Hole 1.The course starts at Forgegate. Self-explanatory (the gateway to the course) this is a 525 yard hole. It is pretty stiff one. It is true there is some room to operate from the tee but there may well be trouble for the second shot if it is not hit correctly, as there is a typical Taylor cross bunker waiting for the miss-hit. To the low handicap golfer it is a good five - for the "rabbit" who has first hole nerves, it could be just about anything!
Hole 2. The second is named Sussex Weed, so called after the oak trees, which were in abundance at the time of the iron industry's hey-day. The wood of the oak was used for charcoal fuel. The 369-yard hole has an interesting right-hand dogleg and it is advisable not to take risks here. If played the orthodox way without trying to cut the corners, all should be well. If the drive is correctly placed then the next shot should achieve the high green.
Hole3. This the Bloomery. It was named after one of the first hearths in the area located at Stumbleholm Farm. A 'bloomery' is a place where malleable iron is produced directly from iron ore. Bloomery Hearth helped, with Roger Gratwick's furnace at Ifield Mill, bring Ifield fame in the world of iron production. At 395 yards, this downhill hole plays short, but the well-bunkered green makes up for this.
Hole 4 Named after Gratwick's Furnace at Ifield (see previous note) it is a short 164 yards. Although it is well bunkered, it has a biggish green and providing the ball is hit high and accurately, everything should go well.
Hole 5. In the forges, iron was wrought by using two fires - the 'finery' and the 'chafery' with the Bewbush Hammer being employed later. This, the fifth is 439 yards. But the fact that it is played uphill and there being little run on the ball, a couple of good strikes are needed to get home. The green rises up from the fairway and undoubtedly, many a shot which a player has thought to be safely home will have been found to be short.
Hole 6. Cinderbanks and 'cindexplat' (see 'cinderplat' on the scorecard) are typical placenames indicating the presence of cindex refuse from furnaces and bloomeries. This, the sixth hole is a delightful short 153 yards, played into the wood. Tee and green are high and there is much trouble in the intervening space. Still, a crisply hit tee shot should do the trick - regular players of the course maintain the greatest difficulty is underestimating the distance.
Hole 7. This is the Chafery. One of the two fires in the forge (see Hole 5). At 307 yards it is a different kettle of fish from the former hole and is one of the best on the course. The drive has to be carefully placed and the second shot to a most cunningly sited green is over a great depression which, if looked at for too long, is to court trouble! Here, a crisp pitch well up into the air is possibly the only kind of shot which will pay dividends. If the shot is miss-hit or is in any way wayward, there is a lot more trouble to be encountered around the green. This can be a nice four, a bad six - or worse!
Hole 8. Pen Pond. Remember the water-powered 'Bewbush Hammer' (Hole 5)? Well, 'pen-ponds' were constructed above the hammer ponds to conserve water for the hammers. This is another long hole - 481 yards. It has been suggested that a good wood player would be in his element on this hole; for the less accomplished golfer it could be something of a slog. But to either, it will be interesting, made so by the judicious bunkering by the architects.
Hole 9. Part of the name of this hole has been lost to all but the esoteric manuals of long ago dealing with the manufacture of iron. Shingling The Loop was the first stage in forging the 'sow-aloop' that was melted off in the finery. Presumably, this would be the stage when the impurities from iron were removed before the 'sow' was cast. This 241-yard hole is another really fine one. Like many other good holes, its chief hazard is a pond of generous dimensions just in front of the tee - a constant repository of lost balls! However, there should be no need for terror to strike; if the drive is reasonable the ball should finish close to the green and for even a moderate player, a three is definitely on.
Hole 10 Ifield Mill starts the second half which is played around the perimeter of the course and begins with an uphill blind hole which is, however pretty straight forward providing the tee-shot is kept straight. 348 yards.
Hole 11. The Pig and Sow. A 'sow' is an ingot of cast iron made by tapping the furnace into a sand mould and a 'pig' was a small 'sow' or branch, which leaked from the mother 'sow'. This is a long and testing hole at 426 yards.
Hole 12. Kilnwood is another of the self-explanatory names - it could well be likened to the 2nd. At 319 yards, the premium for this hole is on skill and particularly on placing of the drive. The hole is slightly left-hand dog-leg and consequently the best way into the green is from the right. The green, situated down in a corner of the course, has a narrow entrance and if the approach is in any form wayward , it could mean trouble.
Hole 13. A deceptively short 181 yards, Eleven Foot Pitty is named for a particularly high grade of ore. It is played uphill and players often find it difficult to get to the green and stay on it.
Hole 14. Continuing our journey around the outside of the course we now come to Stumbleholm, named after the farm which was the base for the 'Bloomery Hearth' (see Hole 3). This 416 yard hole is best described by the author of a Club handbook of yore: " We now come to the fourteenth, a most excellent two-shotter of fine quality. The tendency here is to keep too far too the right and this is not the best line. A good straight drive and a firm approach should result in a good four".
Hole 15. Cannon Royal is a long, downhill play of 464 yards. The iron industry reached its heyday between the times of Henry VIII to the middle of the 18th Century. During this fractious period iron cannon were much in demand and so was born the 'Cannon Royal' This type of weapon was extremely sought after - and very effective. It was 8'6" long, 7-54" bore and fired a 74lb ball. With this hole being played downhill and with the trees ever looming, grapeshot could well be a wise addition to the golfer's bag!
Hole 16. This hole, Great Cinderplat, is named after the refuse dumps from the furnaces and bloomeries (see Hole 6). Its name belies its character. At 407 yards, it is a splendid hole which, under favourable conditions, can be reached in two by the long hitter. The main trouble with 'Cinderplat' is that there is considerable bunker trouble waiting around the green for those with lax concentration.
Hole 17. A Finery, the name for this hole, is a hearth for converting cast iron into wrought iron. As with many of the better courses, Ifield has a short hole for its seventeenth. At 172 yards it is arguably the least difficult of all the short holes on the course. However, it requires a neat shot from the tee as the green is surrounded by hazards of nearly every kind.
Hole 18. "I have a dream", said Sir Thomas Drughorn, father of Ifield Golf and Country Club, when speaking of establishing the facility. So must have echoed a good many golfers playing off this, the second longest hole (523 yards) on the course, to wit: "that I reach the pin in five!" To compensate for the shortness of the seventeenth, this is a long hole and needs a good couple of hits before boundaries of the green are reached.
Hole 19. Otherwise known as the Clubhouse, this is a hole of renown.
