The beginning of summer has come as a welcome relief at Arabella after a stormy winter of persistent rain and strong winds. Underfoot conditions were so wet that golf carts weren’t allowed on the course for nearly three consecutive months. Most holes don’t have cart paths once you leave the teeing areas, although a new cart path is being built at No 13 around the left of the fairway to avoid problems on this par 5. The course has quickly returned to its excellent conditioning, and improved general playability is a feature of this layout. The Slope for men off the yellow and white tees is 127 and 120 which is relatively low for a championship layout. A set of new tees at the fourth has provided a different dimension to this testing par 4 (the old ones are still there), and I like the way the canopies of trees have been raised, and undergrowth removed, so that you can see through to other holes.