RESTORE (where possible), RETAIN (where possible) & RESPECT (at all times) the Architect's strategy & its historic relevance
At the turn of the last century James Braid laid out Orsett Golf Club in Essex and it may well have been one of his finest achievements in his illustrious career.
OGC is a truly remarkable golf course full of great architectural featuring and aesthetics to admire. Technically, the golf course performs excellently all year round. It is built upon a huge gravel pit in an area of extensive quarry activity so we never have to worry about drainage. Interestingly, I don’t think you can pigeon hole exactly what the course designation is as there seems to be areas of heath, mature parkland and the openness of a down land. You would even be forgiven for thinking that you were playing a links at times without the sandy soils as the firm and fast conditions of the opening holes are synonymous of any seaside course. Location wise, the course has close links to London, within touching distance of the M25 and the mighty River Thames and all this in a county stigmatised with poor soil conditions and rarely praised for classic golf course design. For my money we have a one of the true hidden gems of the South East of England.
The 2nd Hole, Before & After. We Restored (where possible), retained and respected James Braid and we hope he was watching. We kept one eye on the ongoing maintenance for the top line of all the bunkers for Perry Lowe (CM).
The golf course today is made up of sum 97 bunkers, reduced from 106 over the last few years following various Club interventions. Despite the fact that many of the originals are now in the wrong places off the tee, they are certainly the strength behind the challenge. The original heathland layout would of demanded defence mechanisms in the way of strategic bunkering for protecting par and it was indeed no surprise for us to see original staggered ‘stepping-stone’ bunkering along the length of many of the long holes (1, 5, 7, 11, and 17) and the protective frontal bunkering around the short holes (4, 8, and 12 and 15 heavily bunkered to the right).
The famous Braid Cross bunkering is still evident on the par 5, 11th and in reality is grossly out of position for today’s better player but few would argue that their imposing sight at the brow of the hill is one which Braid would have instantly favoured and retained. To remove them would be like removing golfing DNA.
Future Phase: Typical bunker wear & tear
The par 3, 12th, and arguably one of the finest short holes in this part of the Country was not left alone and has been diluted in appearance. On arrival at the tee, this golfing amphitheatre is an area of outstanding natural beauty and a golfing space to behold. This space was born to house a truly world class short hole with imposing fortress bunkering to match the intense surrounds and will return to former glories once more, we have no doubt.
AS it was - the glorious 12th and possibly the best inland par 3 green site in Great Britain.
As the surrounds vegetation matured behind greens such as the 12th and the implementation of trees between holes established, the hole corridors have gradually taken on a new visual aesthetic being one of containment. In addition to this, there has been great success with ground level planting such as gorse and various other indigenous plants to enhance the visual transition from fairway to trees. This may be one of the most impressive elements of OGC, namely the sudden dive into great golfing cauldrons such as the 6th, 12th and 13th holes. The course is certainly not so reliant on the bunkering anymore and incredibly the course still does not encourage thick rough to penalise the wayward shot.
Even with more confined golf holes where adjacent views have gradually reduced, Orsett will never be a tight course and nor should it want to be. We must work hard to retain the heart and soul of the original design theory and applaud the routing which sends us on a truly fabulous journey through these flatlands. The width is still there if you look closely enough, and you can take advantage of the width if you are good enough but by doing so, you will achieve superior advantage to your approach angle and will be rewarded for your tee shot courage. As the fairways gradually encroach many of the bunkers to the sides are becoming surplus to requirement though and they do need repositioning. This will never mean wholesale movement into completely different areas, but more in line with how Braid would have wanted the golfer to think and retain the designed strategy off the tee. What we must do is protect against future decisions to remove instead of considered replacement.
The most sensible way to protect, retain and restore your golfing asset for the future is to carefully research what makes the course and club so special. At Orsett, it is clear to everyone who visits that you are playing a special golf course, with outstanding golf holes and balanced bunkering of the highest order. This in itself deserves respect. The Club took the wise decision to revaluate their approach 6-years into a bunker renovation project which have seen various types of materials used such as liners, surrounds grasses and sand types. A simple health check report in the form of an extensive photographic record of every hole was tabled and the comparisons were there for everyone to see. By viewing the holes holistically, with honest commentary in their past and present context, resulted in a new phase of works to return the bunkering once again to their former glories.
A new era has indeed started in 2012 for Orsett Golf Club by restoring, retaining and respecting 114 years of architectural brilliance. We have now completed 4 phases in total with the first two under the expert of eye of Don Clark (2012-2013) and more recently Perry Lowe (2014-2016).
This is now the only agenda for the foreseeable future.
