The uniqueness of the Ripon City course is that it is almost two courses in one. The old nine-hole course opened in 1908 moved to eighteen in 1993.
Starting the round on the original ‘old nine’ of undulating parkland and mature trees, golfers are met with some challenging fairways and many interesting features to negotiate including well positioned bunkers and water hazards. Accuracy is required and club selection sometimes means that discretion, rather than power will keep bogeys at bay. The spectacular par three holes at five and seven make for very satisfying pars. The slick, and sloping greens hide unseen borrows to test the putter too. The view from the tee at the fourth to its elevated green is as magnificent as those from the seventh over Ripon Minster and from the sixth green to the moors.
From the dogleg tenth starting the back nine, the golfing experience changes to more open parkland and longer holes where the driver is the club that can make the most difference. After the long par four eleventh and a satisfying approach to the par five thirteenth, the signature hole at fourteen, overlooked by the clubhouse bar, brings a fountained pond into play. Birdie opportunities are firmly on offer on fifteen and sixteen before the ‘risk / reward’ ninety-degree dogleg seventeenth. Then its down the last for the end of one of the best golf experiences in the county of North Yorkshire and a well-deserved visit to the welcoming nineteenth hole.
Scorecard
Course Layout
Hole by Hole