THERE are some things in golf that I hate including my swing, Davis Love III and slow four-balls eking their way round a course.

But what I do love is to play a new course for the first time because a change from my normal course is refreshing and secondly it is a test of my golfing ability (or to be more precise, lack of it).

For that reason I leapt at the chance to play The Abbey Hotel Golf and Country Club, which is a fairly tight, parkland course set in 175 acres on the outskirts of Redditch.

The par 72 course has some interesting holes, and new water features have helped to shape and define the course, putting the emphasis on accuracy as I discovered to my cost.

Its three par threes are particularly testing with an extra lake by the 11th sure to concentrate the mind on the tee.

The third hole is the first of the par threes with a lake in front, split-level green and bunkers to the side.

Toss in a swirling wind and club selection becomes vital.

The fifth hole is stroke index one and is a 421 par 4 which needs a long drive and accurate second shot.

Overall the front nine is slightly easier than the back nine, which has some tough holes including the 424 uphill par four, 13th.

Work is ongoing to reshape the course but managing director, Mark Blake, who has overseen more than £250,000 of improvements on the course to date, aims to bring a Midland PGA event to the club in the not too distant future.

Holes 15,16,17, at stroke indexes 6,4,9 are potential card wreckers with a new tee at the 17th particularly impressive.

The course is coming on in leaps and bounds and with its premium on accuracy is a stiff test of golfers both off the tee and to the green.

Finally there is superb finishing hole, which lies in an amphitheatre flanked by water.

It puts players in the spotlight on the last hole but also gives golfers who have completed their rounds that wonderful feeling of being able to sit, with pint in hand, and watch the inevitable triumphs and disasters that are a amateur golfers lot.

Unfortunately time commitments curtailed my efforts on the 18th but I shall be back to run the gauntlet of the assembled gallery.

Anyone interested in playing the Abbey Hotel Golf and Country Club can call 01527-63918.