Expat to Surrey: New Golf club, Coach and practice range

[Owena]

Hi,

Aussie expat relocating to Cobham/leatherhead area for a 3 year assignment.
Handicap 4-5
Keen to play club competition golf on weekends, would like a Range and 9 hole practice during the week.

Coming in from Asia, so firm heathland style golf for a change would be great.

I visit London regularly and I have played as a member guest at Sunningdale, Swinley etc, I want to find a club with in 20 mins of Cobham- Leatherhead. I have found if the club is not close you don't get out enough.

Research so far has, West byfleet, St Georges and Burhill.
Top courses: Woking and Walton heath, 30mins plus sat morn???, my home course will allow temporary memberships initially. Reciprocal type affiliation confirmed.

Chasing info/opinions on the following:

Golf Club: Travel time?
Criteria: Firm fast as much as possible, Longer course, good younger competitive golfing community,
junior program for little guy.


Coach:
Criteria: Younger and tech savvy, happy to work through the process and define development stages, not interested in the typical see a guy for a tip once a month and have to remind him what we were working on from last time.


Range:Criteria: Silvermere and Pachesham ranges look to me well equiped.

Any info would be great, thank all.

 

[Hosel Fade]

Silvermere is a really good range with the shop there. Just don't go at rush hour as the road it is on is an absolute disaster.

Have you had a look at the RAC club? Don't know if you can have golf only without the London clubhouse

Personal favourite out that way is Reigate Heath which may be a problem only being 9 holes and short (with tees on quite different angles for the nines on most). I quite like West Byfleet as a club but when I was looking at joining I got the impression that the membership there is for lack of a better term old (I'm 26) which may or may not suit you. Burhill I've only played once in a junior open and St George's I haven't seen.

Less heathy, but chalk based, well conditioned and normally dry: Banstead Downs, Woodcote Park, Cuddington

 

[duncan mackie]

Course wise it really comes down to personal preference between the first 3 you list. All are, IMO, excellent courses to play and I've had no issues with club houses etc
St George's Hill has the advantage of 3 x 9 for both access and 9 hole play.

 

[Senseicads]

if you are looking for something a little cheaper, as the courses mentioned so far are a bit pricy, then you could try our place Merrist Wood. Gets a bit damp in winter but it is a cracking long course, nearly 7000 yds off championship tees. Also has great practice facilities for free; free driving range, chipping green and bunkers, putting green. Think you get 2 free junior memberships for up to 14 year olds too. And you get reciprocal arrangements around a load of other courses too. Like I said you pay for what you get, but I would play our place over West Byfleet any day of the week(although I can't talk for the others you mentioned). The layout is just more challenging(SSS is 75 off the championship tees). I do like Silvermere though...last time I heard they had installed trackmans in all the driving bays, you'd have to verify that. The last two holes are very memorable. I think you have to pay for your range time though even if you are a member.

If you are interested in Merrist then PM if you'd like, I am sure I could get the club to arrange for you to have a round so you could see if you like it.

 

[TheDiablo]

Silvermere is a great range and pro shop. Lot's of pros there too (of mixed quality tbh but facilities are great)

I'm a member at West Byfleet, once you are over let me know and I can take you for a game round there if you'd like - judge it for yourself but its in great condition all year round. To Hosel Fade's point, there is a lot of 5 day members in the 'old' category (like any good private members club in the area) but there's a hugely growing 'Intermediate' section of the club - over 80 members in the 21-35 category. I certainly dont feel too young there and I'm in my twenties. Competitions in the summer most weekends, knockout comps and midweek comps so plenty to get involved with.

To the above comment by Senseicads, each to their own but I genuinely cant believe any golfer would choose Merrist over WB! I played MW a couple of weeks ago - round took well over 4 hours for 3 mid-teen hcappers with nobody in front of us... the rough is outrageously penal (permanent ball searching), the 'fairways' are 1st cut rough length (because Crown havent invested in sprinklers so have grown it up to prevent it burning) the bunkers were filled with stones with no sand in them and the tee boxes were a right state! On the flip side, I played this winter just gone it was an absolute bog! The course clearly needs huge investment but with Crown being a profit driven company rather than a members club I can't see it happening anytime soon. I honestly think 95% of golfers would choose WB over MW.

 

[Owena]

Thanks for all the comments guys, great info, sounds like I am on the right track, I am in London late August house hunting for a rental around Cobham before we head to Scotland for a week of golf. I will get out in the area for a drive about and have a look at Burhill and WBY to start with.
Mates have me booked in to Swinley for a round so won't have a spare day this time round.

Thanks TheDiablo for the offer. When I get back in October a round would be great.

Thanks again
Anthony

 

[TheDiablo]

Thanks for all the comments guys, great info, sounds like I am on the right track, I am in London late August house hunting for a rental around Cobham before we head to Scotland for a week of golf. I will get out in the area for a drive about and have a look at Burhill and WBY to start with.
Mates have me booked in to Swinley for a round so won't have a spare day this time round.

Thanks TheDiablo for the offer. When I get back in October a round would be great.

Thanks again
Anthony

No problem - If your mates have booked you in for a round at Swinley it's probably best you dont play WB too soon after anyway!!! Only ever heard great things about that place so enjoy!

