Before you come for a stroll with me around our 220 acre course you will no doubt want to see the card. Here it is. Your outward journey is 3,632 yards with a par of 38 made up of three 5’s, five 4’s and one 3 shctter. Coming in 3,340 yards par 35 with two long holes, three short and the rest par 4’s. Somewhat imbalanced you say. Perhaps yes but our course architects have always striven to retain its old character of narrow scrub and tree-lined fairways with dense undergrowth and, any large scale reconstruction would rob the surroundings of their natural beauty. A paradise in the heart of a teeming city. For those of you who thirst after statistical knowledge, the course record is held by Graham Marsh, the Australian, who in the first and second rounds of the 1971 Open paved his way to victory with two consecutive 66’s – a fantastic seven under part on a none-too-easy course.
Now let’s walk out of the dressing room, through the car park and onto the 1st tee. A long one with no sign of the green which is dog-legged to the left. 527 yards in length, you are tempted to cut a corner like a La Mans driver, any misjudgment and dense rough is your fate. The Green is long and slim and demands accuracy. The 2nd is intriguing, if you take the tiger line you have a long carry over some grasping trees but then an easy shot to a sporting green – freshly laid; some parts fast, some not so. Over another clump of trees on the 394 yards and this becomes one of the easier one if you have hit a longish drive, otherwise a brace of trees stand like Gog and Magog guarding the entrance to a banked up green on which three putts is not uncommon.
The 5th is a spectacular, long hole with traps so statistically located that you will be lucky if you do not have to play either your second or third, or worse both, from out of the soft and clinging embrace of the Jumna sand. When finally you get on the green, somewhat worn, you find gentle ripple all over, created possibly by the mirth of a ghastly guardian who slumbers in the tomb above you. Heigh-ho – another three putts. The 6th is one of those chorus-girl waist fairways. Even if you keep along the straight and narrow you are required to play a blind second because of a ridge that screens the green. Here again a tricky putting surface will exact it toll. Much depends here on the Fickle Maid. A wolf in tiger’s clothing once described the 7th as a drive and a kick. It is, if you are of the Nicklaus family, but beware of the cavernous bunker which guards the entrance to the pin. Once in it, and you may well ruin your card coming out. Possibly the most imposing monument on the course, the Barah Khamba umbrellas the 8th tee – this is a short one but usually the wind is against you and if you dodge the many protective bunkers you find yourself on another tricky putting surface. The 498 yard 9th is the pro’s delight and many of them reach the crafty keyhole green with their second shot. If the pin is placed at the back you putt up two tiers which normally call for a few more (tears). The 4th tee is dominated by a noble edifice no doubt the last resting place of some Lodhi warrior and here your skill meets a real test. Should your drive not be hit just so, if drifts to the right down a sloping fairway and the 412 yarder suddenly assumes much longer proportions. Should you slice, your troubles have started and you might well wish yourself keeping company with the gentlemen whose resting place you have just left.
Source: http://www.delhigolfclub.org/