was originally envisioned more clearly than Cleeve Cloud.”