 

[Owena]

yea couple of Aussie guys who did their MBA's at LBS, found some good mates while in town. Great track, I really enjoy the layout. limited focus on score and competition, just a great walk, hunting dogs on the course etc, which is cool, Generational membership I understand, you can see why.

 

[Senseicads]

To the above comment by Senseicads, each to their own but I genuinely cant believe any golfer would choose Merrist over WB! I played MW a couple of weeks ago - round took well over 4 hours for 3 mid-teen hcappers with nobody in front of us... the rough is outrageously penal (permanent ball searching), the 'fairways' are 1st cut rough length (because Crown havent invested in sprinklers so have grown it up to prevent it burning) the bunkers were filled with stones with no sand in them and the tee boxes were a right state! On the flip side, I played this winter just gone it was an absolute bog! The course clearly needs huge investment but with Crown being a profit driven company rather than a members club I can't see it happening anytime soon. I honestly think 95% of golfers would choose WB over MW.

Again each to their own, like I said I offered up MW as a cheaper option with great free practice facilities. For me when I played them both I preferred the layout to WB. With less cost comes more sacrifices, I agree the bunkers are pretty bad. although I would say that is true of any course in this price range. I've not seen any course with decent bunkers in this price bracket. The best thing about MW is the difficulty and the layout of the course. There is lots of water and a fair bit of gradient change, and each hole is challenging. Plus it meets the OP's original request for a lengthy course.

 

[need_my_wedge]

Haven't played West Byfleet but have played St Georges Hill and both courses at Burgh Hill. St Georges is I think the better club, but equally, it is probably a lot more expensive to join, and maybe not so easy to join for non St Georges Hill residents (stand to be corrected there).

Silvermere has good range facilities, they do junior sessions too, but steer away from the course at weekends. Tried to play it three weeks ago and due to it being very busy with a very slow society in front of us, took 3 hours to play 9 holes.....

My brother lives about 5 mins from Cobham, and he's a member of The Drift at East Horsley, about 10 mins away. Maybe not long enough for you, but a nice enough course in my eyes, probably a lot more cost effective than the others too.

 

[Hosel Fade]

My brother lives about 5 mins from Cobham, and he's a member of The Drift at East Horsley, about 10 mins away. Maybe not long enough for you, but a nice enough course in my eyes, probably a lot more cost effective than the others too.

The downside with The Drift is the dryness aspect even though its getting better with tree clearance and drainage works all the time. Certain areas are terrible in winter, especially 5th tee and the right side of the 9th green with the 6th tee are awful.

Big range with free balls though which is a bonus and there is approved planning to redo the whole thing with a covered building, new putting green short game area and reservoir at the back in putting loads of fill in the outfield (not that I think its a priority, the outfield just gets wet). Great membership with really nice food as well which is nice.

 

[sam85]

The downside with The Drift is the dryness aspect even though its getting better with tree clearance and drainage works all the time. Certain areas are terrible in winter, especially 5th tee and the right side of the 9th green with the 6th tee are awful.

Big range with free balls though which is a bonus and there is approved planning to redo the whole thing with a covered building, new putting green short game area and reservoir at the back in putting loads of fill in the outfield (not that I think its a priority, the outfield just gets wet). Great membership with really nice food as well which is nice.

I played the drift for the first time a month or so ago. Was really impressed by it and will definitely be making a return visit at some point.

Have also played Merrist Wood for the first time in the last few months and am in no rush to return. Had exactly the same issues as Thediablo regarding the length of rough. Having to search for balls in thick rough just 5 yards off the fairway is daft IMO and is only going to make for slow rounds.

 

[richart]

If you are based around Leatherhead and looking for some alternatives to those already mentioned, you could consider Betchworth Park or Tyrrells Wood.

St Georges Hill had a long waiting list a few years back, and doubt much has changed. West Byfleet is a decent course that flys under the radar. Burhill has two courses, but not sure how corporate it is. I do know the current club captain, so could get joining info if required. There is also member of Burhill on here.

If you were going as far as Woking, I would look at West Hill.

 

[Owena]

Thanks again Guys for the info.

Question: Winter golf Surrey, do most courses stay open during winter? what is the tee times on a Sat/Sun 8am until noon?
Driving ranges: same, are they open during winter? what time they close 9pm ? how cold is it standing on the range

Typical Queensland Aussie coming from 8 years in Asia, these are my concerns. What sort of practice schedule works for the winter months if at all?
I have only ever played in the UK between July and Oct.

 

[Hosel Fade]

Courses stay open all winter, most on some form of temps as and when required but try to stay off them if at all possible. Never heard of a frost delay. Tee times depend entirely on the club in question, some send 2/3s off one end of the course and 4s off the other at certain times of day. For some the main comp day is Saturday for others Sunday.

From memory I think its last balls dispensed at 9 at Silvermere and open until 10. The range I go to is open until 10 so I would consider that fairly normal. Silvermere may even have space heaters mounted to the ceiling in some bays but obviously temperature just is what it is, shouldn't really ever get much below 0 though.

 

[Owena]

Spent the week in Surrey and got out to all the recommendations from the post, thanks all for the input.
Had some great weather (2-3 weeks ago) so the golf was great.