Golf club membership North London

[Kierand]

Hi guys, just stumbled over this forum recently while trying to do some research.

Myself and my wife and looking to join a golf club in the north London area.
Just wanted to get some advice from you guys if possible.

What’s your favourite course/club in the north London.
We’re based in archway.

At the moment we’re leaning towards Hendon Golf Club, we played there last Thursday and very much enjoyed it. We’ve been used to playing just public courses and this was a big step up in quality. Everyone there seemed lovely as well which is a big positive.
We actually played at Trent park (our normal place to play) the day before and what a difference it was.

Other options we’ve been looking at are Finchley, Mill Hill and Muswell Hill.

Muswell Hill would have been our initial choice (as it’s our closest one) without playing there yet but there is a long waiting list and quite a big joining fee ( half the yearly membership)

Highgate seems to be out of range with a £6000 joiners fee (wow that’s crazy)


If you can give us any advice we would really appreciate it thank you.

 

[sunshine]

Welcome Kierand.

To answer your specific question: my favourite course in north London is Hadley Wood. It's classed as Hertfordshire for golfing administration purposes, but is inside the M25.

More broadly, the best courses are all on the outskirts of London where you reach the green belt. Archtects had more space and better sites to work with. Courses in "proper" London, like Muswell Hill, Finchley, North Middlesex are all very tight and hemmed into a small parcel of land.

If you're prepared to travel to Trent Park, then you will be ok travelling to Old Fold Manor, South Herts and the Shire. Those 3 are a big step up in quality from the courses you mention. If you want "top 100" quality, then it's Hadley Wood, or if you turn your gaze a bit more north west, you will find lots of quality courses heading towards Watford such as Moor Park, Sandy Lodge, West Herts and the Grove (I'd class them as top 100 quality too).

If you are looking to join, it's worth agreeing your priorities beyond the course itself:
- Condition, especially in winter, where London clay makes many courses unplayable
- Practice facilities, e.g. driving range, indoor simulator etc
- Travel time, I imagine traffic can be challenging in Archway. Do you want to play after work, weekends etc? Does the course need to be accessible by public transport?
- Clubhouse and atmosphere. Are you likely to stop afterwards for food and drinks? Do you want more than golf? Some clubs offer snooker, a gym, tennis etc. How easy is it to make friends, particularly for your wife as female golf is not popular at many clubs and can be cliquey.
- Access to the course / competitions. How busy is it at the times you want to play?

If you are looking to join with your wife I expect you will be able to get a good deal. Many clubs are short on female members. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[Kierand]

Thanks for the reply Sunshine (full of good information) and the warm welcome.

I did check out Hadley wood but the membership fee and joining fee kinda put me off. But I do understand you get what you pay for.
For context, only just got back into golf this year after about 10 years. Was only a once in a while player before that as well. But this year fell in love with the sport, along with that my wife just started playing as well for the first time. She also fell in love with it, she’s had lessons and to my amazement is picking it up a lot quicker than I could ever imagine.

We drive so being close to transport isn’t an issue but could be handy.
Traffic from archway can be an issue.
Ideally would like the club to be under 30 minutes away. Which does limit us a bit. Hendon is about 25 minutes away, Finchley about the same and Mill Hill about 30.

If you were to rank those 3 courses/ clubs what would be your fav. If you’ve played them.
The shire, and old fold manor do seem lovely just a little further away than I would like. Might try out old fold manor tomorrow to see the difference between Hendon.
The shire does intrigue me but the cost of a round for a visitor puts me off to try it for the time being. But the membership fee isn’t that much different than Hendon.

Is the conditions of the shire and old fold manor a lot better during winter than the first 3 I mentioned. That is one of the little concerns I have, but it seems being in London there’s not much you can do about that unless you travel much farther afield.

Clubhouse and atmosphere does come into it as well. Really just looking for a nice welcoming place to be, where if you want to have a bit of food you can.

Costs wise, I’m looking at around the £2000 a year mark, there or there abouts.
With Hendon I like the look of the colt membership, £1550 for Unlimited Golf – Mon to Friday – after 12.00pm at the weekends.
But then Mill Hill works out cheaper for their 7 day membership.
Haven’t played there but will try it out as I have a couple of concerns. Noise from the traffic as it sandwiched in between 2 major roads, and the clubhouse being on the other side of one of those roads.

 

[VVega]

The Inspiration is worth a look. There is a thread about it on here (opened this year). I’d say it’s better than the Shire (same owners).

 

[Orikoru]

The Inspiration is worth a look. There is a thread about it on here (opened this year). I’d say it’s better than the Shire (same owners).

That's in West London, must be too far from where he's looking.

