dufferman
Journeyman Pro
I played Gatton Manor near Dorking last Friday with my close friend who was enjoying his last day of freedom before getting hitched.
The course had been recommended by a work colleague of his, who is a single handicapper. With my handicap at 19 and my buddies' at 22, we knew that his description of the course being 'a fair challenge' could mean it would be a lot tougher for us than him.
We arrived a tad later than we would have hoped, so swiftly walked by the open driving range with grass bays. I've always been a fan of 'real' bays rather than mats, so felt like I was missing out on a great opportunity to warm up. Damn sat-nav!
The clubhouse & adjoining pro shop were small but did all they needed to do. The bar looked lovely, the pro shop filled with clubs, balls, clothing and accessories.
We were glad to hear the 1st was ready & waiting for us, and as we approached we were met with an uphill par 4 with a slight dog leg left. I went left, my playing partner right, and as we started up the fairway we were met with the soggiest ground I've ever played on.
My ball was in the semi rough, and with no idea of the pin location (the green was now blocked by a few trees) I decided to take my 7 iron and give it a whack. The ground spat mud up at me as I sent the ball on its way.
My 50ft chip onto the green never made it - because the ball sunk instead of taking a bounce just off the green. We then knew that the course was going to play tough... for all the wrong reasons.
Par 3's resulted in 3/4 of the ball burying itself underground - however far away you were. How the greens were not wrecked was beyond me; I was constantly repairing holes that both my ball and other's had left. Approach shots were much the same.
As we got to the final 5 holes, the course did start to dry out a bit, which meant I actually got a bounce out of the green on the 18th!
Notable holes on the course was the 1st, the par 3 4th over water, the driveable par 4 11th (which my playing partner played like a pro and missed an eagle by 1 inch), and the 18th, which suggested a driver would be too much as the stream running close to the green was reachable. I failed to take the advice and promptly found my ball balancing delicately on a rather steep slope close to the murky depths of OOB.
Both myself and my playing partner said it would be well worth a visit in Spring / Summer next year, but it seemed that only a few showers prior to our round were enough to make this course almost unbearable. We drove a solid 45 minutes to the course, so it could have been that the weather had been a lot worse there than it had been at home, but other courses I have played were nowhere as damp under foot. The greens looked like they were suffering, and as the rain isn't going anywhere anytime soon I fear the course will get a lot worse before it does better.
We were glad of a quick half before leaving the course, and enjoyed the mix of traditional clubhouse feel with the benefits of modern flat screens with the weekends golf on. The bar staff were friendly, and the food looked good from the table next to us.
As we left, the heavens opened for the first time that day, and we were glad to be on our way out, not in. I fear that the course would have closed soon after the rain, and would certainly not be looking forward to a round there over the weekend. However, as my buddies big day was on the horizon, I'm certain that the idea of a very damp course in the mud and wet looked like a favorable place to spend the next 24 hours!
The course had been recommended by a work colleague of his, who is a single handicapper. With my handicap at 19 and my buddies' at 22, we knew that his description of the course being 'a fair challenge' could mean it would be a lot tougher for us than him.
We arrived a tad later than we would have hoped, so swiftly walked by the open driving range with grass bays. I've always been a fan of 'real' bays rather than mats, so felt like I was missing out on a great opportunity to warm up. Damn sat-nav!
The clubhouse & adjoining pro shop were small but did all they needed to do. The bar looked lovely, the pro shop filled with clubs, balls, clothing and accessories.
We were glad to hear the 1st was ready & waiting for us, and as we approached we were met with an uphill par 4 with a slight dog leg left. I went left, my playing partner right, and as we started up the fairway we were met with the soggiest ground I've ever played on.
My ball was in the semi rough, and with no idea of the pin location (the green was now blocked by a few trees) I decided to take my 7 iron and give it a whack. The ground spat mud up at me as I sent the ball on its way.
My 50ft chip onto the green never made it - because the ball sunk instead of taking a bounce just off the green. We then knew that the course was going to play tough... for all the wrong reasons.
Par 3's resulted in 3/4 of the ball burying itself underground - however far away you were. How the greens were not wrecked was beyond me; I was constantly repairing holes that both my ball and other's had left. Approach shots were much the same.
As we got to the final 5 holes, the course did start to dry out a bit, which meant I actually got a bounce out of the green on the 18th!
Notable holes on the course was the 1st, the par 3 4th over water, the driveable par 4 11th (which my playing partner played like a pro and missed an eagle by 1 inch), and the 18th, which suggested a driver would be too much as the stream running close to the green was reachable. I failed to take the advice and promptly found my ball balancing delicately on a rather steep slope close to the murky depths of OOB.
Both myself and my playing partner said it would be well worth a visit in Spring / Summer next year, but it seemed that only a few showers prior to our round were enough to make this course almost unbearable. We drove a solid 45 minutes to the course, so it could have been that the weather had been a lot worse there than it had been at home, but other courses I have played were nowhere as damp under foot. The greens looked like they were suffering, and as the rain isn't going anywhere anytime soon I fear the course will get a lot worse before it does better.
We were glad of a quick half before leaving the course, and enjoyed the mix of traditional clubhouse feel with the benefits of modern flat screens with the weekends golf on. The bar staff were friendly, and the food looked good from the table next to us.
As we left, the heavens opened for the first time that day, and we were glad to be on our way out, not in. I fear that the course would have closed soon after the rain, and would certainly not be looking forward to a round there over the weekend. However, as my buddies big day was on the horizon, I'm certain that the idea of a very damp course in the mud and wet looked like a favorable place to spend the next 24 hours!
