ADB
Journeyman Pro
I had the pleasure of playing this course last Friday 11[SUP]th[/SUP] November and thought I would write a short review about the experience. If you have never heard of this place it was formally owned as a private estate and was latterly sold off by the third Baron Brocket for insurance fraud as he was being retained at her Majesty’s pleasure.
There are two courses, The Melbourne and The Palmerston. The Melbourne is shorter, more tactical and many holes play around a large lake in front of the main house. This seemed the more popular choice of course from what I saw, maybe the members’ preference. The Palmerston is a Donald Steel design and measures over 7,000 yards from the tips, the design is classic risk/reward on many holes and it winds its way around the woodland of the estate.
What should be said is that this place oozes cash, from the electric gates to the private drive which winds its way through the estate and past what looked like amazing practice facilities. In fact my playing partners confirmed that it would cost over £1,000 to be a member at the practice facility academy only, you don’t even get a sniff of the courses for that money!
The necessary cup of coffee was had before the off – the staff all seemed friendly and it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere. The pro-shop was decently stocked and surprisingly pretty reasonable price-wise for clothing, shoes and balls.
Onto the course and we were met by the starter who was a very friendly guy, put you at ease and gave you the lie of the land. Having a practice putt the green was superb, beautifully true and even and pretty fast as well.The damp conditions and low lying mist did not deter us as we all got off the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] tee without any great difficulty – a simple par 4 of about 400 yards. Needless to say a found a bunker, the first of many, with a tug left.
Rather than a blow-by blow account of the holes, there were some that stood out. The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] is a short par 4 but is cleverly designed with some nasty bunkers in the middle of the fairway. Go left of them and the fairway narrows but it presents an easier approach, the right has bags of room, but you will have to play over a variety of equally nasty bunkers to hold on the dancefloor. Unfortunately, on the tee all we saw was mist……….
The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] is a dogleg left Par 4 which is noteworthy not only for a fantastic vista but also for my playing partner slipping 25yards down a slope on his backside with clubs trailing after him.The 11[SUP]th[/SUP] is another elevated tee with a well placed tee shot a necessity should you wish to clear a huge crater onto a heavily guarded green – a fantastic hole and a straightforward par for me…ithankyou.
Coming home there are a couple of ‘so so’ holes that run along a valley – it may be that these were just a bit boggy and therefore coloured my perception. The 18[SUP]th[/SUP] is a fine par 5 where you descend into a valley and then play blind toward a heavily guarded green with some nasty pot bunkers. A bit of local knowledge would definitely help on this one.
Finally, the quality of ‘finish’ on this course was exceptional. All the tees were like billiard tables, the bunkers held sand that even in depth and all nicely raked. The greens, wow! They were lush, true and fast even with a constant dew on the ground all day. Overall, this is a great test of golf but, with from the yellows and with minimal run on the fairways, a very fair challenge. The fact that I shot 86, did not lose a ball (unheard of!) tells a story that this courses teeth were not particularly sharp on this occasion. The weather took the edge off the experience as the low lying mist never lifted leaving some shots where we were just playing ‘blind’.
However, I have been promised a return visit in Spring/ Summer and I must say I am quite excited – a good sign I would say as I believe the experience will be enhanced with previous knowledge of the course and better weather.
There are two courses, The Melbourne and The Palmerston. The Melbourne is shorter, more tactical and many holes play around a large lake in front of the main house. This seemed the more popular choice of course from what I saw, maybe the members’ preference. The Palmerston is a Donald Steel design and measures over 7,000 yards from the tips, the design is classic risk/reward on many holes and it winds its way around the woodland of the estate.
What should be said is that this place oozes cash, from the electric gates to the private drive which winds its way through the estate and past what looked like amazing practice facilities. In fact my playing partners confirmed that it would cost over £1,000 to be a member at the practice facility academy only, you don’t even get a sniff of the courses for that money!
The necessary cup of coffee was had before the off – the staff all seemed friendly and it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere. The pro-shop was decently stocked and surprisingly pretty reasonable price-wise for clothing, shoes and balls.
Onto the course and we were met by the starter who was a very friendly guy, put you at ease and gave you the lie of the land. Having a practice putt the green was superb, beautifully true and even and pretty fast as well.The damp conditions and low lying mist did not deter us as we all got off the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] tee without any great difficulty – a simple par 4 of about 400 yards. Needless to say a found a bunker, the first of many, with a tug left.
Rather than a blow-by blow account of the holes, there were some that stood out. The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] is a short par 4 but is cleverly designed with some nasty bunkers in the middle of the fairway. Go left of them and the fairway narrows but it presents an easier approach, the right has bags of room, but you will have to play over a variety of equally nasty bunkers to hold on the dancefloor. Unfortunately, on the tee all we saw was mist……….
The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] is a dogleg left Par 4 which is noteworthy not only for a fantastic vista but also for my playing partner slipping 25yards down a slope on his backside with clubs trailing after him.The 11[SUP]th[/SUP] is another elevated tee with a well placed tee shot a necessity should you wish to clear a huge crater onto a heavily guarded green – a fantastic hole and a straightforward par for me…ithankyou.
Coming home there are a couple of ‘so so’ holes that run along a valley – it may be that these were just a bit boggy and therefore coloured my perception. The 18[SUP]th[/SUP] is a fine par 5 where you descend into a valley and then play blind toward a heavily guarded green with some nasty pot bunkers. A bit of local knowledge would definitely help on this one.
Finally, the quality of ‘finish’ on this course was exceptional. All the tees were like billiard tables, the bunkers held sand that even in depth and all nicely raked. The greens, wow! They were lush, true and fast even with a constant dew on the ground all day. Overall, this is a great test of golf but, with from the yellows and with minimal run on the fairways, a very fair challenge. The fact that I shot 86, did not lose a ball (unheard of!) tells a story that this courses teeth were not particularly sharp on this occasion. The weather took the edge off the experience as the low lying mist never lifted leaving some shots where we were just playing ‘blind’.
However, I have been promised a return visit in Spring/ Summer and I must say I am quite excited – a good sign I would say as I believe the experience will be enhanced with previous knowledge of the course and better weather.