 

[pendodave]

Is the conditions of the shire and old fold manor a lot better during winter than the first 3 I mentioned. That is one of the little concerns I have, but it seems being in London there’s not much you can do about that unless you travel much farther afield.

Haven’t played there but will try it out as I have a couple of concerns. Noise from the traffic as it sandwiched in between 2 major roads, and the clubhouse being on the other side of one of those roads.

Conditions underfoot are definitely an issue across north London. Sandy lodge is (unsurprisingly) very free draining. Not sure about the distance.

As for Mill Hill, I was talking to someone who reckons they're going to be moving the clubhouse. Might be worth checking. I've not found the traffic noise to be too egregious, given the location.

 

[Trojan615]

I lived in Highbury so feel your pain. As described the A1 is a pain but the club I joined were within the timeframe up the a10. For the 5 day price you describe 10 mins further up the a10 would get you 7 day at the Hertfordshire in broxbourne … this club has a good feel and I think u get gym membership. If u want somewhere a little quieter I joined whitehills initially

 

[cliveb]

Conditions underfoot are definitely an issue across north London. Sandy lodge is (unsurprisingly) very free draining. Not sure about the distance.

As for Mill Hill, I was talking to someone who reckons they're going to be moving the clubhouse. Might be worth checking. I've not found the traffic noise to be too egregious, given the location.

I've not played most of the "top 100" courses, but of the few mentioned here:
- I don't understand the love-in for Sandy Lodge. It's got fabulous practice facilities, and as it's one of the few not on clay it drains well. But I think the course itself is nothing special.
- Have only ever played Moor Park's High course, and it is very nice.
- I don't think The Grove does memberships, does it?

Of the "normal" courses around North London that I've played, I reckon Mill Hill is the best in terms of interesting variety of holes. One downside is that the clubhouse is the opposite side of the A1 from the course.

Sudbury is pretty decent, but with limited parking (and the overflow car park is about as far from the clubhouse as it could be).

 

[sunshine]

Ideally would like the club to be under 30 minutes away. Which does limit us a bit. Hendon is about 25 minutes away, Finchley about the same and Mill Hill about 30.

If you were to rank those 3 courses/ clubs what would be your fav. If you’ve played them.
The shire, and old fold manor do seem lovely just a little further away than I would like. Might try out old fold manor tomorrow to see the difference between Hendon.
The shire does intrigue me but the cost of a round for a visitor puts me off to try it for the time being. But the membership fee isn’t that much different than Hendon.

Is the conditions of the shire and old fold manor a lot better during winter than the first 3 I mentioned. That is one of the little concerns I have, but it seems being in London there’s not much you can do about that unless you travel much farther afield.

Clubhouse and atmosphere does come into it as well. Really just looking for a nice welcoming place to be, where if you want to have a bit of food you can.

If I had to rank the 3 to play I would go:

1. Mill Hill - most interesting of the three, although I wouldn't want to play there every week with the traffic noise
2. Hendon - only played it a couple of times but seemed ok
3. Finchley - quite tight (there's a sign on one tee prohibiting the use of driver because it's too close to houses), also notoriously muddy in winter (it's the only course I know in the area where you have to hit off fairway mats in winter)

Old Fold Manor is a much better course than those 3, and is on higher ground with half the course on gravel so drains better (although they did some landscaping work which has caused issues and needs remediation). It also has decent practice facilities: a 250 yard range, short game area etc.
The Shire is only about 15 years old so has been built with modern drainage and irrigation. It is a proper challenging course and also has good practice facilities. It's owned by a family so doesn't have a traditional private members club model (this is a pro or con depending on your point of view).
Next door is also Dyrham Park, which is a Jewish country club. Never played there, but it might appeal to you.

 

[PJ87]

North Middlesex is alright aswell and you see old beef Johnstone now and again

 

[sunshine]

I lived in Highbury so feel your pain. As described the A1 is a pain but the club I joined were within the timeframe up the a10. For the 5 day price you describe 10 mins further up the a10 would get you 7 day at the Hertfordshire in broxbourne … this club has a good feel and I think u get gym membership. If u want somewhere a little quieter I joined whitehills initially

10 mins further?

I reckon it would take an hour to get to Broxbourne. Never played there so can't comment on the course.

 

[PJ87]

I lived in Highbury so feel your pain. As described the A1 is a pain but the club I joined were within the timeframe up the a10. For the 5 day price you describe 10 mins further up the a10 would get you 7 day at the Hertfordshire in broxbourne … this club has a good feel and I think u get gym membership. If u want somewhere a little quieter I joined whitehills initially

The Hertfordshire is a lovely course