Courses near Chelmsford

[swanny32]

I played Forrester Park on Saturday and I'm sorry to say it was the most boring course I've ever played. Most holes where Identical and just dead straight, copies of each other just varying by length. From hole 1 through to 6, they were all the same, dog leg 7th broke the boredom up a little, but once round the corner the hole was the same as 1 -6, pretty much all flat. Holes 8 to 13 were the best part, up amongst the trees where a little thought was needed for each shot. I liked the two par 3's down hill, 11 and 13 I think they were. Then 14 - 17 back out onto the flat ground to repeat the boring holes that looked just the holes from the front nine. Only 18 was a bit different taking you up hill back towards the club house.
The green were pretty nice, very different grass and a very different feel to lots of green ive seen before but I putted quite well so I liked the greens.
Thanks for the the recommendation but I wont be rushing back any time soon.

You're not the first and definitely won't be the last person to say that about our track, I agree with you completely. My favourite holes are 10-14 (14 mainly because it's an easy birdie opportunity). Greens are our best feature for sure, and is something everyone comments on when they come and play. Unfortunately we have a tight fisted owner and a head greenkeeper who has been there 17 years who is just getting complacent now. We all know changes need to be made. You might question why me and Davey are members there...look at the membership prices for under 30's and you'll see why. We pay £400 per year for full 7 day membership. The course might not be great but you can't complain at those costs.

 

[mashleyR7]

That really is a good price. The club house seemed to be buzzing around 2pm when I got there, must have been the members after their morning rounds enjoying a beer or two. It did seem nice and relaxed which was nice. The first hole starts of nice and I thought It would get better, the 2nd looked like a challenge from the white tee but I played from the yellow one here as there were two four balls waiting on the 18th. It was boring but I enjoyed playing a new course and being out in the sun all day. I played around 25 holes though going up and down, not bad for £21.

 

[swanny32]

The 2nd off the white's used to be a bit of a nemesis of mine....now I'm struggling more with the 4th and 5th. Sorry that you didn't enjoy it, like I said, I completely agree with you, you're review was exactly what I said after I played it for the first time a few years ago and even though the membership price was very reasonable, because the course was "boring" I actually put off joining there for a year. I then got to the point where I just wanted to play regular golf, get a proper handicap and make some new friends so opted to join 12 months later (March 2011). All our members know the course could be a lot better than it is, in fact it's been well documented on here with some of my ramblings, but the thing that keeps us all paying our subs each year is the tight knit members, we're a great bunch, everyone knows everyone and with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 people at the club, you'll have a very enjoyable 18 holes with any one of us. The current captain and all of the past captains make a great effort at getting to know everyone who joins and you're welcomed with open arms into the SAGS swindle on a Saturday as well as the members competitions on a Sunday morning....doesn't matter if you play off 28 or scratch...although if you play off 28 and post 40 something points, you'll definitely hear about it in the clubhouse.

I won't mention any names in a public forum but the right people know what the course is lacking and who needs to make way for the changes to happen, unfortunately the owner and possibly some of the really old members are stopping that from happening. We live in hope that one day someone will make the improvements it needs but until then we grin and bare it and just enjoy playing with a great bunch of members.

The owner has said that he wants to sell up, but only wants to sell the course and not the clubhouse which I think is putting a lot of potential buyers off....he can do what he likes though as the course and clubhouse has been in his family for years.