Another Texas Scramble, this time a four man team, which will include myself, my nephew, his friend Billy and David Walker. Forecast is good so we should have a laugh. We arrived nice and early, weather as predicted, blue skies, sunshine and a light breeze. The course was in excellent condition, although we were unable to take advantage of the birdie chances, until Dave’s fine three wood second shot at the par five fourth gave us two putts for our first birdie. Unfortunately my playing partners all missed the par three fifth and we made a bogey four. (As we used my tee shot at the par three second, my tee shot at this par three did not count.) Pars at the next four holes saw us out in 36, level par. The inward half improved after a two putt par at the tenth with a tap in birdie four at the eleventh after my pitch hit the pin but failed to drop. The twelfth, a short par four guarded by water, saw us make another birdie here. At the thirteenth, only my nephew Billy and Dave’s tee shots counted, but we scrambled a par three from a difficult lie. We parred the next five holes with the only excitement being at the par three fifteenth when my nephew’s tee shot would count. Only one hundred and twenty five yards, but with a ditch, overhanging trees and a twenty two handicap, it was not going to be easy. He did however make good use of at least two trees before landing his ball on the green. Two putts later and we had an easy par. The final hole was also my final tee shot and I hit it, thankfully, straight down the middle. My shot to the green was the nearest and Billy Forsyth rolled it in for a final birdie three and an inward 32, three under par. Once again our final score of 62.8 never looked like making the prize list but it was a most enjoyable day. The food was reasonable with a varied selection and the clubhouse was clean and well presented.

If you haven’t played Harburn then you are missing out. This is another course that will please all ranges of handicaps, with a good mix of long and short par three’s and par four’s. The course is fairly flat with water and trees coming into play depending on the line of your tee shot. The greens were good with lots of subtle breaks, and they will become even better, so get on the web site and book your game a.s.a.p. you will not regret it.