Abridge Golf and Country club

[Adjani]

Anyone have any knowledge of this course in Essex,
i understand it has very good practice facilities, which i am mainly interested in;
just wondered if anyone here on the forum had played it, experienced it or had any knowledge of it, many thanks

 

[Vincent]

Hi Adjani,
I've driven past it a couple of times, but have never played it.
I have had the pleasure of playing many courses in Essex however Abridge always comes across as being a very elite club which will charge me money just to park my car in their car park (probably not true though!).
Sorry I can't be of any help.

 

[Adjani]

Gonna take a drive along there soon, have a look at the facilities; i`ll let ya know how it goes

 

[Vincent]

Thanks Adjani.
Always looking at other places to play/practise if the place is good.

 

[Adjani]

Vincent, after some e-mails back and forth with Ruth Hobbs (a very nice young lady ) i popped down to Abridge, looked round the course and practice facilities, then spoke to Ruth and the club pro.

Impressions were - very nice clubhouse; sauna in the locker room, restaurant, bar, lounge and three full size snooker tables, friendly people, nice atmosphere.

Pracice areas were ok, not quite as good as i had expected;
natural turf range was good, 115 yard pitching area at the end of the range was ok, two smaller pitching holes to the left of the range were not cut short greens, just fairway type grass on the greens;

putting green seemed well kept, small chipping green was . . . . small, not a large area surrounding it to work with but usable,

Off the path, through the car park and across the 8th green was a bunker practice area, medium green with two greenside bunkers and a 25 yard pitching approach area, surrounded by trees so very leafy on the green and in the sand.

The course in an open qualifying course 2009 - 2013, seemed quite undulating, fairly challenging and well kept from the brief views i had (Ruth has offered to arrange a free round for me)

Fees - below is a snippet from one of the e-mails describing membership and fees

"We are currently offering our 7 day Membership at £99 per month, plus an additional £52 administration fee. We ask that the administration fee and the first two months be paid up front (i.e. £250) and then the further 10 months be paid by standing order, with no additional interest charges. Alternatively the full amount can be paid up front"

"For those between 26 and 40 we can offer this deal for £77.50 per month plus the administration fee, and for 5 day Membership £64.50 per month. Again we ask that the first 2 months and the administration fee be paid up front"

"The joining process is fairly straight forward, once you have filled in the relevant forms, you will be contacted by our Membership Chairman for an informal chat about joining the Club, and the once any relevant fees are paid you are able to join the Club"

Hope this helps, if you want any more details, post in here and i`ll try to answer them.

 

[Vincent]

Thanks Adjani,
It is a bit more expensive than my current club (nearly £900 pa) but by the sounds of it have better facilities. I guess the course would be of good quality and challenge too if it is a regional qualifying venue.

At almost £1200 for the privilege, I think I will carry on at my local for a while and put up with our (modest) practise facilities.

Interesting to see (if I read it right) that they offer it cheaper for "26-40 year-olds"! Hardly enticing the youngsters in!

Thanks for the feedback Adjani. Appreciate it.