barrybridges
Head Pro
This is a rant, but it has a nice ending.
A friend of mine has recently taken up golf but had yet to ever set foot on a golf course, so on Saturday I agreed to take him round and accompany him. Given that he's very new to the sport and has only had a few lessons, we decided to play at Bromley Golf Club which is his local municipal, now run by Bromley MyTime.
Now, I've already said on another thread what I think about MyTime, but this is something else.
We booked a tee-time online using their computerised book system, for 2:10pm.
We turn up and spend some time on the range, before heading to the first tee at around 2pm.
On arrival, we're told that we're not allowed to play as there is an inter-club matchplay competition taking place, and that we wouldn't be able to tee off until they've passed through (this is a 9-hole twice course).
So, we were forced to wait 1:10hrs on the first tee for the 8 groups to come through, before finally teeing off at 3:20pm.
I spoke to the guy at reception and asked why the system let me book without warning me, to which he informed me that the system is never used and is more hassle than it is worth, but the powers that be (MyTime Golf) can't be bothered to remove it.
On the plus side (this is the good bit), the guy was wonderful about things and gave us both a voucher for a free round next time.
However, there will be not be a next time.
Bromley is quite possibly the worst golf course you can think of.
Firstly, it's not a 'proper' golf course. Most of the holes are 3/4 length at best - I think the CSS is 65 or something ridiculous. The first hole, for example, is a Par 4 260 yards. Most of the Par 4s are under 300 yards in length.
The course itself isn't really a course at all - it's just a series of interlinking fields. There is no 'fairway' as such, just irregularly mown grass fields which were rock hard and in most places bereft of any actual grass.
Most holes had no hazards on whatsover, or even any kind of shape/layout to them - here's an overhead view of the second hole to show you what I mean:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=br...007312,0.013797&t=h&hq=bromley+golf+club&z=17
The greens were so long (grass) that it was like puttle on what most people would consider to be a fairway. Even the hole sizes weren't correct!
Overall, a fair day out for my friend and a good first round of golf for him, but the world's most appalling course.
What I can't stand (continuing my rant) is that MyTime have been on these forums saying how much they invest in their courses, whereas Bromley has been owned by them for several years and - by my experiences (twice) - has done nothing to turn this course into something worth playing.
At the same time, I would understand if it's cheap, but it's not! £14 for 9 holes is slightly more expensive than most of the better courses near to where I live (Chartham Park, Godstone etc) and the range is £6.75 for a bucket of 100 balls, which is also the most expensive in the area.
Rant over. Never play a MyTime golf course.
A friend of mine has recently taken up golf but had yet to ever set foot on a golf course, so on Saturday I agreed to take him round and accompany him. Given that he's very new to the sport and has only had a few lessons, we decided to play at Bromley Golf Club which is his local municipal, now run by Bromley MyTime.
Now, I've already said on another thread what I think about MyTime, but this is something else.
We booked a tee-time online using their computerised book system, for 2:10pm.
We turn up and spend some time on the range, before heading to the first tee at around 2pm.
On arrival, we're told that we're not allowed to play as there is an inter-club matchplay competition taking place, and that we wouldn't be able to tee off until they've passed through (this is a 9-hole twice course).
So, we were forced to wait 1:10hrs on the first tee for the 8 groups to come through, before finally teeing off at 3:20pm.
I spoke to the guy at reception and asked why the system let me book without warning me, to which he informed me that the system is never used and is more hassle than it is worth, but the powers that be (MyTime Golf) can't be bothered to remove it.
On the plus side (this is the good bit), the guy was wonderful about things and gave us both a voucher for a free round next time.
However, there will be not be a next time.
Bromley is quite possibly the worst golf course you can think of.
Firstly, it's not a 'proper' golf course. Most of the holes are 3/4 length at best - I think the CSS is 65 or something ridiculous. The first hole, for example, is a Par 4 260 yards. Most of the Par 4s are under 300 yards in length.
The course itself isn't really a course at all - it's just a series of interlinking fields. There is no 'fairway' as such, just irregularly mown grass fields which were rock hard and in most places bereft of any actual grass.
Most holes had no hazards on whatsover, or even any kind of shape/layout to them - here's an overhead view of the second hole to show you what I mean:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=br...007312,0.013797&t=h&hq=bromley+golf+club&z=17
The greens were so long (grass) that it was like puttle on what most people would consider to be a fairway. Even the hole sizes weren't correct!
Overall, a fair day out for my friend and a good first round of golf for him, but the world's most appalling course.
What I can't stand (continuing my rant) is that MyTime have been on these forums saying how much they invest in their courses, whereas Bromley has been owned by them for several years and - by my experiences (twice) - has done nothing to turn this course into something worth playing.
At the same time, I would understand if it's cheap, but it's not! £14 for 9 holes is slightly more expensive than most of the better courses near to where I live (Chartham Park, Godstone etc) and the range is £6.75 for a bucket of 100 balls, which is also the most expensive in the area.
Rant over. Never play a MyTime golf course.
