Paul_Stewart
Tour Rookie
Just off the A3 not far from Kingston and home to the likes of Tarby, Brucie, Ronnie and other showbiz celebs.
It's a great 6,400 yard par 71 layout but its very nature means they don't want your usual golfers thank you very much. You can ask but you're not coming in.
I'm playing there next week in the Surrey Amateur Championships and had a heck of a job getting a discounted green fee round there late one evening. It makes you wonder why they would even hold a big county event there but still, on with the course review.
It's up and down like the Assyrian Empire to quote Monty Python but what a great layout. Tree-lined with some serious elevation changes and four of the best short holes you will find anywhere in the UK.
The first two holes are shortish downhill par 4s, and with back-to-back par 5s, you can make your score in the first few holes. The 5th being all up hill is as hard a 460-yard par 5 as you will find.
And this gets you ready for the straight uphill slogs that are 8, 11 and 16, each one getting steeper than the previous. I left Miguel Indurain on the 11th and teamed up with Lance Armstrong to bogey 16. They're that steep.
But what goes up, must come down and you get fantastic elevated tee shots at 7 and 15 to make it worthwhile.
The first three short holes are all good 5-irons off the white tees and the 12th is a real brute with a tiny green and trouble everywhere.
The greens have subtle borrows as they don't look too demanding on approach. They reminded me of my ex-wife. Difficult, frustrating and I walked away knowing I should have done better.
The 18th is a great finishing hole, driving into a valley and then one final climb with your approach aimed at the flagpole behind the green.
Never got a chance to find out what the clubhouse was like - maybe they will be more welcoming when 72 competitors turn up on Thursday for the Championships.
Coombe Hill is a great course, it's a just a shame that most people will never get the chance to experience it. It's not totally up its own arse like Queenwood or Wisley, but it's still stuck in the 1960s in terms of its elitism.
It's a great 6,400 yard par 71 layout but its very nature means they don't want your usual golfers thank you very much. You can ask but you're not coming in.
I'm playing there next week in the Surrey Amateur Championships and had a heck of a job getting a discounted green fee round there late one evening. It makes you wonder why they would even hold a big county event there but still, on with the course review.
It's up and down like the Assyrian Empire to quote Monty Python but what a great layout. Tree-lined with some serious elevation changes and four of the best short holes you will find anywhere in the UK.
The first two holes are shortish downhill par 4s, and with back-to-back par 5s, you can make your score in the first few holes. The 5th being all up hill is as hard a 460-yard par 5 as you will find.
And this gets you ready for the straight uphill slogs that are 8, 11 and 16, each one getting steeper than the previous. I left Miguel Indurain on the 11th and teamed up with Lance Armstrong to bogey 16. They're that steep.
But what goes up, must come down and you get fantastic elevated tee shots at 7 and 15 to make it worthwhile.
The first three short holes are all good 5-irons off the white tees and the 12th is a real brute with a tiny green and trouble everywhere.
The greens have subtle borrows as they don't look too demanding on approach. They reminded me of my ex-wife. Difficult, frustrating and I walked away knowing I should have done better.
The 18th is a great finishing hole, driving into a valley and then one final climb with your approach aimed at the flagpole behind the green.
Never got a chance to find out what the clubhouse was like - maybe they will be more welcoming when 72 competitors turn up on Thursday for the Championships.
Coombe Hill is a great course, it's a just a shame that most people will never get the chance to experience it. It's not totally up its own arse like Queenwood or Wisley, but it's still stuck in the 1960s in terms of its elitism.
