GUH! Which course to join?

[The_LHC]

Ok, here's the situation, I've been knocking this one around for months and can't reach a decision, I'm not a member of a course at the moment but I've been playing fairly regularly (at least once a week) at Portmore in Barnstaple, because a good friend of mine has joined so I pay 15 quid and we have a proper good laugh, he's a good chap and I'm enjoying the bonhomie (without getting too ghey about it...), more than the golf to be honest, so you might think why don't I just join there (it's about £37 per month, so I'd be saving as well)?

Well, it's mainly because I don't think I enjoy the course that much, I think it's a pretty tough course, the front 9 especially has a lot of hills (mostly up, I'm not sure how they manage that) and by the time I get to the back 9 I'm usually knackered, although we did play the back 9 first last weekend, can't say it made any difference, the rough is unfairly penal (imo, considering how tough the place is anyway), the greens aren't great as it's a fairly new course but they're sort of getting there and I've never got within 20 shots of par. I came off the course last Sunday (it was very windy but I don't think it makes any difference) thinking every hole was a real grind, it just didn't feel like fun.

The last time I had a handicap it was 14 and I've never played off anything more than 18, so the idea of joining this place and ending up with a 20 handicap is pretty depressing to say the least. It's also 25 minutes drive away.

Now, the nearest course to me is Ilfracombe, it's 5 minutes away, very convenient, I've played it twice and I think it's a cracking little course, it is very hilly on the front 9 (possibly more so than Portmore) but it seems to play better and the back 9 is generally flat or downhill, the greens are smashing, as you'd expect from a mature (100+ years) course and it's got a lot of character. What it hasn't got is a great deal of length, despite the hills, it's only a par 69 (sss 68, short par 5s) at less than 5800 off the Whites, so when I played there the other Friday, the only time I used a 3 iron was the tee shot at 17, I only used the 4 iron twice (both at the long par 3s) and the 5 iron once, most of the iron shots are wedges or 9 irons. There's also the fact that I don't know anyone there and when I've been the clubhouse has mostly been full of boorish old farts that I took an instant dislike to! Whereas of course at Portmore I already know several members there, plus my mate and I would miss the weekly round of spouting nonsense.

Moneywise there's not a lot in it, Ilfracombe is £444, Portmore £394, 50 quid, I'll lose that in balls in about two weeks, so for me, it's irrelevant.

So I have a course I want to play, but don't want to join and a course I want to join but don't particularly want to play!

What would you do?

 

[jammydodger]

Is there no where else near enough ?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Find somewhere else. Granted you don't want to spend hours to and from the club but there must be something withing a 15-20 miute drive away that'll tick all the boxes

 

[HRC99]

25 minutes isn't really that much in the scheme of things. If you've got friends there and like the course, it's a no brainer really.

As for your handicap, if you've been off 14, you'll come down pretty sharpish once you've started playing regularly and competitively.

 

[HughJars]

As someone who has been a member of many a club over the years, I recently joined a club that isn;t all that to play, but has a fantastic atmosphere about it, and I ddin;t even know anyone when I joined.

If you were a good low handicapper, join the better course, as you're not, and the game is more about the fun of it, join your mates club.

 

[The_LHC]

Is there no where else near enough ?

The only place nearer is Willingcott Valley, which isn't a bad course but there are two problems with it, firstly they stop doing food at 2pm, so if you get a late morning tee-time in a comp you aren't getting any lunch and secondly, I played it at this time last year and it was borderline waterlogged then, so I can't see it being playable during winter.

The only other options are Royal North Devon, where I'd love to rejoin but that's getting on for 50 minutes away and I just found the journey added too much to the time away. There's Libbaton but that's going to be 45 minutes away as well and again I think it's going to be pretty wet over winter.

Other than that there's Saunton Sands but if I could get in there I wouldn't be asking this question!

And that's pretty much it, we aren't over-run with choice in this neck of the woods.

 

[The_LHC]

Find somewhere else. Granted you don't want to spend hours to and from the club but there must be something withing a 15-20 miute drive away that'll tick all the boxes

No, not really, there aren't that many courses round here full stop (do a Google for Golf courses in North Devon, the map will tell you), choice is limited.

 

[The_LHC]

25 minutes isn't really that much in the scheme of things.

No, I agree and if I'm honest that's not much of a consideration, only when it's getting on towards 45-50 minutes.

If you've got friends there and like the course, it's a no brainer really.

That's the trouble though, I don't think I do like the course, I've played it now pretty much every week for the last 4 months, in rain and shine and really, I don't think I've enjoyed it properly once, there's just too many holes that I think are compromised in their design (such as the 17th which is no easier to take an iron off the tee as it is to take the driver, or any other club, I'm a big believer in the balance of risk and reward in a golf hole) or that don't reward a decent shot and I've never even played it off the whites!

As for your handicap, if you've been off 14, you'll come down pretty sharpish once you've started playing regularly and competitively.

Well I am playing regularly, but I'm not going to be able to play much more than once a week, work doesn't allow me mid-week golf unfortunately. Anyway when I had the 14 handicap I was playing competitions every week and it didn't change at all in 12 months!

 

[The_LHC]

As someone who has been a member of many a club over the years, I recently joined a club that isn;t all that to play, but has a fantastic atmosphere about it, and I ddin;t even know anyone when I joined.

If you were a good low handicapper, join the better course, as you're not, and the game is more about the fun of it, join your mates club.

But isn't it supposed to be fun on the course as well? After all I'll be spending more time out there than I will in the clubhouse.

