CHRIS HUNT’S PHOTO OF THE WEEK

I felt a strong inner call for soul purification this week, and in that vain, what course would spring to mind ahead of the overtly honest and aged Mildenhall, that famous 9-hole sandy flatland in Middle Earth England that was originally staked in the late 19th century.  So it is in a field, and yes, the Cambridge folks golf their balls thereabouts, but what an amazing assortment of holes in such close proximity, with each subtle feature on the forty acre plot maximized and in play from multiple holes.  The intelligentsia characterize the layout as one of the finest half-courses on the planet, and the 5th hole opitimizes why—a devilish 8-iron or knock down 6, with the narrow, firm terrace of a green dually flanked by significant hollows ready to deflect one’s ball and subsequent epithets with equal aplomb.  For modern day shock value, the hole still plays as originally routed, that is directly over the 4th geen and crossing the 6th hole at the approach to boot. The greens are a close knit group and broadly sloping, and the bunkers seem perfectly deep with faces always slightly harsher than one would hope–defense for the course without militancy.  The fashionable architects of our day will never muster the marbles to attempt such a course today, and so RW & M remains a singular treat to those who venture off of the beaten golfing paths for a visit.  The simplicity of the land also makes the self-respecting, optimistic armchair architects among us believe that our banal back-yards might yield a quirky golfing masterpiece, if we were only given the chance to complete the conversion.  For that and all the rest, we must raise a glass to Mildenhall and laud its continued preservation.