A true links between the fort and the sea

Hole by hole

Local knowledge, hole by hole

Yardages are the men’s white tees from the official card. Temporary layout in effect: the 4th and 13th play shorter than the full course; the 5th and 14th play from the 13th winter tee, from a different direction.

• 1

  Outward

  Par 4 · 284 yds · SI 17

  Barely 280 yards to open, and downwind you'll fancy it. Enjoy that feeling — it's the last time the course waves you through.

  Green shared with the 10th

• 2

  Beacon

  Par 4 · 352 yds · SI 7

  A proper two-shotter, and the first time the wind gets a real vote. The green it shares with the 11th accepts nothing timid.

  Green shared with the 11th

• 3

  Fallow

  Par 4 · 398 yds · SI 1

  Stroke index one, and it's earned it: 398 yards, usually into whatever the Solent is sending. A five here loses nothing at the bar.

  Green shared with the 12th

• 4

  Gilkicker

  Par 4 · 412 yds · SI 3

  Named for the point beyond the wire. At full stretch it wants your two best blows of the day.

  Temporary layout: currently playing shorter than the full hole.

  Green shared with the 13th

• 5

  Watery Grave

  Par 4 · 288 yds · SI 11

  The name is a warning, not a joke. One of only four holes with a green of its own — and water with opinions about your line.

  Temporary layout: currently played from the 13th winter tee, from a different direction.

  A green of its own

• 6

  Watergate

  Par 3 · 193 yds · SI 13

  A long one-shotter to the green it lends the 15th — except from here it's three clubs more and usually half a gale.

  Green shared with the 15th

• 7

  Lakes

  Par 4 · 344 yds · SI 9

  The old moat water waits on your line all the way. Bail out away from it and the pitch back is no bargain either.

  Green shared with the 16th

• 8

  Solent

  Par 5 · 526 yds · SI 15

  526 yards towards the water it's named for — the longest walk on the card, to a green it shares with the 17th. Two par fives, one flag.

  Green shared with the 17th

• 9

  The Dell

  Par 3 · 157 yds · SI 5

  A par three off stroke index five, which tells you everything. Miss the green and the dell keeps what it catches.

  A green of its own

• 10

  Home Turn

  Par 4 · 278 yds · SI 16

  The turn for home, playing to the 1st's green from the opposite line. Members hate leaving this one with anything worse than four.

  Green shared with the 1st

• 11

  Longwater

  Par 4 · 308 yds · SI 12

  Same green as the 2nd, approached across the long thin water that gives the hole its name.

  Green shared with the 2nd

• 12

  Observatory

  Par 4 · 431 yds · SI 4

  At 431, the longest four on the card. Into a westerly, par here is worth telling someone about.

  Green shared with the 3rd

• 13

  Wetlands

  Par 4 · 338 yds · SI 2

  Stroke index two through the wetland ground it's named for. It has lost none of its appetite for golf balls.

  Temporary layout: currently playing shorter than the full hole.

  Green shared with the 4th

• 14

  Ponds

  Par 4 · 336 yds · SI 8

  A green of its own among the ponds — one of the four that answer to a single hole.

  Temporary layout: currently played from the 13th winter tee, from a different direction.

  A green of its own

• 15

  Railway

  Par 3 · 136 yds · SI 18

  The 6th's green from 136 yards instead of 193. The card calls it a breather; the wind reads the card too.

  Green shared with the 6th

• 16

  Spithead

  Par 4 · 341 yds · SI 6

  Aimed at the anchorage where the fleet once lay, sharing its putting surface with the 7th.

  Green shared with the 7th

• 17

  Monckton

  Par 5 · 525 yds · SI 10

  525 yards under the fort's walls to the green it shares with the 8th — the second half of the course's par-five job-share.

  Green shared with the 8th

• 18

  Lunette

  Par 3 · 163 yds · SI 14

  Named for the fort's outworks: a par-three finish to its own green, in front of the clubhouse windows. Three here and walk in like a colonel.

  A green of its own