20th June 2026 | Prince’s Course | 82 Shots | 33 Stableford Points | Coarse Handicap: 9

By Jabunong — Golf Passport UK

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Some rounds are about the score. This one was about the company.

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Before the Ball Was Struck

Our tee time was 10:05, and I gave myself a full hour before it — early enough to hit the range properly, find some rhythm with the irons, and settle in before anyone else arrived.

I needed it. The drive from Hemel Hempstead to Richmond is longer for me than my usual run to Twickenham, and somewhere along the way I caught myself doing 80 in a 70 with a speed camera van parked just off the road. I genuinely don’t know if that one’s coming through the post. Note to self: slow down, both on the road and, ironically, off the tee.

By the time I reached the range, the nerves from the drive had mostly settled. Wedges first, then irons, working up to the 3-wood. Everything felt comfortable. Which, on this particular day, turned out to matter quite a lot — because the driver wasn’t making the trip.

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The Driver Stayed Home

For the first time this year, I left the driver out of the bag entirely and made room for an extra club instead. 3-wood, 5-wood, 4-hybrid, 3-hybrid — that was the long game for the day.

After what the driver did to me at Redbourn a few weeks back, this wasn’t really a tough decision. It was simply the lesson finally landing. Off almost every tee on Prince’s, the 3-wood did exactly what I needed it to do — long, straight, and out of the way of trouble. Tee to green, this was one of the cleanest rounds I’ve played in a long time. The only shot I’d genuinely take back from the full swing was a duffed tee shot on the 2nd — a par 3 where I caught the turf before the ball and it barely moved. Everything else from the tee and through the fairway was about as good as I play.

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The Company

I played with Mutsa, my regular partner for most of my rounds, along with Pastor Sam from Equippers Church West London and Sean, who also worships at Equippers. Jack joined us for the first nine holes before heading off.

For Pastor Sam and Sean, this looked like one of their first proper rounds in a long while — and for Sean specifically, someone still learning the game, what looked like a frustrating day from the outside was still 18 holes completed with genuinely good company throughout. I appreciated having all three of them out there. This is one of the things I love most about golf — you can build real, lasting connections through it, regardless of where everyone’s game happens to be on any given day.

We split into a team match — Mutsa and Pastor Sam in red, myself and Sean in blue. Credit where it’s due: the red team beat us 3&2. Kudos to them.

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Individual Highlights

A few moments worth recording beyond my own scorecard.

On the par 3 4th — an uphill hole — all four of us hit good shots onto the green. Sean’s was the closest to the pin, and for someone fairly new to the game, that was genuinely the highlight of his day.

Pastor Sam made the only birdie among the four of us, on the 16th — a clean tee shot onto the green followed by a putt that dropped for a 3 on the par 3.

And Mutsa, on the 17th, found the bunker just next to the hole, came out of the sand a little short, and then rolled in a 30-foot putt left to right to save his par anyway. That’s the kind of recovery that makes a round worth remembering even when the tee shot didn’t go to plan.

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The Round, Hole-by-Hole

Front Nine

Hole 1 (Par 4, Hdcp 11) — 6
3-wood off the tee at 207 yards, pitching wedge to 122 yards out, found the green — but the pin was tucked at the back and the green was lightning fast. Four putts. This is exactly where I lost the round: not from the tee, not from the approach, but from the green. A rough start that had nothing to do with the driver staying in the bag.

Hole 2 (Par 3, Hdcp 13) — 4
The one mis-hit of the day from a full swing. 8-iron from 89 yards, but I caught the turf before the ball and it barely moved. Recovered with a lob wedge to 37 yards, two putts from there. Bogey, and the only hole all day where the strike let me down rather than the read on the green.

Hole 3 (Par 4, Hdcp 7) — 4
3-wood out to 206 yards, pitching wedge to 117 yards, two putts. Clean, simple, exactly the kind of hole the 3-wood strategy was built for. Par.

Hole 4 (Par 3, Hdcp 15) — 3
The uphill par 3 where everyone in the group hit a good shot. 9-iron from 121 yards landed well, two putts to finish. Par — and the hole Sean will remember from his day, even though it was my card I was filling in.

Hole 5 (Par 4, Hdcp 5) — 4
3-wood to 217 yards, 8-iron to 132 yards, lob wedge to 28 yards, one putt. Par, and a strong response after the four-putt disaster on the 1st.

Hole 6 (Par 4, Hdcp 9) — 4
3-wood to 189 yards, 9-iron to 128 yards, two putts. Routine par — no drama, no heroics, exactly the kind of hole you want when you’re trying to settle into a round.

Hole 7 (Par 4, Hdcp 1) — 5
The hardest hole on the course. 3-wood to 214 yards, 3-hybrid to 198 yards, three putts on the green to finish. The tee shot and approach were both excellent — this one was lost entirely on the green, where the pace just wasn’t there yet.

