Piece
Tour Winner
This was the first day of our annual tour, playing Delamere Forest on a Sat. First thing to say is that there are no competitions on a weekend here, meaning that visitors are very welcome then. Further, they have no booking system too and coupled with a limited membership of 250, means a very quiet course on a crisp, cold day. Lovely.
The course looked great from the clubhouse. There's a decent putting green, a couple of hitting nets (no wedge please!) and an ok driving range. The course prides itself on being playable all year round due to a sand base of around 500ft and certainly from our experience, the fairways were superb to hit off, with no mud or GUR patches.
The two nines are different. The front nine is visually more appealing, with a couple of lovely long openers that are a right test in the wind. After the long par 4 & short 5, there's a tricky par 4 downhill with well placed bunkers. The green is a toughy on this hole. The next is a super 200y plus par 3 up hill, followed by a sweeping right to level long par 4 to a raised green: visually excellent. What seems a Mickey Mouse par 3 follows, but in fact into the wind it can be a card wrecker; small green, bunker left and short, and a lake left. The closing holes on the first nine are a short flat par 5 that should be taken advantage of, a long par four with a hard drive over a gaping valley (not to mention bunkers right) and concluding with a dogleg left that either is a long draw drive to leave a downhill lie for a short pitch to a raised green, or place a tee shot onto a fairway plateau. Superb front nine.
Things change on the second nine. Gone are the traditional holes and in comes some quirkiness. The tenth is very undulating and reasonably tight; a long straight shot is rewarded with a simple flick but go short and you're in the valley or gorse right. After, there's a bullet straight par 5 with undulations and plenty of room for a drive (but not left!). The second to this hole is blind but in hindsight an easy shot as the green is vast and welcoming. Regulation par 3 follows, then a short par 4 but beware of the guarding bunkers and run-offs. The next two are a real quirk: the next has three levels to drive to, so you take your choice but the longer club is a tighter drive. The approach to this hole reminds me of Hillside. The other quirky hole can be played as a blind par 4 over a marker or tricky par three. We played it as a par four: be warned as there's no info on the tee of what to do where to hit and the planner wasn't great. The tight steeply raised green over wasteland means care has to be taken. After there's a decently long par three that fits back into the mould of the front nine. The closing holes are a nice par four and a par five that is a point scorers dream if you hit two decent shots.
For £50 and a quiet course on a Sat, you cannot grumble that this was a great time. Visually superb, with enough variety to keep everyone happy. Off the yellows it plays around 6400 and you can put together a decent score but there's plenty there to put high scores on the card. Fairways were excellent and the greens were medium paced and ok for this time of the year. The staff were welcoming too.
In all, very well worth the visit.
The course looked great from the clubhouse. There's a decent putting green, a couple of hitting nets (no wedge please!) and an ok driving range. The course prides itself on being playable all year round due to a sand base of around 500ft and certainly from our experience, the fairways were superb to hit off, with no mud or GUR patches.
The two nines are different. The front nine is visually more appealing, with a couple of lovely long openers that are a right test in the wind. After the long par 4 & short 5, there's a tricky par 4 downhill with well placed bunkers. The green is a toughy on this hole. The next is a super 200y plus par 3 up hill, followed by a sweeping right to level long par 4 to a raised green: visually excellent. What seems a Mickey Mouse par 3 follows, but in fact into the wind it can be a card wrecker; small green, bunker left and short, and a lake left. The closing holes on the first nine are a short flat par 5 that should be taken advantage of, a long par four with a hard drive over a gaping valley (not to mention bunkers right) and concluding with a dogleg left that either is a long draw drive to leave a downhill lie for a short pitch to a raised green, or place a tee shot onto a fairway plateau. Superb front nine.
Things change on the second nine. Gone are the traditional holes and in comes some quirkiness. The tenth is very undulating and reasonably tight; a long straight shot is rewarded with a simple flick but go short and you're in the valley or gorse right. After, there's a bullet straight par 5 with undulations and plenty of room for a drive (but not left!). The second to this hole is blind but in hindsight an easy shot as the green is vast and welcoming. Regulation par 3 follows, then a short par 4 but beware of the guarding bunkers and run-offs. The next two are a real quirk: the next has three levels to drive to, so you take your choice but the longer club is a tighter drive. The approach to this hole reminds me of Hillside. The other quirky hole can be played as a blind par 4 over a marker or tricky par three. We played it as a par four: be warned as there's no info on the tee of what to do where to hit and the planner wasn't great. The tight steeply raised green over wasteland means care has to be taken. After there's a decently long par three that fits back into the mould of the front nine. The closing holes are a nice par four and a par five that is a point scorers dream if you hit two decent shots.
For £50 and a quiet course on a Sat, you cannot grumble that this was a great time. Visually superb, with enough variety to keep everyone happy. Off the yellows it plays around 6400 and you can put together a decent score but there's plenty there to put high scores on the card. Fairways were excellent and the greens were medium paced and ok for this time of the year. The staff were welcoming too.
In all, very well worth the visit.
