Herons Reach, Blackpool question

[thegogg]

Just booked a weekend at Herons Reach with the lads for a 2 night stay with 3 rounds of golf and was wondering if anyone here had stayed/played there? I spent 4 days at Oulton Hall another De Vere resort last month and can say the course was excellent and the hotel top notch but Herons Reach has recently changed to the village group so wonder if it's been down graded at all.

 

[forefortheday]

Never played it myself but my mate has his thoughts are....

" its an ok course- plenty of water around (2nd, 8th, 9th, 10th 16th.17th)

no real signature holes as such with a lot of bog standard par4's any half decent golfer should score really well here as apart from the water it isnt that difficult to navigate-ive played it 4 times and as a high handicapper have played much tougher courses"

 

[d2cko]

I've played it a few years ago. As above with the course, might be worth asking to play off the back tees,

The hotel was really nice and all the staff were very friendly. They didn't even mind my Dad walking around naked in the middle of the night after he took the wrong door looking for the toilet!

 

[drawboy]

I was there on a lads weekend 2 weeks ago, it was fantastic, I loved it and the hotel, the facilites are great so do not forget your shorts for the sauna and pool. The course is very fair with well laid out bunkers and water, if you are in either then you have hit a bad shot.The greens are fast and tricky with the lines but tameable. Beer prices are average at £3/3.50 per pint but watered down so not the best. I thought the food was good, I'm on lighter life diet so didn't eat or drink anything but the lads were happy with the offerings.
I hope you have as good a time as me.

 

[Bratty]

Head a bit further and play Morecambe Golf Club... it's fantastic!

 

[thegogg]

Cheers Drawboy sounds ideal especially as Blackpool's only a short taxi ride away for the nightlife.

Stayed and played Outon Hall up your way last month and thought it was brilliant. The Leeds cup was on while we stayed which made great viewing and was an real eye opener seeing the lines and distances the pros took.

 

[TobieC]

Decent course but quite tight with lots of internal out of bounds. Played a couple of months ago and the greens were fantastic. I would say its one of the weaker DeVere tracks though

 

[sweatysock41]

We had our society weekend there in June - miserable git for a starter but the course was OK. Difficult finish 16 & 18 need your full attention, but the rest of it is fairly open, internal OOB only affected a couple of holes where there was a lot of gorse and to be frank I wouldn't bother trying to look for a ball in there, and you can shoot low scores. Sufficient water to cause you to worry about the wind if its coming off the sea which being Blackpool it normally will. All in all though its a fair test.

 

[Simo19]

Have played there 4 times this year, a 3 day comp in May and a one day comp last month. The weather will be you biggest test, we had rain and wind on the first visit, but calm the last time. The 18th used to be a par 5 a couple of years ago but is now a par 4 with not a very low SI, which caused some consternation in our group as the wind was against us. The hotel/rooms are spot on. And as you mentioned town is only a taxi away, but have not seen so many rucks in a town for many a year, so take a gum shield...lol...there is a driving range and bunker chipping area just before the first tee also. Remember to go into the pro shop to find out the tee positions for the day as the A,B,C positions are on the scorecard.

 

[papyt]

 

[betherightstick]

Have played it twice now on golf holidays and despite playing off 9 i struggled, the fairways were very narrow and the rough was very high. Really enjoyed it though and we are going again in May as we haven't been for 5-6 years. Ideal location for a lads golf holiday though.

 

[thegogg]

Can't wait now as the weather looks as if it's going to be spot on - mid 20s

Day 1 - Friday - Check in then tee off for 18 holes at 2pm, couple of beers, dinner then out to Blackpool for the night

Day 2 - Saturday - Up 8.00am to watch the England v Scotland rugby match then couple of beers whilst watching the Blues beat Liverpool before teeing off for 18 holes, couple of beers, dinner then out to Blackpool again for the night

Dilemma - Wales play Fiji at 6.00am Sunday so do we stay up or go to bed

Day 3 - Sunday - After the rugby tee up again for the final 18 holes

I use to be able to do this when I ws younger but think it's going to kill me this weekend especially as my son is coming with us and is determined to drink his old dad under the table

 

[jasondransfieldgolf]

Can't wait now as the weather looks as if it's going to be spot on - mid 20s

Day 1 - Friday - Check in then tee off for 18 holes at 2pm, couple of beers, dinner then out to Blackpool for the night

Day 2 - Saturday - Up 8.00am to watch the England v Scotland rugby match then couple of beers whilst watching the Blues beat Liverpool before teeing off for 18 holes, couple of beers, dinner then out to Blackpool again for the night

Dilemma - Wales play Fiji at 6.00am Sunday so do we stay up or go to bed

Day 3 - Sunday - After the rugby tee up again for the final 18 holes

I use to be able to do this when I ws younger but think it's going to kill me this weekend especially as my son is coming with us and is determined to drink his old dad under the table

How did you enjoy it? I was also there Friday and Saturday nights played the course on Saturday at 2.20 wasn't impressed if I'm honest but the hotel was very good. The greens were good, but I thought it was untidy with some poorly designed holes.

 

[thegogg]

Well we arrived Friday and left Sunday so here's my opinion of the weekend -

Good points

Golf course - Very good and in excellent condition
Hotel - Very good
Food - Fantastic
Prices - Very cheap bar snacks & reasonable drink prices
Staff - Excellent (Polite, helpful and very friendly)
Location - Ideal for nights out in Blackpool (£8 by taxi)

Bad points

Golf - 5 to 6 hour rounds (late tee times meant we didn't complete 18 holes)
Hotel - Very big and very busy

Overall

For a group of 6 lads it was spot on other than the late tee times meaning we didn't complete our 3 rounds but this was down to us (me ) leaving the booking to the last minute. All in all at £175 each for 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast with 3 rounds of golf was well worth the money and we'll be going back next year this time booking well in advance.