Hole 8 (Par 4, Hdcp 3) — 5
3-wood to 189 yards, 5-wood to 201 yards, three putts again. Bogey on another hole where the long game did its job and the putter let the round slip slightly.

Hole 9 (Par 5, Hdcp 17) — 5
3-wood off the tee to 202 yards, another 3-wood to 221 yards, lob wedge to 28 yards, two putts. Bogey to close the front, but a controlled one on the only par 5 on this nine.

Front Nine: 41 shots — 18 Stableford points

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Back Nine

Hole 10 (Par 4, Hdcp 2) — 6
3-wood to 193 yards, 5-wood to 178 yards, sand wedge to 37 yards, three putts. Double bogey on the hardest-rated hole on the back nine — the long game held up, but three putts on a tricky green did the damage.

Hole 11 (Par 3, Hdcp 18) — 5
6-iron to 125 yards, sand wedge to 38 yards, two putts from 25 feet and 4 feet. A scrappy bogey on the easiest-rated hole on the course — a reminder that stroke index doesn’t always predict where the shots actually go.

Hole 12 (Par 4, Hdcp 10) — 4
3-wood to 249 yards — one of the best strikes of the day — followed by a lob wedge to 58 yards and two putts. Clean par.

Hole 13 (Par 3, Hdcp 4) — 4
5-wood to 219 yards, lob wedge to 27 yards, two putts. Bogey on a long, demanding par 3.

Hole 14 (Par 4, Hdcp 16) — 4
3-wood to 171 yards, gap wedge to 70 yards, two putts. Routine par on one of the more forgiving holes on the back nine.

Hole 15 (Par 4, Hdcp 8) — 5
3-wood to 268 yards — the longest drive of the day — lob wedge to 29 yards, two putts. Bogey despite arguably the best tee shot of the round; the putting let this one slip from what should have been a great par chance.

Hole 16 (Par 3, Hdcp 14) — 4
Gap wedge to 97 yards, sand wedge to 19 yards, one putt from 4 feet. Par on the hole where Pastor Sam made his birdie — a good hole all round for the group.

Hole 17 (Par 4, Hdcp 12) — 4
3-wood to 229 yards, pitch to 15 yards, lob wedge to 27 yards, single putt. Par — and the hole where Mutsa’s bunker save and 30-footer became the story of the day for everyone but me.

Hole 18 (Par 4, Hdcp 6) — 5
6-iron to 157 yards, gap wedge to 91 yards, pitch to 11 yards, two putts. Bogey to close out a genuinely enjoyable round.

Back Nine: 41 shots — 15 Stableford points

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What You Need to Know About the Greens

Here’s the lesson from this round, and it has nothing to do with the driver decision — that part worked perfectly.

The greens at Prince’s were running properly fast on the day we played, and I lost more shots to the putter than to anything off the tee. A four-putt on the 1st. Three putts on the 7th and the 8th. Three again on the 10th. That’s nine extra shots across four holes, almost entirely down to pace rather than line.

The lesson is simple: on fast greens, tentative putting is the enemy. If you hit the ball the way you’re meant to, it rolls the distance you intend. Hesitate, and it stops short, leaving you with exactly the kind of second putt that turns a par into a bogey or a bogey into worse. I knew this in theory before the round. I relearned it properly somewhere around the 8th green.

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Final Thoughts

This was a good round of golf, and more importantly, a good day on the course.

Tee to green, I had very little to complain about — the driver stayed in the bag, the 3-wood did everything I asked of it, and the only mis-hit of the day was a single duffed iron on the 2nd. The putting is where this round was actually won or lost, and on a green running as fast as Prince’s was on the day, I paid for every moment of hesitation.

But the real value of the day wasn’t in my own card. It was watching Sean’s best shot of the day land close on the 4th, watching Pastor Sam celebrate his birdie on the 16th, and watching Mutsa save an impossible par on the 17th with a putt that had no business going in. Mutsa and Pastor Sam beat Sean and me 3&2 in the match, and I wouldn’t have it any other way — that’s a rematch worth arranging.

The weather was warm enough that the jumper came off early and stayed off. Good condition, good company, and a genuine reminder that not every great round of golf needs to be about the number on the card.

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Total shots	82
Stableford points	33
Front nine	41 (18 pts)
Back nine	41 (15 pts)
Playing handicap	9
Overall rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Play again?	Without question — and next time, with the same four.

Richmond Park Golf Course — Prince’s Course, Richmond, London. Two courses on site alongside Duke’s. Booking: richmondparkgolf.co.uk

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Jabunong — Golf Passport UK
Game 3 of 2026 · Richmond Park, Prince’s Course · 20th June · The driver stayed home. It was the right call.

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You might also like:

• Richmond Park Golf Club — Duke’s Course Review
• First Round 2026 — Richmond Park Golf Course (Duke’s)
• Round 2, 2026 — Redbourn Golf Club Round Recap

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