 

[smange]

I would be inclined to join a club where i really enjoyed the course, after all thats what your paying your subs for, the golf.

You will meet new people if you put yourself out there and make the effort to get to know the members, some you will like and some you may not. But you will make new friends and in time you will enjoy the banter with these guys. Golfers tend to be a social sort so as I say if you make the effort you will soon become good friends with some of them.

I joined a new club last year and just made the effort to get to know people and now have a new circle of friends that i can call for a game and/or go for a beer with, and im still really enjoying playing the course.

Im a happy golfer

 

[HomerJSimpson]

What about High Bullen. How far is Holsworthy from you. That's a decent course.

 

[The_LHC]

What about High Bullen. How far is Holsworthy from you.

To be honest I really don't know but given I'd need to either go through South Molton and out the other side, or through Barnstaple and then it's a good twenty minutes or more from there I'd probably be better off going back to RND.

That's a decent course.

Is it? The card looks a little short, it's only a par 68, also they don't list the membership fees on the the website, which always annoys me and the site implies they're still charging a joining fee and I'm not having any of that.

 

[CrapHacker]

Now, the nearest course to me is Ilfracombe, it's 5 minutes away, very convenient, I've played it twice and I think it's a cracking little course, ..... it's got a lot of character. What it hasn't got is a great deal of length, ...at less than 5800 off the Whites,

My fears about this place would be purely about the length. If you've played it twice, and have noticed the lack of variety in your approach clubs, how boring will you find it after 50 weeks of play?

You say you don't enjoy the other course. Is that purely because the layout of the holes is substandard ? Or is quite a large proportion of that because you get knacked during a round ? If it's the latter, then I'd ask if it would get to be more enjoyable if you were a bit fitter.

If the answer to that is yes, then I reckon the solution is there in front of you. Get the legs a bit fitter, and get out there with your mates.

If it's no, then don't waste your hard earned joining a club you wont enjoy. In which case....

There's only one easy solution.

Move !!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've been to Holsworthy twice and the members were really friendly (we got rained off the course one time). Don't be put off too much by length. My old course Wimbledon Common was only 5438 yards off the whits but it was never torn apart and was a test especially in the wind

 

[The_LHC]

Now, the nearest course to me is Ilfracombe, it's 5 minutes away, very convenient, I've played it twice and I think it's a cracking little course, ..... it's got a lot of character. What it hasn't got is a great deal of length, ...at less than 5800 off the Whites,

My fears about this place would be purely about the length. If you've played it twice, and have noticed the lack of variety in your approach clubs, how boring will you find it after 50 weeks of play?

Well quite, I know, being on top of a cliff, it'll get quite windy, which will obviously change things but then other place is usually windy as well, so I think that balances out and that is part of what worries me about Ilfracombe.

You say you don't enjoy the other course. Is that purely because the layout of the holes is substandard?

I wouldn't say substandard, I think it's actually quite well laid out in part but there's a couple of holes that irritate me, I've mentioned 17 already, the 7th annoys me because you can only go for the aggressive line if they put the tee-markers in the right place (the tee is set back in the trees, the aggressive line is down the left but if the tee-markers are set to the left then that line is blocked out by the trees. I can hit a draw but the prevailing wind is from the left and is usually strong enough to keep a draw straight, so you end up down the right hand side but as it's a dog-leg left if I hit a driver down the right I'm off the end of the fairway and into the rough (which usually means a lost ball), if I don't hit the driver then you're looking at a 250 yard second shot to a small green, with a burn in front. All I want is to at least have the option to go for the aggressive shot if I feel like it but it's frequently not an option). Or the 4th which is a long par 4 which has such a sharply sloping fairway that any drive, no matter how good will end up in the rough on the left, there IS a flat area on the right side of the fairway but it's so small it's akin to trying to hit the green at the postage stamp, from 260 yards away... There's just a number of holes I don't consider particularly fair and then there's the random par 5 (the 11th), which is all of... 413 yards! I've tried to work out why it's a par 5 but it just doesn't add up, it'd be a great par 4, really challenging but as it is you can put your second shot in the pond next to the green, drop out, up and down and still walk off with a par, it's just doesn't make sense, especially as the par 4 2 holes later is 20 yards longer!

Or is quite a large proportion of that because you get knacked during a round ? If it's the latter, then I'd ask if it would get to be more enjoyable if you were a bit fitter.

That might be it but it just feels like you've got to grind out every hole sometimes, more so when the wind's blowing, it's difficult to explain but I play golf to relax, I just never feel like I'm relaxing when I'm playing there. I also don't feel like I'm ever going to play well there, I should be able to, hell, at least 8 of the par 4s are potentially driveable for me, so in theory I should be able to burn the place up, at least once in a while and I've done the front 9 in 40 and the back 9 in 43, so put them together and I'm looking at low 80s, which would be great, I wouldn't ask for much more than that but so far my best there is 91 and I've seen 28 handicappers beat that! I spend more time wondering if I'm going to break 100 and I'm a better player than that, it's just so frustrating!

Maybe I should join, just to beat the place, even once! I think a lot of it is mental, I think if I could break 90 there once it'd probably drop into place and I'd find it a lot easier.

If the answer to that is yes, then I reckon the solution is there in front of you. Get the legs a bit fitter, and get out there with your mates.

Part of that is how hot it's been there recently, I guess once things cool down a bit it'll be easier as well.

If it's no, then don't waste your hard earned joining a club you wont enjoy. In which case....

There's only one easy solution.

Move !!

Not my decision unfortunately! I'd have to move a long way south to bring anywhere else in easy reach as well!